Skills

We chatted with a few industry experts to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of each product. 

USA Climbing's Zack DiCristino offers insight about getting started with a proper strength training program. (Part 1)

20 Minutes With a Kettlebell Will Transform Your Climbing

We all want to rock climb into our old age. To do that, we need to stay healthy. Movement mechanics, myofascial tissue mobility, nutrition, and hydration can all play crucial roles in maximizing joint health.

Sure, they’re strong and skilled. But there’s more to it than that.

Train anytime, anywhere with this no-equipment-necessary workout

Climber has elbow pain, and of course wonders, "Can I keep climbing?"

All climbers need endurance, and there’s no such thing as too much of it.

Wrist pain following a training injury is probably referred from the climber's palm or forearm. The good news is, you can probably climb.

Having strong, well-balanced shoulders is your best chance of a) avoiding the knife, b) climbing anything, and c) a successful surgical outcome.

If you live far from the crags or a climbing gym—or find yourself marooned in a “climbing desert”—you need not lose sight of your climbing goals.

Leader falls 25 feet and lands directly on her head, setting off a host of injuries.

A pulley rupture can affect the volar plate and its role in finger flexion. Or is this climbing injury a pulley strain alone? The advice is the same.

How to maintain while rehabbing: Crimp less (much less), open-hand more, train smart.

Given the muscular development and general load put through their forearms, are candidates for nerve-compression syndromes.

A reader asks whether climbing indoors or in the shade makes climbers susceptible to osteomalacia, or softening of the bones, due to vitamin D deficiency.

Nagging wrist pain, origin possibly skateboarding, affects climbing for years.

The classic mistake is to listen to your natural instinct to save yourself by jumping from an easy warm-up route onto your target onsight for the day.

Neil Gresham puts Klemen Premrl and Tim Emmett, two of the world’s best ice climbers, in the hot seat for training advice

Climbing is built on the honor system, which is super easy to take advantage of. Seriously. Here’s how to do it.

Heel hooks help you reach farther, use less energy, get your body over the lips of roofs or around corners, or simply keep your hips closer to the wall.

Check out Dr. Julian Saunders's author page.

Check out Dr. Julian Saunders's author page.

I’ve been climbing and running at a high level for a combined four years now. The learning curve for balancing the two passions was steep.

If you find yourself alone at a crowded crag, don’t fret. Remember that you're part of a community of people that all share a common interest.

Plyometrics involve rapid muscle stretching and contraction to increase power production. For a climber, this means the ability to move quickly off a hold with a large amount of force.

Low impact does not mean low intensity. Try these exercises to stop huffing and puffing on the approach and while climbing.

Nearly every move a climber makes is based around the center of the body, the core. The stronger the core, the easier climbing becomes.

An expert looks at the physiology and training of older climbers by age group, from 45 to 50, from 50 to 60 and beyond.

On big wall climbs, strategy is as important as strength and skill when it comes to determining success and failure.

Crazy what some people will use for climbing gear.

A Climbing Coach's Advice on Simple Ways to Go Up a Grade.

It's the world's most convenient workout. And the possibilities are endless.

These gear tips can help you avoid being stranded on the wall... or taking terrible risks to get down... or simply allow you to continue enjoying a climbing day.

It's easy to push your training too far, and get injured or see negative progress because you are doing too much. Knowing when to end a training session can be subtle. Here's a climbing coach's tips for guiding you through these murky waters.

FingerBouldering replicates the puzzle-like mechanic of solving boulder problems while still giving you something to actually hold in your hand

Take these belaytionship tips from longtime dynamic duos

The reality is that you likely need to eliminate some training protocols and narrow your focus to become a better climber.

"We only had one harness, so I pulled my car up closer, opened the passenger door, and clipped the locker and belay device to the door latch. The car caught a few falls."

Climbing is risky, but these six characters took it to a whole new level.

Despite the grim nomenclature, the EDK is a safe and effective rappel knot. Here's why.

Not many will argue that hitting the fingerboard will improve your climbing grade, but if simply going climbing is just as effective...

