Campusing is when you are climbing with no feet on an over-hang (a wall that is not vertical). Campusing is hard because you have to use your arm strength to hold yourself up and it is especially hard to move your arms because when you want to move to the next hold you have to put all your weight on one arm.
Here are some tips and helpful ideas for training to campus:
- Arms and Pull-ups – In order to stay higher on the wall, you need a very strong pull-up, even with one arm, so make sure to practice pullups, and hold yourself at the top for as long as possible. As you get stronger, you can remove one arm while at the top. Another option is to do a pull-up with one arm lower than the other using a ring or knotted rope to assist. Try to keep your shoulders engaged.
- Core – When you are hanging upside down, moving is very difficult. You need a strong core to help pull yourself to the next position, and hold your body in place while you find the next hold. Additionally, a strong core helps your endurance, taking some of the pressure off your hands and arms.
- Finger Strength and Grip – Your fingers and grip have to hold your entire body while campusing so it is important to warm them up carefully before you campus or you risk injury to the small muscles and ligaments in your fingers. Make sure to get plenty of light warmups to get your blood flow up, and take enough time to make sure that blood gets to your extremities. Fingers and grip take a long time to get strong enough so only start campusing when you’ve put a lot of time already into the wall. Being a light weight helps too.
- Muscle Endurance – Without those big muscles in your legs to stand on, muscle endurance becomes very important. Practice hanging for as long as possible with progressively smaller holds to simulate the holds you’ll find while campusing. Also practice hanging with one hand while shaking out the other to practice getting rest.
Hopefully these training ideas inspire you to tackle the next campus problem