Smarter Climbing Training: How to Use Rest Phases

I've learned the hard way that progress in climbing doesn't happen by simply trying your hardest each week. The smarter approach involves cycling your effort, and making sure to include some recovery in your training plan.

Tom Randall, pro climber and co-founder of Lattice Training, explains this beautifully in his advice on rest phases and how to structure your climbing year.

In particular pay attention to your day-to-day rhythm and stress levels. Particularly if other parts of your life are wearing you down, prioritize the rest phases for proper gains.

The 2–1 Rhythm (for Normal, Busy Humans)

Randall suggests that climbers over 45, or pretty much anyone juggling work, kids, and life stress, respond best to a two-weeks-on, one-week-off pattern.

But "off" doesn't mean sitting around on the couch! It simply means lowering your overall training load so your body can consolidate what you’ve just done.

Think of stress like water in a bucket: if you don’t empty it regularly, it spills everywhere. Your climbing performance works the same way.

What About Pro Climbers?

For elite climbers, Randall says the pattern often looks like five hard weeks followed by two easier weeks.

But here’s the key: even those “rest” weeks still involve training, just at about 60% volume.

That’s the part recreational climbers often misunderstand.

A deload week isn’t a retreat. It’s a reset.

Lattice Training emphasizes that you should usually decrease volume, not intensity.

In other words, keep the quality sessions (limit bouldering, fingerboarding, your hardest moves), but cut out the extra mileage.

Why? Because when intensity stays sharp, your nervous system maintains its “coordination” for hard climbing, but when volume drops, your tissues get time to recover and rebuild.

That combination makes your next training block feel snappy instead of slow.

Why This Works (The Science Bit)

Sports research backs this up:

• Eric Hörst, author of Training for Climbing, notes that strength and power qualities fade quickly if intensity drops too low, even for a week. But volume is what causes most overuse injuries.
• Climb Strong coaches recommend 7–14 day deloads every 3–6 weeks to reduce accumulated fatigue and protect connective tissue, which adapts much slower than muscle.
• A 2019 review in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that planned deload periods improve long-term strength gains while reducing injury risk, especially in athletes balancing high life stress.

In other words: you get stronger not when you train harder, but when you let your body absorb your training.

A Simple Template You Can Start This Month

If you’re a regular gym climber with a busy life, try this:

Weeks 1–2:
• 2–3 climbing days
• 1 strength day
• Normal intensity, normal volume

Week 3 (Deload):
• 1–2 climbing days
• 60% of your usual session time
• Keep the intensity, reduce the reps
• More sleep, hydration, and easy movement

You’ll feel fresher, and when you ramp back up, the gains are easier to access.