Safe training

Is hang boarding and campus boarding safe for youths? I am a 14 year old that has just started hang boarding and I want to know what you guys know about the effects of these hang boarding and campusing on developing fingers. Thanks.

Probably better than exploring the internet with a developing mind. Other than that, I dont know.

Theres' no black or white answer. It depends mostly on what your current level of conditioning is. i.e. how long have you been climbing? Not only that but how long have you been consistently following a structured training program?

If you've only been climbing/training for a year or so I'd say to stay away from the hang boarding or campusing for a little while longer. But if you've got a good base level of several years of climbing and you're looking to push through a plateau then a cycle of hang boarding could be just fine.

Obviously I know nothing about your climbing history or genetic makeup.
Educate yourself as much as you can, a hang board can be a great training tool if it's not over used. My philosophy on trying out a new training program is to go slow and just get an idea of how my body reacts to the new stress. But then I'd rather make performance gains slower and keep climbing than shoot the moon and have to take time off to deal with an injury.
Happy training,
BA

Many campus boards at public gyms are not well set up for incremental progressive increases in force intensity / load -- for climbers who are not already very strong. They are more "show-off" / macho stunt equipment than useful training tools.

Perhaps better to build your own, following guidelines for incremental progressive training which have been discussed previously on this forum.

Ken

Contact Eric Horst - he has two kids and could probably give you some insight into how you should structure your training.

His website is trainingforclimbing.com

thenathanwilliams wrote:effects of these hang boarding and campusing on developing fingers.

Not that this answers your question, but I remember a YouTube video of an 11-year-old girl doing lots of campusing moves (with the full knowledge and encouragement of her famous climber parents).

Also ... completely irrelevant ... I bet an average two-year-old chimp can do wild campus moves without thinking twice. But chimps have different muscle fibers from (most of?) us humans - (fiber type 2X or something?)

I'm amazed nobody has said this but you SHOULD NOT BE FINGERBOARDING OR CAMPUS BOARDING AT YOUR AGE.

A look at literally any climbing website with training articles will tell you, you can permanently damage the growth plates in your fingers (the finger bones haven't finished fusing yet) and that will be your climbing career over.

Leave campus boarding until you are at least over 18 or so, please.

So you think the training regimes applicable to the best climbers in the world are applicable to random kids on the internet? Just as an example, the BMC in the UK advises that anyone under 18 shouldn't be campusing, and any serious trainer or coach will tell a young person hangboarding or campusing they will get far stronger, safer by getting big volumes of climbing in. /facepalm

I got the link for you, thebmc.co.uk/campus-boards-…

For the campus boarding at least, the UIAA Medical Commission say you shouldn't do foot-off or dynamic campus boarding. There is alot of advice on the net saying hangboarding probably isn't going to be that great for you when you are younger.

Ian Grant wrote:Don't listen to sachimcfarland. He exaggerates. Ashima, Mirko, Graham, Ondra, Sharma? Their climbing careers are doing okay.

Actually, during his interview with Neeley on Training Beta, Ondra says he didn't train at all till quite late (?16 I can't remember exactly.)

trainingbeta.com/media/tbp-…

sachimcfarland wrote:the UIAA Medical Commission say you shouldn't do foot-off or dynamic campus boarding.

? But feet-off indoor bouldering moves and dynamic indoor bouldering moves are perfectly OK?
for climbers under age 16?

? and the impact on epiphyseal growth plates of legs and spine from repeatedly jumping off high on indoor bouldering problems is perfectly OK?
for climbers under age 16?

kenr wrote: ? But feet-off indoor bouldering moves and dynamic indoor bouldering moves are perfectly OK? for climbers under age 16? ? and the impact on epiphyseal growth plates of legs and spine from repeatedly jumping off high on indoor bouldering problems is perfectly OK? for climbers under age 16?

Not as repetitive perhaps.

Should under 18 year olds use campus boards?

The short answer is no! It's potentially more injurious for developing youths than for adults.

Here is a notable excerpt from the article:
"
Fingers stop growing around biological age 17, just after the final growth spurt in adolescence when 20% of final adult height is achieved during this time.

Connective structures need to be weaker to accommodate this developmental growth spurt, Stress fractures tend to coincide with the adolescent growth spurt, and more so in lean athletes.

Unlike adults, the growth plates on adolescent bones are 2 to 5 times weaker than the surrounding connective tissue. So a force that results in a torn ligament in an adult, will do much more damage in a growing adolescent.
"

This other article is also an interesting read because of the Q&As with a few top level youth athletes and their history with the (campus and finger)boards:
Injury Management and Prevention: Junior Climbers

Kenr you can't be serious? Short of stopping climbing it's quite hard to stop people climbing problems footless, but the forces exerted on campus boarding on small edges compared to bouldering where there will be ocassional slips off small holds, or dynamic moves to small holds (all of which are variable shapes and angles). The two things are totally different.

As for the spine and legs, have you heard of bouldering mats!? If you want to be responsible for wrecking somebody's fingers so they basically won't be able to climb for the rest of their life then tell that to your kids, but it's highly irresponsible to argue against sound medical advice on the internet IMHO

sachimcfarland wrote:it's quite hard to stop people climbing problems footless

Young climbers could choose to stop themselves from choosing routes that are likely to have footless moves.

For what it's worth, Adam Ondra didn't start campusing until he was around 17 yrs old. I highly suggest the recent interview with him on trainingbeta's podcast.