Author: Eric Hörst

Podcast #102: The Road to 5.13 – Part 4: Closing the Deal!

Posted by Eric Hörst | Aug 9, 2024 | Climbing Mastery, Podcasts

What does it take to climb your first 5.13a? (Or, first 5.10 or first 5.15 for that matter.) In...

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How to Develop Stronger Fingers and Tendons for Climbing

Posted by Eric Hörst | Jul 21, 2024 | Nutrition & Recovery, Research, Train Body

Achy tendons and joints are the bane of hard-training athletes. Sound familiar? Learn the...

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10 Mental Strategies to Improve Climbing Performance

Posted by Eric Hörst | Jul 20, 2024 | Climbing Mastery, Train Mind

The biggest breakthroughs depend on the quality of your thoughts. Learn ten mental strategies to...

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Projecting 101 – 6 Tips to Sending Your Project!

Posted by Eric Hörst | Jul 10, 2024 | Train Strategy, Training Articles

There’s no better feeling than the victory of a hard send. But behind every hard send is...

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Podcast 101: Optimizing Training, Health, and Performance with Functional Medicine

Posted by Eric Hörst | Jul 9, 2024 | Nutrition & Recovery, Podcasts, Train Body

Many enthusiastic climbers work hard to level up their performance year over year, and some of us...

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training4climbing

Climbing & training tips from climbing coach and best-selling author Eric Hörst. #TrainSmarter #ClimbStronger #BoulderBetter
DM your training clips 💪

#Repost @c4hp with some really good information on

#Repost @c4hp with some really good information on sloper nuances!
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👊 Sloper Stress: Key Insights for Climbers 👊

If you’ve been climbing for a while, you know that using slopers requires significantly more friction (indicated by the pink shading) compared to other types of holds. The greater the skin surface area in contact with the hold, the better you can apply downward force.

Slopers are designed with a downward slope and often lack sharp edges, which means your fingers are positioned at wider angles. This wider angle, viewed through the lens of the length-tension relationship (how muscle length affects its strength), is not ideal for generating force.

In this position, your wrist is more “passive” and stretched compared to when you’re gripping smaller, flatter holds. In contrast, when your wrist is in a flexed position (like in a half or full crimp), the length-tension relationship of your finger and wrist flexors improves, allowing for better force generation.

Due to the shape of slopers, climbers depend more on passive structures such as joint capsules, ligaments, and titin to maintain balance below the hands. Once skin contact is lost, the wrist flexes to create a plumb line (indicated by the green arrow) underneath. This flexed position places significant stress on the wrist’s ligaments.

Now, consider that the average strain on wrist ligaments increases when a climber is fatigued. As you tire, your muscles become less effective at protecting the joint, putting even more strain on the ligaments.

Actionable Takeaways:

1. Vary Your Holds: Regularly change the types of holds you use during practice.

2. No Added Weight: Focus on developing your skill with slopers without adding extra weight.

3. Strength Training: Incorporate exercises to improve forearm strength and recruitment.

4. Know When to Stop: End your climbing session when you notice a drop in coordination.

By following these guidelines, you can enhance your performance while minimizing the risk of injury.

#rockclimbing #climbingtraining #climbingperformance #climbstrong #climbingdoctor #usaclimbing #performanceclimbingcoach #ifsc #wristinjury #training4climbing #climbinglife

If you missed it, check out episode 102 of the Tra

If you missed it, check out episode 102 of the Training For Climbing podcast. This episode, released a few months ago is the fourth iteration of the road to 5.13 for @thestruggleclimbingshow . Ryan has been inching closer to his goal of 13a and hopefully this fall it goes down! Give this episode a listen for some coaching that you can apply to your own projects this season! Click the link in bio to find it, or listen wherever you get podcasts!
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#climb #training #trainingforclimbing #fallclimbing #climbing

Fingers feeling stiff and sore, just in time for g

Fingers feeling stiff and sore, just in time for good send conditions to hit? Warm up right with these finger stretches and exercises to shake off the ache and climb your best! Check out the link in our bio for Finger warm ups!
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#climb #trainingforclimbing #training #fingerstrength #climbing

Fall season is almost in full swing! That means it

Fall season is almost in full swing! That means it’s time to get into sending mode. For most people time is gold meaning it is important to maximize every second of your weekend or trip. Having your mental game dialed will jumpstart your progress so check out the link in bio for 7 Last Minute Keys to Climbing!
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#climb #climbing #trainingforclimbing #fallclimbing

Fall season is in swing, and that means it’s tim

Fall season is in swing, and that means it’s time for outdoor projecting to begin! Everyone wants to send their project especially with limited time so it is key to maximize every day outside. Maximizing quality goes and being efficient with your energy throughout a day is critical for consistent success and progress. For 6 tips on projecting check out the Projecting 101 link in bio!
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#climb #trainingforclimbing #climbing #projecting #send #training

System board climbing is now a standard in almost

System board climbing is now a standard in almost every climbing gym there’s multiple ways to incorporate these boards such as the Kilter board into your session. Here @alexandermegos does some high end campusing working on big controlled pulls at wide range of motions. Good thing is you can customize this to fit your needs and train positions and movements to replicate your goals.

#Repost @alexandermegos.
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“almost there: CAMPUS” @ 50° on the Kilter Board Original.
A rather hard campus (around V13) and a sign that my finger is pretty good again 👌🏼💪🏼.
I’ve really been enjoying the progress lately and I’m looking forward to Paris.

@tenayaclimbing @patagonia_climb @petzl_official @yeti @frictionlabs @physivantage @fazabrushes #stylefirst #carrotsforpower

@auroraclimbing #kilterboard #climbing #bouldering

Do you want stronger contact strength? Almost ever

Do you want stronger contact strength? Almost everyone can benefit from increased contact strength — something that is difficult to train in general. Contact strength is the ability to quickest apply force under an explosive loading of the fingers. This means, when doing powerful climbing, greater contact strength will allow better execution of dynamic moves and holding that force. The most effective method of increasing contact strength is on the campus board. Most gyms nowadays have a campus board, but few climbers correctly utilize it, while also mitigating injury risk. Check out the link in bio for 5 Campus Board Exercises to level up your contact strength!
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#climb #trainingforclimbing #climbing #training #fingerstrength

#repost of @eric_horst. Max hangs are a common tra

#repost of @eric_horst. Max hangs are a common training focus for building finger strength, but are you doing them correctly? Operating under high amounts of stress for long enough that you are engaging climbing-specific strength but short enough that you are focusing on max output is key. Check out the 7”/53” protocol on the T4C YouTube channel in the link in bio to get an in depth breakdown of this protocol!
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Seriously?! A hangboard PR at age 60….after 35 years of intermittent hangboard training!!!

✅ Bodyweight + 110 pounds on @eva_lopez_rivera Transgression 14mm edge. 7 second hangs via 7”/53” protocol.

Never give up! Age is just a number…

That said, I place high importance on maintaining connective tissue health—this is as important a goal in aging as is maintaining muscle strength.

#trainingforclimbing #climb #climbing #training #fingerstrength #physivantage #strong

Most people get so focused on the strength and phy

Most people get so focused on the strength and physical side of climbing, but what is just as important is the mental side of the sport. I’m order to maximize your climbing capabilities it is critical to understand the thought process in climbing and aim to win the mental battle that everyone encounters on a send. Check out the link in bio of 10 Mental Strategies to level up your mental game!
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#climb #training #trainingforclimbing #climbing

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