PDF Summary:Beastmaking, by Ned Feehally

Want to be a better climber? In Beastmaking by Ned Feehally, you'll learn the finer points of training for climbing performance. Build an effective long-term training program by defining your specific goals—and a plan to address your weaknesses while enhancing your strengths. Feehally covers training essentials like fingerboarding, systems training, and supplemental exercises, explaining how to structure workouts and recover properly.

Conquest awaits, but injury lurks if you don't properly maintain your body. Feehally provides advice on mobility, prehab drills, and self-care to keep you resilient for years of training. Stay motivated on your path: Set goals, track small wins, and continuously challenge yourself.

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• Adding weight increases the load on muscles and tendons, promoting strength gains and adaptation, but requires careful progression to avoid injury.

Increase Fingerboard Practice Gradually to Prevent Injuries

Feehally recommends a slow and gradual build-up of your volume and intensity on the fingerboard to avoid overloading your connective tissues, which are slower to adapt than muscles.

Use Proper Technique to Target Muscles

The author emphasizes the importance of maintaining proper form during fingerboard exercises, arguing that sloppy form can cause injury and may not effectively target the intended muscles.

Other Perspectives

• Focusing solely on form might lead to neglecting other important aspects of training such as consistency, intensity, and volume, which are also crucial for muscle development and strength gains.
• Some exercises may have a range of acceptable forms, and what is considered "sloppy" may actually be a variation that accommodates an individual's unique biomechanics or flexibility.
• While proper technique is crucial, it's also important to recognize that individual anatomical differences can mean that the "textbook" technique may not be the most effective way for every person to target specific muscles.

Board Training

Training Board Climbing Develops Specific Skills

Feehally presents board training as a valuable method to develop climbing-specific strength, physical control, and coordination. He argues that boards let you exercise at a greater intensity and isolate specific movement patterns, leading to improvements you may not achieve through conventional gym climbing.

Customize Angle, Holds, and Layout to Address Weaknesses

Feehally argues that the board should be designed or used specifically to address individual weaknesses and shouldn't just be a random arrangement of handholds. He suggests customizing the board's angle, hold types, and layout to target specific weaknesses, creating training scenarios that mimic challenges encountered outdoors. He recommends steep boards for developing finger strength and suggests using a limited number of uncomfortable or sharp holds, favoring bigger holds with less grip. He also discusses the importance of foothold design and suggests using a variety of footholds such as sloping, positive, and 'juggy' footholds to train maximum extension, maintaining tension throughout the body, and climbing techniques for feet on the board.

Context

• Understanding one's own biomechanics and physiological limitations can help in designing a board that challenges these specific areas, leading to more balanced muscle development and injury prevention.
• Holds come in various shapes and sizes, such as crimps, slopers, and jugs. Each type targets different muscle groups and skills. Crimps focus on finger strength, slopers on open-hand grip, and jugs on endurance and technique.
• Outdoor routes can be longer and more sustained than indoor problems. Training should include endurance exercises that mimic the length and sustained effort required in outdoor climbing.
• By adjusting the steepness, climbers can progressively increase the difficulty, allowing for gradual improvement in finger strength over time.
• While uncomfortable holds can be beneficial, it's important to use them judiciously to avoid overstrain and potential injuries, emphasizing the need for proper technique and rest.
• Effective footwork is crucial in climbing as it allows climbers to conserve energy and maintain balance. Proper use of footholds can significantly reduce the load on the arms and fingers, which are often the first to tire.
• These holds have a more pronounced edge or lip, allowing for a more secure placement of the foot. They help climbers practice precision and foot placement, which is crucial for maintaining stability on more challenging routes.
• This refers to the ability to reach as far as possible with your limbs while climbing. It involves stretching your body to its limits to grasp holds that are far apart, which is crucial for tackling routes with wide gaps between holds.
• Techniques such as edging, smearing, and toe-hooking are essential skills. Edging involves using the edge of the shoe on small holds, smearing uses friction on flat surfaces, and toe-hooking involves hooking the toe over a hold for stability.

Maintain Proper Climbing Technique When Pushing Yourself

While using training boards is geared towards strength training, Feehally emphasizes the importance of maintaining proper climbing technique even when you're pushing your limits. He advises against losing proper form or compromising technique for the sake of completing a problem.

Integrate Board Climbing With Other Training For Balance

Feehally advises integrating board exercises with other training methods. He suggests using the board to train strength while practicing more complex movements, such as heel hooks and drop knees, on a regular wall or outside. He also advises varying the proportion of successful attempts to failures during your board sessions between attempting projects and mileage training to ensure you make the most of your time.

Context

• Project training involves working on difficult routes to improve problem-solving and technique, while mileage training focuses on volume and endurance. Adjusting the focus between these helps climbers build both skill and stamina.
• Integrating board climbing with other forms of climbing ensures a well-rounded skill set. While board climbing builds raw strength, climbing on varied terrain develops technique, problem-solving skills, and adaptability.

Supplementary Training (Endurance, Core, Arms, Flexibility)

Supplementary Workouts Can Enhance Your Climbing Performance

Supplementary training, encompassing endurance, core, arms, and flexibility, is presented as a means to augment climbing performance and address areas that might not be adequately developed through climbing itself.

