Movement Blog

Rock climbing is a multifaceted sport that challenges the climber's physical strength, mental acuity, and technical skills. Beyond the thrill of ascent, it’s a dance of precision where fitness and strength training play a crucial role in enhancing overall performance. Unlike conventional gym routines, climbing demands a combination of strength, technique, and problem-solving, offering a holistic approach to fitness that can transform climbing abilities. Boosting Physical Capabilities: The Role of Strength Training Incorporating strength training into a climber's regimen is pivotal for pushing past plateaus and advancing to more challenging routes. Key exercises like deadlifts and pull-ups build muscle endurance and power, which are essential for maintaining grip and pulling oneself up on the rock. Additionally, core-focused workouts such as planks and leg raises develop the stability needed to balance and maneuver through complex sequences on the wall. Grip Strength: The Foundation of Climbing One of the most direct benefits of weightlifting for climbers is the enhancement of grip strength. Exercises that involve hand weights, barbells, or resistance bands can significantly improve a climber’s ability to hold onto grips with less fatigue. This is crucial for both bouldering and big wall climbing where a strong, enduring grip can make the difference between success and a fall. Enhancing Flexibility and Mobility While strength is a clear asset, flexibility and mobility are equally critical. Climbers also benefit from incorporating yoga into their training schedules to increase their range of motion. This flexibility allows climbers to reach farther holds and maintain more challenging positions without injury. Dynamic stretching can also aid in preventing strains and enhances the fluidity of movements on the rock. Building a Community of Strength and Skill Strength training for climbers often thrives in a community setting, where shared goals foster motivation and learning. Climbing gyms (like Movement!) that offer fitness classes tailored to climbers provide environments where novices and veterans alike can learn from each other’s experiences and push their limits under the guidance of trainers familiar with the unique demands of the sport. The Synergy of Climbing and Strength Training The integration of strength training and climbing is not merely about achieving physical improvements; it enriches the climbing experience, boosting confidence and enabling climbers to tackle more difficult projects. This synergy not only elevates individual performance but also contributes to a richer, more inclusive climbing culture, where climbers support one another in achieving their personal bests. By emphasizing both fitness and climbing, climbers can enjoy a more fulfilling experience in the sport—advancing their skills, overcoming challenges, and enjoying the community that comes with shared pursuit of climbing excellence.

If you spend any time climbing or hang boarding, you can benefit from some additional wrist and finger exercises to help build strong, durable joints. Doing so allows us to practice our favorite sport pain-free and hopefully prevent future injuries. Here are a few great exercises you can do at home or before your climbing sessions.

here's how to overcome the overhang mental game When it comes to climbing terrain, few things seem to inspire as much fear and intimidation as the overhang wall. So if you find yourself quickly walking past the Gnarwall at Rockville, Megaprow at Dallas the Hill, the Constant Wall in Sunnyvale, or the Iceberg in Portland to climb more vertical terrain or you’ve ever questioned whether you have enough upper body strength climb through steep terrain (you probably have more than you think), keep reading! One of our awesome climbing coaches, Ezra Park, has some great advice for ya.

Nothing inspires us to dream big quite like a brand spankin’ new year, am I right? We get inspired; we resolve to make improvements; we set goals. But for some of us, big dreams don’t always translate into sticking with and crushing our goals. That’s why this year, we thought we’d help by laying out some steps you can take right now and later this month to create a routine you can get into and stick with in January 2023 and beyond.

We get a lot of questions about how to climb better and because we are so stoked to see you succeed, we’ve asked our trainers, coaches, and instructors at Movement locations all over the country to provide as much training, technique, and fitness advice to help you achieve your goals. But what is a good goal? Who are climbing goals for—are those only for those who’ve been climbing for a while? How do you make a good goal? In all parts of life goals can give us a clearer path toward the outcomes we desire. In climbing, goals can help you focus and approach your gym sessions with more intention. You’ll make the most of your time at the gym while on your way to crushing your objective, whether it’s to climb one route at a certain grade, feel comfortable climbing most routes at a certain grade, send a certain route, you get the idea. So instead of more general climbing tips and tricks, let’s take a step back and look into how to craft a climbing goal made specifically for you by you.

Do you practice failing? Probably not. Let’s be honest – failure is hard for a lot of us, especially if you’ve been conditioned to think of failure as a bad thing.

If you’re guilty of climbing one “easy” route, jumping on your project once or twice and then heading home, this blog is for you. Warming up gets the blood flowing and raises your body's temperature. It's critical to preventing injury, increasing mental focus, and getting the body primed for producing force to try hard. Conversely, what you do AFTER climbing can be just as important as your warm-up before. An effective cool-down routine releases the muscles, slows your breath, and jumpstarts the recovery process.

A pistol squat is an exercise that is very easy to explain, but hard for most people to do. From a standing position, shift your weight to one leg while the other leg shoots forward. From there, you squat down, bringing your tailbone to your heel and then stand up from a seated or squat position, again only using one leg. Pistol squats are great for increasing leg strength and improving balance, which means they really give you a leg up in your climbing.

Climbing requires a lot of overhead shoulder and arm movement and can put quite a bit of stress on the shoulders. All of this strain can lead to injuries ranging from minor muscle tweaks to major tendon tears. The good news is there are a few very effective exercises that strengthen the shoulder and prevent injuries.

From weight shifting on a slabby route, to long approaches or summer hikes, to everything in between, the legs are the powerhouse of climbing. We talked to Francy at our Englewood gym in Colorado. She is one of the personal trainers there and teaches a weekly Ski Fit class, so we figured that if anyone could recommend a thorough workout to strengthen their bottom half, it would be her 😆. Enjoy!