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Just curious about Training for climbers vs Conditioning for climbers. Anyone read both? I know Eric sometimes lurks here maybe he could weigh in as well.

Thanks!

without chasing down the author, i think i can confirm that - yes - someone has read both books.

if what you meant to ask was "is there a point in reading both", then i think the answer is a resounding no. i don't want to poo-poo Eric's contributions to climbing training, but there are scads of comparable/better resources on the interwebs.

if you simply must have a book i would recommend Dan Hague's "Self-Coached Climber".

Yep, that was the question! Thanks for the answer. I don't feel like I need a book. In fact, I would prefer not to buy one. Do you have any links to offer up? I have been climbing for 2 decades and have never really considered myself a big "trainer" but I have plateaued and am having trouble pushing past it. I'm just interested in reading other's perspective. Can't decide if I need to change my training, train more or take a week off.

I hated the hague book.

I have both of Horst's books. It depends on what you are looking for. Go with Conditioning if you just need specific workouts and/or to get your body in shape for climbing . If you want to get a broader understanding of training for climbing, or any other sport, go with Training. I have a minor is PE and I focused that minor specifically on training and conditioning for sports. Training is the better all around book.

If you want a real broad look at training using his books, pick up an old copy of How To Climb 5.12. It doesn't go too deep into anything. The principles discussed in it can be applied to climbing at any level.

http://climbstrong.wordpress.com/ <--- really good strength/endurance plans
http://www.powercompanyclimbing.com/ <--- kris writes well and has novel approaches to climbing hard in the Red.
http://onlineclimbingcoach.blogspot.com/ <-- Macleod = winner.
http://www.trainingforclimbing.com/ <--- horst

piggy. while neither are cutting edge, the hague book imho is better than the horst book(s) because it covers technique and movement in a meaningful way. other than that, they are more similar than not as both cover 4x4s, max strength, SAID, explanations of fast/slow twitch, etc..

Eric Horst books are all the same, so if you have read one, there is pretty much nothing to be gained from the others. Also, his books try to sell hit strips, which are not sport specific like he suggests. His info will help a beginner get to 11's and maybe low 12's. That is it. I do recommend the "Self Coached Climber" as it is leaps and bounds above Horst material. And Dave Macleod also puts great info on his website. Haven't checked out his book "9 out of 10 climbers make the same mistakes" but it comes highly recommended from Nate Drolet.

vertical1 wrote:Also, his books try to sell hit strips, which are not sport specific like he suggests.

it's not that they aren't sport-specific, right? i think they're okay for super-generic A-E workouts. my problem is they don't do what Horst suggests they do: help build max strength.

i don't care how much weight you put on. doing hyper-gravity moves on the ..cough..."crimps" will leave you flailing on bad holds outside wondering why your weight vest laps didn't translate.

tbwilsonky wrote:

vertical1 wrote:Also, his books try to sell hit strips, which are not sport specific like he suggests.

it's not that they aren't sport-specific, right? i think they're okay for super-generic A-E workouts. my problem is they don't do what Horst suggests they do: help build max strength.

i don't care how much weight you put on. doing hyper-gravity moves on the ..cough..."crimps" will leave you flailing on bad holds outside wondering why your weight vest laps didn't translate.

I've never touched the HIT strips so I don't have any reference... what do you mean exactly? Are the crimps better than you would expect or sharply incut or...? Like it translates to the top of the undertow and that's about it?

Brad, it seems to me that no matter what angle the hit strips are at the "crimp" is going to be quite large.