Boost Endurance to Sustain Power and Technique On Long Climbs

Feehally emphasizes the importance of training stamina for climbers. He explains the various bodily energy systems used when climbing, including aerobic, anaerobic lactic, and anaerobic alactic systems, and suggests training methods to develop each of these areas. He recommends climbing easier terrain for prolonged periods to develop aerobic endurance, and performing high-intensity exercises such as 4x4s to train short endurance.

Context

• Adequate recovery is essential for adaptation and improvement in stamina. Overtraining can lead to fatigue and injury, so climbers must incorporate rest and recovery into their training regimen.
• This system generates energy without oxygen and produces lactic acid as a byproduct. It is engaged during high-intensity efforts lasting from about 30 seconds to 2 minutes, such as when a climber is pushing through a challenging section quickly.
• Enhancing this system is crucial for explosive movements, such as dynamic climbing moves or powerful starts, where quick bursts of energy are required.
• Developing aerobic endurance is particularly beneficial for multi-pitch climbs or long sport routes where maintaining energy levels over time is crucial for success and safety.
• Regularly performing high-intensity exercises like 4x4s can lead to physiological adaptations such as increased capillary density and mitochondrial efficiency, which improve overall endurance and recovery.

Develop Core and Upper-Body Muscles for Efficient Movement

Feehally explains the importance of developing strength in your upper body (arms, back, shoulders) and core for climbing, arguing that these muscles contribute to efficient movement and creating tension throughout the body. He describes several exercises including pull-ups (max weighted, negatives, on the minutes, and pyramids), as well as bar exercises (tuck front lever, windshield wipers, and single-leg front levers).

Enhance Flexibility for Better Body Positions

Feehally encourages stretching and movement training to improve body positioning and reduce injury risk, highlighting that being more flexible facilitates reaching and weighting footholds more effectively.

Context

• Stretching can also reduce stress and tension in the muscles, which can help prevent injuries related to muscle tightness and fatigue.
• Improved flexibility can help prevent strains and sprains by allowing joints to move through their full range of motion without excessive tension.
• Flexible climbers can adopt more efficient body positions, reducing the energy expended to maintain balance and hold positions, which is vital for endurance on longer climbs.

Injury Prevention and Body Maintenance

Maintenance and Injury Prevention Exercises Keep You Resilient

Feehally urges climbers to prioritize body maintenance and injury avoidance. He presents maintenance activities as vital for sustaining long-term climbing health and minimizing injury risk. He notes that these essential parts of training frequently get ignored.

Address Imbalances and Weaknesses in Hands, Forearms, and Shoulders

The author specifically emphasizes hands, forearms, and shoulders, which are susceptible to injury from repetitive strain and imbalances caused by the specific movements involved in climbing. He suggests exercises such as ball squeezes and finger slides to strengthen the lumbricals, which help to hold your fingers in a crimp grip, and forearm extensor holds and curls to strengthen the wrist extensors. He also describes two exercises, press-up shrugs and hanging shrugs, to increase strength and shoulder blade flexibility.

Context

• Strengthening the lumbricals can help prevent injuries such as pulley tears or tendon strains, which are common in climbers due to the high stress placed on the fingers during crimping.
• Engaging in these exercises contributes to balanced muscle development in the forearms, which is essential for overall arm function and reducing strain during climbing activities.
• Performed by hanging from a bar and using the shoulder blades to lift the body slightly without bending the elbows. This exercise targets the lower trapezius and other stabilizing muscles, enhancing shoulder stability and endurance.

Establish a Routine for Flexibility, Mobility, and Self-Care

Feehally suggests incorporating stretching, exercises for agility, and self-care practices into your routine to maintain body health and pliability.

Avoid Injuries: Listen and Make Adjustments

The author stresses the importance of paying attention to your body's signals and adjusting training loads when necessary. He reminds us that the goal of our training is to improve our climbing skills, but this can't happen if we are constantly dealing with an injury.

Practical Tips

• Set up a daily body scan routine using a simple timer on your phone. Twice a day, pause for a few minutes to mentally scan from head to toe, noting any tension, discomfort, or other sensations. This practice can help you become more attuned to your body's signals and recognize them as they occur, allowing for more immediate and informed responses.
• Partner with a friend or family member for mutual accountability in adjusting training loads. Share your workout plans and discuss how you're feeling physically on a regular basis. Having someone else to discuss your training with can provide a fresh perspective and help you make more objective decisions about when to push harder or take it easy.
• Create a visual progress tracker with milestones that represent different climbing skills you aim to improve. For instance, draw a mountain with base camps that symbolize goals such as mastering a specific grip or completing a climb without rests. Marking your progress visually can keep you motivated and focused on your training objectives.
• Incorporate a variety of low-impact cross-training activities into your routine to reduce the risk of overuse injuries. Activities like swimming, cycling, or yoga can maintain your fitness levels while giving overworked muscles and joints a rest. If you're a runner prone to shin splints, replacing one running session with a swim could help prevent injury while still contributing to your cardiovascular endurance.