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Training When Not Climbing 104

• December 2009
• Hi Steph Climb Dogs Training

Hey Steph,
I am an aspiring climber and enjoy reading your blog as it is informative and inspiring. You also share and discuss many of my other interests (dogs, vegan cooking, traveling, etc.) so it’s always enjoyable to read what you and other people are thinking/doing!
I have a question for you in regards to climbing fitness. I have an on again/off again relationship with climbing in that I will go through a period where I climb often and start to get in the groove and then I’ll hit a few months without climbing at all, which consequently forces me to start from scratch when I get back into it again. Part of this is due to my profession (I build/maintain trails … I work long days and am often in the backcountry for weeks at a time). My question for you is how do you cross train or keep in climbing shape when you aren’t able to climb?

Do you do any weight lifting and/or cardio workouts? I am really just looking for stuff I can do so my ass isn’t whipped every time I take a hiatus from climbing. Also, not related to climbing, I was curious what are your favorite books and musicians?
Thanks so much,
Adra

Dear Adra,
With your work, it sounds like you’re more in need of rest vacations than cross training! Trail work is burly 🙂 I have definitely had this issue too over the years, because I like to switch between adventurous activities and pure free climbing. I have found myself in the same situation of being really strong and fit physically after months of carrying heavy things up hills, but then facing the unpleasant truth that it doesn’t help at all when it’s time to pull up on the fingers of one hand again…. The bright side of the story is that as time goes by in your climbing life, your base level is always increasing, so your return to free climbing after a break is always a little easier over the years.

I imagine when you’re in a work stint, you don’t have any access to “training” facilities, and you’re probably pretty beat anyway from carrying logs and rocks all over creation. But even if you can’t do pullups or hangboard workouts, if you maintain or increase your core strength and your turnout flexibility, it will go a really long way to ease your return to free climbing.

For core strength, I like to do what I call boats. I don’t know what they are officially called 🙂 I lie flat on the ground in a straight line, and raise my legs at the same time I am raising my upper body and straight arms in line. I do 10 slow contractions, and then I hold the tense position and do 10 mini contractions at the top. I like to add a set of 10 every day or every week, so I count 1-10, 2-10, etc. After the boats, I stay lying down and lift my legs straight up into an L shape. You can put your hands behind your head, and then do a set of 10 crunches to the left, 10 at center, 10 to the right, 10 to the center, 10 to the left, etc. After those, I do the classic bike pedaling crunches. So you can do this even in your tent or at a campsite. And core strength will take you pretty far even if your fingers are a little weak when you start rock climbing again.

The other thing that gives you a pretty big bang for the buck is increasing your turn-out in your hips. If you can’t suck your pelvis up against the rock, you have less weight on your feet and have to pull more with your arms. If you can glue your crotch to the wall (sorry), suddenly you don’t have to exert any strength at all to be solid on the rock. I have literally gone from holding on hard to just standing there, when I started paying more attention to pulling my hips in on climbs. It’s pretty amazing, especially on vertical rock and granite face climbs. My friend Ron Kauk is the master of this, though of course he is also incredibly strong. But by climbing with him, I saw right away just how much of a difference hip turnout makes, and it is impressive to say the least. It changes your climbing completely, and saves you unbelievable amounts of energy. If you run and hike a lot like me, the odds are that your turnout is not very good to start with, but by stretching you can gradually achieve fantastic results with it, with immediate benefits to your climbing.

So after your stomach exercises, start by sitting upright with your feet together in the classic meditative position (which is nice too). After a while, lie down on your back, keeping your legs in that position. You need to give it time, to allow your knees to gradually relax down towards the ground. After this is easy for you, turn on your stomach, let your feet come apart so your knees are at right angles, and lie in an upside down frog position. This is really the goods for hip turnout. If I’m on carpet, I often put a magazine or catalog under each knee, to let them slide out. If it’s a wood floor, I’ll put a sock under each knee, for comfort and slide.

If you have a pullup bar and/or the energy, doing a pyramid set of pullups (starting with 1 and a short rest, then 2, going up as high as you can, and then back down to 1) is always well worth your time.

For cardiovascular fitness, I like to trail run and skate ski. If it’s hot, lap swimming is a new favorite thing for me. And if I’m truly desperate, due to weather or injury, I have learned to tolerate those hamster machines in the gym 🙂 The elliptical trainer is a weird motion to me, but good for fitness, or a stationary bike. I have a really hard time with the monotony of those machines, but I think it is still worth it if it’s the only option.

When you get back to climbing again, finger strength will definitely be the big weak link, but you will be way ahead if you work your core strength and turnout. And you will be really psyched!
🙂 Steph