Strength training for climbing reddit. Once you get to an advanced level (projecting 5. Unfortunately, the only advice I’ve found is that to build this, you have to continue climbing. Reddit's rock climbing training community. How do you train specifically for sloper holds? I'm climbing in the 11a range but when it comes to big slopes I can't do much. Would you do this on 1-2 rest days per week, on training days immediateley after training, on training days 6+ hours after training, or cut it out all together? More generally, it seems pretty agreed upon that climbing specific strength/power training is #1 (other than time on rock). I started climbing sporadically about a year ago, and last month I started hitting the climbing gym and crags more regularly. (I. 12', and I have also heard 'Training for Climbing' is good too, they're both by Eric Horst. light weight many repetitions etc) I have trained Calisthenics in the past also to note so pull up variations and dips etc are In my opinion you can achieve literally any strength goals by simply climbing in the right context WITH THE RIGHT GAME PLAN AND MOTIVATION BEHIND IT. I feel like past… I still prefer before session finger strength training as opposed to after. I’ve been climbing 2 years and recently started a training plan through the Power company which is climbing 2-3x a week plus a strength training day. 2x a week core + strength workouts where I focus on legs and pull up strength (weighted pull ups for sets of 1-3 max) followed by 20-40 minutes of cardio We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. … Reddit's rock climbing training community. Doing Antagonist training to get stronger for climbing is one possibility as you can target certain muscle groups and plan your progression. Often climbers will have strong abs, but a weak core, because they're missing some other piece, like scapular retraction/stability or glutes/hamstring. See full list on climbing. Climbing multiple times a week does wonders for finger strength if you focus on working problems that require a lot of finger strength. It's very easy to overdo grip strength training and get tendinitis. 17 votes, 39 comments. Incorporating strength training as a fairly "weak" climber Hi! I’d love some advice on how to best incorporate strength training for a climber that is pretty physically weak for the grade (or if I should just forget it and go back to “just climbing”). Also, pinch strength is quite width-specific, so I'd have to train multiple different widths to get better at all of them. g. Focus on lifting correctly rather than lifting heavy and progress with the weight. In it they discuss how training their wrists has increased their sloper strength dramatically. This will increase fore arm strength and wrist stability. r/griptraining is a super knowledgable community and has a section in the sidebar specifically addressing grip training for climbing. Since I was banned from r/fitness for asking this question, I'll ask here. Sorry for the wall of Oct 18, 2024 · Strength Training Program for Climbers This is a strength training program for intermediate-level climbers who want to get stronger to help improve climbing performance. Should I be strength training while also climbing. Hammer curls: stealing from Drew on Reddit's rock climbing training community. Dec 12, 2023 · USA Climbing's Zack DiCristino offers insight about getting started with a proper strength training program. Personally I’m an ultra runner, alpine soloist and do a lot of bouldering. I'm looking for some advice and discussion on significantly increasing grip strength for rock climbing. Additional resistance training is definitely helpful in building capacity, overall strength, power 14 votes, 14 comments. Strength training for mountaineering & alpine adventuring Hey friends, I am a sports performance coach (17 years of experience) and an ultra runner/solo climber and general alpine adventure guy living in Washington state. I have a very different take on this. In general, I think training box jumps (single and double-leg) carries over well for climbing, since a lot of routes and problems can have dynos. Usually leg strength is not what's holding you back, so I wouldn't focus on this. I'm usually shooting for 8-10 rep dedicated strength training 2 days per week, which IMO is mid rep so it's a bit more towards endurance, but is also going to build strength. Or maybe you do outright cut out a climbing session and replace it with strength training. 11-5. . I specialize in programming strength plans for ultra runners, alpine climbers and indoor climbers. However, there are great forearm exercise that you can do that are low impact and great for endurance training. Here are some of the best workouts for climbers and boulderers. Most training plans start off with a long conditioning phase because you need a solid base to build on. I’m very inconsistent with my strength training but always use it to help break plateaus. (Part 1) Reddit's rock climbing training community. Your grip strength is determined by forearm strength and the tendons in your fingers, hands and wrists. For climbing specific training there is r/climbharder. Stay in the 5-10 rep range to build strength and not muscle size or endurance (increase weight or switch to harder exercise variation if it gets too easy), and do about 3-4 sets for each exercise. Reply reply JurrasicParfait • Reddit's rock climbing training community. Anyone have any advice on improving grip strength besides just climbing? Do those handheld spring loaded grip training tools actually work? Reddit's rock climbing training community. Climbing uses more core muscles than anything else. I get pooped out super quick. Start with these 8 movements here. Right now I am climbing 2-3x a week either outside or in the gym, and