Have you been training hard, eating right, and doing everything possible to up your climbing game only to find you are simply maintaining your current level?
This type of plateau can be extremely frustrating and can only be broken by really changing things up and shocking your system. With this in mind, climbing trainer Steve Bechtel of Climb Strong and author of our Strength Training Guide wrote an article discussing concentrated loading and how when used appropriately it can be a powerful tool to break through even the most difficult plateaus.
“Concentrated Loading is characterized by planning a large increase in volume of training while holding intensity constant. Along with this increase comes a big decrease in sport-specific indicators (i.e. you’ll start to really suck at climbing). As the volume is reduced in the ensuing weeks, those indicators go up, and within a short period, should exceed the levels you could attain using a normal training program. OK, so clearly everyone should get on board, right?” – Steve Bechtel
As Steve points out, this seems like the perfect formula for making some serious gains. However, as he goes on to explain this type of training is highly advanced and is only really suitable for climbers with a high enough work capacity and enough training experience to handle this huge increase in training volume.
“Only a climber with 5+ years of solid training should consider such a plan. You’ll want to be the kind of climber that can climb two days on with no decline in performance. You’ll want to regularly train 5+ days per week, and have optimized your body composition and your total body strength and power. If this is not already you, it’s best to stick with a normal “distributed” loading program until your capacities are up.” – Steve Bechtel
Be honest with yourself and your history with training and be careful not to overdo it. However, if the above description sounds like you, incorporating some cycles of concentrated loading into your training may just give you extra push to break through your plateau and take your climbing to the next level. Click through below to read the full article where Steve explains exactly how to perform concentrated loading cycles.
Click Here: Concentrated Loading with Steve Bechtel
(Photo Credit: Matt Pincus; @mpincus87; Area: Hueco Tanks, TX; Climb: El Chupacabra Right,V11; Climber: Ander Rockstad)
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