Training review

Hey all, I’ve been out of the gym for about 3 months, can y’all review my training program for me and see how it looks? I used to climb v8, and am wanting to pull hard pretty quickly again. I also am going to drop back down to send weight, since I’m 6’0” and 172 and when climbing regularly sit around 155-160, but that’ll be from distance running. Here it is:

TRAINING PLAN

MONDAY

5 Minutes finger warm up

5 Minutes full body warm up

10 Minutes light fingerboarding 

20 Minutes light kilter board

45 minutes Hard Kilter

15 Minutes core

3x

2x10 Isolated Side Crunches

1x10@20lbs V Ups

1x10 Hanging Leg Raises

TUESDAY

5 Minutes full body warm up

15 minutes light fingerboarding

Back

5x5s @ 25lbs

Shoulder Rotations 2x10 2x8 2x6 @20lbs

Isolated band pull-ups

1x10R+1x12L

Close Grip Pull-ups 2x10 2x8 2x6

Wide Grip Pull-ups 2x10 2x8 2x6

Archer Pull-ups 2x10 2x8 2x6

15 Minutes Core

WEDNESDAY

5 Minutes full body warm up

15 Minutes hard Fingerboarding

Chest + Upper

Bench 2x10 2x8 2x6

Curls 2x10 2x8 2x6

Triceps Extensions 2x10 2x8 2x6

Shoulder Rotations 2x10 2x8 2x6

Kettlebell uppercuts 2x50

30 Minutes Light Bouldering/Sport

THURSDAY

5 Minutes full body warm up

15 Minutes light fingerboarding

10 minutes campus 135x3 147x2 113355x2

45 Minutes Spray

5x5@35lbs

FRIDAY

5 Minutes finger warm up

5 Minutes full body warm up

10 Minutes light fingerboarding 

20 Minutes light kilter board

45 minutes Hard Kilter

15 Minutes core

SATURDAY

5 Minutes full body warm up

15 minutes light fingerboarding

Back

5x5s @ 25lbs

Shoulder Rotations 2x10 2x8 2x6 @20lbs

Isolated band pull-ups

1x10R+1x12L

Close Grip Pull-ups 2x10 2x8 2x6

Wide Grip Pull-ups 2x10 2x8 2x6

Archer Pull-ups 2x10 2x8 2x6

15 Minutes Core

SUNDAY

5 Minutes full body warm up

15 Minutes hard Fingerboarding

Chest + Upper

Bench 2x10 2x8 2x6

Curls 2x10 2x8 2x6

Triceps Extensions 2x10 2x8 2x6

Shoulder Rotations 2x10 2x8 2x6

Kettlebell uppercuts 2x50

30 Minutes Light Bouldering/Sport

Thanks all. 

I'm by no means an expert, but a lot of what I've seen recommended by climbing training folks is building in more rest time throughout the week and focusing more on the wall and less with exercises. Sure, strength training is great and should have an overall contribution to climbing performance, but how much pulling strength do you really need? And how do you know if yours is weak and would justify all those extra pull-ups you have programmed in?

Yeah, this schedule is nuts. You need rest days. Since becoming a parent and being forced to go from 6-7 days a week to 3-4 days a week, my climbing performance has skyrocketed.

Also, rest means like, rest, not just off the wall work. I got into making holds and warmup edges on rest days. 

Reference, I am 5’8” and pre-kid i was 150ish and climbing V6/5.12 (outdoor), now I am 170ish and climb V9/5.12+ (ropes are hard as a newer parent, so probably higher if i got out on them more than twice a year)

I got tendonitis just reading that. 

Start with some dedicated weight/finger days and some light kilter volume days, and of course a couple full rest days. As you slowly increase the intensity on the kilter days, taper off the weights/ fingers to a maintenance level. Repeat when you feel plateaued on the hard kilter probs or feel tweaky. Add anything specific to prevent injury, which if you're also trying to drop weight /distance run at the same time will be inevitable. 

So only two actual climbing sessions a week?  If this is an off season, strength/weight lifting phase, then two sessions makes sense.  If not, I'd reduce some of the lifting and get in more climbing.  It's a skill sport after all.  Tritate in your board climbing but eventually you'd want to be on the board multiple sessions a week.  How many times totally depends on climbing experience and age.  Youth kids do 5 days a week on a board.  I'm in my 40s and do 3 good board sessions with maybe one more lighter non-board session OR endurance/circuits session.

I’ve been doing this for two weeks and am back to v8 on boards. I’m 19, so rest days aren’t really meaningful to me, as my active days don’t hit the same muscle with intensity two days in a row. I also have 5 climbing sessions in a week, which is definitely enough. I rest before outdoor trips, but training is an everyday thing. Thank you all for your suggestions.

Even at 19 you'd benefit from building in more recovery. Sure your body may have the ability to recover short-term from this insane split your running, but your performance will suffer over the long-term compared to what it could be if you rested enough. The number one mistake athletes at your age make is overprogramming. It's also why elite athletes--even young ones--prioritize recovery as much as training. You may feel fine two weeks in, but at two months the cumulative fatigue will begin to build and start take its toll. If performance is a priority, then rest should be too. 

What is your goal of the training plan? Is it general strength in bouldering or do you have specific objectives?

I’m a believer in “less is more” meaning it’s easy to create this convoluted plan that you have scripted for the week and plug away for a while. But Id argue that some of the most productive plans are the simplest and easiest to follow. It’s not rocket science….just takes time and dedication. And to echo what everyone has said already, yes more time on the wall and less auxiliary exercises FTW. Climbing is a skill based sport at the end of the day. I know plenty of v10 climbers who can’t do a one arm, do 1,5,8 or whatever fun instafacegram things people are posting  nowadays 

Maddox DeWoodywrote:

I’ve been doing this for two weeks and am back to v8 on boards. I’m 19, so rest days aren’t really meaningful to me, as my active days don’t hit the same muscle with intensity two days in a row. I also have 5 climbing sessions in a week, which is definitely enough. I rest before outdoor trips, but training is an everyday thing. Thank you all for your suggestions.

Excuse me, sir. This is the trad dad forum. I think you’re looking for r/climbharder