Rock climbing

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A_mills08
A_mills08 Posts: 18 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Just recently started rock climbing/bouldering. Anyone have any good workouts to go along with the sport? Maybe increase some flexibility while I'm at it??

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  • A_mills08
    A_mills08 Posts: 18 Member
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    amyrebeccah wrote: »
    Yoga, and strength training. You'll be tempted to work pull exercises exclusively, but don't. That can lead to muscle imbalance.

    I love climbing, btw. :)

    Ohhh I honestly didn't even think about muscle imbalance. Good advice! And I love it too!
  • julie_broadhead
    julie_broadhead Posts: 178 Member
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    Either Pilates or Yoga for flexibility and cross training. If you are doing long routes or climb outside regularly, running will help with your endurance.

    How to train the opposing muscle groups:-)

    Weighted rotator cuff work- lie on your side. Place a 3-5lb dumbbell in the hand that is on top and bend the elbow. Lift the weight so that your forearm is parallel with the ground and return 3x15.
    Bend the elbow of the hand that is on the ground and switch the weight to that hand. Bring the weight off the ground towards your opposite side 3x15. Then switch sides:-)

    Push ups 3x15

    Dips (preferably on rings) 3x15

    Reverse wrist curls- lay your arm on top of your leg with the back of your hand facing you. Place a 5 lb or heavier dumbbell in your hand and let your hand hang off your knee. Curl your hand back towards you then return. 3x20 both hands.

    If you have been climbing for less than a year, and you are in good physical shape, the best thing you can do to help with climbing is climbing. If you are training routes go 4 days a week. If you are bouldering go three days a week. Do the opposing muscle training I described 2-3 days a week to prevent muscle imbalances and injury.
  • A_mills08
    A_mills08 Posts: 18 Member
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    julie_broadhead wrote: »
    Either Pilates or Yoga for flexibility and cross training. If you are doing long routes or climb outside regularly, running will help with your endurance.

    How to train the opposing muscle groups:-)

    Weighted rotator cuff work- lie on your side. Place a 3-5lb dumbbell in the hand that is on top and bend the elbow. Lift the weight so that your forearm is parallel with the ground and return 3x15.
    Bend the elbow of the hand that is on the ground and switch the weight to that hand. Bring the weight off the ground towards your opposite side 3x15. Then switch sides:-)

    Push ups 3x15

    Dips (preferably on rings) 3x15

    Reverse wrist curls- lay your arm on top of your leg with the back of your hand facing you. Place a 5 lb or heavier dumbbell in your hand and let your hand hang off your knee. Curl your hand back towards you then return. 3x20 both hands.

    If you have been climbing for less than a year, and you are in good physical shape, the best thing you can do to help with climbing is climbing. If you are training routes go 4 days a week. If you are bouldering go three days a week. Do the opposing muscle training I described 2-3 days a week to prevent muscle imbalances and injury.

    Wow thank you! I definitely do a lot of preventative rotator cuff work but I like the emphasis on push up! I agree with the best way to climb is to climb. Can't believe how strong you get just from that
  • tamarbatavraham
    tamarbatavraham Posts: 21 Member
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    I just started climbing in October and am loving it. I really hate the " count to ten, rest, repeat" style of workout, because I get SO BORED and I just can't stick with it. With climbing I have the immediate goals of solve this problem or finish the route, and the long term goal of becoming a stronger climber.

    I have to force myself to do the opposition exercises and I probably don't do them as often as I should. I find that working on my core strength has been really helpful too. Planks and side planks and sit ups and the like.
    I used to do yoga 2-3 times a week, but since I moved a few years ago, it's been hard to find a place to go here. My climbing gym has a Monday night class, but I don't go as regularly as I should. It's definitely good for the flexibility though.

    I don't know if you're really into the whole "Fitspo" thing, but I've found that following climbers I admire on FB or wherever gives me things to work toward. Nothing quite like watching Alex Puccio be a total badass to make me want to work harder :tongue:

    I also like to check stuff like cruxcrush.com and rockandice.com for new things in climbing and general advice and exercises and the like.

    Side note: Amyrebecca, I love your user pic ^_^
  • bouldermal
    bouldermal Posts: 5 Member
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    I agree with all the recommendations so far!

    Focusing on abdominal muscles is important especially for staying on overhangs. Before I did ab workouts I was always swinging off then struggled to get my feet back up. I do the P90x ab ripper x (I dont do any of the other p90x workouts). Even just always engaging your core when climbing makes a big difference.

    Throughout the day I use a hand gripper for building grip strength.

    It's apart of the climb session but get a solid 20-30 minutes of a warm-up in. I start at grades 3-5 below my projects and use this time to practice technique. I love to climb horizontal (proper term?) across all the grades for endurance. A solid stretch as a cool down is very effective for flexibility!

    Keep in mind I'm also fairly new to climbing. Have fun!
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
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    When you climb, make sure you're using your legs over your arms as much as possible because it takes much longer for them to fatigue.

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