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The Climbing Bible: Practical Exercises
The Climbing Bible: Practical Exercises by Martin Mobråten and Stian Christophersen is a collection of exercises specifically designed to help you train technique and strength so that you can develop and improve as a climber. After two decades of climbing, training and coaching, the authors have built up a huge library of exercises, and they share many of them with you in this book.
The first section focuses on your technique, with emphasis on footwork, grip positions, balance, direction of force and dynamics, among other things. The second section features exercises to help you train strength and power – with on-the-wall exercises, finger strength and fingerboarding exercises, arm exercises and more. Also included is a section for children and young climbers to help their parents and coaches create great sessions for kids. This chapter presents games, technique exercises and physical training ideas for children.
Illustrated with over 200 technique and action photos, and with insights from the authors and other top climbers, The Climbing Bible: Practical Exercises will inspire you to try new exercises in every training session. Keep it in your climbing wall bag, cover it in chalk and embrace the variety so easily found in climbing.
The first section focuses on your technique, with emphasis on footwork, grip positions, balance, direction of force and dynamics, among other things. The second section features exercises to help you train strength and power – with on-the-wall exercises, finger strength and fingerboarding exercises, arm exercises and more. Also included is a section for children and young climbers to help their parents and coaches create great sessions for kids. This chapter presents games, technique exercises and physical training ideas for children.
Illustrated with over 200 technique and action photos, and with insights from the authors and other top climbers, The Climbing Bible: Practical Exercises will inspire you to try new exercises in every training session. Keep it in your climbing wall bag, cover it in chalk and embrace the variety so easily found in climbing.
192 pages, Paperback
Published February 3, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 3, 2022
Develop your Ninja Feet and learn to Double Clutch.
Following their impressive book covering performance factors and climbing theory, “The Climbing Bible”, the Norwegian authors have produced a sequel, or rather an extension, which presents a series of illustrated practical exercises (the clue is in the title!). There are 3 main sections – Technique, Strength and Power, and Children and Youths. Sadly, there is no chapter for the old and decrepit. Despite this disappointment, there is a wealth of ideas to enhance your skills at the wall.
A very engaging foreword by Cecilie Skog will ring bells for many climbers who thought they were satisfied with their level of climbing until they realised how much more fun this game we play could be if they did some training. The authors have plenty of credentials to help, as climbers, coaches and physiotherapist, and the exercises are easy to understand and accessible. With exercise titles like ‘Baby Steps’, ‘Ninja Feet’ and in a nod to Johnny Dawes – ‘No Hands’ in the Footwork section, the book progresses to include the more advanced moves seen in World Cup and Olympic bouldering.
The Strength and Power chapters offer a wide range of bodily tortures to feed your masochistic side. The final section of the book is dedicated to things to do with children and youths – probably up to about 11 or 12 years of age. This is full of fun activities with a purpose. Climbing with tennis balls under both arms to improve footwork, climbing blind, and climbing in pairs are among the ideas.
Although there are a few references to and photographs of outdoor climbing, the content relates primarily to indoor bouldering or climbing walls. It is a highly visual book, and depicting subtle movements through a sequence of still photos is a challenge which does not always come off. The images are well-staged but the colour is a bit lurid at times.
Newish climbers who want to get into training and improving will find plenty here to stimulate and work at, whilst climbers who are already well into serious training should find specific help in aspects they are working on. For coaches and instructors, this repertoire of exercises will be particularly useful when working with individuals, and with groups of children. It’s a valuable addition to the growing lexicon of training literature, which will no doubt continue to expand as climbing reaches ever wider audiences.
Following their impressive book covering performance factors and climbing theory, “The Climbing Bible”, the Norwegian authors have produced a sequel, or rather an extension, which presents a series of illustrated practical exercises (the clue is in the title!). There are 3 main sections – Technique, Strength and Power, and Children and Youths. Sadly, there is no chapter for the old and decrepit. Despite this disappointment, there is a wealth of ideas to enhance your skills at the wall.