doing big scrambles/climbs around 10mi/3,000' once or twice a week Pushups, Obliques, Pullups, (also Chinups), Squats, Light cardio. I've gone back and forth on this, but I think before is a bit better so you're fresher if finger strength is the priority for weaknesses. I think this is likely true from a statistical sense. My main tokens for the debate on what seem most useful: Weighted pullups: use a lot of the upper body muscle groups, seem pretty effective but less so at any locking positional type of climbing specific movements. A user shares their experience of combining Wendler's 5/3/1 program with climbing sessions. All important elements to compliment climbing specific training and become a stronger climber. Will rock climbing instead of gym grip exercises produce similar results for general gripping strength and endurance? Climbing is a skill sport more than a strength sport. How forearm training improves our climbing? I'll start that by forearm training I don't mean any types of static hangs/holds but rather exercises like dumbbell (wrist) curls , reverse curls, wrist rotation etc. So yes, rock climbing is good. If you have fitness/strength goals unrelated to climbing, you can absolutely do pull-ups/lifting/other strength training alongside climbing. Try to find someone to coach you a bit, give you technique advice and critique your technique while climbing. For books i have 'How to climb 5. However, I’m already doing 3 multi hour sessions of indoor climbing + 1 day of outside sport climbing a week. So long story short it depends on what you want to do. For this I wanted to first do a max strength testing session via the crimpd app. A lot of trainers suggest strength training for climbing in the context of being more resilient to injury and generally athletic, rather than thinking about it for direct gains on the wall. Finger strength training is not recommended without climbing 2x or more a week for a year due to the historical use of hangboards at body weight load. I’d drop it down to two weight training days (running either full body or an upper/lower split) and maybe a light cardio day. Jun 27, 2022 · Climbing requires good cardio, strength, and endurance. If you can't get to the climbing wall/crag often enough, you could do some hangboarding, but only if access to climbing is what limits the amount of training you can do. So maybe you do an easy climbing session & end it with strength training. Mostly opening this up as a discussion for what people believe has advanced their climbing the most in terms of the off-wall climbing elements. If you have access to a gym, dumbbells or more you're golden, you can easily throw in more exercises tailored to climbing like rows, benchpress, leg curls, shoulder press, facepulls, etc. I think either or, you probably couldn't go wrong and at that point it may be more of how your body responds or what you think is suitable. In climbing, the fingers remain relatively static after grabbing a hold, so it’s best to train finger strength in the most common positions: But as you gain technical skill and experience from years of climbing, I think physical strength (usually in the fingers) becomes a limiting factor. While learning those skills, get out and just start moving. Climbing strength is so specific it's very hard to train for outside of a climbing wall. i will do strength training 3 days a week and on and weeks i'm going 4 days that extra day will be dedicated only for climbing and improving my technique my main question here is about my strength training program, do you guys think its enough? have any suggestion for another program maybe? strength training tips specific for climbing? Reddit's rock climbing training community. The routines specifically designed for climbing usually have 5 to 10 s fingertip hangs etc to prevent overuse. Assuming your primary goal is to improve climbing, I’d try schedule climbing days after rest days or easy cardio sessions. Fingers/strength - Focus on climbing on small, crimpy holds, followed by max hangs when I get home. Otherwise, currently I tend to do pinch training on a non-climbing evening followed by some basic dumbbell work. Is there any research if such type of training translates to improved grip or fingers strength? Have any of you found this exercises So getting back into climbing, so got some training to do. Climbing certainly has more of a skill component than "pure" strength/fitness sports, like weightlifting or running. 62x BW 1rm chinup and working on OAC) ? It’s not about arm strength, it’s about general fitness. Mar 15, 2016 · Adding strength training into a climber’s routine will help prevent imbalances, create powerful/flexible hips, and improve grip/finger strength. This can include activities such as running, cycling, or stair climbing. We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. It doesn’t particularly matter if you choose an aerobic activity, weight training, or something like yoga, so long as it gets your heart rate up enough to build endurance and strength and you enjoy it. Power/grip strength? Boulder. Dedicated to increasing all our… The main issue with "core" training is that people interpret core to be abs, which is incorrect. Because sloper strength is so complex- compared to crimp strength at least- I personally just like climbing a lot of sloper climbs to improve. I’m a newbie climber. Other users comment on the pros and cons of this approach, and offer their own opinions and advice. Apr 25, 2019 · Antagonist training—working the muscles that oppose your typical climbing muscles—will reduce the risk of injury and increase climbing performance. Of course training specific things helps a lot too. I'd like to create a compendium of Jan 25, 2022 · Welcome to Climbing’s yearlong Training Bible. But you can also do routes / boulders that target certain muscle groups more and therefore develop most of the things you need to get stronger for climbing. Either that, or what I do (when I have the option to do so in my current frustratingly scheduled work-life balance) is train finger strength in the morning/noon before a climbing session in the afternoon/evening. The most efficient way to improve strength is to dedicate training specifically to building strength (i. Training finger strength, weighted pull ups, shoulder stability/strength, and flexibility all helped me improve. Those who do combine the sports, how do you segment your training throughout the week? - Even if your grip strength is absolutely terrible, static hangs aren't the ideal exercise right now (until you're really working on problems at the gym that require grip strength, avoid hang boards all together). You don’t need a climbing gym, as all exercise variations can be done with regular free weights and your body weight. e. Here's how climbers should do it. r/climbharder climb harder - ideas and structured training to get better at climbing Reddit's rock climbing training community. For climbing, "core" strength essentially means a stiff torso, to connect limbs to each other. These training exercises for rock climbing and bouldering will help you build strength and improve balance. I've noticed a curious suggestion for isometric exercise: The following guidelines govern isometric training protocol: Intensity—maximal effort Effort duration—5 to 6 s Rest intervals—approximately 1 min if only small muscle groups, such as calf Reddit's rock climbing training community. Grip training when you've only been climbing for a week is like putting race tires on a VW bus. By and large the my experience is the The Rock Climber’s Exercise Guide contains everything essential for building a training plan including stability and antagonist training for injury prevention minus the “filler” content like psychology, eating, climbing technique… read a lot, liked this the most. sport specific skills), you should still have to do strength and conditioning to make good progress with your ability to perform at rock climbing AND get good strength and muscle definition. Honestly I don’t know how you used the moon board to improve your static/body tension if you were climbing anything much harder than v5. I am thinking about maybe exchanging one of the strength training days with an additional climbing day (I do not have time to work out more than 3 times a week). Your fingers are all tendons and it takes a long time to build tendon strength, so the advice I got was to keep climbing but once they hurt, stop climbing crimpy routes for the day. Typically a warm up followed by limit bouldering on climbs featuring crimps, wall angle varies. This is the single most important aspect for a beginning climber. The key strength component is largely static, pullups will definitely help as will core training but it doesn't translate fantastically. For crimps I worked on finger strength, for slopes should I practice palming basketballs? Reddit's rock climbing training community. But it’s not necessary to progress as a climber; the best training for climbing is climbing, especially at the beginner level. Remember, your chosen exercises don’t have to look like rock climbing. (Hooper's Beta YT channel has a lot of great info on strength training for climbing) Reddit's rock climbing training community. However, ring work in addition to training open hand on a hang board can do the same thing if you don't have access to a gym that sets slopers well. Hi guys, basically been bouldering coming up to a year now and want to make my training a bit more climbing specific. To me a basic non-sport strength/power training program for climbing should try to do a few basic things: strengthen our trunk, particularly in positions where we have to express flexibility in our hips. For the past year to train back and bicep strength, I would do weighted pull ups as my only body weight exercise, then do training with pendlay row, lat pull down, and horizontal cable rows. You get the point. com Oct 18, 2024 · Strength Training Program for Climbers This is a strength training program for intermediate-level climbers who want to get stronger to help improve climbing performance. I'd say training on wall is much more fun and pays off better at first. Unlike rope climbing, I noticed is much more dynamic and powerful. Hi! I was wondering what some of the classic strength benchmarks of our sport are? I am thinking: 1-5-9 (also what size edge… Getting pumped and gaining muscle mass for aesthetics and training for functional strength in climbing to perform are 2 complete different things. I've read Training for the New Alpinism, but I didn't like their suggested workout plan. Prior to this plan I was doing a full body weight lifting program (Jeff Nippard Fudnamentals) 3x a week. Since bouldering is quite expensive, I can only afford to the climbing gym Reddit's rock climbing training community. If you want to get into climbing/mountaineering get the book Freedom of the Hills and start practicing skills. Just pull hard on edges and gain some strength and comfort before tackling a more demanding program. After that I wanted to have like maybe two pinch "sessions" a week. You won't progress at any respectable speed only putting a single day a week into climbing. I’ve been climbing for about a month now, and I want do everything in my power to get better. strength training). I’ve found that my biggest weakness right now is my forearm strength. How should I structure my schedule to train weights without being too fatigued for climbing and vice versa? Sure, I agree with you that climbing is great training for climbing. Also, it allows newer climbers to improve their finger