CONTENTS

SECTION 1 – CONCEPTS
● Program goals
● The strategy

Climbing Workouts
● Methodology
● Timeline
● First steps

Essential Training - ●
●
Schedule
Tools

EDITION 2
● Motivation
● Benchmarks

SECTION 2 – MOVEMENT DRILLS

● Bumping Up

Intermediate - Advanced ●
●
Swings to side drill
Open swing and reach up
● Lockoff and reach
● Levitations
Essential training is a movement based ● Cutting Loose
training methodology and program that ● High knee lifts in lolly balls
● Switch hand for toe drill
addresses muscle memory and technical ● Open throw and lock off
development. This manual is instructional ● Crossover and reach
● Campus
material aimed towards climbing ● Dyno Drills
improvement. ● Open dihedral push
● Steep throw

SECTION 3 – TRAINING CHARTS

● Finger Strength
● Technical Strength
● Power Stamina
● Endurance

SECTION 4 – CLIMBING TESTS

● Bouldering test
● Lead climbing test

SECTION 5 – FEEDBACK
● Self assessment
● Training safety protocols
Follow along with videos:

www.climbingworkouts.com
1 THE TRAINING
PROGRAM
GOALS

Climbing workouts - essential training goals

Being motivated and dedicated is the key to reaching any goal. This program, geared toward
intermediate and advanced climbers, will show you how to get stronger, technical and more powerful,
but you have to work for it. This is what we are looking at:

● Improvements in overall climbing technique and movement efficiency

● Increase of a movement repertoire
● Improvement of bouldering skills (tactic - visualization - execution)
● Improvement of lead climbing skills (tactic - visualization - execution)
● Maximum finger & contact strength
● Maximum arm strength - traction & locking off
● Maximum core and body tension
● Maximum power - Stamina
● Maximum stamina - Endurance
● Improvements in movement precision

Being determined to succeed and refusing to stop or give up. This is how you need to approach your
training. Hard work means more than talent, so bottom line is: Work hard. That said, always be cautious
not to burn out or overtrain. If you are extremely tired during training, unmotivated, and/or not
improving, take a break from training. Just go out and climb. Training is a very demanding routine. Push
yourself and work hard, but don’t burn yourself out. This manual will help you move towards the safe,
effective way.

Weekly Plans PROGRAM DOSAGE

A week plan in this training program consists of 12 sessions, 3 days Sessions 12

a week of training and 4 recovery days. That’s the overall
recommendation so you don’t burn out. You can climb on recovery Weeks 4
days, however it’s advised that you save your energy and juices for
the real deal: the DAYS ON. Time per 2.5 Hours
session
THE STRATEGY

4 Weeks of essential training

For maximum results, you will do this program during a period of 4 weeks.
Each week will have 12 sessions. This is how you do it:
You will have sessions of 60 - 90 -120 and 80 Minutes working at your
maximum, safe intensity so you don’t get injured.
120”

PROGRAM USAGE:

● WORKOUT each worksheet session

● TRACK your results
● MAKE PROGRESS and stay accountable! 90”
● HAVE PROPER NUTRITION and plan your meals
● DRINK WATER all along your day 80”
● RECOVER your energy with resting days

Session Duration 60”

COMPENSATION

EXERCISE

WEEKS/LEVELS 1 2 3 4
METHODOLOGY

Essential Training Program Methodology

We teamed up with professional climbers and trainers to develop a system of movement based
workouts that will maintain motivation and interest for the gym and your winter training.

CLIMBING PERFORMANCE
IMPROVEMENT

Nutrition Tools

TRAINING
Motivation PROGRAM Schedules

Exercises Climbing Tests

Plan your work, work your plan, be flexible to adapt.

