The Self-Coached Climber: The Guide to Movement Training Performance (Paperback)

~ Dan M. Hague (Author), Douglas Hunter (Author) "It's nothing new to call climbing a balance sport, but the "why" behind the concept has never been fully explained..." (more)
Key Phrases: bouldering grade, hypertrophic training, local endurance training, American Fork, Self-Assessment Worksheet, Summersville Lake (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A dynamic package of training material from a pair of expert coaches, "The Self-Coached Climber" offers comprehensive instruction, from the basics of gripping holds to specific guidelines for developing a customized improvement plan. Hague and Hunter base their methods on the four fundamental components of all human movement--balance, force, time, and space--and explain how to apply these principles to achieve efficient results. The DVD presents live demonstrations of training exercises and features an original documentary of a 5.14a/b redpoint attempt by Adam Stack and Chris Lindner. Includes 52 practical training exercises designed to advance technique, detailed anatomical illustrations that explain climbing physiology and an 85-minute DVD that shows concepts in action.

About the Author

Dan Hague founded Sportrock Climbing Centers in the Washington, D.C., area. He has been climbing for over thirty years and teaching climbing for twelve. Douglas Hunter has been climbing for twenty-five years and coaching climbers for fifteen. He is a professional filmmaker in southern California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 228 pages
• Publisher: Stackpole Books; Pap/DVD edition (February 27, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811733394
• ISBN-13: 978-0811733397
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #33,844 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best sport climbing book yet!, February 9, 2006

By	OutdoorEnthusiast (Washington DC) - See all my reviews

This makes "Performance Rock Climbing" completely obsolete (great in it's day, way outdated now). And it blows "Training for Climbing" away with better content on movement training and a DVD that brings it all together. The authors have clearly put a lot of time and research into this book -- it's technical but very readable.

This is a must-have for anyone serious about hard rock. BUT it has zero content about nutrition or injury prevention and recovery; serious oversights that are covered best in "Climbing: Training for Peak Performance" (a great book but more for alpine climbers and weekend rock warriors). For example, it doesn't warn how easy it is to hurt an ACL doing a drop knee or even discuss an A2 pulley injury. And you really can't climb at your best if you aren't eating well. Despite these short-comings, Self-Coached Climber rocks!

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not a Substitute for experience BUT..., February 15, 2007

By	Rehan Dost (Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Training to climb is very sport specific. That is..... there is ample evidence that cross training to climb is not useful. For example being able to do 100 pull ups is probably not going to enhance your climbing ability much. Perhaps the only exception to this rule once you reach a certain level of climbing, is "reading" to climb. I must stress that without a certain baseline climbing experience reading about HOW to climb is not going to help you . However, as you excel you will find yourself plateauing. This is when mentoring will be of greatest benefit. Most cannot afford to be mentored by an experienced climber so you do the next best thing....mentor by proxy...you read a book.

In this regard, this book is one of the best "mentors" around. It takes you from your current plateaued level of climbing into an exponential phase of improvement. The book explains climbing by looking at movement which is composed of space, time, force and balance, efficiency of movement and psychology of movement. After explaining these topics the author gives specific exercises to improve these aspects of climbing.

The author then integrates these concepts into a coherent training schedule by first identifying your current level of performance in actual climbing. He then spells out what you should be doing at that level of climbing to progress to the next level. I particularly appreciated this part of the book.

For example let's say your current level of climbing is 5.10. He gives you a detailed training schedule of how to improve your level of climbing to 5.11. He holds your hand telling you how to warm and for how long, what bouldering problems to do, what climbs to do and how to do them, how to train both aerobically and anaerobically. Detailed training is provided to the 5.13 level.

If you are beginner I would not recommend buying any books yet. Rather go out a climb. For an introduction on "how to climb" please see my listmania: " so you want to rock climb".

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Groundbreaking, August 24, 2006

By	Jordan Shipman - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've read and been through just about eery other training book for rock climbing. This is the first book that reads like a textbook for school. It breaks things down into a science, increasing your understanding and vocabulary of how climbing works enabling you to cognitively apply practical skills immediately. Unlike other books, this one instructs the reader how to actually construct a training plan and what excercises to perform for his/her level based on what level they are trying to reach instead of simply stating the obvious, "to get better you need to train." This book is a must read for anyone looking to train for climbing and a bible for any serious climber looking to amp up their training regime.