by Connor Chewning and Daniel Nguyen, Program Assistants, Climbing Wall Supervisors and Adventure Trip Guides
Maintaining a sense of sanity can feel difficult given the current times, especially if climbers like us are itching to climb on more than just our kitchen counter. Not being able to climb may leave you wondering how to maintain your climbing strength or how you can come back an even stronger climber when things return to normalcy. But just because you can’t climb four days out of the week right now doesn’t mean that your climbing fitness has to suffer! Here are a few tips to keep working on sending the next grade.
Right now is the perfect time to focus on the areas of climbing that you think need the most improvement. Chances are your main climbing muscles are already strong and it won’t take long for them to catch back up to speed when you are able to get on the wall again. But what skills and strengths have you always wanted to develop more? Consider focusing your training on areas such as core, cardio, balance training, finger strength and flexibility. These are areas that will help you build a good fitness base and bring positive gains to your climbing.
It is easy to go all in on a training regimen if working out is one of the main ways that you are staying occupied, but you should treat your training like you would if you were able to hit the gym like normal. Listen to your body and give it time to rest. We like to focus on different aspects of fitness on different days. There is no set plan that works for everyone so if you are not accustomed to traditional workouts, ease into it and see what feels good for you. Yes, you can still get injured when you aren’t pulling hard on your latest project, and the last thing you want is to come out of isolation unable to climb because you are injured.
Check out these ideas on how you can still feel the pump from your own home.
Circuit City: This is a workout that Texas Rock Climbing loves to do. It is essentially a Tabata Workout (1 rep = 20 Sec on, 10 Sec Rest) that focuses on upper body strength, core and cardio. The team does 8 reps for 7 different exercises which gives you about a 30-minute workout. We recommend starting with these exercises but as you get familiar with the workout consider swapping in different exercises to keep your body from getting used to the routine:
- Pushups
- Bicycles
- Mountain climbers
- Flutter kicks
- 8-count bodybuilders
- Leg lifts
- Squat jumps holding the squat every other rest period
For a full Tabata workout, check out this 30-minute Tabata with Shannon, RecSports TeXercise Instructor.
Hangboard: If you are lucky enough to have a hangboard, you have a great opportunity to maintain and build your finger strength. If you don’t own a hangboard, you can find some cheap and easy DIY tutorials online. We recommend waiting until you are consistently climbing v4-v5 before adding hangboarding into your training routine. This allows adequate time for the tendons and muscles in your fingers to develop. If you are new to hangboarding, do your research and make sure that you are using the correct technique, as it is really easy to injure yourself if you are not doing the exercises properly.
Finger strength: If you do not have a hangboard or something sturdy to hang on to, you can still focus on building finger strength! There are a number of grip strength trainers that can help make those phalanges beefier, but you can also focus on finger strength without purchasing any cool gadgets. Check out this article from Daily Climbing to learn how to build finger strength with just your fingers.
Flexibility: Too often we forget how important flexibility is to our climbing. We have seen climbers working on a slab problem for the majority of a session only to get the finish after a brief stretching session. It’s amazing what a little bit of extra range of motion will do for your climbing. Not to mention, stretching is super important for preventing injuries. RecSports has made a number of introductory yoga videos that can help improve your flexibility.
Balance: Being a climber, you may have seen people slacklining around Austin or have taken to this fun activity yourself. Many climbers tend to slackline because of the balance training that accompanies it. In fact, slacklining was started by climbers who wanted to train for climbing. You may not have a nylon tightrope to practice on, but that doesn’t mean you have to forego this crucial aspect of climbing. Yoga helps a great deal with balance, but you can also practice with a few simple exercises, like trying to balance on one foot while doing different activities. Check out this video for a good intro.
Focus on opposition: Most of the muscles that we work out when we climb have to do with pulling. Really what we should be focusing on when we train for climbing should be the muscles that don’t really get used. By doing some opposition exercises, you can help build your base and fight things like tendonitis and bad posture that often develop from overtraining climbing related muscles.
Pullups: It just wouldn’t be right if we didn’t include these. If you have access to a pull-up bar or something sturdy around your house or backyard (trees work great), then you will certainly want to incorporate pull-ups into your training. No worries if they sound intimidating to you, this guide from Climbing Magazine will put you on the right path.
While those were just some ideas on how to get started, there are countless resources for climbers online. Here are a few recommendations on where you can find other workout ideas for your home training.
- RecSports has free TeXercise workout videos and home workout plans
- Lynne Hill, Sasha Digiulian and IFSC post-workout tips on Instagram
- Austin Bouldering Project has a free climbing progression workout
- Training For Climbing: The Definitive Guide to Improving Your Climbing Performance by Eric Hörst
- Eric Hörst’s Training for Climbing Podcast
- The Rock Climber’s Training Manual | A Guide to Continuous Improvement by Michael L. Anderson and Mark L. Anderson
This entry is the first of our four-part series Climbing Through the Crux of Quarantine.