Planning your program in advance of a year and tweaking it along the time so it stays current and fits
your new goals. Allocating specific hours during the week so you can commit to the SMT program (2-10
hours / Week) Check marking all your exercises included in the SMT and collecting all your training
information to use if after and make a better program.
 TIMELINE

6 Months Timeline
Advanced Projects

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Jul

Climbing Projects

Movement Training

Endurance

Strength

Essential Training Program

In this timeline example we dedicate a period of time towards building a foundation of strength, then we
move towards endurance (more time on the wall and more distance per route - decrease load) and we top
this with a period of technical training which involved practices of more complex moves and patterns.
(example: climbing routes similar to your projects outside, climbing moves similar to the cruxes of your
routes outside)
GETTING STARTED

The Regime and workouts

Don't get caught up in the "all or nothing" mindset. Training doesn't have to be
that complicated. Doing something is better than doing nothing, and training
for climbing is better than not doing so. Don't let optimal be the enemy of good
enough. Do what you can do and do consistently then worry about optimizing
later as you gain traction. Remember, sometimes getting started is everything.

Essential Training Program

Strength Sessions Endurance Sessions
Exercises Exercises Exercises Exercises Exercises Exercises
CONCEPTS

Training session distribution

Every week you make a distribution of exercises combining strength and endurance sessions. You must
develop a good base of strength first. Skip this step and you will risk burning out later in the program or
getting injuries. Strength grants your overall muscle stability and allows for endurance. The first few
weeks of training target general fitness, and the amount of climbing gradually increases as the phase
progresses.

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY

STRENGTH ENDURANCE
CONCEPTS

Indoor training tools

Thanks to your indoor climbing gym, rock climbing is a four-season trainable sport.
It’s always sunny in the plastic paradise, even during the dark, cold, and wet winter
months. Easy and instant access should do wonders for your climbing.

Campus Board
The campus board is the tool for your finger
strength and dynamic power. This traditional
instrument has been around for over 2
decades and it’s effectiveness lies in it’s
simplicity.

System Wall
The system wall is that hybrid of a bouldering
panel and a campus board, the advantage of
this tool is you can create symmetrical
movements and you can track progressions as
you execute sets.

Finger Board
Fingerboards these days come in many sizes,
colors and shapes. This instrument will help
you improve maximum finger strength by
primarily doing static suspensions in multiple
holds.

Bouldering wall
The Bouldering wall is the most essential tool
for developing applicable skills
CONCEPTS

Your commitment
It’s easy to fall into a fruitless routine or just hop on any 5.10 with the shortest line. But infusing your
workout with purpose, variety, and motivation will yield big results in your strength, endurance, and
power..

Movement training
The development of fundamental climbing movement
skills and motor skills is critical to establishing the
foundation for participation in many climbing styles. A
person who has not had the opportunity to develop
these basic motor skills for climbing experiences
difficulties or barriers when participating in climbing
experiences, or later climbing projects that involve more
difficult skills.

The immersion cycle

At first glance, creating effective training programs might look simple. All you need is to determine the
intensity level and how long it takes you to get to the supercompensation period. Afterwards, continue training
with the intensity level that was determined previously and keep the necessary intervals between workouts
required for supercompensation.

EXERCISE COMPENSATION REPETITION

Drills and Recover Memory and
tools and repair acquisition
CONCEPTS

Benchmarking and Examples

Benchmarking is a measurement of the quality of training
methods programs, strategies, etc, and their comparison with
standard measurements, or similar measurements of its peers.
The objectives of benchmarking are to determine what and
where improvements are called for, to analyze how other
athletes achieve their high performance levels, and to use this
information to improve performance.

GOAL STATEMENT - BENCHMARK BY OR BEFORE

To climb 1 route of grade __________ MONTH _______ DAY______ YEAR____

To climb 1 indoor problem of grade _________ MONTH _______ DAY______ YEAR____

To climb 5 routes of grade _________ MONTH _______ DAY______ YEAR____

To attempt my hardest project _____ times MONTH _______ DAY______ YEAR____

To train ____ hours per week MONTH _______ DAY______ YEAR____

To deadhang ____ seconds on a ½ inch edge MONTH _______ DAY______ YEAR____

To climb 5 problems of grade ____ in a session MONTH _______ DAY______ YEAR____

(Add your Own) MONTH _______ DAY______ YEAR____

The importance of benchmarking

Benmarks help you realize what is your current level. Benchmarks are metrics of your success and you must
meet them in order to stay motivated and pursue new results.
CONCEPTS

Overall Session Structure

Short term goals usually indicate small improvements in climbing as long as they are realistic, and should
usually be set for periods of between 3 to 6 weeks, whether its just to do a route or boulder problem
you have been trying at the wall lately or a route outside which you didn’t quite manage a few weeks
previously, you will always feel slight benefits from your hard work which will be rewarding and keep
you keen for them slightly longer midterm goals. During a training cycle the intensity and volume of
training varies, waves of different functions are overlaid so that until the end of the macrocycle
supercompensation of the main required functions is achieved.

