This is the third part of a twelve-part training series written exclusively for Redpoint Nutrition by professional climber, Certified Personal Trainer and Nationally Accredited US Climbing Coach, Brandi Proffitt. Please visit the list of topics in the Women's Climbing Series and the date's they'll be posted here. Don't want to miss out on future posts? Send us an email and let us know you'd like to be added to the Women's Climbing Series email list. We'll ping you everytime a new post is added!
Now that you've been counting your moves and recording your intensity and rest periods in a workout, let's apply what you've learned about your volume to more specific training. In this article I cover 2 aspects of endurance training: 1) the importance of general aerobic fitness to your climbing and 2) circuit training on the wall for improved power endurance. The volume training that you're learning to do will help you determine the length of climb and level of difficulty you should target during circuit-training sessions.
In the world of climbing we often refer to "endurance" when describing the kind of fitness we need for long routes, or even to sustain a long bouldering session. From an energy system perspective, climbing (at least in the world of sport and bouldering) is not a true endurance sport, the way long-distance running or cycling is, for example. What we need is more accurately described as "power endurance" - the muscles' ability to perform maximum contractions again and again. Any form of endurance, be it aerobic, anaerobic, speed or power endurance, requires a sound aerobic base.
With that said, it's important as a climber to improve and maintain your overall aerobic fitness in order to achieve your climbing goals as they relate to power endurance. In other words, it's not enough to just climb; you will ideally be working your aerobic endurance in a more efficient way than just trying to link lots of moves in a row on the wall. It's also important to note that executing powerful climbing movement often causes our bodies to go anaerobic, meaning that we're using oxygen reserves within the body rather than exclusively the oxygen we're taking in during exercise. Without getting too much into the nitty-gritty, what this means to you is that in order to train your aerobic fitness you generally need to be working at a what most people perceive as medium intensity with an elevated heart rate, but not so much so that you can't sustain it for a relatively long period of time.
So .... what you need is some cardio training! I personally love to run, and typically keep my runs to 30-45 minutes, and in a heart rate range that is approximately 65-75% of my maximum heart rate (that's our aerobic range). I won't get into heart rate training too specifically, except to say that I think it's incredibly valuable to climbers and I encourage you to do some research on it if you aren't already familiar with how to train this way. For now I'd just like to give you some guidelines on how to incorporate cardio training into your weekly routine, as well as give you some more on-the-wall endurance training tips.
For a climber trying to improve their overall climbing fitness and performance, I recommend 3-4 30-45 minute bouts of aerobic cardio per week. You may choose to run, bike, use the rowing machine, the elliptical machine, perform high-intensity calisthenics - like jumping jacks or squat thrusts - or whatever version of cardio you like best. Cardio can be done on days when you don't climb, or at the end of a climbing session. Once you have built an aerobic base, 25 or 30 minutes of aerobic activity prior to climbing can also serve as a great warm-up.
With a solid cardio program in place to compliment your climbing, you can simultaneously add some specific endurance training into your sessions on the wall. For those of you training in a gym, creating circuits for yourself can be very beneficial. Start your workout by remembering to take Crank, and continue to sip it throughout the session. Circuit-training can be very demanding of the body, and Crank is a good way to make sure you stay fueled to meet those demands.
Circuits can be anywhere from 25-50 moves long, depending on your current volume, and will include some bouldery, powerful movements. Try linking several boulder problems together, creating transitions on the wall to make it possible to link them without coming off if you can. Another option is to pick a route that you are familiar with, that is moderate in difficulty for you (i.e. you can usually complete it, but might fall if you're fatigued) and create a long traverse into it. This can be tough when the gym is crowded, but it's a very effective way to work power endurance on the wall. Important: The key to training endurance on the wall is to stay on the wall. It's ok to do 4x4's or some version of climbing several back-to-back boulder problems, but it's more beneficial to teach your body to get recovery while still hanging on the wall.
One thing I recommend that you avoid is an excess of down-climbing. Often I see motivated people in the gym climbing up routes (often which are extremely easy for the climber), then climbing back down, then back up .... and so on. First of all, down-loading on the elbow joints repeatedly can very often lead to overuse injuries in the elbows. You know how when you go hiking on steep terrain, the hike down often feels harder on the knees than going up? It's the same for your elbows. Some down-climbing can be beneficial for certain training purposes, (steep down-climbing is great for building body tension, for one) but an excess of it can have adverse effects. You're better off finding ways to link more moves together traversing and going up, and working your power endurance at a level of difficulty that is challenging for you.
So here's my personal schedule, this works great for me when I want to improve my overall power endurance without losing all my bouldering power: 4 days of climbing/week - 2 focused on power endurance (training in the gym or sport climbing outside) & 2 days focused on strength (bouldering or short, powerful routes); 3 days of cardio/week (can overlap climbing days); 1 day of complete rest. I also make an effort to do yoga or some type of stretching at least twice per week. This is the schedule and volume that works for me; please remember to modify yours to suit your needs, goals and ability.
Thanks so much for enduring this lengthy article! Please visit the Redpoint site often, and be sure to check back on Wednesday, 12/23 for Injury Prevention!
Visit me at www.brandiproffitt.com or brandiproffittfitness.com.