#122 - Train More Effectively: The Systems Approach That Will Transform Your Climbing

This episode is the first in a two-part deep dive into designing a comprehensive, long-term systems approach to training. Coach Eric Hörst unpacks—in rich detail—how systems actually function, and he highlights how transformative climbers throughout history "shake up the box" with innovative, highly effective methods to achieve big goals and push the boundaries of our sport.

Eric blends a concise climbing history lesson with an engineer-like breakdown of how intelligent systems operate. Part 2 of this series will deliver the actionable strategies you can use to build a personalized, high-performance training system for this winter…and for many seasons to come.

This is an entertaining and thought-provoking episode—so lean in, listen closely, and get ready to feel inspired, challenged, and equipped to level-up your modus operandi at the crag, in the gym, at home, and in everything you do!

RUNDOWN

0:15 – Eric's welcome

1:45 - Are you ready for "training season?"

3:15 - The powerful force of the compounding effect of year-over-year gains in strength and climbing ability!

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6:00 – Learning to climb is simple; learning how to train effectively is complex!

10:50 – Employing a "systems" approach to your training and goal pursuit.

13:10 – The value of waking each morning with a mission.

18:55 – Eric shares some climbing history…and names 5 legendary, transformative climbers that influenced him and helped inspire this systems approach to training/climbing.

20:30 - #1 Warren Harding…applied a mission approach to big wall climbing…and took commitment and suffering to a new level.

22:35 - #2 John Gill – The father of modern bouldering and training for climbing. Read his biography, Masters of Rock (by Pat Ament). Gill was climbing V9 (in hiking boots) in 1959!

24:30 - #3 Wolfgang Gullich – Applied a systems approach to training and hard climbing…and opened up the world's first 5.14a, 5.14b, and 5.14d. Wolfgang helped invent the campus board, a climbing-specific form of plyometric training.

26:20 - #4 Todd Skinner – A pioneer of big wall free climbing, hard bouldering, and limit sport climbing, Todd employed a mission approach to climbing on a massive "all-in" and multi-year scale.

27:45 - #5 Lynn Hill – First female 5.14 ascent, World Cup Champion, and Free Ascent of The Nose of El Cap (1994). Lynn, like the other four legendary climbers, employed a systems approach to her climbing life.

30:00 – Two more important influences: my parents, Bob and Ethel Horst. My father, an engineer and inventor, helped shape my innate sense of needing to employ a systems approach to training/climbing.

31:05 – Side note about Jim Collins, a leading climber in the early1980s -- later a best-selling author and business consultant, Jim described my mega-goal concept as a "BHAG". Big Audacious Hairy Goal!

32:25– Conceptual model of a "System".

32:40 - Five elements of an open system: 1. Input, 2. Output, 3, Structure, 4. Transport, 5. Conversion.

35:30 – Making a system into an "Intelligent System" with four additional elements: 6. Goal, 7. Sensor, 8. Controller, 9. Disturbance.

41:55 – Applying an Intelligent System approach to your training and goal pursuit. If you're an advanced or elite climber, then employing a highly personalized system approach to training is essential for pursuing your genetic potential…and mega goals!

45:00 - Wrap up of Part 1 and a teaser for Part 2 coming in T4C Podcast #123!

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Check out Eric's YouTube channel.

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Thank yous: La Sportiva, DMM Climbing, Friction Labs

Music by Misty Murphy