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There are a lot of ways to make yourself stronger, and part of the path of an athlete is to explore these. Most of us start out weight training in a class or with a trainer, and we spend most of our time doing basic movements to the point where the muscles can no longer sustain the load. Some push even further into a failure point. There's a lot to be said for going this deep into fatigue, but optimizing strength is not one of the results.

In strength training, whether it's the big muscles of the legs and back, the fingers, or a combination of a few muscle groups, almost all of us first try to add resistance to try and make them stronger. If I can do 3 sets of 5 repetitions at a given weight, I come back to the gym next workout and add a couple of pounds to the bar, and try again. When I can lift that one for three sets of five, I add more, and so on. This works really well for a long time.

When we think about strength training in the weight room, most of us go to the "big" lifts: squats, bench press, pull-ups, and deadlifts. This isn't wrong. A program built around these exercises can help you build tremendous strength and durability, but it's easy to see that these aren't exactly climbing-like movements. Although I prescribe big bilateral lifts like this for almost all of my athletes, doing exercises with both arms or legs at the same time can have its limitations.

We use core muscles in almost every integrated movement, and it's easy to fall into the trap of "we use them in deadlift and squatting and those exercises are super hard so I don't need additional work there." But if you've ever experienced a ridiculous pump on a steep route, there's a pretty good chance some better core control would reduce it.

The last thing I want to think about again today is getting older. I don't really like to talk about it and I certainly don't like doing it. But for me, and probably for you, the worse alternative is getting old quickly. As I look at the people I grew up with, Many of them are frail, immobile, and unable to say "yes" to many activities. These are people in their forties and fifties, not in their 80s.

When it comes to performance, every single climber I have ever known has struggled with plateaus. In fact, when someone I talk to seems to just keep getting better, I'm more inclined to punch them in the face than to hear another word of how fun it all is and how they can't wait to go apply their fitness on some big wall somewhere. As coaches, the first time we get to meet most of our athletes is when they get stuck-and usually by the time they contact a professional about fixing the issue, they've already tried "everything". Everything, except discipline.

Anyone who has been in sports for very long has probably heard of the energy systems, or the ways in which our bodies supply energy. When we run down a road for an hour, we are producing energy from a different source than when we pick up a heavy barbell. And when we climb our way into a searing pump, it's another animal altogether.

What I got in return is way too much to list. When you are in charge of 46 climbers ranging from just starting out to being able to send three double digit boulders in a session, you learn and you learn quickly. I also acquired the skill to take what these kids taught me and apply it to the climber who has been in the game for twice as long as these kids have been alive. Below is a list of things that really stand out to me and I want you to consider how each of them play a role in your own climbing.

My good friend and longtime climbing partner Kirk Billings used to spend his winters bouldering in Hueco Tanks and cooking at Todd Skinner's training compound. He got to climb with many of the top climbers of the era and witness all manner of novel approaches to climbing and training. One of Kirk's stories from his Hueco days serves as a vivid example of the challenge of applying too much specificity in climbing training.

It might be semantics, but it might also be a trap. When we throw around the terms we use in training for climbing, the word "power" gets used a lot. The problem is that although power is a performance metric, we struggle to build training that directly addresses it. Thus, when we build a program for power, go in and do "power" on the campus board, or do "power" exercises in the weight room, we might not be increasing our power at all. Let's look at this a little more closely.

Ido Portal describes an approach where one continues to explore, work, and grow despite changing circumstances. Engaging, or I should say "experiencing" one's practice from this place of stable commitment is powerful. Certainly easier said than done! As climbers, many of us are seeking something. It might be a peak experience, a deeper sense of connection, or maybe some better understanding of ourselves? We will encounter bumps in the road, likely more often than we would choose, but if we want to really reach our potential, it's essential that we cultivate a mindset where we can thrive despite changing circumstances.