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this would appeal to the competitive spirit, but avoid overcomplicating the whole process and turning it into a number-chasing game” (Escalade 2001).

Training for Climbing
     
    As discussed earlier, there are many trainable variables to work on as part of your training for climbing program. In chapter 2 you will perform a self-assessment test to determine which of these trainable variables is most holding you back. The best training program (for you) will concentrate on the areas that can produce the greatest gain in performance output for a given training input. Of course, the goal is to train most effectively, not maximally.

A Definition of Training for Climbing
     
    I define training for climbing as any practice, exercise, or discipline that increases absolute climbing performance. Clearly, this represents a broad spectrum of subjects—hence the wide range of topics covered in this book.
    Through this paradigm you should recognize that training includes a wide range of activities and practices such as bouldering (to learn problem solving and develop power); climbing on a home wall or at a climbing gym (to improve technique and strength); on-sighting, hangdogging, or for that matter any climbing (to enhance your mental and physical skill sets); and traveling to experience many different types of climbing (to gain experience and a broad range of technical skills). Training also includes efforts made in ancillary areas such as stretching and antagonist-muscle training (for flexibility and injury prevention), eating properly (to enhance recovery and maintain optimal body composition), visualization and targeted thinking (to maximize mind programming and disconnect from bad habits), resting sufficiently and listening to your body (to optimize training results and to avoid injury), and evaluating yourself regularly (to determine your current strengths and weaknesses). Finally, training of course includes proper execution of various general and sport-specific exercises (to work toward your physical genetic potential).
    For the sake of discriminating among these many types of training throughout the rest of the book, let’s define several training subtypes—mental training, skill practice, fitness and strength training, and training support activities—as shown in figure 1.4.
    Mental training involves any thought control, discipline, or mind-programming activity that will directly or indirectly impact your climbing in a positive way. The best climbers train mentally 24/7—this is one activity in which you can never overtrain—by targeting their thoughts only on things that can, in some way, influence their climbing and by deleting thoughts and habits that might hold them back. Unfortunately, many individuals possess mental muscle that’s in an advanced stage of atrophy from underuse. Visualization is just one of the many mental exercises that can improve your climbing. Chapter 3 lays out an array of mental-training methods and on-the-rock strategies that will have a combined effect similar to unloading a heavy weight from your back (which you’ve unknowingly been hauling up routes). Are you ready to spread your Mental Wings?

     
    Figure 1.4 Subtypes of Training
     

    Practice relates to time spent learning and refining actual sport skills and strategies outside of a performance setting. Just as baseball, basketball, and football players spend many hours practicing their skills outside of competition, climbers must practice by climbing a lot with the sole intention of improving climbing skill (and not worrying about an outcome such as a flash, redpoint, or on-sight ascent). It’s my sense that many climbers’ training programs are devoid of this vital subtype of training. We’ll take an in-depth look at the subject of effective skill practice in chapter 4.
    Fitness and strength training covers a wide range of activities that are performed with the primary intent of improving physiological capabilities. This includes