A very engaging foreword by Cecilie Skog will ring bells for many climbers who thought they were satisfied with their level of climbing until they realised how much more fun this game we play could be if they did some training. The authors have plenty of credentials to help, as climbers, coaches and physiotherapist, and the exercises are easy to understand and accessible. With exercise titles like ‘Baby Steps’, ‘Ninja Feet’ and in a nod to Johnny Dawes – ‘No Hands’ in the Footwork section, the book progresses to include the more advanced moves seen in World Cup and Olympic bouldering.
The Strength and Power chapters offer a wide range of bodily tortures to feed your masochistic side. The final section of the book is dedicated to things to do with children and youths – probably up to about 11 or 12 years of age. This is full of fun activities with a purpose. Climbing with tennis balls under both arms to improve footwork, climbing blind, and climbing in pairs are among the ideas.
Although there are a few references to and photographs of outdoor climbing, the content relates primarily to indoor bouldering or climbing walls. It is a highly visual book, and depicting subtle movements through a sequence of still photos is a challenge which does not always come off. The images are well-staged but the colour is a bit lurid at times.
Newish climbers who want to get into training and improving will find plenty here to stimulate and work at, whilst climbers who are already well into serious training should find specific help in aspects they are working on. For coaches and instructors, this repertoire of exercises will be particularly useful when working with individuals, and with groups of children. It’s a valuable addition to the growing lexicon of training literature, which will no doubt continue to expand as climbing reaches ever wider audiences.
February 2, 2022
Summary
I'll confess I do not have the authors original Climbing Bible book so was unsure what to expect from this but found it really useful. It is well written and structured, after the intro describing the motivation for writing the book follows a brief section on warming up and then three solid chapters on Technique, Strength & Power and Children & Youths. In summary it is an excellent reference for those looking to improve the structure of their climbing training. There are plenty of illustrative pictures as well as a decent smattering of inspiring pictures from climbing outdoors, all put together in the high standards one would expect from Vertebrate Publishing.
More thoughts...
Its refreshing to read a book on training for climbing that includes technique which is often neglected in favour of the easier to quantify aspect of finger strength. Having good proprioception/kinasthesia is fundamental to climbing but is so often neglected in favour of getting strong as fast as possible. The authors break down technique into distinct areas focusing on footwork, grip positions, balance, tension and direction of force, dynamics, tricks and combination
exercises. Each component is demonstrated graphically with multiple detailed pictures to illustrate what is meant by the text, which is important and works well because climbing is a visceral activity in which one has to engage in order to understand and learn. The other book on training where I have seen comparable illustrations are the hand-drawn pictures that accompany another brilliant book on climbing technique from Vertebrate, Pete Whittaker's Crack Climbing - Mastering the skills & techniques which I also highly recommend.
The Strength and Power section compliments the technique section well, following the same procedure of breaking down exercises in detail and explaining the purpose for doing so as well as giving advice on how to progress through the levels of each exercises. For example how to gradually build up finger boarding strength or progress through the stages of developing the core strength to perform front-levers (whether I'll ever achieve this is another matter!).
Each technique or power strength tip has detailed text but is often accompanied by a small caption box which summarises the point of the exercise and this works well to help reinforce and refresh the memory of why you are doing it if the book is used as the authors intend it to be, taken to the wall and thumbed through and used as you are actually climbing, something I have had limited opportunity to do so far because of the pandemic but which I hope to do in the future.
The final chapter of the book is perhaps the most unique feature since it focuses on training for children, an area that has seen little attention in the books I've read on this topic to date. As a parent whose child has been encouraged to try climbing and who, thankfully, enjoys it this section obviously appealed as it has the potential to be really useful. As is emphasised at the start of the book keeping things fun is key and having tried some of the activities out with my child I was pleased with how she took to them, although many would have been more fun and engaging if she had been climbing with others her age rather than just her dad, but such is the state of things with the pandemic. She's still a little young to be focusing on the strength training the authors advocate is beneficial at all ages, but then she also enjoys gymnastics which I feel compliments the climbing and other activities she takes.
Anyway, enough about me, this is an excellent book for anyone looking to guide themselves through the masses of messy information out there on training for climbing. Its well structured, clear and concise and the production quality is as
always second to none. I will be taking it with me to the wall as and when I can and using it to help nudge my own
abilities up.
