It’s not every day that a corporate climbing video actually provides valuable tips for improving the viewer’s climbing. This excellent La Sportiva mini-feature film titled “Comfort Zone” does just that, however!

At the end of 2017, Jonathan Siegrist and Alex Honnold sat down to assess their 2018 goals. Even though they are two of the strongest climbers in the world, both realized that there are areas of climbing outside of their established strengths that needed improvement. This is the story of Alex and Jonathan embracing their weaknesses, training through them, and pushing outside of their comfort zone in the quest to improve their game.

Here are couple of the valuable concepts they share, and my take on each.

• Training intensity is more important than training volume. This is especially true for advance roped-route climbers who are already logging lots of climbing volume at the crags. Training with brief, near-maximum-intensity, and highly specific exercises such as weighted fingerboard hangs, weighted pull-ups, campus boarding, and hard bouldering is essential for opening up the next grade.
• Progress in climbing is impossible without stretching your comfort zone at the gym and crags. Rather than specializing in one type/style of climbing, strive to diversify your skill set by exploring a wide range of climbing styles including slabs, cracks, super-steep cave routes, and less-steep crimp fests. While early specialization may accelerate your progress in one style of climbing, long-term development demands a wider vision and determination to become a true master of rock.

Kudos to Tara Kerzner for producing this excellent video!

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