Wanting your thoughts on weight training and rock climbing

hnsaunde

A friend of mine and I were talking about lifting programs recently, and outdoor rock climbing season is 8-10 weeks away here (weather depending), so he asked for my advice on what sort of strength training he should be doing. He's physically fit already, and he's looking to increase his strength and endurance prior to getting outside to climb.

I'm currently doing Wendlers 4 days a week, but I wasn't sure if that was the best program I could recommend to him in terms of climbing specifically, so I wanted to ask the question here.

Does anyone climb, and what sort of strength training (or training in general) do you do in the off-season to prepare for it?

husseycd

I don't rock climb per se (though I have), but I do aerial silks, which means I essentiall climb a rope multiple times per training session. Pull-ups and hanging pike-ups are good exercises. Rock climbing requires quite a bit of hand strength, so strengthening the ability to hang from one's fingertips would be very helpful. I have very strong hands/grip, but the first thing to go for me was my fingertip grip. I also don't have the necessary calluses there. Mine are on my palm.

jwdieter

Rock climbing training is bodyweight training. Endurance strength. Ligament training. I don't think standard strength training is particularly applicable.

hnsaunde

I don't rock climb per se (though I have), but I do aerial silks, which means I essentiall climb a rope multiple times per training session. Pull-ups and hanging pike-ups are good exercises. Rock climbing requires quite a bit of hand strength, so strengthening the ability to hang from one's fingertips would be very helpful. I have very strong hands/grip, but the first thing to go for me was my fingertip grip. I also don't have the necessary calluses there. Mine are on my palm.

Rock climbing training is bodyweight training. Endurance strength. Ligament training. I don't think standard strength training is particularly applicable.

Those are both great points, thanks!

That was my first thought as well, that standard strength training may not help him as much, which is why I thought something like Wendlers may not be the best program for him.

Do you think he might be better off with bodyweight and weighted bodyweight training, and training grip strength? I never thought about fingertip training though, what's an example of an exercise for that?

If he does heavy weight, low rep lower body training, like deadlifts and front squats, would that help him with increasing his lower body strength?

steve_mfp

A good friend of mine is an avid climber.

He sent me this link:

http://www.climbingstrong.com

So your friend will need a climbing board, some bands and some other accessories.

As for the gym, the above climber recommends weight training using reps of 15-20 to develop the type of muscle fibers most beneficial for climbing.

However, all climbers will say the best training is climbing. They have lots of indoor climbing gyms now.

My friend does all body-weight exercises. Lots of push ups. Mostly because climbing is mostly pulling muscles so you need to balance your pushing muscles. For legs he does polymetrics and body weight exercises such as pistol (one-leg) squats.

He also climbs 3 days a week.

Edit: here is the specific training board he uses:

http://www.metoliusclimbing.com/simulator.html

Second Edit: Climbing buddy sent me this link which has an actual program to use with finger boards, specifically the beastmaker and the article is by a well known climber in the UK. It has a beginner program and an advanced.

https://www.planetfear.com/articles/Fingerboard_Training__Beginner_1100.html

hnsaunde

A good friend of mine is an avid climber.

He sent me this link:

http://www.climbingstrong.com

So your friend will need a climbing board, some bands and some other accessories.

As for the gym, the above climber recommends weight training using reps of 15-20 to develop the type of muscle fibers most beneficial for climbing.

However, all climbers will say the best training is climbing. They have lots of indoor climbing gyms now.

My friend does all body-weight exercises. Lots of push ups. Mostly because climbing is mostly pulling muscles so you need to balance your pushing muscles. For legs he does polymetrics and body weight exercises such as pistol (one-leg) squats.

He also climbs 3 days a week.

Edit: here is the specific training board he uses:

http://www.metoliusclimbing.com/simulator.html

Second Edit: Climbing buddy sent me this link which has an actual program to use with finger boards, specifically the beastmaker and the article is by a well known climber in the UK. It has a beginner program and an advanced.

https://www.planetfear.com/articles/Fingerboard_Training__Beginner_1100.html

This is perfect, thanks so much!

Sarauk2sf

Tagging - although the question seems to have been covered nicely so I doubt I will have much/anything to add.

chrisdavey

pullups, pullups and more pullups. (weighted and non weighted for reps)

Hanging off bars for long periods of time to increase grip strength.

I think most importantly is being an adequate bw for the sport. I am a ****load stronger (including per kg of bw) than what I was before but I was much better at climbing walls at low 70's kg than I am at mid 80's. Farkin gravity and stuff! :laugh:

hnsaunde

pullups, pullups and more pullups. (weighted and non weighted for reps)

Hanging off bars for long periods of time to increase grip strength.

I think most importantly is being an adequate bw for the sport. I am a ****load stronger (including per kg of bw) than what I was before but I was much better at climbing walls at low 70's kg than I am at mid 80's. Farkin gravity and stuff! :laugh:

Thanks so much! He definitely agreed when I showed him your post!

geebusuk

Grip strength is absolutely key.

Overall arm strength is important too of course, as well as endurance in that - I do 3x5 weighted pulls ups, but might be tempted to chuck some unweighted ones in too when going for a bulk to try and improve endurance a bit (maybe try the 'greasing the groove' method a bit).

I also do weighted dips as you can often find cases where you're pushing up rather than pulling.

Flexibility is also important - if your feet can reach a better position you don't need so much strength in your arms.

As above, all the above points apart from the last can also be improved by having less weight. Especially grip strength. On long climbs and overhead ones with nice jug holds but taking a lot of weight, I could out climb a friend that was fairly short, but as he progressed he had me on most of the ones that required holding your body weight with your fingers thanks to weighing 33% less than me, but obviously not being 33% down on grip strength.

hnsaunde

Grip strength is absolutely key.

Overall arm strength is important too of course, as well as endurance in that - I do 3x5 weighted pulls ups, but might be tempted to chuck some unweighted ones in too when going for a bulk to try and improve endurance a bit (maybe try the 'greasing the groove' method a bit).

I also do weighted dips as you can often find cases where you're pushing up rather than pulling.

Flexibility is also important - if your feet can reach a better position you don't need so much strength in your arms.

As above, all the above points apart from the last can also be improved by having less weight. Especially grip strength. On long climbs and overhead ones with nice jug holds but taking a lot of weight, I could out climb a friend that was fairly short, but as he progressed he had me on most of the ones that required holding your body weight with your fingers thanks to weighing 33% less than me, but obviously not being 33% down on grip strength.

I haven't asked him about flexibility yet, that's a great point and all around good advice for him. Thanks so much!