Board climbing has boomed in popularity—and for good reason. It allows us to stay in one place while gaining access to more than 36,000+ problems (at the time of writing), all while sharing the same user experience with climbers around the world. These boards also distill climbing down to its rawest form, demanding a tremendous amount from our bodies. This intensity is why many of the best climbers spend the majority of their training time on boards. They are an exceptional tool for targeting the most critical strength components required to climb harder: finger strength, power, contact strength, and core strength.
Climbing boards are objectively an incredible training tool. However, climbing is also an extremely technical sport. Technical ability is an underappreciated skill in climbing and rarely receives the time and energy it deserves, given how critical it is to overall performance. As noted above, most of the benefits of board climbing are strength-based. There is a technical component, but it is largely “micro” rather than “macro”—small adjustments rather than full-body movement skill, positioning, and efficiency.
As winter training season comes to a close and the first day of spring approaches, it’s a perfect time to step back and identify the true limiting factor holding you back from your goals. This is where the “Y” in the road appears in your training.
At the fork of this Y, one path is strength. The other is skill and mental performance. The strength path feels productive. It feels measurable. Numbers go up. Benchmarks improve. Sessions feel powerful and satisfying. But often, the path we feel like we should take is not the path we need to take. Many times, what holds us back is not strength—it’s a skill deficit or a mental deficit.
Because strength is easier to quantify and often feels more rewarding in the short term, we can unconsciously choose the wrong branch of the Y. The longer we travel down that path, the farther we drift from the path that actually leads to our goals. Just like in a real fork in the road, the separation grows wider the longer you commit to one direction.
As a gift to yourself this spring, take an honest assessment. If you can give your best effort outside on poor feet, in insecure body positions, and feel confident across a wide variety of holds and terrain, you likely chose the correct branch of the Y. If, on the other hand, you find that after climbing outside—or on vertical or slabby terrain in the gym—you struggle to apply your strength, it may be time to shift direction. That might mean reducing time spent on the board and investing more time into building a deep, durable technical foundation.
Spring is a natural reset point. A time to step back to the fork, look down both branches of the Y, and choose intentionally.
Because spring cleaning isn’t just for closets—it’s for the mind, and for your climbing.