strength faster while still primarily Typically, 2x a week strength training is good enough for climbing, as most of your energy should still be going toward climbing. Dedicated to increasing all our knowledge about how to better improve at our sport. I don't bother training pinches at all, because I don't encounter them often climbing around here. Apr 25, 2023 · You are passionate about climbing and dream of sending yet more powerful sport climbs or boulders, but despite your dedicated climbing practice, supplemented by strength training in the gym, you seem to have reached a plateau. Aug 20, 2021 · Angie Payne, three-time national bouldering champion and first woman to climb V13, teaches us how we can level up our bouldering game. Pushing past that and putting too much muscle on can be detrimental. Generally, do lifting after (as climbing is the skill training before workouts) and you can modify it depending on how much fatigue was from your sessions. 39 votes, 49 comments. If the climbing is more important for the while the climbing first can work better though. Mar 26, 2025 · Training strength usually requires isotonic exercises like pull-ups that involve moving the joint through its range of motion, so muscles get stronger at every angle. And always work on your technique (especially footwork!). Also I really like the advice given in this subreddit :) I have started rock climbing, and so far I have been climbing once a week and doing BW strength training twice a week. They focus on strength and the psychology of climbing, and are really focused on science-grounded training with on-and off wall training from everything from weight lifting, diet, climbing drills, and stretching! The big thing here is that a lot of strength training exercises are compound exercises, which will use a lot of different muscles at the same time. It's not worth taking so much time/effort away from other climbing/training. MembersOnline • HarryCaul ADMIN MOD Rock climbing will certainly do more for upper body muscle than say, cycling. triceps), that’s less important if you’re climbing a lot imho. Hike local mountains, head to local climbing gym and start meeting people. What are some workputs I can do after… Limit bouldering builds top end strength, these sub-max days (on still hard boulders) builds overall climbing strength. 5 rep lifts is going to get after the strength, but the endurance isn't there. I've been reading Science and Practice of Strength Training just to get a better base of understanding of the fundamentals of strength training. MembersOnline • jung_and_dumb ADMIN MOD Do you have some tips and/or recommendations for pinch strength training? As I am into bouldering, I thought about training max strength. The thing is most alpinism fitness training programs I’ve looked into require around 3-4 days/week of cardio and strength training, each session being several hours long. My long term objectives are mountaineering and alpine climbing? Currently, I do LSD ( long slow days) 2x a week, 3x a Reddit's rock climbing training community. Hey friends, My names Kyle. This usually means that your core is triggered as well, which is very helpful in training for climbing. It takes 2 or 3 months of climbing before your ligaments start to strengthen at all. Once you reach a certain level of climbing, you become efficient and strong enough that on wall training doesn’t really provide quite enough stimulus to be enough for strength training on its own. You will see some difference, but you will not really get beyond a novice level of strength. What's everyone doing for strength training? I'm looking for a general 2x a week fitness plan. Lately wrist training for slopers and compression have become all the rage. How to implement a simple strength training regimen Choose a handful of exercises and use them for a handful of months. The crux of the "climbing as primarily a strength sport" idea is that most people can acquire the climbing skill over enough time to climb hard (lets say V-double digit) but many fewer people will be able to build that appropriate amount of elite finger and hand strength. Is it specifically to improve your climbing, to get strong, to look good? If you are just starting out I'd recommend doing a full body workout like Stronglifts, you do two alternating workouts, Squats, Bench, Rows and then Squats, Overhead press, deadlifts. Apr 10, 2024 · Free climbing training programs available for download as a supplement to the book Training For Climbing by Eric Horst. Plus, the recovery time is lower, so it impacts your climbing less and it has other huge health benefits. Both can work for you depending on what else you do. My goal is to climb to 4x a week and starting to get comfortable around 5. I recommend supplementing your climbing with general strength training and cardio if you want to get a well-rounded workout. Overall, this training plan seems like way too much volume. Feb 15, 2024 · Arm-Lifting is a recent trend in finger strength training. Second the pinch training at the start of a session. 10 leading. 10 votes, 43 comments. 