Training for Climbing, 2nd: The Definitive Guide to Improving Your Performance (How To Climb Series)

climbers who just tie in and start climbing without any preparatory warm-up activity, stretching, or submaximum climbing.
    All that’s needed for a good warm-up is to break a light sweat by jogging, hiking, or riding a bike for five to fifteen minutes. Follow this with some light stretching exercises, as described in chapter 6. Start your climbing for the day by doing a series of easy boulder problems or a route or two that is much easier than you might want to get on. This minor inconvenience is a worthy investment in avoiding injury and maximizing your performance later in the day.
    A brief cool-down is also beneficial, since it will loosen up tight muscle groups and enhance the recovery process. In particular, stretching and a few minutes of light aerobic activity help maintain increased blood flow and speed dispersion of lactic acid accumulated in the most fatigued muscles.
8. MAINTAIN MUSCLE BALANCE BY TRAINING ANTAGONIST-MUSCLE GROUPS.
     
    Training the antagonist muscles is one of the most overlooked—and most vital—parts of training for climbing. Muscle imbalances in the forearms, shoulders, and torso are primary factors in many of the overuse injuries covered in this chapter. If you are serious about climbing your best and preventing injury, then you must commit to training the antagonist muscles twice per week.
    The time and equipment involved is minimal. All of the antagonist-muscle exercises described in chapter 6 can be performed at home with nothing more than a couple of dumbbells. As for the time commitment, it’s less than twenty minutes, twice per week. I advise doing these exercises at the end of your weekday climbing or sport-specific workout. Keep the weights light, and do every single exercise outlined for the antagonist muscles of the upper body and forearms, as well as the handful of exercises for the core muscles of the torso.
9. USE PERIODIZATION TO VARY YOUR TRAINING SCHEDULE.
     
    Many sports scientists consider periodization to be the gold standard for interweek planning of an effective and optimal strength-training program. As described in chapter 5, periodization involves a premeditated variation in workout focus, intensity, and volume, which in the long term produces a maximum training response. Periodization may also reduce the risk of overuse injury, since the training focus and intensity change every few days or weeks.
    In a highly stressful sport like climbing, the most valuable aspect of periodization may be the intermittent rest phases or breaks away from all sport-specific activity. Chapter 8 advised use of the 4-3-2-1 and 3- 2-1 cycles for most intermediate and elite climbers. Use of this training cycle provides one full week of rest out at the end of the training cycle, for systemic recovery and to blunt long-term accumulation of overuse stress. In the yearlong macrocycle it is advised to take one full month off from climbing-related stresses. These breaks away from climbing go a long way toward allowing the slow-to-adapt tendons and ligaments to catch up to the gains in muscular strength. It’s also a healthy break for your mental muscle!
10. MAKE GETTING PROPER REST AND NUTRITION TOP PRIORITIES.
     
    Getting proper rest and nutrition seems like an obvious rule for a serious athlete, but I’m often surprised by the bad dietary and sleep habits possessed by some very serious climbers. Fortunately, I have noticed improvement and increased awareness about rest and nutrition issues in recent years. No doubt the better-informed and more disciplined climbers are performing closer to their ultimate potential and with fewer injuries.
    Chapter 9 on “Performance Nutrition” and chapter 10 on “Accelerating Recovery” provide many useful strategies to employ as you increase the priority placed on these subjects. If you use most of these strategies, most of the time, I am confident that you will outperform the masses and reduce your risk of overuse injuries.
    Certainly an occasional late night out or free day of eating whatever you like won’t hurt (in fact, it’s a great reward after sending a major project!). Still, consistent lack of sleep and poor nutrition slow recovery between workouts and days of climbing, and undoubtedly make you more vulnerable to injury. Most important is good nutrition and a solid eight to nine hours of sleep in the day or two following an especially hard workout or day(s) of climbing. Remember that training and recovery are opposite sides of the