How I overcame my V4 Plateau

For a year and a half, I was trapped. Not physically—I was climbing constantly, traveling to new crags, hitting the gym multiple times a week. But mentally, I couldn't escape the same question: Why can't I send V5?

I'd thought I was crushing V4s at the gym. But V5s and V6s? They felt like they were written in a different language. I would try hard for V5s and V6s and while I could eventually send some (most likely incorrectly graded), the jump felt almost impossible.

Something wasn't adding up, but I couldn't see what.

The Tracking Experiment

I decided to get scientific about it. If I couldn't feel the problem, maybe I could measure it. I downloaded training apps. I logged sessions. I even bought an expensive tracker watch, drawn in by the promise of "actionable insights" and "data-driven training."

The apps showed me... metrics. Lots of them. Session counts, time climbing, heart rate zones. But none of it answered my question: What am I actually missing?

The insights never came. I had data, but no understanding.

Building My Own Answer

Frustrated, I did what any engineer would do—I started building my own tracker. I was also trying to build something real to showcase in my portfolio because I was having a very difficult time landing a job. The market was so competitive at the time. I needed to see my climbing in a way these tools weren't showing me, but what started as a portfolio item quickly replaced my $800 watch.

Within a few weeks, I had some basic charts. And that's when everything clicked.

I had been climbing the same style for 18 months.

My V3 and V4 "success rate" wasn't what I thought it was. I was flash-projecting steep, powerful problems—because that's what I was naturally good at. But technical slabs? Crimpy vertical walls? Compression problems? I was unconsciously avoiding them, or trying them once and giving up.

My "plateau" wasn't a plateau at all. I had built a comfortable bubble at V4, and every time I ventured into V5 territory, I was hitting exactly the styles I'd been systematically neglecting.

The Fix

Once I saw the problem, the solution became obvious. I stopped chasing grades and started chasing consistency.

I focused on my flash rate for V3s first. Not V5s. Not even V4s. V3s. I deliberately sought out the styles I'd been avoiding—slabs, technical faces, compression—and worked on flashing them cleanly.

Once my V3 flash rate went up across all styles, I did the same thing with V4s.

And then something remarkable happened: V5s and V6s suddenly felt easier. Not because I'd gotten dramatically stronger, but because I'd filled in the gaps. The movement patterns that used to feel impossible now felt... learnable.

The Real Insight

The expensive watch couldn't tell me this. The training apps couldn't tell me this. Because they weren't built to surface the patterns that actually matter for climbing progression.

I didn't need to track more. I needed to track differently.

That realization became Progression AI—a training tool that doesn't just collect data, but actually shows you what you're missing. The weaknesses you're avoiding. The styles you're neglecting. The patterns that are keeping you stuck.

Because if you're like me, you're not stuck because you're not strong enough. You're stuck because you can't see the blind spots in your own training.

Ready to find yours?