2013 Off Season Training for Climbing

Following the 2012 climbing season in New Brunswick, I took about a month before I started to pull plastic.  In that period, I followed a general resistance training programme and participated in a variety of sporting activities to keep the blood flowing.  In the new year, my off-season training began.

When I designed the off season programme, I was planning on taking a 2-week climbing trip sometime in March.  Though this fell through, preparing myself handle a high volume of  climbing at a reasonably high level in a couple months (The trip was to include bouldering, sport and multi-pitch trad.) was as much a consideration as getting better for the local 2013 season –whenever that may start.

This programme was designed for me. (Short male in his 30’s, climber of 15 years, formal resistance training history of >10 years for power/speed sports, but only one year for climbing.  Very good flexibility, strength and joint stability {including the region that you think of as “core strength”}, low percent body fat. Ability to squat 2x body weight, bench presses 1.5x body weight and pull-down 1.75x body weight.  Access to climbing gyms is limited, but with excellent resistance training facilities available.  Preferred discipline is bouldering.  Primary weakness is sticking and pulling trough long, off-balance moves between side-pulls on overhangs.)  You can likely benefit from incorporating some of these training ideas into your programme, though something tailored to you and your specific needs will be superior.  Of course how you do things is more important than what you do, so seek out a professional who will work with you.

The resistance training protocols were inspired by the recent work of Villanueva, et al.  (Though I did manage to train for my own goals, I was still guinea pigging some new research ideas to see how it feels and measure how well it works.  Ultimately, I wanted to know if it would be beneficial to apply it in the future when working with my athletes.)

Though it included just 4 exercises, the hypertrophy protocol was typical in all other respects: each exercise performed for three sets of ten repetitions at 70% of the 1RM load, and rest between sets and exercises was 60 seconds.  Engaging large muscle masses to move significant loads through big ranges of motion was key.  As such, the work:rest ratio (1:3) results in a hard 16 minute workout, which is taxing metabolically and only for advanced lifters.  The hormonal response was felt approaching the end of nearly each workout, so loads were barely progressed, if at all.

The exercises on day one (Mon) were Squats, Bench Press, Inspiratory/extension Pull Downs, Lateral Glides (a hip mobility and trunk stability exercise).  Day two exercises (Friday) were Front Squats, Incline Bench Press, Expiratory/flexion Pull Downs, and Lateral Glides.

The strength protocol is a bit more novel.  Four major exercises were performed, and the rest periods remained at 60 seconds.  The difference form month two being that each was performed for 8 sets of 3 repetitions at 85% 1RM (the same volume-load as the hypertrophy protocol).  The same exercises were used with one exception: Lateral Glides were replaced with Walking Lunges, as performing the former with heavy loads is not advisable.  It was possible to increase all loads at least once throughout the 4 week training block.

My on-the-wall time was comprised of two portions: climbing practice and resistance training.  Depending on time and interest level, climbing practice lasted anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes.  Early on this entailed setting long off-balance moves to work my weakness, then on stringing 5-8 of these together into problems.  Later, as I became more proficient, I’d work through the circuit in various sequences, do a few problems back-to-back, or try some new hard moves, but kept rest periods brief.  Immediately following the climbing practice, I performed the resistance training portion.  Having done major lifts the day before, it was time for the assistance exercises, namely deltoid, triceps, biceps, and abdominals.  Historically I would do these standing.  That is the functional approach.  Ground based sports performance responds best to ground based training.  However unlike the vast majority of sports, climbing is done on a vertical or overhanging surface.  (Notice, I did not say that climbing is a sport.)  Performing lifts while on the climbing wall would be more sport-specific. (OK, I’m just came really close to calling climbing a sport there, but I refer to sport-specific in the global sense of specificity of training.  Climbing is not a sport.)

So that’s what I did: Dumbbell press (deltoid) like reaching high, overhead elbow extension (triceps) like swinging an ice axe, biceps curls like pulling up slack before clipping, and hanging targets (abs) like lifting feet to high holds after cutting loose.  The first month was a hypertrophy protocol (3x10, 60 seconds rest).  The second month used a conventional strength protocol (3x5, >120 seconds rest).  Each set began from a different rest or clipping stance, with an attempt made to ensure a certain level of right and left symmetry.  The intention was to finish each set with enough reserve to complete one more rep of the exercise and hang on for 2 more reps, though this was not how things always transpired!

Biceps curls on the wall

Triceps extensions on the wall

The results:
I didn’t bother monitoring body composition for any changes, as I got sick for a bit not long before and again during the programme.  Recovery from those would have tainted any results, since they were not drastic.

Basic strength in the three major lifts increased a respectable 4.6 - 8.8%, so that part of the programme was effective.  I don’t really have a standard to compare climbing ability pre- and post training.  The outdoor season hasn’t begun, so I can’t get on any projects or test pieces.  Everything on Kermit is obviously easier, as I’ve been working on them for as much as 2 months now.  Subjectively, I feel very strong when climbing, at least as strong as I’ve been at my best.  I’ve managed to skip holds on all of the problems at home, and felt comfortable on the routes I got on at the crappy wall the other day.

From an invested effort perspective, I credit the on-the-wall resistance exercises with the biggest bang for the buck in terms of improved climbing performance.  These were the most novel to me, so it stands to reason that would be the case.  I like the tenacity required to maintain balance, stability, and grip while focusing on the dynamic portion of the exercise, so will keep these in future training phases.