Book SummaryBeastmaking, by Ned Feehally

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Beastmaking

Goal-Setting and Assessment

Define Your Climbing Objectives and Priorities Before Training

This section emphasizes the importance of establishing clear climbing goals prior to embarking on any training program. Feehally argues that without specific goals, your training will lack direction and may not effectively contribute to your improvement in climbing.

Identify Areas For Improvement By Assessing Strengths and Weaknesses Relative to Goals

Feehally highlights the significance of identifying individual strengths and weaknesses in relation to your climbing goals. He suggests that by recognizing these areas, you can focus your training efforts on the places most needed. This involves evaluating various facets of your climbing ability, such as finger strength, footwork, flexibility, and mental fortitude, and determining which areas require the most attention based on your goals. For example, if your goal is to become a versatile boulderer, like the author himself, your objective should be to develop proficiency across different climbing styles, addressing weaknesses in specific hold types and movement patterns. By understanding your areas for improvement, you can structure your training to maximize progress towards your objectives.

Other Perspectives

• The process of identifying weaknesses is subjective and can be influenced by personal biases, potentially leading to a misallocation of training efforts.
• While finger strength, footwork, flexibility, and mental fortitude are important, the evaluation might also need to...

Beastmaking Summary Program Organization and Periodization

Feehally advocates for long-term, consistent training approaches rather than focusing on short-term gains or fads. He suggests that developing a sustainable training structure and incorporating general and sport-specific training are vital to achieving climbing goals.

Prefer Consistent Training Over Quick Fixes

The author advises against relying on quick fixes or shortcuts to reach your goals. He emphasizes consistent effort and persistent practice as keys to improvement. He argues that building sustainable training habits and maintaining them over years will lead to more significant and lasting gains than attempting to cram all your practice into brief, intensive bursts.

Alternate Intense Workouts With Recovery for Body Adaptation

Feehally stresses the significance of balancing intense workouts with adequate recovery. He argues that the body needs time to adjust...

Beastmaking Summary Fingerboarding

Fingerboarding Increases Holding and Grasping Strength

Fingerboarding is presented as an efficient and effective method to boost finger strength, a crucial element for climbers. Feehally emphasizes that stronger fingers translate directly to better performance and increased capability to climb harder climbs.

Optimize Fingerboard Exercise Difficulty and Duration

The author stresses the importance of managing the difficulty level of fingerboard exercises. He argues that working out at the wrong intensity, whether too easy or too difficult, will not provide the correct stimulus for adaptation. He suggests short max hangs should last 5 to 12 seconds, while longer 20-second hangs help build muscular strength and bulk. He also recommends tendon hangs, lasting half a minute to three-quarters of a minute, to increase tendon stiffness and health. He also notes that the intensity can be adjusted by modifying hang time, rest time, number of sets, hold size, weight added,...

Beastmaking Summary 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.

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Beastmaking Summary 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...

Beastmaking Summary 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...