More climbers than ever are stirring collagen into their morning coffee, or snacking on gelatin, trying to keep their tendons healthy. But are these supplements actually helping?

Crack gloves may be all the rage. But there's still value in knowing how to tape up like a pro.

Longtime coach Neil Gresham lays out the secrets to success that have worked time and again for his climbing students. They'll work miracles for you, too.

Enjoy these three chapters—The Summit, Copyright on Enjoyment, and Erasing Art—from our former Editor-in-Chief's newest book, 'The Zen of Climbing'

It’s heinously easy to overdo it on a bouldering board... and overdoing it negates any gains you might make. Planning and discipline play important roles in a healthy board practice.

Your shoulders are crucial to climbing—they are the axles around which all upper-body climbing movement rotates. We ask a lot of them and their fragile ligaments and tendons. Strengthening them is imperative to progressing.

How Jonathan Siegrist, possibly the most prolific sport climber in the United States, trained his anti-style and went from a vertical crimp specialist to a steep cave crusher.

Most of us learn to feel comfortable on finger and hand jams relatively quickly. But off-hands? Fists? Corners? Those techniques don't come quite as easily.

Busy life and can't get to the climbing gym or rocks mid-week? Try this quick strength-building workout.

When they’re bad, the redpoint jitters can reach such a distracting crescendo that I’m shaky and robotic on the rock. I’ve had to learn strategies for approaching that relaxed, unattached state.

The belay had three bolts yet he only clipped one, and didn't use a single locking carabiner.

Sometimes the hardest part of climbing is not climbing.

Pelvic problems are overwhelmingly prevalent—but they do not need to be accepted as part of life.

Check out R. Bryan Simon and Seth C. Hawkins's author page.

A primer for modern-day climbers on this vanishing—but still necessary—art.

Seven tips—to work on now and continually—for mastering the nuances of falling and catching falls.

Check out Paige Claassen's author page.

Improve faster and avoid injuries by climbing just below your limit—roughly 80 percent of your maximum ability—about 90 percent of the time.

Uneven stances, hanging belays, anchors, roots and rocks your rope can snag on...belaying outside is full of hazards that aren't replicated in the gym. Here are some strategies to keep both the climber and belayer safe and secure.

Climbers do a lot of random exercises in hopes of getting more power. But the most effective thing they can do is adjust how they lift weights.

"I was belaying from a ledge high up on the wall at 2 a.m. when my partner called 'off belay.' I was so out of it that I responded by untying myself from the rope."

You can climb even harder when you get older, but you need to follow a specific training plan that balances endurance, strength, and power equally—emphasis on plan.

Climbing is hard when it's hot. But these warm-weather tactics will help you excel. Plus: Here are our 12 favorite warm-weather climbing destinations!

Improving your mental-game can be easy. Seriously.

Check out Matt Samet's author page.

We posed your top questions to our resident outdoor nudist funhog

Professional climber and coach Neil Gresham's advice for training yourself to grip holds just enough, and not so much you waste power.

If you can't use the hold, you can't do the move. If you can't do the move, you won't do the route. Nina Williams makes the case for why sport climbers must train power

They were trying to be safe, but in their zeal they neglected to follow three tenets of basic anchor construction.

This circuit is designed to strengthen injury-prone areas and weak spots in a quick 15 minutes.

A gym climber needed a belay, so a stranger offered to hold her rope. Literally, just held onto the rope for the belay.

Straightforward techniques for effective sloper sending

How many pitches do you climb in a year? For many of our readers it's probably close to 1,000. If you make a critical error one out of a thousand times, the outlook is bleak.

Utilize the relaxing breath to improve on-route performance.

Only 10% of those who encounter lightning are killed, but 70% of survivors have lifelong debilitating injuries. If you've got any doubts, play it safe.

Use these stretches as a way to balance your time hangboarding, climbing, or at home to keep your hands, wrists, fingers, and elbows strong and mobile.

Here's your checklist to stay injury-free out on the blocks.

Heat, ice, and contrast baths have all been touted as recovery tools. But to what extent (and when) are they effective?