Rough guide to training for rock climbing - page 3 Individuality Due to our genetic make up and the effects of our physiological history in life, we all respond to physiological stimuli (training) at slightly different rates. In some sports this means that you might never reach the top level even with the best training schedule possible. Climbing is less like this because it hasn’t reached a really high level yet and it relies on a very wide range of physical and mental skills. In practice what climbers have to pay attention to get the best from their training is to find out through trial and error what works for them, and also to find ways round the aspects they are not so good at. Another important point here is to remember that we are whole people not just training robots – you might be good at getting strong but hate training on your own. In this case, if you do lots of strength training it could put you off the whole sport. A common example of this principle in action is the injury prone boulderer. They are strong and respond well to training and hence become quite ambitious and also quite focused on the strength aspect of improving at climbing. But they keep getting injured fingers. This has caused many a climber to get frustrated and eventually give up climbing. The injury prone climber needs to accept what they cannot change but find a way round it. If they become more focused on technique and train less aggressively, they will climb better and give their injury prone body more time to get used to hard training. The end result being good technique, less tendency to get injured and, eventually strong fingers too. Not bad eh? Practical/mental problems The first aspect of physical training to think about once you have digested the principles is a mental aspect (remember, we are whole people, we need to be happy doing what we are doing to get better): How are you going to enjoy physical training which can be an intensely monotonous process at times? For the most ambitious climbers this problem becomes the central issue in how hard you will eventually climb; the harder you climb, the more you have to enjoy the preparation. You have to decide whether you like doing training on your own. If you do naturally, great! You already have a really important quality that will stand you in good stead. If not, it’s not a problem; you just have to think up some ways to make it fun. Do you enjoy it more when you have a competition to train for? Can you time your training so you meet up with friends? Do you work harder when others are watching you? Maybe even just thinking about training in a different way can remove the boredom factor. For instance I can’t afford to climb in a climbing wall as often as I’d need to get stronger, so I use a fingerboard in my house 5 days a week for 90 minutes. I pick a good CD, stick it on and get hanging. I just think of it as listening to a CD and having a break from work. Before you know it, you’re done.
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