UKC

I think circuit boards are great for training pure endurance or the power end of endurance (depending on how hard the circuit is and for how long you stay on it). The one at the Depot in Birmingham is amazing - the circuits there are the best part of 15m long in total. Perhaps not as good as lapping routes but you don’t need a belay slave and it’s easy to work sequences (I sometimes set myself redpoint projects - I know that’s not endurance training but you still get a good pump on redpoint attempts and equally importantly it’s motivational). As for auto belays, I hate the things as they throw me off balance and feel weird.

Yet some people don’t see the value as they say there’s too much climbing sideways and down, so it’s not relevant training. I don’t think that’s right - you still get a forearm pump, which is the main thing. You do use some different muscles (or the same muscles but in a different way) for going sideways or down but that’s not a bad thing as it probably helps to balance out muscle development.

Interested to hear people’s thoughts. 

If your project goes sideways and down then they are perfect

They need to make them higher so the bottom part is not with your feet almost touching the mat. As the moves are just incredibly repetitive like that. 

Apart from that what other solutions are there. Lapping boulder problems is fun but doesn't seem quite the same. Those big soloing walls seem good but probably quite scary doing a set on them when you are absolutely boxed. A rotating / moving wall seems odd too and stupid expensive no doubt. 

I'm much prefer circuit boards. You can be much more specific with timing, not limited by wall length, no pissing about with harness/rope, not wasting someone else's time belaying, more likely to have wooden holds which are much better for your skin if you're planning on being on there a while.

Better all round tbh  

Really? What happens if, during your 2min rest period, someone comes along and starts a 20min continuous burn?

EDIT: Or equally what happens if you are due to start YOUR next 20min continuous burn during someone’s 2min rest period?  

That’s true, often end up being fairly scrunched up going along the bottom. Another half metre of height would sort that issue. Or being shorter!

True but the one I use has two boards - not the same routes but the same grade range. And they aren’t usually busy in the evenings. I imagine places like Sheffield would be busier...

Pros and cons, really.

Laps on routes is more like proper climbing (less down and sideways - my guess is that this is relevant), and there's clipping. Probably more fun. Steeper, bigger moves, range of angles, looking where you're going when the route's not wired - all useful.

But circuits are much more easily tailored to exactly what you want, and provided you've got the thing to yourself, it's more efficient, given the lack of belaying. It can be fun, if as I quite often have the training room to myself and can put my own tunes on - although I still try to choose something a bit more accessible than mind-expanding 19th century solo piano music, in case someone does come in and I get banned from the wall for being too weird. If someone else has got shit music on, it is purgatory. One trouble I've had is that the crimpy 15 deg board, Gresham's "Malham board" was instrumental in f*cking up my right elbow, I think due to the extremely "locky" style of down-climbing on crimps with incredibly shit feet. *So* bent-elbowy - not very healthy once you hit 40 and everything start going to shit.

In my experience, both work, and I'd say laps on routes for lower intensity (the board is just too repetitive/sideways), the board for higher intensity where on routes you're much more at the mercy of the setter to get the intensity right. I've also noticed a very high degree of specificity of training in general. I can get quite good at crimpy/snatchy 30 deg board bouldering, and have that not translate to much else. So not hammering one thing to death might be advisable?

Set figure-of-eight circuits rather than ovals and double the amount of vertical climbing.

I hate sideways laps - nothing causes more damage to my skin and fingers than repetitively circuiting on too big holds on too overhanging short circuits. 

On the other hand well set endurance or power endurance routes specifically for circuiting are quite hard to find. Clever, bouldery, cruxy sequences aren't really wanted and routes based on holds that soon grease up are useless.

It would be nice to see walls that have a rack of auto belays arrange pyramids of training routes (alongside the rest) a bit like bouldering circuit boards only vertical. Just occasionally these get set by accident and they are fantastic for training albeit a bit boring for climbing.

The new flashpoint in Swindon has the answer. And it really is the future. Not unique but the biggest I've seen. 

Do you mean the overhanging bit with the slanting floor? How long is it? The issue with it is that it has to be pretty steep, way steeper than a circuit board, so might not be as good endurance training. 

The problem with the circuit board at the Manchester depot is it’s popularity. Which tells me that too many people agree with you (me included). 
it is hard to do these 5 mins on 3 min off 5 mins on 3 min off 5 min on type deals with a queue of people waiting to get on the thing. 
One way to avoid this will be to get up stupidly early and go at 6 am before work.......but this is not going to happen. 

Yes. It's something like 12m. Maybe more. It is steep, but perfect training if you want to get good at 12m of steep climbing. And you can run back to the bottom and lap it without much rest if that's your thing.
If you want to train hanging on small stuff on a vertical wall for ages, feet-on campusing might be all you need. Or a beastmaker with assistance to take some weight off. Doesn't need a circuit board if it's allowed to be boring.
 

So... you want something that's good enough to be popular but isn't popular?

Totally agree.My experience is that oval circuits train stamina but don't train anaerobic endurance also I think they should be multi angled.... examples of this you can see at Westway in London and at the Stronghold in London. The latter has a creative 45 degree board so you can integrate problems on that into the set circuits.Training power endurance or recovery endurance and everything in between.

You can target different energy systems by varying intensity. Circuit boards are great for  Power Endurance training if used correctly.  

Exactly. The ones at the wall I go to have circuits from F6a to F8a and beyond about F6c they don’t tend to have jugs so there are no good rests (some half rests). The easier routes are juggy though as the wall is slightly overhanging. So by picking a level and potentially stopping before the end you can train anything from stamina to power endurance. 

Depends on what you are training for.G generally I let the old rather forgotten methodology of 'over compensation' guide me.That is I aspire to climb steeper rock..and tend try to train at a steeper angle than my goals ..I did this in routes at the foundry and Leeds wall  a lot in the past but  more recently on bouldering facilities here in London.When considering all the extreme pull up routines I see people do with weights etc I don't see any difference except you learn specific climbing technique as well as raising your anaerobic threshold.Im not an elite climber but have climbed in the mid 7s quite a lot over the years. and am as mentioned quite specific in my tastes in terms of routes.

Makes sense.