Page 50 - 2023 AMA Spring

SPORTCLIMBING
TRAINING WITH THE ARMY CLIMBING SQUAD
Josh Thorn
In September 2022 I attended my first training weekend, hosted by the excellent Climbing Academy TCA
Mothership in Bristol, with the Army Climbing squad having been scouted during the Army Sport Climbing Cham- pionships. Having never really been a competition climber, and certainly never trained for climbing (though very much fueling my body as if I did) the whole weekend was something of a mystery to me. Fortunately, the squad was very welcoming, and TCA supplied excellent coffee and pizza, so I was suitably distracted from the intense schedule for the weekend.
We opened with a mock competition, set specifically for us. The aim was to rehearse the format and rules for the next big tri-service competition, allowing us to understand how much time we had, and how to make best use of it. As we sat and had a hot debrief together afterwards, Colonel Pete Skinsley (Army Climbing squad head coach) had us reflect on our mindset and tactics – when to try hard and when to rest. We also spoke about the impact of pressure when combined with max effort, and how to manage the body in fight/flight mode when trying to climb with efficiency and precision. Most of the squad climb outdoors, and the application of lessons from competition training and on-sighting at your limit are actually very useful!
We then moved on to our max hang testing, to track progress and who had actually
been finger boarding before arriving. Needless to say, some weaknesses were exposed! The 20mm edge is the standard for testing finger strength, and I'd encourage anyone looking to push past a plateau to investigate it. The MyFingers assessment from Lattice is free and very easy to use. Once we had tested our strength, we moved onto a series of excellent workshops put on by the TCA staff. These included dynamic movement, which was an opportunity for the young guns in the squad to show us all up; energy system training, giving us tools to train strength, power, endurance, and power endurance; and an intriguing challenge of creating a bloc with a specific technique forced into it, which was a great insight into reading routes and under- standing how setters do their job.
Training continued when the team reunited in the new year at South Cerney. The squad again attempted the MyFingers assessment with Capt Kidson setting a high bar at bodyweight (including Christmas bulking!) plus 55kg on that same 20mm edge. Flexibility was not ignored, with the team progressing onto both functional movement testing and the Lattice MyFlex assessment, revealing a number of left/right imbalances to train out.
The squad then pushed out to both Rockstar and Flashpoint in Swindon, pulling hard to establish max bouldering grades and ruin our forearms before endurance training on the Sunday. This
Lt Stubbs attempting the MyFlex assessment
consisted of circuit board sessions, in preparation for the switch from the winter bouldering season into the spring/ summer lead climbing competitions, and pushing power endurance on ‘The Beast’, a sustained 15m bouldering wall set at a 45-degree overhang.
These were fantastic weekends of training, ending with sore skin, arms that felt even more useless than when I arrived, and a brain that was starting to 'get' competition climbing a little more. For myself, I've been using the physical training and psychological skills in my everyday climbing and outdoors, and it already shows its benefits. If you've not given it a go, competition climbing can give you an extra set of tools for trying hard under pressure – something that we can all benefit from!
The Army Climbing squad is always recruiting those of you who might be climbing at a competitive level whether in your own time or as part of a unit climbing club and welcome male and female climbers of all ages. If you're interested in joining, please contact the Secretary (Sports Climbing), Major Jordan Dickinson (details on the committee members page).
Lt Thorn reaching his dynamic jump limit
OCdt Lane demonstrating dynamic movement
Capt Kidson setting a new max hang PB
50 / ARMY MOUNTAINEER