The Vertical World climbing team flew to Atlanta Georgia for the 2014 SCS Youth National Championships. Just as the last 4 years the event was held at Stone Summit Climbing Gym which is the largest gym in the country: boasting walls that are 65 vertical feet and 85+ linear. Not only do they have the most varied terrain but also an official IFSC speed wall where you will see some of the fastest climbers in the world. The event consists of 2...

Last month I talked about the benefits of aerobic training, how it increases your capacity to do more work, recovers muscles from hard training days, and it can teach you how to regulate your breathing and heart rate while climbing. Because we are rock climbers, and not training to be a runner, the program will be different. The recommendations listed will be primarily for recovery from climbing or other strength related training.So how do you...

Do you ever find yourself climbing up a route and you reach the crux, you make a few difficult moves and you start to huff and puff, and ultimately your heavy breathing leaves you falling off the route? Do you find yourself huffing and puffing on the approach to your climb, and feel a bit taxed before you even start climbing? Those who climb mountains already know the importance of cardio and how it’s a major part of their training,...

I have a lot of clients and members who ask me about what to do on rest days, and how many days they should be climbing. In my personal opinion, climbers will climb too much at a high intensity on a regular basis, and disregard the norm of rest and exercise science in other sports. Even with all of my training and knowledge, I have also been a culprit of binge climbing.  When I was training for ABS Nationals a few years back, I had to “catch...