Performance Rock Climbing

When this book hit the shelves, I had stagnated for a few years, unable to improve. Within 6 months, my onsight leading level had jumped nearly a whole grade. I'd learned to channel my energy for climbing in a more efficient way, and to reduce climbing related injuries. Rather than just exercising the climbing muscles, I learned to better exercise my mind - perhaps the most critical muscle of all for a climber.


GREAT   October 11, 2001
 2 out of 3 found this review helpful

If you buy only one rock climbing book, this should be it!! Great overview of training techniques and what you can do on and off rock to improve your overall conditioning and climbing. Explains physiology in easy to understand terms so that each person can customize workouts to their own needs and to fit their goals.


Useful but occasionally confusing   September 5, 2000
 3 out of 5 found this review helpful

This is the definitive book on how to train for rock climbing. It includes various different types of training and how to incorporate them into workouts both on and off the rock. It's the sort of text that must be referred to repeatedly -- reading it once won't be enough! Performance Rock Climbing would benefit greatly from a detailed glossary for those of us who are not experts in exercise physiology, and some sections, particularly the one concerning periodization, are difficult to understand. Still, anyone serious about improving performance should buy this book.


Belongs on every climberys bookshelf   December 7, 1999
 9 out of 9 found this review helpful

Looking back after buying this book two years ago reaffirmed to me that Goddard and Neumann achieved what no other climbing training book has: they combined the scientific principles of physical training with on-the-rock experience and captured it in a very readable form.

The material is detailed and informative, blending research with proven results in the form of Goddard's own climbing performance over a decade. I watched him climb a 5.14 in Logan Utah in 1995, and it was nothing short of amazing. Applying the principles has helped me improve from climbing 5.11a to 5.12.


High quality training manual for serious rock climbers   January 11, 1998
 15 out of 15 found this review helpful

Are you constantly thinking about climbing? Do you salivate when you see the clean vertical wall of your office building? If you are violently excited about climbing and are willing to seriously train for improvement, then this book is for you.

This is not a book that details weight room exercises for building bulging biceps. Rather, it is a scientific analysis of the aesthetics of motion in the vertical domain. Let's forget about pulling the overhang with brute force. Let's concentrate on moving past the overhang in the most graceful, precise and energy-efficient manner possible - that's what the tenor of this book is.

This book is a careful examination of the physical, biological and mental processes necessary to improve your performance on the rock. It is a serious and comprehensive training manual for serious climbers. As a bonus, it has a beautiful color photo section of climbers in action - looking at it makes me want to go out and get back on the rock!