Customer Reviews
Training for Climbing - By: Spider Monkey, 25 Oct 2007 
This is an outstanding book about training for climbing. It covers a wide range of topics & all with a solid scientific basis. The writing style is extremely easy to read & entertaining to boot. I have to say I disagree with the reviewer who said there is too much focus on mental training. This is a small, but integral part of this book. This book looks at mental training, skills & strategy, strength training, personal programs, nutrition, recovery & injury prevention. It also includes training charts you can use, additional tips & a comprehensive glossary. Allin all an excellent guide to training from a respected climber & climbing journalist. Highly recommended for beginner or more experienced climber alike.
The definitive guide to climbing specific training - By: A. T. Evans, 23 Nov 2005 Horst has produced an excellent source of information on all aspects of climbing specific training. Exercises, stretching, diet, recovery, planning & motivation are all describedin detail. More importantly, the reasoning behind his recommendations is described which helps those of us with a more inquisitive mind to understand why following his advice is beneficial.
There is some content on motivation/mental training which may or may or not suit invididual people. Personally I read through this only once, but returned again & again to review the chapters on planning, recovery, diet & of course the specific training exercises.
The proof of the pudding isin the eating, & the hard facts are that since buying & reading this book, both my trad & sport climbing standards have increased by five grades.
Bit too much motivation jargon - By: , 07 Jan 2004 
I'll have to admit up front that motivational books don't tend to work for me, so perhaps I'm not best placed to judge this work. I bought it with the hope it would include specific exercises & techniques to improve my climbing - & it does certainly include this. It also includes a lot of what I saw as filler - spurious wavy line diagrams depicting 'motivation curve' & the like, plus a lot of what could be considered stating the bloody obvious: such as you need to motivate yourself to exercise. Whatever its fallings, its not a bad book, but a lot of what it says you don't need a book to know - just go to your local climbing wall & work it out yourself.
Thinking man's training bible - By: , 28 Oct 2003 I recently hit a plateau with my climbing performance, & was determined to sort it out. So I bought this book (amongst others).
From the beginning everything I've done has worked to perfection. The first chapters helped me determine what my problems were & to focus on identifying & solving them; the next taught me how the training works, what the body needs to do & WHY.
It doesn't just cover the science either - it contains practical advice on stretching techniques, a huge variety of training techniques & exercises for all abilities, advice on nutrition, injury prevention, training programmes & more.
The emphasis isn't on just providing you with the answers though - it teaches you how to organise your own time to suit your needs of the moment (e.g. power, strength, technique). In this way you learn much more, & always feelin control; this neatly avoids the chore-like routine of an imposed training regimen.
The text itself is writtenin a highly entertaining & readable style that engages the interest of the reader; this is very important as you'll be coming back to this book again & again & again. The author has managed to tailor the book to be both an inspiring first, second & third read, but also to be an invaluable reference guide.
My advice is to buy it.