11 votes, 26 comments. What is an efficient way to train finger strength for a climbing beginner who has a decent amount of pulling strength from Callisthenics (1. Check it out! Reddit's rock climbing training community. When I was climbing around v8-9, these extra sessions really helped my become a better climber along with building strength. I think this is mainly sparked by two podcast guests: Yves Gravelle and Dan Varian. Adding this routine on top of your existing climbing is a reasonable increase in training volume, as opposed to a huge jump that'll lead to injury. Initially, it was used for pinch blocks to isolate the thumb more effectively, but soon, climbers realized they could also use this approach for regular edges to spice up their finger strength training! The best climbing coaches and athletes, including Lattice Training, Tyler Nelson, and Yves Gravelle, use this state-of-the-art My advice is: please don't. If you learn correct technique right How do I actually train for climbing? Especially now that im stuck home for quarantine. How do I schedule strength training around climbing? I want to get stronger with weight training and also want to start pushing grades. But if you can only make it to the climbing gym once a week and you are looking for beneficial things to do during your 3x a week workout, then "improve your footwork" is not the right answer. I usually mix 2 bouldering sessions a week with gym workouts in between, but wanting to know best sort of workouts that will compliment climbing. I’m able to do 1 OAP when fresh, but want to do more for reps. -4x4 training -flash training/world cup mock (4 mins to send) -pause climbing (reach and hover your hand over the next hold before grabbing it) -up and down (climb up and down the same boulder) We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. 11 TR and 5. Some can be combined into supersets as well. Hangboards don't need 10 different pocket combinations to work. But increased strength on its own did not equal increased grades for me. 173K subscribers in the climbharder community. It really depends on what you want to gain from lifting. Thus, either way if you did rock climbing (e. Sep 30, 2022 · Maximum strength training teaches your body to do more with what it already has. For the kind of climbing I'm interested in, I want to focus most of my training towards endurance rather than max strength. You will gain strength while practicing climbing skill, but you won’t gain climbing skill through physical training. In fact, I did a project on it in an undergraduate psychology class. I’ve worked full time as a sports performance coach for endurance and mountain athletes for the last 17 years. Discussion of all topics related to strength training: Bodybuilding, powerlifting, weightlifting, strongman, kettlebells, bodyweight training. You want to spend every ounce of your training capacity climbing, which will improve your grip strength, but also your movement vocabulary and general technique. 20 votes, 20 comments. This complete eight-phase training series will coach you through specific workouts based on periodization, a proven approach to training that results in peak climbing performance on the rock and in the gym. While strength training is also worthwhile (especially legs and muscles that don’t get used much in climbing e. These go in 4 week cycles with my climbing training focus on strength / power and endurance respectively. For super hard sport climbing, sometimes calf training is also key (ie Ondra had to focus on his calf strength when he trained for Silence). Just go climb a lot, focus on improving your technique. Eventually over time the tendon strength will build to a level where it’s safe to use hang boards to improve finger strength. Hiking-specific cardio: In addition to strength training, it's also important to incorporate cardio training into your routine to help improve your endurance on the trail. I’d suggest prioritizing cardio (conditioning) - bouldering (and climbing more generally) has basically none of that. I believe having greater awareness has helped me apply my strength gains more easily. Stay away from r/fitness, they suffer from bigtime groupthink. I say this because the higher you go in grades, the more specific technique/strength, and thus your training, need to be. Hand strength is pretty much exclusively trained by rock rings/fingerboards and actual climbing. Aside from that, a very cheap option is to buy a 3/4 in strip of wood, and nail/screw it onto another piece of wood (Porch rafter, over a door way, under the stairs, etc). Apart from these podcasts there doesn't seem to be a great deal of information on wrist training. What benefits do you see in such training? Is it a good option to give tendons, joints, or muscles some rest? I train following the book training for the new alpinism it's might be overkill for just climbing but it's whipped me into shape helping me build upper body endurance. Functional training for climbing will look much different than than powerlifting and bodybuilding, two of the biggest influences in the US culture of exercise, particularly strength training. 12s?), you might consider talking to a climbing coach if you want to up your grade and incorporate things like fingerboarding and ARC training and advance training techniques like May 8, 2023 · In Part II, I provide a simple strength training protocol, with variations. IMO, any climbing cross training should feature endurance work as much as strength work. Also notice how the excersises work the antagonistic (opposing) muscles in your hands and forearms, this helps to prevent repetitive strain injuries. With very short climbs from grip and basic strength. Perhaps have a look at r/climbharder which is dedicated to climbing training. You wanna look like Schwarzenegger, climbing is NOT the sport for you. If you just want to get better at climbing, all you need is enough general strength. TL;DR: Do any of you train climbing, long distance running, and weightlifting simultaneously? I have found many resources for training both distance running and weightlifting, but not many for training both with climbing. So I've been climbing for about 8 months now and I climb around V4/V5 but I've never actually had proper training or anything aside from watching a couple videos when I first started. Strength training can be fun and rewarding in itself, I just wouldn't expect the best return in climbing ability at this time. jhqsi ivnyws ogb xmksiinm enjih oegdylk cqexeza yuhu frsdn sipeq