Route Climbing
Hang Fire
Tags: beginner training, Hang Fire, home training, Jacob Carr, Level 1, Route Climbing
by Jacob Carr Training programs, like a lot of things, are important to keep you on track to stay in line with your goals. They work a lot better than going to the gym and doing 20 minutes of abs, a few hangs, and then chatting with your friends in the bouldering gym. Not that…
Route Climbing: Late-Season Fitness – Logical Progression Style
Tags: in season, logical progression, maintenance, Route Climbing
by Steve Bechtel What do we do in the latter stages of a performance phase? Usually, we just hold on to hammering against our project, slowly losing fitness in the hopes of being fresh for each climbing day, until we run out of time, energy, or fitness to do the climbing at all. I know…
The High-Low Plan
Tags: Endurance, High Low, Power Endurance, Route Climbing, Strength, Training Plans
The Plan This training program is designed for route climbers working on redpointing higher grades. This is the style of plan most of our climbers started using back in 2010 or so, featuring significantly reduced power-endurance training. The idea comes from the training plans designed by the legendary Charlie Francis, widely considered to be the…
Route Climbing Endurance 2
Tags: ARC, Intensive Endurance, Pre-Season, Route Climbing, Route Repeats, Training Plans
Once you’re strong, then next most important facet to train for hard redpointing is your aerobic capacity, or endurance base as it’s sometimes called. For the past 20 years or so, climbers have participated in Aerobic Restoration and Capillarity (ARC) sessions to address this need. Although ARC training can be of great benefit to many…
The Simplest Climbing Training Plan
Tags: ARC, Bouldering, Intensive Endurance, Pre-Season, Route Climbing, Route Repeats, Training Plans
This program features a three week alternating cycle, aimed at keeping you close to top form for long cycles. Motivated athletes are more successful; if you need some down-time between phases, this is not the plan for you.For years, a large percentage of my emails from the climbers on this site have been about periodization…
In-Season Strength – Program Minimum
Tags: Finger Strength, Hangboard, Performance, Programming, redpoint climbing, Resistance Training, Route Climbing
These days, climbers are well aware of the need to gain strength in the off-season. Many climbers I hear from spend much of the winter allocating time to the weight room and the hangboard. Where the system can break down is when someone quits strength training cold-turkey to switch to climbing full-time. There’s no arguing…
Route Climbing Endurance 1
Tags: Circuits, Extensive Endurance, Route Climbing, Stamina, Training, Training Plans
The route climbing endurance plans are built around developing sustained power outputs for long duration. These marry the needs of most climbers, and neither focus on strength-endurance nor on the low-end and recovery-heavy training of pure endurance climbing. This program features maintenance of strength through weekly bouldering and maintenance-level finger strength training. The bulk of…
Bridge Season Training
Tags: Conditioning, Finger Strength, Linked Problems, Peaking, Performance, Route Climbing, Training Plans
A “bridge” is a high-intensity training program that links two close-together peaks of fitness. Frequently, we see climbers ramp-up for the summer season, only to see fitness drift off after a month or so. This comes as no surprise to coaches and physiologists, as it is simply a result of too much intensity too soon…
414 Redpoint Training Plan
Tags: Bouldering, Extensive Endurance, Intensive Endurance, Route Climbing, Training Plans
I have written extensively in articles about the limitations of normal periodized climbing training plans, as well as the clear limits of “just going climbing.” Somewhere in the magic space between lies the Shangri-La of climbing training programs. I can’t say that I have found it, but as we continue the discussion and experimentation, we…