During the last few years, the use of a stopwatch has increased in order to follow strict training regimes. What is not so known is the fact that resting periods are flexible since everyone is different and the exact perceived load varies. The reason why we rest is that the muscles should recover in between the tries and sets. In practice, you should opt not to lose your maximum capacity during the session, meaning that the longer a session is, the longer resting time should become. During the first exercises, you do not need to rest the full 1 - 3 minutes period, as long as you feel you do not drop in your maximum capacity. Do not look like a robot with the eyes just focused on your smartphone. Instead be smart and learn to adjust your maximum personal resting time in between your schedule exercises.

Last night we switched 8a.nu over to https, which means that you can find 8a.nu on https://www.8a.nu from now on. All http:// links will be redirected to https://. We do our best to keep all the site's resources including images on https but sometimes you might not see a green padlock in your browser address bar. This is probably caused by some embedded images in the forum and the news loaded from http:// instead of https://. Please report any such issues in the forum. We moved 8a to https for several reasons, but the most important ones are privacy and security. A lot of our users login to 8a on open WiFi hotspots. With https other people on the same network won't be able to capture your password and session tokens. Firefox announced that they are going to phase out none secure http. Google also checks if a site is using https as a part of their search ranking algorithms. If you are interested, here is a nice article from the NY Times giving more details about the benefits of https. -------------- We're fixing the last bits of the migration process while I'm writing this. Bear with us before while we try to fix the last things :)

Finger boards, Systematic training, Running, Nutrition, Weight lifting and 10 weeks programs etc, run by a trainer with a calendar and a stop watch. Why is it that almost all the best rock climbers and boulderers in the world have not followed a specific training regime, and yet, the coaches and the media say that this is the trick? Now even Chris Sharma has said that he might try it. Could this take him to 9c and would he already have done a 9c+ if he had started as a teenager? Surely, there is no downside for Sharma to start experimenting and most people who achieved World Cup podiums, apart from Adam Ondra, have earned it through systematic training. Furthermore, many of us live in poor climate and rock conditions and for some personalities structured training is the only right thing to do. The best way, however, to become the #1 rock climber or boulderer in the world is to climb outside as much as possible, "training" technically, tactically, physically and always going "a muerte". It does not matter how much indoor physical capacity you have gained, following strict systematic schedules. Doing the hardest ascents comes down to having challenged yourself mentally sticking "impossible" moves millions of times and just keep going... This has been my training philosophy for 25 years and I am writing it again, to counter-balance all the coaches and media who claim the opposite. Go for an holistic approach guided by adrenaline, beauty, community and training knowledge, like the best guys out there and the ones having most fun. (c)

During the last ten years we have seen an extreme development when it comes to the number of boulderers, Boulder problems, gyms, training facilities and training theories. At the same time, the female and the youngsters have pushed several grades up and in fact getting closer to the male, who show limited progress. Why do we not see more progress in male Bouldering with all these improved preconditions including videos, chalk, shoes and crash pads? Bouldering did become a sport about 20 years ago with great development during the first ten years but then it more or less stopped. Could one of the possible explanations be that some 8C's actually deserve the 8C+ grade?

Talking to the different rope manufactures at ISPO 2016, the trend for more different types of ropes for specific segments increases. At the time Beal has the thinnest and lightest rope at the market at 8.5 mm. Singing Rock, on the other hand, has made one GYM 10.1 mm ultra durable with braided core which can be used in climbing schools and clubs as hanging up ropes for multi top roping. Also Sterling Rope has thought about the top roping trend of 30 meters routes where one of their stiffer gym ropes will do the trick. ​

Marius Morstad, who has been supporting the shoe industry with innovations for 25 years, hopes that the barefoot climber, Charles Albert, will inspire producers to take the next step. "Make the shoes softer, use sticky rubber all over the shoes and make them fit the foot without to much tension, use thinner rands and soles and look for ways to support the big toe without take away sensitive. This will accelerate and facilitate a natural evolution in climbing as a sport, the moves are there now and a new generation of climbers also, the future is already her." The production knowledge is already there. It is just a matter of cost versus demand. La Sportiva has pushed it with the no edge concept where sales have been low but are picking up and also their athletes have been able to cutomize mid-soles etc. With more climbers making the sport more commercial, and possibly Olympic medals to compete for, he thinks that the new generation of specialized shoes and prices are soon to come. It will start with guys like Adam Ondra getting custom-made shoes making him able to climb harder. In most of the other sports there is a huge price difference but until now this almost does not exist in climbing. Once the climbers are ready to pay Euro 400 for shoes that could sometimes make them climb one grader harder, they will start being produced.

Clayton Reagan has done his first 9a, I, Me and You in Texas. It was put up by Rupesh Chhagan as an 8c but later three guys have given it 9a. It is supposed to be an 8B+ linking a 7c+. "Had to use Vinny's liquid chalk to grab these little crimps. I didn't expect so much to do about a little route in Texas, but it is nice to see so much support from the community. Happy to put this one behind me. It is nice to think I still have a few year of competitive play left in these old bones. On to the next! I've been climbing 5.14 since the late 90's so I'd like to think this is the natural progress. I will be 37 in May. If my math is correct, I should be climbing 9a+ by the time I'm 40 right? Seems to be working for Ben Moon and Peyton Manning. "

Based on 1 100+ unique votes from the poll "Best Climbing Ropes?" we can see that there are three winning brands and then three runner-ups. In comparison to a similar poll from 2013, we can see that Beal is getting lower positions and that Mammut, Petzl and Tendon have made a great increase. 21 % Sterling (24 % in a similar poll 2013) 19 % Beal (26) 18 % Mammut (12) 13 % Edelrid (10) 12 % Tendon (8) 11 % Petzl (4) 5 % Other: Roca mentioned most often (16)