Anti-style climbing

Who it's for

Anyone who has plateaued. A lot of plateaus come from a style you've been quietly avoiding for two years, and extra strength won't fix that. An hour on six boulders you hate is worth more than a session on your favourites.

It works best once you've climbed regularly for a year or two and can name what you like and what you avoid. If you're still new and every style feels hard, you don't have an anti-style yet. Climb as widely as you can for a while and the gap will show itself.

Common mistakes

• Choosing boulders that are almost your style. If you're comfortable in the first two minutes, you picked wrong.
• Trying to top them. You're learning the movement. Ten minutes of good attempts on a boulder you never finish is a successful round.
• Skipping the note. Writing down the one thing that stopped you is what turns a frustrating hour into a training plan.
• Doing it once. One session tells you what your weakness is. Six weeks of it does something about it.
• Picking boulders far above your grade. If you can't do a single move, you can't learn how the style moves. Go a grade or two below your usual limit so you get real attempts.

How to progress

Run it every couple of weeks and keep the notes together. When the same word keeps appearing, build a block around it: if it's always compression, put squeeze boulders and core work in your next few weeks.

How to make it easier

Drop the grade until you can do most of the moves, and cut the list to three or four boulders if an hour of discomfort is too much. The rule that stays is the note after each boulder.

Where it fits in your week

It suits a Base period, when you have the time to work on weaknesses, and a deload week, because the grades are lower and the pace is slow. In a Performance period, point it at the style of your project or trip. Give it a whole session, straight after your warm-up, since it takes the full hour and needs a fresh head.

Questions

What is anti style climbing?

Anti style climbing is training on the boulders you'd normally walk past: the styles you're weakest at, such as slab, compression, small feet, wide moves or coordination. You pick six of them, spend ten minutes on each and write down what stopped you. The notes show where your technique has gaps.

How do you find your anti style?

You find your anti style by looking at what you avoid. Think about which boulders you skip in the gym, which ones you give up on fastest, and which you only try when a friend makes you. Those are your anti-style. After a few sessions, your notes on what stopped you will name it for you.

How often should you train your anti style?

Train your anti style every couple of weeks as a full session, and more often if one weakness keeps showing up in your notes. When the same thing appears again and again, build a few weeks around it, for example squeeze boulders and core work if compression is what keeps stopping you.

Does anti style climbing help you break a plateau?

Anti style climbing often helps you break a plateau, because it trains the moves your usual climbing skips. If you only climb what suits you, the grades you can send stay limited by the styles you avoid. Working those styles, and writing down what stops you, gives you a clear thing to fix.