I'll confess I do not have the authors original Climbing Bible book so was unsure what to expect from this but found it really useful. It is well written and structured, after the intro describing the motivation for writing the book follows a brief section on warming up and then three solid chapters on Technique, Strength & Power and Children & Youths. In summary it is an excellent reference for those looking to improve the structure of their climbing training. There are plenty of illustrative pictures as well as a decent smattering of inspiring pictures from climbing outdoors, all put together in the high standards one would expect from Vertebrate Publishing.
More thoughts...
Its refreshing to read a book on training for climbing that includes technique which is often neglected in favour of the easier to quantify aspect of finger strength. Having good proprioception/kinasthesia is fundamental to climbing but is so often neglected in favour of getting strong as fast as possible. The authors break down technique into distinct areas focusing on footwork, grip positions, balance, tension and direction of force, dynamics, tricks and combination
exercises. Each component is demonstrated graphically with multiple detailed pictures to illustrate what is meant by the text, which is important and works well because climbing is a visceral activity in which one has to engage in order to understand and learn. The other book on training where I have seen comparable illustrations are the hand-drawn pictures that accompany another brilliant book on climbing technique from Vertebrate, Pete Whittaker's Crack Climbing - Mastering the skills & techniques which I also highly recommend.
The Strength and Power section compliments the technique section well, following the same procedure of breaking down exercises in detail and explaining the purpose for doing so as well as giving advice on how to progress through the levels of each exercises. For example how to gradually build up finger boarding strength or progress through the stages of developing the core strength to perform front-levers (whether I'll ever achieve this is another matter!).
Each technique or power strength tip has detailed text but is often accompanied by a small caption box which summarises the point of the exercise and this works well to help reinforce and refresh the memory of why you are doing it if the book is used as the authors intend it to be, taken to the wall and thumbed through and used as you are actually climbing, something I have had limited opportunity to do so far because of the pandemic but which I hope to do in the future.
The final chapter of the book is perhaps the most unique feature since it focuses on training for children, an area that has seen little attention in the books I've read on this topic to date. As a parent whose child has been encouraged to try climbing and who, thankfully, enjoys it this section obviously appealed as it has the potential to be really useful. As is emphasised at the start of the book keeping things fun is key and having tried some of the activities out with my child I was pleased with how she took to them, although many would have been more fun and engaging if she had been climbing with others her age rather than just her dad, but such is the state of things with the pandemic. She's still a little young to be focusing on the strength training the authors advocate is beneficial at all ages, but then she also enjoys gymnastics which I feel compliments the climbing and other activities she takes.
Anyway, enough about me, this is an excellent book for anyone looking to guide themselves through the masses of messy information out there on training for climbing. Its well structured, clear and concise and the production quality is as
always second to none. I will be taking it with me to the wall as and when I can and using it to help nudge my own
abilities up.
January 25, 2022
This book is almost worth buying just for the gorgeous photos; the stories from Norwegian climbers are also a treat. They also help to link the exercises to "real" climbing, giving additional motivation and inspiration.
The exercises are generally clearly explained with helpful accompanying photographs, and bonus helpful hints annotated alongside in red. Short summaries accompany many of the wordier explanations, so that you can check how many reps "at a glance". There is a good variety of exercises, with suitable emphasis given to how you can train without injury and to offering variations and ways of making training more fun.
However, it is important to note that this book is intended as a companion to The Climbing Bible (English translation published 2020). As such it leaves out endurance, flexibility and the mental side of climbing. Instead, the three chapters focus on Technique, Strength & Power and Children/Youth respectively, providing exercises whereby you can train these aspects. It also means that the book frequently refers to the earlier book, saying "we explained XYZ in that book". Whilst this book does stand alone, I suspect it might work even better if used in conjunction with the other book. Fortunately Vertebrate offers a bundle which will allow you to do just that.
The translation from the Norwegian is excellent, with only one small slip that I spotted.
Overall a thoroughly useful and well-presented book that will help climbers looking to train particular aspects of their climbing or adults looking for exercises for their kids classes.