WARMUP TRAINING CONDITIONING

General Strategy
The essentials of the climbing session:

Planning Execution
Design the Go and do it
program

Recovery Fedback
Reinforce and Learn and
adapt improve
2 TECHNICAL
MOVEMENT
DRILLS
CONCEPTS

The Movement Drills - Exercise Box

The workout program is the addition of moves to your repertoire.

❏ Bumping Up
❏ Swings to side drill
❏
WORKOUT REGIME
Open swing and reach up
❏ Lockoff and reach
❏ Levitations 12 SESSIONS
❏ Cutting Loose
❏ High knee lifts in lolly balls
❏ Switch hand for toe drill
❏ Open throw and lock off
❏ Crossover and reach
❏ Campus
❏ Dyno Drills DOSAGE
❏ Open dihedral push
❏ Steep throw Sets 3-5

Repetitions To Failure

Rest 2.5 Minutes

Sets, repetitions and volumes

The concept is simple; build a base of endurance then work toward maximum power. By pushing your
body in these cycles you strike a balance between letting yourself be fresh and strong within the cycles
and not letting yourself totally adapt to the stresses of the workouts. This keeps you from stalling at
different plateaus and makes the gains possible much greater than doing the same sets of workouts
month after month. Immediately following the peak cycle you should be ready to climb strongly. The
Cycle Shown Below Would Start Again In June.
MOVEMENT DRILLS

Bumping Up
An excellent exercise for explosive
power and finger strength, body
tension and contact

● Follow the sequence

● Loop the movement.
● Repeat until failure
● Use full body
● Maintain posture
● Set challenging handholds
MOVEMENT DRILLS

Swings to side drill

An excellent exercise for finger strength, body
tension and contact

● Follow the sequence

● Loop the movement.
● Repeat until failure
● Use full body
● Maintain posture
● Set challenging handholds
MOVEMENT DRILLS

Open swing and reach up drill

An excellent exercise for finger strength, body
tension and contact, train it on the boulder wall or
system board

● Follow the sequence

● Loop the movement.
● Repeat until failure
● Use full body
● Maintain posture
● Set challenging handholds
MOVEMENT DRILLS

Lockoff and reach drill

An excellent exercise for finger strength, lock offs, balance, body tension and contact,
train it on the boulder wall or system board

● Follow the sequence

● Loop the movement.
● Repeat until failure
● Use full body
● Maintain posture
● Set challenging handholds
MOVEMENT DRILLS

Levitations drill
An excellent exercise for balance and lower body
strength, try it on slabs

● Follow the sequence

● Loop the movement.
● Repeat until failure
● Use full body
● Maintain posture
● Set challenging handholds
MOVEMENT DRILLS

Cutting Loose drill

An excellent exercise for
finger strength, and core. Try
it on the campus board or
bouldering wall

● Follow the sequence

● Loop the movement
● Repeat until failure
● Use full body
● Maintain posture
● Set challenging
handholds
MOVEMENT DRILLS

High knee lifts in

lolly balls
Use the lolly balls (if you
have available) for body
tension and contact

● Follow the sequence

● Loop the movement
● Repeat until failure
● Use full body
● Maintain posture
● Set challenging
handholds
MOVEMENT DRILLS

Switch hand for toe drill

An excellent exercise for technique and toe
hooking, helps for body tension and contact

● Follow the sequence

● Loop the movement
● Repeat until failure
● Use full body
● Maintain posture
● Set challenging handholds
MOVEMENT DRILLS

Open throw and lock off drill

An excellent exercise for finger strength, body
tension and contact

● Follow the sequence

● Loop the movement
● Repeat until failure
● Use full body
● Maintain posture
● Set challenging handholds
MOVEMENT DRILLS

