New Series! So it’s time to subscribe if you are not already. This time we are coving the most popular training exercises for climbing. We kick off with Campus Training and the Campus Board. We will run you though the very basics but also talk about the some simple training sessions you can do. Then we need to cover the big Pros and Cons so that you can decide whether this popular training method makes in into your routine.
In this episode we are kicking off a Brand new series where we are talking About climbing’s most popular exercises But we are going to be breaking them Down looking at the pros and cons seeing If they’re worthy of the popularity they Get and if they should be included in Your training in this first episode we Are going to be talking about campus Boarding so this has been around Seemingly Forever at least ever since I’ve walked in the gym there’s always Been a campus board in the corner we’re Going to talk about some of the best Ways to use the campus board some of the Pros but hold on to the end because you Might be surprised about some of the Cons we have to say about what is Probably the most common strength from Power training tool in the gym on the Face of it a camper board is pretty Simple it’s just a set of rungs or Pieces of wood holds that are set at a Standardized distance apart most gyms Will adhere to a standardized distance Which means you can test and train Yourself on a campus board in most gyms That you go to but do check because not All cam sports are set up exactly the Same most campus boards will also have a Variety of different rung depths so Larger all the way down smaller holes Most campus boards will also have a Kickboard with footholds on it or foot
Rungs that you can place your feet on Which brings us through to the first Exercise we’ll commonly use on a campus Board Foot on campusing is probably the most Entry level exercise on a campus board That most people will use and this just Means that you’re going to keep your Foot on the footholds or the foot rungs Underneath the campus board as you make Campus ladder moves moving up and down To the board an example of foot on Campusing might be going from one to Three coming back down and then Alternating for the other hand Essentially what you’re trying to do is Pull in and bring your arm towards your Shoulder so that you can catch a nice Large distance away from you on the next Campus run you want this to be Relatively challenging and you don’t Want to be performing loads of reps if Your aim is for just getting used to a Little bit more contact strength or Strength and power in this exercise when We get to the pros a little later on Something we’ll talk about is foot on Campusing for the purposes of training Endurance this exact same exercise can Be used by root climbers or anyone Trying to train endurance because High Repetitions of this is a really good way For really working the forearms and Removing any sort of climbing skill
Elements that might make you fall off The wall before you really get the last Few percent of energy out your forearms The next exercise which probably comes After the foam campusing but before Max Campusing with no feet is jump to holes This one is quite simple it’s kind of Described within the name all we’re Going to be doing is jumping from the Floor to catch a hold on the board to Start with we’re going to make this Easier by having one hold already on a Campus run jumping up to catch another One so that you have both hands on the Board when you make that final latch This is a really nice drill for warming Up something I generally do before a Climbing session and also training Contact strength you can make this more Challenging by jumping higher or by Using a smaller hole again just doing a Few reps on each side before taking a Rest is enough because you want to keep The quality really high when training Contact strength we don’t want to be Getting tired and letting those fingers Open up Campus laddering is probably the most Common or popular exercise on the campus Board and this is great for training Strength and power keeping it fairly Simple campus laddering is going to be Moving alternating hands going from Example one three five and then dropping
Off and then alternating on the other Side and we’re going to make sure that We’re getting plenty of rest again in Between because we’re really trying to Be working at that top level of power we Can then increase the difficulty of this By making the moves larger by for Example going to 147 or 159 I’m not Going to do that today because I’m Having a rest day and then we can also Make that Harder by decreasing the hole Size these are three examples of using a Camper board but there are plenty of Other options and different sessions you Can use on campus board we’re just not Going to go in today today and we’re Going to move on to the pros and cons To start with the campus board is pretty Much as basic as it looks because it’s a Ladder the movement is very basic and This comes with some advantages firstly It’s really good for introducing the Idea of training strength power or Contact strength because it’s very Systematic and you only need to go as Hard or as high as you can at that time Its basic nature also makes it very Measurable like I said earlier if you’re Going from gym to gym often you can Measure yourself in the same way because It’s got the same distance between the Rungs even athletes that don’t Necessarily train on a campus board Might go over to it every now and again
Just to assess and see how their Performance is measuring up to what they Were doing say six months ago see if Their strength power is still topped up In this way it can be a nice tool to add Into your training just to keep those Measurements going we’ve already Mentioned this but of course it’s great For training strength and power Particularly the power element when We’re making really large moves and We’re trying to move with a lot of Velocity if doing foot on campusing this Is a really good way way to train Endurance particularly that power Endurance when we’re really trying to Get every last bit out of the tank Because there’s no skill involved really It’s just up and down and you can go all The way to failure in a pretty safe way This last one might be a bit silly but Actually I think the camera board is Great as it doubles up as being another Hangboard so often when the gym is busy And I can’t get to a normal hang board I’ll walk over to the camper board and Do some hangs there and I typically use The canvas board to warm up with some Body wet hangs as well When we come to cons probably the one That most people are already thinking About is the risk of injury associated With campus board and I think this comes From the fact that when we’re pushing
Ourselves we’ve often got a big distance Between the rungs so when we end up Being able to catch the next rung for The first time we often end up doing it With a very outstretched arm and Sometimes the shoulder’s not very Engaged and the fingers might be Catching in a sub-optimal grip or even Eccentrically loading which we generally Try and want them to avoid however Saying that I think most things in Climbing hold some form of injury risk And we’re pretty good at making sure we Mitigate for that by make sure we’re Fully warmed up making sure we take it Slowly we just are aware of how fast We’re pushing ourselves with any form of Training the biggest Con in my opinion Is that it’s actually just too basic for Training skill and movement coordination I’ve now heard many very strong Elite And pro boulderers swear by campusing on A board not on a campus board and this Is something we would recommend to and Off often give to our Elite level Athletes most of the benefits that we’ve Discussed with the camps board can Usually be replicated on a climbing wall As well if you want to make the Movements basic you can still select Pretty basic movements on a climbing Wall or on a climbing board however you Also have the opportunity to make the Moves more interesting cross throughs
Grabbing things like pinches holds an Angle all of this adds to what you can Do for campus board but you can just do On a wall as well and now most climbing Gyms have pretty good board setups we’ve Got a kilter board behind us here a lot Of walls now have their own Woodies and System walls and all of these boards Make great training devices for training Campusing most gyms have an overhanging Wall somewhere with big holes on where You can campus between jugs or friendly Ergonomic holes and this is probably Better for these climbers than going Straight over to a campus board our Verdict then is probably going to swing Towards footless bouldering and Campusing on a wall rather than the Campus board this doesn’t mean that We’re saying the campus board is bad in A new way and we will still use it for Certain things but overall I think if You’re going to be training your Campusing camping on a wall is better Than campusing on a board however this Is our opinion if you have any pros or Cons that we’ve not mentioned or you Want to suggest what your favorite Camping tool is let us know in the Comments below and one thing that is Worth saying first is before you get Straight into camping you kind of need To make sure your fingers are strong Enough to be able to hold the holes
You’re jumping to so go check out this Video over here where we talk about hang Boarding routines and how to get strong Fingers
