Maximizing Strength in Climbing: 5 Things to Include in Your Weekly Routine

In order to continually progress and build strength in climbing, it's essential to incorporate a well-rounded routine. Here are the key activities and exercises that I prioritize each week to enhance my climbing performance.

1. Limit Climbing Moves

One effective way to push your limits is by focusing on a set number of challenging climbs. For instance, when the gym doesn't offer anything new or engaging, I turn to the Moonboard or Kilterboard.

A particularly useful exercise involves attempting 10 hard problems, ensuring to rest for 3-5 minutes between each attempt. Documenting each session provides valuable insights for future improvement and helps eliminate excuses.

2. Strength Training

To stimulate muscle growth beyond what climbing alone can achieve, it’s important to engage in complementary strength training exercises.

This can include core exercises or weightlifting, such as deadlifts, squats, and shoulder presses. Additionally, I’ve found that focusing on the pulling muscles, through exercises like one-arm lock-offs or both weighted and unweighted pull-ups, yields significant results.

3. Skill Development

Physical strength is crucial, but refining your technique allows you to transcend physical limitations. However, this requires deliberate practice and skill development.

Focus on a specific skill during each session, whether it's improving footwork or learning to grip holds more lightly. If you’re unsure which skills need attention, challenge yourself by climbing in the section of the gym that you find most difficult, and identify areas for improvement.

4. Endurance Building

As Tony Yaniro famously said, "Without strength, there is nothing to endure." While strength is the foundation, building endurance is essential for maintaining performance across multiple moves.

I dedicate one session per week to increasing volume, such as climbing laps on a grade that is manageable but challenging. You can also enhance endurance through 4x4 boulder problems—climbing four problems consecutively, resting for five minutes, and repeating the cycle four times. Alternatively, traversing the wall for extended periods (5-10 minutes, or up to 20 minutes for advanced climbers) is an excellent endurance-building exercise.

5. Finger Strengthening

To complement larger muscle strength, it's important to also focus on finger strength. Climbing on smaller holds or utilizing a systems board like the Moon, Tension, or Kilter board can effectively stress your fingers.

Eventually, you may reach a point where climbing alone isn't sufficient for further finger strength development. At this stage, incorporating hangboarding into your routine becomes necessary—though it’s crucial to avoid overtraining.

(BONUS) Rest & Recovery

Finally, remember that rest and recovery are critical components of any training regimen. Without adequate rest, your body cannot recover and, as a result, won't become stronger.