Crossover and
reach toe drill
An excellent exercise for
finger strength, body tension
and contact

● Follow the sequence

● Loop the movement
● Repeat until failure
● Use full body
● Maintain posture
● Set challenging
handholds
MOVEMENT DRILLS

Campus on
slopers drill
An excellent exercise for
finger strength, body
tension and contact

● Follow the sequence

● Loop the movement
● Repeat until failure
● Use full body
● Maintain posture
● Set challenging
handholds
MOVEMENT DRILLS

Dyno Drills
An excellent exercise for
dynamic strength, arm
strength, precision and
contact

● Follow the sequence

● Loop the movement
● Repeat until failure
● Use full body
● Maintain posture
● Set challenging
handholds
MOVEMENT DRILLS

Open dihedral push drill

An excellent exercise for triceps, handling dihedrals
and awkward rock angles

● Follow the sequence

● Loop the movement.
● Repeat until failure
● Use full body
● Maintain posture
● Set challenging handholds
MOVEMENT DRILLS

Steep throw drill

An excellent exercise for finger
strength, body tension and
explosive power

● Follow the sequence

● Loop the movement.
● Repeat until failure
● Use full body
● Maintain posture
● Set challenging handholds
CONCEPTS

Training Movement Skills

There are two ways that conditioning and cross training should feature in your overall approach, the first
is during dedicated cardio and physical phases and the second is a skill, movement based training.

Movement Skill Description

Deadhanging Ability to hold your body weight in a static position from a single
difficult feature

Crimping Ability to hold on crimps

Sticking (slopers) Ability to hold on slopers

Pinching Ability to hold on pinches

Pulling Up Ability to pull up with your arms

Reaching Ability to reach a higher hold statically

Stepping Up Ability to step up with your legs

Throwing/ Deadpointing Ability to throw from one hold into another one with a dynamic
motion

Dynoing Ability to dyno and fly from one hold into another out of reach

Body Tension and Core Ability to maintain tension with the full body

Locking off Ability to lock your arms in order to reach a higher hold or clip a
quickdraw

Flagging Ability to keep the balance in offset positions

Crossing Ability to make crossing moves

Bumping Ability to make successions of holding movements with the same hand

Swinging Ability to control swings and cut loose movements with limited
footholds

Open dihedral push Ability to push down or mantel moves

3 TRAINING CHARTS
TRAINING CHARTS

Using the training charts

The training charts are your checklists of drills and exercises to do at
the gym. These four main workouts target different areas of fitness. It’s
up to you to choose what days during the week you perform these
exercises.

1) ASSEMBLE your training sheets and design your program

3) WORKOUT each worksheet session at your climbing gym facility
4) TRACK your results from beginning to end by filling up the sheets
5) MAKE PROGRESS and stay accountable!

The program summary

Workouts are collection of exercises that are assembled throughout the length of
your training cycle. in this essential training we have 4 workouts with an average
duration of 2 hours each session.

Total Combos Average Session Duration Total Sessions

4 Workouts 2 Hours / Day 12 SESSIONS

MAXIMUM STRENGTH

SESSION FOR FINGER STRENGTH 2.5 Hrs max

Exercise Sets Rest Training Tool

Swings to side 3 sets 90 Seconds Boulder wall/System Wall

Campus on slopers 3 sets 90 Seconds Boulder wall/System Wall

Lock offs 3 sets 90 Seconds Boulder wall/System Wall

Throws 3 sets 90 Seconds Boulder wall/System Wall

Toe Hooks 3 sets 90 Seconds Boulder wall/System Wall

Dynos 3 sets 90 Seconds Boulder wall/System Wall

Crossovers 3 sets 90 Seconds Boulder wall/System Wall

TECHNICAL STRENGTH & POWER

SESSION FOR TECHNICAL STRENGTH 2.5 Hrs max

Exercise Sets Rest Training Tool

Easy Climbs 4 Sets 90 Seconds Boulder wall

Bouldering 4 Sets 90 Seconds Boulder wall

Campusing 4 Sets 90 Seconds Boulder wall

Deadhangs 4 Sets 90 Seconds Boulder wall

Swings to side 4 Sets 90 Seconds Boulder wall

Lock Offs 4 Sets 90 Seconds Boulder wall

Open Swings 4 Sets 90 Seconds Boulder wall

Dynos 4 Sets 90 Seconds Boulder wall

TECHNICAL POWER ENDURANCE

SESSION FOR POWER ENDURANCE 2.5 Hrs max

Exercise Sets Rest Training Tool

Warm Up boulders 8 Sets 120 Seconds Boulder wall

Long boulder or short 2 Sets 120 Seconds Boulder wall

circuit of 15 moves.