The exercises are generally clearly explained with helpful accompanying photographs, and bonus helpful hints annotated alongside in red. Short summaries accompany many of the wordier explanations, so that you can check how many reps "at a glance". There is a good variety of exercises, with suitable emphasis given to how you can train without injury and to offering variations and ways of making training more fun.
However, it is important to note that this book is intended as a companion to The Climbing Bible (English translation published 2020). As such it leaves out endurance, flexibility and the mental side of climbing. Instead, the three chapters focus on Technique, Strength & Power and Children/Youth respectively, providing exercises whereby you can train these aspects. It also means that the book frequently refers to the earlier book, saying "we explained XYZ in that book". Whilst this book does stand alone, I suspect it might work even better if used in conjunction with the other book. Fortunately Vertebrate offers a bundle which will allow you to do just that.
The translation from the Norwegian is excellent, with only one small slip that I spotted.
Overall a thoroughly useful and well-presented book that will help climbers looking to train particular aspects of their climbing or adults looking for exercises for their kids classes.
February 2, 2022
Having recently started climbing, I have found this book to be indispensable. The advice and exercises offered have been so helpful to my progress and has made me even more keen to progress in this sport. I really like the introductions from the authors, which builds into the different techniques to practise every time you’re on the climbing wall or heading outside. Each exercise is accompanied by a beautiful image so you can clearly see what you’re meant to be doing, and the explanation guides you through the reasons why that particular technique is important to help you improve. There is a great variety in terms of levels of difficulty. Even if you have years of experience, I think you would still find techniques and tips in this book to help you and push you further. The exercises are interspersed with really interesting pieces on (for example) training for trad and alpine, or a page on how to become stronger or how to vary your training. The final section, on climbing exercises for children and young people, will be invaluable for those wanting to give their child a taste of the climbing wall in a safe and fun way. All in all, this is a really beautifully-made book which will look good on your shelf/coffee table as well as always accompanying you in your bag when you’re off climbing. Extremely interesting, practical and informative – I highly recommend it.
February 3, 2022
This is a great companion to the recent Climbing Bible by the same authors. It is divided into three main sections: technique, strength and power, and lastly training for children.
Really it is a collection of exercises intended to develop technique or strength/power in a climbing context. Each exercise is illustrated with multiple high quality photographs and a clear explanation both of the exercise and its purpose. There are also anecdotes and action photos from high performing Norwegian climbers for inspiration.
It’s an excellent book, and the exercises are oriented around the climbing wall - that is, both technique and strength/power exercises are built to be practised on the wall or using infrastructure found at the climbing gym (like fingerboards). I appreciate the emphasis on technique first, strength second.
Overall a great book, although as other reviewers have said - important to note that it’s a companion to The Climbing Bible. However that book is also worth having, so I’d recommend obtaining them both.
Really it is a collection of exercises intended to develop technique or strength/power in a climbing context. Each exercise is illustrated with multiple high quality photographs and a clear explanation both of the exercise and its purpose. There are also anecdotes and action photos from high performing Norwegian climbers for inspiration.
It’s an excellent book, and the exercises are oriented around the climbing wall - that is, both technique and strength/power exercises are built to be practised on the wall or using infrastructure found at the climbing gym (like fingerboards). I appreciate the emphasis on technique first, strength second.
Overall a great book, although as other reviewers have said - important to note that it’s a companion to The Climbing Bible. However that book is also worth having, so I’d recommend obtaining them both.
January 13, 2022
I've found this book invaluable. I recently qualified, and started working as, a Climbing Wall Instructor and have used the exercises explained here both personally and professionally. It covers strength and conditioning and also technique on the wall. It's also a very good looking book with plenty of clear photographs illustrating the text. I would recommend the book to all climbers, there's something here for everyone.
February 3, 2022
A really beautifully put together book illustrated with colourful and useful photos throughout. A great guide to making steady improvements in technique, strength and power...as well as a very hand section for how to entertain/occupy groups of children in the climbing sphere. If I could just digest and memorise the whole thing then I'm sure there'd be a steady career in climbing instruction awaiting me at the other end!
January 7, 2024
Briefer than I was expecting, and good but obvious points etc.
January 2, 2025
Good explanations with good imagery + some wonderful photos that really ignite a spark to climb. The kids section did contain some repetition though.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews