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When people talk about climbing training tools the first thing that comes to mind is usually a campus board or a hang board. Those tools are great for climbing strength training, but what about endurance? We all know that climbing is more than just powering your way up the wall. A proper climbing training program should address endurance and technique as well as strength. The TRUBLUE Auto Belay can be used as a versatile training tool. In addition to improving all areas of climbing fitness, auto belays also have amazing benefits that increase the effectiveness of your workouts. Here are some of the top reasons TRUBLUE is a vital piece of rock-climbing training equipment.
1. Get in a Fast Warm-Up
A proper warm-up is essential to prevent injuries and make sure that you are loose and ready to send your project. Auto belays allow you and your partner to warm up simultaneously. This saves precious time during your climbing session, which means you'll be able to spend more time progressing and pushing your limits. Still waiting for your partner to arrive? Hop on the auto belay to warm up!
2. Learn Valuable Skills
Auto belays are amazing tools for learning new climbing skills. They allow you and your partner to practice essential skills like belaying and lead climbing while the climber is still fully protected. Beginner lead climbers don't have to worry about taking a scary lead fall until they are confident, they can avoid common pitfalls like back-clipping and z-clipping. Novice belayers (whether top-roping or lead) can simulate belaying their partner while they learn the proper technique. Auto belays take the stress out of learning new skills so that you can focus on what you're learning and become proficient faster.
3. Improve Your Mental Strength
When you're rope climbing you can ask your partner for a take at any point on the route. With auto belays, there are no takes. That means you have to commit to that intimidating move. You can't ask for a take before you try the crux sequence like you would with a partner. Â This makes auto belays a great mental training tool. Auto belays will force you into the habit of committing to the route. You'll find that you can climb much harder when you're trained to fall instead of trained to ask for a take. This shift in mental attitude will work wonders when you're back to climbing with your partner and when you're on auto belay.
4. Efficiently Train Endurance and Technique.
As previously mentioned, auto belays are a great way to improve all areas of your climbing fitness. Auto belays allow you to run any climbing drill that you can think of. If you want to train climbing endurance you can repeatedly run laps and try to stay on the wall as possible. If you're serious about training endurance you can incorporate ARC-ing into your auto belay workouts. If you're unfamiliar with ARC-ing this article will tell you everything you need to know to get started. If you want to improve your technique you should try down climbing while on auto belay. The biggest flaw that most climbers have in their technique is poor footwork. When you're downclimbing you are looking below you. This lets you look at your feet and focus more on your footwork. Your imagination is the only limit to what drills you can do with an auto belay.
5. Have a More Flexible Climbing Schedule
Have you ever skipped going to the climbing gym because your partner was busy or just wasn't up for it? With auto belays, you can fit in a great climbing session even if you can't find belay partner. You can climb when you want, for as long as you want, without having to coordinate schedules. That also means you can climb before and after work or on your lunch break when that wasn't previously feasible. What's even better is that with a flexible schedule you get the bonus benefit of having the entire gym to yourself during those weird off-peak hours.
6. Do More Laps
Your climbing partner has their own needs and goals, which means they probably won't want to belay you on the same route over and over again. Auto belays don't mind being your belay slave. They will consistently get you up and down the route and will never complain no matter how many laps you take. Not having to belay your partner gives you more time on the wall. That means you get a better workout in a shorter time span. Now you can justify squeezing in a short climbing session because you know you're going to get the same amount of climbing but in half the time.
More Tips for Training on Auto Belay
Most of the benefits of auto belays are built into the devices so that you get those benefits without having to actually think about it. Although, if you're a proactive person you might want to take a more structured approach. Head Rush has created a climbing training program that will take your training to the next level. Reach Your Peak is an eight-week program that improves skills and helps climbers reach their fitness goals. The training regimen can be done entirely with auto belays or with a climbing partner. The best part is that you get a world-class program completely free! You won't even have to fill out an annoying form or give us your email address (we're awesome like that). What are you waiting for?