Long boulder or short 2 Sets 120 Seconds Boulder wall

circuit of 15 moves.

Long boulder or short 2 Sets 120 Seconds Boulder wall

circuit of 15 moves.

Deadhang to failure 40 2 Sets 120 Seconds Boulder wall

seconds on edges

Deadhang to failure 40 2 Sets 120 Seconds Boulder wall

seconds on edges
ENDURANCE

SESSION FOR ENDURANCE 2.5 Hrs max

Exercise Sets Rest Training Tool

Warm Up boulders 8 Sets 90 Seconds Boulder wall

Route / circuit 30 moves. 2 Sets 90 Seconds Boulder wall

Open Feet

Route / circuit 35 moves. 2 Sets 90 Seconds Boulder wall

Open Feet

Route / circuit 40 moves. 2 Sets 90 Seconds Boulder wall

Open Feet

Route / circuit 40 moves. 2 Sets 90 Seconds Boulder wall

Open Feet

Route / circuit 30 moves. 2 Sets 90 Seconds Boulder wall

Open Feet
4 ESSENTIAL TRAINING
CLIMBING TESTS
TESTING STRENGTH AND TECHNIQUE

Bouldering Test
Select 5 boulder problems at your
maximum grade which you have
ideally not worked on. You will try
each boulder problem within a period
of 5 minutes, resting 5 minutes in
between each. Attempt the problem
at least 3 times within those 5
minutes.

YOUR MAX (Onsight)

BOULDER BOULDER BOULDER BOULDER BOULDER

1 2 3 4 5

Relative Intensity Levels

How to conduct the exercise

1. The climber selects 5 problems from the climbing wall or system board
2. The climber attempts each problem up to 3 times
3. The climber must complete at least 80% of each problem, otherwise, modify the moves.
4. The climber has 5 minutes on each problem, and
5. The assistant uses the highest recorded value to assess the athlete’s performance
TESTING ENDURANCE AND TECHNIQUE

Lead Climbing
Test
This is the time for you to set 6
routes at your maximum difficulty
and try them one by one in
onsight. You will have 3 tries for
each route, the difficulty may vary,
use the chart below to adjust your
routes with that kind of relative
intensity. Rest time should be 5
minutes.

YOUR MAX (Onsight)

ROUTE 1 ROUTE 2 ROUTE 3 ROUTE 4 ROUTE 5

How to conduct the exercise

1. The climber sets 5 routes at the maximum personal level
2. The climber tries each route once
3. The assistant (or climber) records the highest hold reached
4. The climber repeats the test once per training cycle (once per month)
5. The assistant uses the highest grade climbed to assess the athlete’s performance
NUTRITION

The climbing workouts official

booster: breakfast of champs
This oatmeal recipe is made to sustain you through a
long workout whether it's a tough training session, run
or day projecting at the crag. Consume at least 30
min before a workout. The ingredient list is long but
once you have them, they last a while and the recipe
is quick to make. Feel free to experiment with
different ingredients and amounts based on taste and
how you feel after consumption. The ginger turmeric
milk was made to reduce joint inflammation which is
important for climbers but it is an acquired taste.

