4 Exercises to Try on the Kilter Board
Board climbing - the new, cool way of training. If a new climbing gym opens, you best believe they will have a Moon Board, Tension Board, or the almighty Kilter Board.
A Kilter Board is a large, rectangular, or square wall with many climbing holds, but it's much more under the surface. The customizable, degree-adjustable, technology-infused training device is magical. By connecting to the app, you have thousands of boulders at your fingertips without changing location. Adjust the angle of the wall to find more challenging or easier climbs.
Using the Kilter Board to try hard climbs on steep wall angles is an excellent training mechanism. But we have selected some exercises that will hone your skill and narrow your options. We all know how sessions go when you have insufficient time and too many things to try. Check out these four exercises, and the next time a Kilter Board graces you with its majestic presence, give one (or all) a whirl!
4 Exercises to Try on the Kilter Board
To complete any of these workouts, you will need yourself, a functioning Kilter Board, and access to the Kilter Board App.
1. Ladders
If you climb a ladder, you must then come down. Likewise, for this workout, you will climb a Kilter Board boulder ladder; for every boulder you go up, you must come down.
First, identify your max onsight boulder grade. Alternatively, what's the highest grade you can walk up to and climb on the first go? Once you know that, go down three grades and start the workout at that difficulty.
Based on the above grade identifications, the ladder workout looks as follows:
Up the Ladder
4 boulders at 3 grades below your max onsight
3 boulders at 2 grades below your max onsight
2 boulders at 1 grade below your max onsight
1 boulder at your max onsight
Rest
5-minute break
Down the Ladder
1 boulder at your max onsight
2 boulders at 1 grade below your max onsight
3 boulders at 2 grades below your max onsight
4 boulders at 3 grades below your max onsight
This workout will test your power endurance, and you can modify the difficulty by adjusting the board's angle.
2. Star-Chaser Circuit
This exercise will target your ability to try hard and continue to draw upon your power to chase those stars.
In the Kilter Board app, you'll notice that each climb has a certain number of stars and a grade. More stars mean it is a higher quality problem compared to others of the same grade. This is like the grading and star system used to rate outdoor climbs.
Pick a grade right at or right below your maximum boulder grade. Find 10-20 boulder problems with the most stars and try to complete them in 1-3 attempts.
This workout will likely require a long session as you will ideally rest 2-3 minutes minimum between attempts since you want to try as hard as possible on each go.
3. Body Positioning Drills
The wide variety of customizations available with the Kilter Board makes it the perfect tool to train technique! This drill will vary between climbers; however, here are some basic movements and suggested angles to practice them on!
Flagging
Work on flagging and back-flagging every move. Set the board to any angle between 0 and 30 degrees.
Drop Knee
Focus on forcing a drop knee on as many moves as possible to drill down the movement. Set the wall between 15 and 30 degrees to effectively work on the body position rather than failing to execute a drop knee correctly due to fatigue that comes with steeper wall angles.
Body Tension
Think about flexing and engaging every muscle from the tip of your toe to the end of your fingertips.
Body tension is notably most important when climbing steep terrain, so set the board at any angle greater than or equal to 45 degrees.
Other
Any other technical movement or drill that you need to work on is an excellent choice for the Kilter Board because you can choose climbs with holds you like or need to practice grabbing, can customize difficulty based on angle, and can stay focused without wandering around the gym looking for a climb to utilize for a drill.
4. Make-up Boulders
This workout goes as the name implies. The Kilter Board application depends upon users creating boulders and uploading them into the app! Challenge your creativity and climbing knowledge by picking a style and attempting to devise a boulder focused on highlighting that style.
If you are uncomfortable publicly posting the boulder, make up the climb, remember the holds, and try to send it! Or, check the app settings and try to make the boulder problem private.
Hopefully, these drills are easily digestible and inspire you to train on a Kilter Board. We know that not every climbing gym is fortunate to have one, but if you can utilize it, we highly recommend it. If your gym has a moon board or similar training apparatus, feel free to adapt these workouts to fit your situation. Either way, we'd love to hear what you think of these exercises in the comments below and how they went for you!
