Would you like to be able to stay on the wall longer, red pointing to increasingly difficult routes and longer routes and bouldering problems? Here are nine great ways to improve your rock climbing stamina.
- Buy a climbing book or video and practice the technique relentlessly.
Better technique results in greater efficiency on the wall, which in turn means it lasts longer before tiring. -
Lift weights, concentrating on your core, back, shoulders, and arms (girls, this means you too).
Weight training can be done after climbing or as a standalone workout. -
4×4: Climb / boulder 4 problems in a row, rest 5 minutes, repeat 3 more sets.
Select four different bouldering problems (or use the same one if you wish). Climb all four in a row without resting. Then rest for five minutes and repeat three more times on the new problems. You can make this workout more difficult by reducing your rest period, choosing harder or longer problems, doing more sets (i.e. 5x4s), doing more supersets (4x5s), lowering each problem, or using light weights on the ankles, wrists, or harness. -
Do 30-50 bouldering problems, with a 1-2 minute rest between each.
Solve all problems in 60 to 90 minutes. You can do a similar exercise by climbing 15 to 25 top rope routes, much more feasible if you have auto insurance that you can monopolize. -
Go down every problem or route.
This will drastically reduce the total number of problems that you will be able to escalate, so wait until the end of your day if you prefer. -
Go up, down, climb, etc. until you can’t, rest 5-10 minutes, repeat
Whether climbing or bouldering, perform each superset without a break between routes or problems, except for the few seconds it takes to walk to the next problem and get started. If you’re climbing, consider finding a group of grouped routes (to avoid having to tie up elsewhere), or just climb and re-climb the same route over and over again until you can’t. -
Go around the gym, staying on the wall for 10-30 minutes, rest, repeat
This variation does not have to be technically difficult. The point is to stay on the wall as long as possible, 10 to 30 minutes or more, for at least two or three sets. Find a corner or some jugs to rest, but whatever you do, don’t get off the wall until you can’t stay up any longer. -
Play Add On with a friend until exhaustion
Add On is a very fun bouldering game to play with one or more friends. Start by doing three block movements and then go down. Each successive climber must repeat the entire progression identically and then add three more. The winner is the last climber to complete all the moves without falling. Once someone wins, rest a few minutes and play again. -
Perform any of the above variations while wearing a SCUBA weight belt / vest
Weighted arm and ankle bands work too. Or you can just wear a lot of protection on your harness, mimicking traditional multi pitch climbing, ice climbing, big walls and other real life climbing scenarios. Just don’t add so much weight that you can’t scale enough to really exhaust yourself at a deep level.