Ingredients Method
Oatmeal
● 1/2 cup of rolled oats 1. Place all the ingredients in a jar, mix well
● 1 tbsp chia seeds
and leave in the fridge overnight.
● 1 tbsp hemp seeds
2. You can either eat it cold or we prefer to
● 1 tbsp pumpkin seeds
● 1 tbsp of chopped almonds
pour the contents in a pot on the stovetop.
● 1 tbsp of vegan protein powder Once it starts to bubble, turn the heat off
● 1 tbsp of gogi berries or raisins or chopped dates and cover for 5-10 min. You may want to
● 1-3 tsp of coconut flakes add more milk to get your desired
● 1 tsp of flax seeds consistency.
● 1/8 - 1/4 tsp cinnamon
● 1 and 1/4 cup of turmeric ginger milk
or sub for non-dairy milk and 1 tsp of coconut oil.
● 1/2 sliced banana.

Turmeric Ginger Mylk: 1. Place all the ingredients in a blender and

● 2 cups of non dairy milk blend until frothy
● 2 tsp of coconut oil
● 1 inch of turmeric root
● 1-1/4 inch of ginger root
● 1 tsp of vanilla
● honey or 2 dates (optional)
5 POST TRAINING
FEEDBACK AND
PROGRESS
TRACKING
FEEDBACK

Keeping a training diary with your training notes

The key for a good training program is that you stay accountable, motivated
and wanting to push your level higher while maintaining the margins of safety
in place. you must account not just for how your muscles are responding but
also your overall well being, in your diary, keep attention and track of:

Feelings Improvements
How do you feel during the day and what How do you feel during the day and what
affected you emotionally affected you emotionally

Training Reports New Goals

Write up a general summary of what you did Just keep a list somewhere with your
and how was your session climbing goals and future achievements

Your Questionnaire
A personal progression assessment in form of a self questionnaire is a great way to keep
track of how you were experiencing the training at any given time. Below an example of how
this questionnaire can be formulated

Am I improving with the current training program? (Y / N)

Am I measuring my results? (Y / N)

Am I being strict with my resting time and number of sessions? (Y / N)

Am I feeling emotionally well in a climbing session? (Y / N)

Do I recognize when is time to stop because of a risk of injury? (Y / N)

Is there some change I’d make in this program? (Y / N)

Do I have the commitment to execute this program and get (Y / N)

better?
SAFETY PROTOCOLS

Preventing injuries and training safety

Doesn’t matter how hard you train, if you are not smarter you can trash a
whole year of training because of an injury...

Proper Warm Up Ergonomic Holds

Warming up with easy progressive difficulty Avoid sharp edged holds and sharp pockets,
ensures that your muscles are properly also be careful with the small crimps. holds
stretched and tense enough to start with the must be carefully selected to avoid any kind of
higher loads. unnecessary strain in the finger tendons,

Controlled Movement Measured Loads

Learn the motion patterns first before starting Progressive training mean syou will start with
to get more crazy with your movements, learn small loads and with increase the intensity as
to move more efficiently and then try harder you go.
difficulties with arder holds

Common injuries to avoid

First of all, what do our fingers look like? This may sound obvious, but many people don’t know what’s
inside our fingers. If you knew just how they were put together, it might be easier to know how to avoid
pulling them apart!

Flexor Tendon Injuries: Pulley injuries: Collateral ligament injuries:

Flexor Tendons are usually the Pulleys are the most commonly These can be quite serious in
most devastating type of finger injured part of the finger, and some cases and may require
injury, even mild tears can lead can cause pain and swelling. surgery, but are usually quite
to pain, numbness within the This can take a while to heal, uncommon. You may feel pain
fingers and reduced movement. and if not left to recover in your joints, and notice some
If you manage to completely properly will often remain a long swelling, most often in the
rupture the tendon it may term issue. You are usually middle joint. Collateral
require surgery to heal. The warned with a dull ache in Ligament injuries usually occur
warning pains usually start in between the joints. after loading from the side (for
the palm/wrist area. example from using side pulls
and gastons).
Thank You
Climbing Workouts

Climbing workouts is the result of years of learning and researching the foundations of sport
climbing and bouldering training for red pointing and competition along the collection of
experiences taken from professionals who have devoted their time to practice this sport.

This book is part of the CLIMBING

WORKOUTS series
Edited by: - by David Echeverri
Published by: Climbing Workouts Publishing
www.climbingworkouts.com

2015

Climbing Workouts - Essential Training

All rights reserved. No part of this electronic document may be reproduced or transmitted
without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.