Now found in pretty much every climbing gym, the campus board is a well recognised piece of equipment. It was invented by Wolfgang Güllich to aid his training for the very first ascent of the route Action Directe (9a) in Germany’s Frankenjura.

Since my local wall have just put up a new one, I decided to give it a try.

I currently cannot campus particularly well, so realistically there is no point me trying to 1-4-7 my way up some thin slats of wood. At any rate, I’m of the understanding that the campus board is a training tool for improving explosive power and contact strength, not specifically to get better at campusing. That being said, it is a training tool so I think if it’s used sensibly it can give a performance boost and some climbing gains.

 

Before even glancing at a campus board you really need to have climbed for over 2 years, and should be over the age of 16. This is to help protect your finger tendons and prevent injury.

Beginner Tips

-Always warm up first

-Keep open hand grip

-Use the foot hold so there is less stress on fingers and upper body

-Work easy exercises and build up

-Many sets with little rest, to failure

I’ve dabbled a little and done a few basic exercises, to which I received extreme forearm pump! I still have a very long way to go, but I really enjoyed mixing up some training. What I’m aiming to get out of using the board is some finger strength and dynamic movement. A few beginner exercises I’m working are dead-hangs, up/downs and laddering. There’s no point me showing you how it’s done, because I can’t do it just yet. There is video evidence on my Instagram page! So I’ve linked Moon and Crux Crush articles below which are a haven of campus board information.

http://www.moonclimbing.com/blog/moon-blog/school/campus-boarding/

http://cruxcrush.com/2014/09/15/how-to-train-on-the-campus-board/

 

Happy climbing!

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