Training for Climbing*

For some reason, other climbers, more advance climbers, people who have been doing it for a long time, or people who just plain climb harder than you (me) are reluctant to state the obvious to "newb" climbers - how to get better at it. How do I get from here to where they are?

I have to say, I think the reason they don't usually have an answer to that question is in fact that they haven't put much thought into it and therefor it is not so obvious to them. And why should they when most of them are young enough to simply "just do it" or "just get out and do it more" etc.. Too often this becomes the stock answer.

If you're young (teens to mid twenties), athletic and gifted "just do it" will probably be all the advice you need. With those parameters and a climbing gym membership you can go a long way.

But what if you're not so young anymore (I started rock climbing as a fat 40 year old), or you're not athletically built or talented?

What I write here (below) is advice for the rest of us. It's basic. It's not a training manual. It's is more about correcting the erroneous thought that all you have to do to climb harder is to "climb harder".

It really takes 3 "keys" to be a better climber. Notice I didn't say "the best" or even "a good" climber because in fact, thats all pretty subjective and frankly, I still suck.

What I mean is it takes 3 things to improve your *personal* physical climbing ability on a fundamental level. What are the 3 things? They are:

LEAN
STRONG
SKILLED


LEAN - I speak with the authority of experience here when I say that average persons (especially Americans beyond their mid 20's) are really just too fat to climb! I know that sounds harsh but, lose weight and (duh!) you pull less weight up the rock/mountain and you'll feel stronger too. Really though its not about weight so much as it is about body fat percentage. If you could, (ha ha) add a few inches to your reach as well, that would help. Like it or not, the better climbers in the world are *usually* taller (not always) and certainly leaner than the average person. Unfortunately, your stuck with what you got in the reach department and if you're already lean (low percentage of body fat) then just skip this first key as you likely have a naturally fast metabolism and I'm jealous. Be clear about this though, the climbers who can pull the hardest moves are almost certainly going to be lean, strong - and relatively young. Thankfully for the rest of us there is more to climbing than pulling hard moves.

Start eating right. Change your diet for the better, but don't "diet" because the fat will come back and then some. Avoid a lot of starches and quit saturated fats. Avoid sugar altogether (sucrose and high fructose corn syrup) unless you're in the middle of running a marathon. Eat more fiber. Eat more fish and chicken and leaner red meat. Eat more veggies. Avoid ice cream and use non fat dairy products if at all. Eat more good oils like fish oil and olive oil (do a search). What ever it takes (but don't starve yourself!) to drop that crappy diet and pay attention to what youre eating. Eat for nourishment not for emotional comfort. Thin is in when it comes to climbing your best.


STRONG - It's time to pull some iron. Get stronger than you ever have been, and not only in the upper bod, hands and forearms. The average fat person (aka the average person) is too weak to be climbing with all that extra weight tryin to hump that stuff up a wall. So, while you're working on getting lean, why not get stronger too as it may coincidently help you take off those excess pounds of fat as well?

Some climbers will say that weight training is useless for climbing - complete BS! That is what many martial artists used to say about their "art" before ultimate fighters came along and began kicking their asses with superior strength among other things. Strength training actually happens during the process of becoming a better climber no matter what you do, it helps though to make it intentional. If you only climb as your form of training to climb then you are limiting yourself.

Strength, power, muscle endurance and coordination, play key roles in how well and how hard you climb. Generally, climbing means pushing yourself to near but not beyond your strength maximums. Strength training pushes you beyond your maximum abilities and thus into the realm of progress. Get stronger! Once you've lost some weight AND gotten stronger you will naturally find yourself (if you have the ambition) wanting to work more on developing your actual technical climbing skills. Of coarse, by all means, its best to begin gaining your climbing skills even in the midst of working on the "too fat too weak" aspects so please do some climbing. Just remember (never neglect) the first 2 keys - "lean and strong".

Some climbing "experts" Ive read put most or even all of the emphasis for beginners on developing climbing technique (movement) right at the start and thus neglect strength training and diet - this is not right IMHO (especially for somewhat older fat guys and gals - ei "average"). Climbing easier stuff (as a beginner would be doing) up to a level of say around 5.6 generally takes almost no particular technique but DOES take a certain level of fitness. As the climbs get technically more difficult, actual climbing skills become much more important. But first you have to have achieved at least a moderate level of fitness (aka good strength to weight ratio), especially if your planning to climb the more technical routes because they demand not only technique, but the combination of all keys - which is to say they demand both "fitness" AND "skill".

So start a strength building routine if you have not already, you will notice the difference. Emphasize "core strength" with fundamentals first - sit ups - push ups - pull ups - squats etc.. Hit the bench press and dumbell curls, do lat pull downs and tricep presses. Eventually, to climb harder routes you'll need strong fingers, wrists, forearms, toes, feet, ankles, and calves too. And remember that this is about RELATIVE strength here - ie you're after a personal "high strength to weight ratio", not out to be "Joe body builder".


SKILLED - Here we get to the "just do it" part. "Skilled" in this context means both technically proficient ("technique") AND bio-mechanically experienced. Technically proficient is having a full bag of tricks in your move repitior. "Experienced" or "bio-mechanically experienced" here means having these moves ingrained in your bodies memory. This all comes down to climbing, or learning *HOW* to climb. To train for this nothing beats bouldering IMHO (do a search). Challenge yourself to boulder on smaller and smaller holds (except in the off season when you should stick to juggy holds to prevent trashing your finger joints). Do balance moves, do extreme and dramatic weight shifts, long reaches, side pulls, lie backs, under clings, hand, fist and foot jams, heel n toe hooks, hand and foot cams, knee drops, mantles, single and 2 finger pockets, slopers, pinchers, crimpers, overhangs and roofs, down climbs as well as up climbs, step thrus and back steps, climb hard, climb easy (relaxed), climb slabs, climb awkward, go beyond vertical A LOT, do laps, be very creative, push yourself, make up routes on real rock or in the gym, just climb! And climb every variation of terrain you can find etc..repeatedly! Its learning to climb by "rote", almost a military approach, but if climbing better is your goal then I think this is the best way. (do a search on avoiding climbing injuries)

Skill comes from experience and that means developing the body memory of how to solve certain bio-mechanical problems you encounter when climbing - ie how your body responds when its time to make (send) an awkward move. Like a musician or dancer, you develop your "rock chops" through technical experience (ie mastering technique via practice) and eventually it's a subconscious "skill thing" as apposed to always relying on "thinking thru" the moves. You can never completely get away from "thinking thru" or "sequencing" moves especially if you're climbing something for the first time, its just that it really helps to have the body memory of "how to climb" ingrained in your central nervous system.

It's not that complicated really. It comes down to a question, "Am I climbing as hard as I want to be?" If the answer is no then remember the 3 keys and get going.

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