Authors note: I wrote this in 2017 for a climbing specific series, the sentiment is the same for mountain running or military selections. The half baked strength training books and exercises are found in these groups too, almost identically. Slowly these communities are coming round to the benefits of General (non sports specific) strength training as a foundation to training along side their other training.
I came to climbing from a sports and movement focused background. In this world it’s commonplace to use movement analysis and targeted training to improve performance. While this is a tried and tested method that is employed nearly every sport, it is conspicuously absent in conventional climbing circles. Instead, most people seem to advocate the view that the best way to improve at climbing is more climbing.
The idea that practice of a sport itself is sufficient conditioning for the sport became inadequate for preparing high-level athletes many years ago
Mark Rippetoe
No other professional sport that I know practices solely the sport to improve. It’s not that climbing doesn’t improve climbing. Of course it does. We’re also starting to see some “sports specific training” (practicing drills similar to the sport to improve certain aspects) in the form of campus boards, “hypergravity training,” and finger boards. But the climbing world still does very little in terms of general conditioning and strength training. Extensive research[1,2,3] shows that strength improves athletic performance in nearly all capacities. So why aren’t climbers capitalising on this?
I tried to get to the bottom of this question by reading popular climbing books (9/10 Climbers make the same mistakes; D Macleod, Training for climbing, Conditioning for climbers; E Horst and others). Most are written by climbers and climbing coaches. To be fair, these authors flirt with the idea of sports specific training, but the recommendations are essentially limited to finger strength exercises and pull-up variations. Pulling up and holding on to things are obviously important for climbing. But, ultimately, these methods are too superficial. The best way to improve athletic performance, generally, is to improve a person’s ability to apply force. The only way to improve the capacity to apply force (say, on a climbing wall) is to increase maximal strength. Pull ups and finger boards do little-to-nothing to increase a person’s maximal strength.
This is not to say that there aren’t beneficial books, programs and training centres with useful guidance. Many of these either operate on dictating exercises rather than explanation, equally some work on a pay to play system which falls down when you consider these services aren’t tailored to the individual needs. Training centres such as Mountain Athlete and Mountain Strong Denver have much to offer the community but it requires proximity to those centres. I believe this information of how to train should be available to all.
My goal is to train better climbers by applying training a strength and conditioning philosophy that is mainstream for all other sports. I also want to dispel myths such as getting strong will make you bulky / inflexible (and therefore a worse climber). I’d like this blog to be a forum for information and discussion of how to integrate a positive view of strength and conditioning to various climbing disciplines.
By all means, ignore what I’m writing if you’re view is that many great climbers have done well without additional strength and conditioning. Extra training may not be of interest to a causal climber or one who enjoys the pursuit of climbing without the desire to maximize performance. Whether or not you agree with what I’ve written, I hope, you find the information useful and please feel free to comment and question below.
[1] Kraska, Jenna M., et al. “Relationship between strength characteristics and unweighted and weighted vertical jump height.” International journal of sports physiology and performance 4.4 (2009): 461-473.
[2] Comfort, Paul, Nathan Bullock, and Stephen J. Pearson. “A comparison of maximal squat strength and 5-, 10-, and 20-meter sprint times, in athletes and recreationally trained men.” The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 26.4 (2012): 937-940.
[3] Stone, Michael H., et al. “The importance of isometric maximum strength and peak rate-of-force development in sprint cycling.” The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 18.4 (2004): 878-884.
IBEX Performance 