ben moon - campusing

8/13/2019 Ben Moon - Campusing

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SCHOOL ROOM/ CAMPUS BOARDING

The Campus board was first designed and built by the legendary Wolfgang Gullich in the late

80s. He desired a training apparatus that would help him gain the required strength to mae the

first ascent of !ction "irecte #a in Germanys $ranen%ura.

When designing the campus board& Wolfgang was looing for an apparatus that could be used to

impro'e e(plosi'e power and contact strength in the fingers and arms. )t was also important that

it incorporated simple yet specific mo'ements which were found on many of the harder climbs in

the $ranen%ura.

)t wasnt long before the idea of the campus board caught on amongst the worlds elite& including

the lies of *en +oon and ,erry +offat. These climbers added campus sessions into their strict

training regimes bac on -nglish soil in the early #0s. owadays& the campus board is a

common piece of equipment seen in climbing gyms all around the world. They are used by a 'ast

amount of climbers of all abilities to help impro'e climbing specific strength in the fingers and

arms and brea the ne(t grade barrier.

! campus board is a 'ery basic piece of equipment& consisting of a slightly o'erhanging woodenboard with wooden rungs /holds e'enly spaced upwards. The idea of this apparatus is that you

campus /climb up the wooden rungs without using you feet& therefore all the stress is going into

your arms and fingers. 1b'iously campus boarding is no use if you neglect climbing which

in'ol'es your feet as well& but can be a good supplement to normal bouldering2 climbing.

Throughout this article ) intend to include se'eral different e(ercises that ) use whilst training on

the campus board. 3ome e(ercises are easier than others and wor slightly different grips& and

types of strength. Howe'er it is worth noting that a campus board is a 'ery physical piece of

equipment and there is an element of ris of in%ury when using one. ) wouldnt recommend the

use of a campus board to anyone who isnt a good strong climber and doesnt fit into categories C

or " in the training questionnaire& be careful. 4ou can also download a campus training plan

Here& but ) recommend reading the rest of the article beforehand.

Rung sizes and spacing

!n ideal campus board will ha'e a few different si5ed rungs& spaced at around 66cm apart with

up to # numbered rungs going upwards. )t is important that you use the correct si5ed rungs when

campus boarding. 1b'iously campussing on huge %ugs wont increase finger strength but while

using smaller rungs will be more beneficial& it could increase the ris of in%ury. Clearly somecommon sense is required when selecting which rungs to use& if you are new to campus boarding

then ) recommend that you use slightly bigger rungs and gradually decrease the si5e. )t is

important howe'er that you can perform a minimum of 7 pull ups on the rung you wish to

campus on& if you cant complete this then they are too small.

GripsWhen campus boarding there are three main types of grips you can use& although ) generally force

myself to stay open handed or half crimped.

Open Handedthis is an important grip to train since it is generally trained less when bouldering2

climbing indoors but is important to be strong in this position. $or this grip it is also possible to

e(periment using only a select few fingers& as if you where climbing in pocets. *ut beware this

is a 'ery intense e(ercise& and for all but the few mortals using all fingers open handed will be
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sufficient.

Half Cripthis is my preferred grip to use when campus boarding since it will help impro'e

both crimped and open handed strength.

!ull Crip) ha'e ne'er found the need to campus in a full crimped position since ) feel half

crimped is safe and more efficent for training. Howe'er& other climbers ) now do& so ) ha'eincluded this 'ariation. !gain& beware as it is more dangerous than using a half crimped grip.

"#ercises

) wont go into detail about being warmed up when using the campus board& its common sense&

and we also ha'e a great article on warming up /see here. )t is important that you dont campuswhen tired or unwell& since sloppy technique will increase the ris if in%ury. !lso for most

climbers it is best to campus board when you ha'e rested the day before and are totally fresh.

!im for quality o'er quantity and a session should last no more than 9 hour.

!s stated abo'e each rung will be numbered& when e(plaining e(ercise ) will state rung numbers

in a particular order. 4ou should campus between these rungs with alternati'e hands. $or

e(ample if ) state 9:;:< leading with the left hand& you should start matching on rung one. Thencampus up to rung ; with the left hand& then pull straight through to rung < with the right hand

without matching.

Laddering/3ee =ideo

>addering is the most simple and ob'ious e(ercise done on the campus board and can be done on

any of the preferred grips as mentioned abo'e.

The idea of laddering is that you mo'e up the board in a symmetric fashion mo'ing with the

opposite hand for each mo'ement.

4ou can e(periment with se'eral different rung combinations& such as 9::7:


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"oubles should increase& lie all other campus e(ercise& hand eye co:ordination and timing. !s

well as impro'ing e(plosi'e power and contact strength.

"oubles require mo'ing between rungs with both hands at the same time& therefore causing a

moment of free flight before catching the ne(t rung. !gain there are many different sequences to

be tried& but generally people will use 9::6:;::7:;:@:7:


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*%r+%u) plan

*efore you start this plan it is essential that you are fully warmed up& preferably on a bouldering

wall or hang board. 7 minutes on a few easy boulder problems is not sufficient. !ll e(ercises can

be done of any of the three grips mentioned in the main article? howe'er ) would recommend for

most people that half crimped would be most beneficial.

Ladder ,-.--0-1/=ideo

6 3ets with 9 minutes rest between each set

Ladder ,-2-3-1

6 3ets leading with each arm /; sets in total with 9 minutes rest between.

Best ; +inutes

Ladder Ma#iu ,-2-0/=ideo

tries leading with each arm /@ tries in total resting 6 minutes between each try. )t is no problem

if you fail to complete 9:;:< on e'ery try. *ut you should be aiming for at least 6 successfulattempts& leading up to 7 or @ as you impro'e.

Best ; minutes

$%uc&es ,-2-,/=ideo

3ets of 9:;:9:;:9:;:9:;:9 leading with alternati'e hands& i.e. >eft Hand touches rung ; 6 times&

as does the Bight Hand for each set. Best 6 minutes between each set.

Best ; +inutes

$%uc&es ,-2-.-2/=ideo

6 sets for each arm& 9:;::;::;::; for each set eeping one arm constantly on rung one and the

other mo'ing between rungs and ;. Besting 6 minutes each set.

Warm down properly and gi'e yourself a pat on the bac.
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