Does Pinch Grip Strength Carry Over to Other Types of Grip? by Jordan Smothermon We’ve began investigating the relationship between strength and strength endurance required for different types of holds in climbing. Our questions is simple: does the strength endurance for one type of hold correlate to another type of hold? In our first investigation […]

The Alpinist Fitness Assessment By Rob Shaul Last November I began working with two groups of alpinists on pure climbing events. I designed “event-specific” training plans for each, including initial assessments, and this started me thinking about what a “Alpinist Fitness Assessment” would look like. By “Alpinist” I’m speaking here in terms of an athlete who […]

by Jordan Smothermon and Rob Shaul Lactate Threshold heart rate, commonly known as LT, is the rate at which an athlete’s body switches from mostly relying on their aerobic energy system for fuel, to mostly relying on his/her anaerobic energy system to fuel the effort. This is a high heart rate, around 88% of max […]

 Redefining knee injury prevention Training for Adolescent Female athletes By Jordan Smothermon Female adolescent athletes are three times more likely, on average across all high school sports, than their male counterparts to suffer an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear. The severity, cost, length of recovery, and emotional and mental toll ACL tears (and other knee […]