In all seriousness:
I like Steve bechtel’s “ladder” protocol
65% of max rep (12” hang)
3-6-9 (seconds, any amount of rest between reps)
Each side 3x
3 or 4 times a week depending on how much you’re climbing
Discussion
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I haven’t tried Steve’s protocol yet. But I’ve read his book and I’m implementing some of his stuff into my training.
For finger strength I do just normal max hangs:
6 sets of 10s hangs with 2-3min rest in between on a 20mm edge with as much weight added so that I can just about finish the last set with good form.
Pretty simple but highly effective (for me at least). Went from 7c to 8b in a year
oh nice
yeah, repeaters are great, they just take so much fucking time and so long to recover
the cool thing about steve's protocol is that it's aimed at year-round training, so no scheduling, takes basically nothing to recover from since it's so mild, but it has shown that it triggers adaptations.
If you are mesocycling you would probably still do a more heavier protocol during the strength phase and revert back to the 3-6-9 during the other cycles
Honestly, I suck at sticking to a year round protocol. In the climbing season I just climb hard and when I don’t get to climb a lot I do a kind of variation of Steve’s non linear periodizatiom where I do strength/power/(power)endurance in alternating sessions with a focus on one of them at a time.
that mode is the best for year-round climbers; I think horst's approach is for people that live in shit weathers and can climb 6 weeks out of the year and the rest they are in a torture chamber getting injured 😂
Yeah, I also read Hörst‘s book and just couldn’t find a way to fit his protocol into my climbing schedule
I did a horst mesocycle WHILE LIVING IN MARGALEF
for like two weeks I didn't climbing until one day I thought "ok, this is retarded, I moved here to be able to climb and now I'm driving one hour every three days to go bouldering to a gym" and I stopped
I'm not just not cut for those programs
I did one anderson brothers cycle and I did get mad gains on finger strength but again, having to cut down on my climbing way too much
I'll take climbing shittier grades in exchange for a whole lot more climbing
(I've never climbed 8b but climbed 8a and there's a lot of fun stuff you can on 8a; I'm sure 8b must be something else!)
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I wouldn’t call myself an 8b climber yet tbh. I’ve only climbed one so far. But that was the best I could have hoped for. King line at one of Leonidios best crags and totally my style. Lots of technical kneebars in a huge cave. (And probably soft 😅)