Campus Training and Golgi Epiphany

When I was at Baylor, I climbed a lot with a doctor named Steve Martin (Nelson Martin for those of you who have seen the Hueco Tanks orientation video) and  I remember him telling my about golgi bodies in the tendons.  I didn't really know what they were but that they basically make your hands let go.

Last Friday I did a campus workout and for the first time climbed after it and I have found something out that I wanted to share.  The process is called neuromuscular disinhibition.  Basically the golgi organ causes your hands, by a release of proteins to release when it reaches peak tension.  Campus board training teaches your hands to have a higher tolerance for what that peak is.

I haven't found a whole lot of material on this besides the Nicros  website, particularly in a Q&A session with Eric J. Horst.  It is brief but reads as such:

How to train for neuromuscular disinhibition?

Q:What is the best way to disinhibit the golgi tendon organ? Can you give me a single best training tip on this? – Jake (Moab, UT)

"Hey Jake,
That’s a pretty high-end training question. Regarding neuromuscular disinhibition, the best strategies are hypergravity training (bouldering/training with weight added to your body) and dynamic campus training (i.e. double hand dynos). Of course, both these strategies are stressful and not appropriate for many climbers. However, if you are in really good shape, already possess great technique, and you are not injured (fingers, shoulders, elbows), then you might try adding some of this to your regimen. My book, Training For Climbing, covers this subject and provides more in-depth details. Also, this winter I’ll be adding a few articles to the Nicros Training Center detailing safe, effective methods of Campus Training. Please check back!"

Eric Horst

As Eric briefly mentions, this type of training is not for many climbers.  Campus boards are used to train your hands to accept the amount of weight and force that you have already generated the strength for.  The golgi bodies are a safeguard to keep you from getting hurt and training above what you can handle is in the realm of popping tendons (sometimes irreparable damage).  BUT, for those who are to this point in their climbing and training, here is what I found out last week.

I started my session with some easy climbing and progressed up to about V8.  From there, I met up with a guy and did a campus board session. It was on small rungs starting on 1, campusing up each rung to 5 and then back down again.  After I finished I got back on and noticed something that really came as a revelation to me.  I noticed that on the problems I got on I was having a lot of trouble with dynamic movement in a big way.  Anything that was static, even a bad hold, was solid, allowing me to move to and from with ease.  Anything that was any bit of a jump, however, my hand just gave out.

This is it.  This is the epitome of climbing training.  There is no specific muscle group or movement you can ever work to make yourself instantly better at climbing.  You could be amazing at one arm pull-ups, but if you can't hold the holds, you aren't doing yourself a lot of good.  If you can hold onto the holds statically, but not dynamically, you are really limiting the types of climbs you can do.

My suggestion to anyone trying to break a plateau or just climb harder is to train all types of movements.  I was told this for years and didn't listen and now I finally get it.  I am sure there will be a lot more campusing in my future, so I will keep you updated as to how it affects my climbing overall, but it shouldn't be anything but positive.