If you could care less about bagging the big summits of the world, but would rather just be able to haul your carcass up some desperate test piece at Joshua Tree or the Ouray Ice Park, then your training focus will have somewhat different demands than that of mountaineering. For short, technical climbs and even longer multi-pitch technical climbs aerobic fitness is much less important. Still it is very important to maintain good overall physical fitness. If you are at all overweight, than regular aerobic exercise is still your best bet to get better at climbing. Just try doing some pull ups, then try doing them again with, say, 15 extra pounds in a backpack. Feel the difference? I thought so. So, first of all weight becomes much more of an issue when "pulling down" is your desire. Second, your technique at the particular movement skill (rock, ice, etc.,) is crucial to improving your efficiency of movement.

Though I could go on and on about specific weight training programs that could help your strength, I do not feel that any increase in strength will necessarily benefit your climbing until your technique is at a high level. With a lot of strength, many people tend to "muscle" their way up climbs in poor technique and though they may get up one or two pitches that way, they usually don’t last very long. For this reason, I recommend just plain climbing as the best form of training to improve your own personal technical climbing skills.

Check out a sample training routine for technical climbing here.
or
Check out a training routine specifially for rock climbing here.

The more variety, the better. The more you can get out on many different types of rock and climbs, the more experiences you will have in your muscle memory "engrams" to draw upon in future climbs. If you only climbs cracks at one particular area, then you will find yourself stumped when you come upon a slab higher up in Yosemite at the end of one of the famous crack climbs there. Variety is key for improving your technique.

Frequency is also vital. Try and log in as much mileage as you can. If you can climb a couple days a week, even if at a gym, this is great. If you find this too difficult due to your location and/or schedule, then perhaps you can build a small wall in your basement or garage. I have an 8’ X 10’ wall in a shed in my backyard that rocks! I have been able to do a variety of training on it from short, hard boulder problems, to longer linkups of many easier problems, to practicing dry-tooling techniques with my ice tools. A home gym is great if you have the resources and time to make it happen.

Finally there is weight training. Perhaps best used for general conditioning and helping avoid injuries, weight training can also help supplement the lack of climbing for those who just can not get out and do any real climbing for whatever reason. Again, here variety is key. Try and do a variety of mostly upper body exercises. Good ones for technical climbing include: Lat pulls, rowing, forearm curls, reverse wrist curls, bench press, shoulder press, abdominal crunches, and calf raises. I recommend doing about two three sets of each exercise, completing about 8-12 repetitions per set. You should work out with weights no more than two to three times a week, less if you are able to climb often.

Finally, training for any particular climb can be very specific and you may unique issues of your own that demand special attention. Feel free to contact us with any questions you may have about training for your own specific goals or upcoming trips.

Remember to have fun.

Final tip: A CD walkman or portable MP3 player goes a long way towards breaking the boredom of long training sessions.