UKC

I have been climbing for about 1 and a half years now, im 16, weigh about 65kg, boulder about 5-6 times a week (3 days on 1 day off) and can climb at a maximum level of 7B+ font grade in bouldering. Up to this point improvement has been consistent but it has slowed down a lot recently. I have never followed a proper programme and when it comes to dieting/resting/technique/peaking/when to train/how often i am a total novice, I usually just took advice from friends who were better than me.

My question is, what would you guys recommend for my training programme/diet. I am not concerned about injuries or overtraining etc, all I want to do is get the strongest I can in the smallest amount of time. Any supplements or skin repair techniques and little extra tips are always appreciated as well!!

If i have left any information out that you guys need to know i will be happy to tell you

In reply to youngclimber:

Ah, to be young and have no cares about injury & overtraining.. lol lol

seriously though, its difficult to make solid suggestions because of your age. You dont need any suppliments just a proper diet that supports your activity, your body will do the rest.

id be tempted to suggest hitting the weights as they are the best way to build strength quickly imo but your age makes it a bit iffy.
some camps say strength training for young people is fine, others recommend waiting til you have stopped developing. Either way i would speak to your Dr and a suitably qualified personal trainer before embarking on any training program

Also be prepared to make compromises in your climbing schedule, lifting heavy then climbing hard is tough on the body & mind

good luck

In reply to youngclimber:

If I was that young again, I would definitely strive to be as flexible as I possibly could.

In reply to youngclimber:

Ah man, I wish I had been climbing since i was 14! I'll give you the advice that I would give a younger version of myself when i get that damned time machine working; find a coach.
There are loads of youth climbing squads which you should still just about squeeze into at 16 years old, if not, if you can possibly afford it, get some one to one coaching and soak up their advice like a sponge.
You are right not to be worried about overtraining or injuries, worrying is pointless, but you should be aware of the risks and doing everything you can to minimise the chances of ever suffering from problems in the future by doing things correctly right now.
I climbed f7c+ in 2011, then I dislocated my shoulder 5 times and am only now just getting back near that standard. Think about that, that's like you injuring yourself tomorrow not being able to climb hard again until you are 20 years old. Twenty. Seem like a lifetime away?
My shoulder dislocated not because I pulled some gnarly english 7b dynamic lunge, but because I had a weakness caused by not exercising the boring support muscles around the joint, not warming up, not warming down, not listening to my body for too long. One of the dislocations happened on a 6A slab!
My point is, if I had treated my body right when it felt fit and strong, it would have stayed fit and strong.
I know its boring but if you get into a habit of warming up carefully, warming down and stretching and having a program of antagonist and supporting muscle exercises to run along with your climbing, you will outlast most of us broken old punters.
Go and find a coach, and hopefully he or she will tell you something similar, by all means try to improve as quickly as you can, but listen to their advice, listen to your body and enjoy your climbing.

In reply to youngclimber:



That seems a bit of a conflicting statement to me!

My top piece of advice would be, Rule one: you can't train if you're injured.

In reply to Fraser:
Ok guys thanks for all the advice, I think I'm going to try and find a trainer and do some stretching!

In reply to youngclimber:

" I am not concerned about injuries or overtraining etc, all I want to do is get the strongest I can in the smallest amount of time"

there's your first big problem. You won't be young forever and if you are climbing 3 on 1 off I'm sad to say you are probably well on your way to some serious overuse injuries down the line, if not in the immediate future.

There are plenty of climbing articles that show how to use therabands/surgical tubing or other equipment to do injury prevention exercises for rotator cuffs/shoulders. Things like pushups, dips etc are also good.

If I had to pin down your slow down in improvement on any one thing I would say it sounds like you are overtraining.
.

In reply to youngclimber:

In my eyes 3 days on 1 off is completely ok. Your body will adapt to being able to do lots of medium hard moves, that is precisely 7b/+ moves, the level a lot of people seem to get stuck at, including myself atm.

However I climbed stonger when I was younger before a long 4 year break from climbing, and my feeling is that the most common mistake people make is too much volume, and too little intensity. If you want to get stronger, it's all about intensity.

This means 2 top priority sessions per week. Well rested, keen and ready to deliver your A game, just as you would for a competition. Super high intensity and low volume. You don't want to feel tired after this session! Like 1-3 move boulder problems/projects, 5 tries each for 3 projects. With warm up and adequate rest to deliver absolutely max efforts this is a 2 hour session. Again, you don't want to feel tired afterwards! But trust me you are. Your muscles and in ptc your central nervous system will take 3 days to recover.

In addition one could climb 2 more days, just fun, easy/med to do some volume, go for a run, stretch, core and easy shoulder and antagonist exercises etc.

Again, this is just my opinion and experience. Back in the days I bouldered around 8a/+, so was never really super strong. Would be interesting to know how the world class climbers train