Movement Blog

Let’s face it, climbing can be tough on your body. You’re pulling, pushing, hanging, and twisting in ways that most workouts don’t even come close to. And while climbing is a killer workout on its own, adding cross training can make a world of difference in how strong, stable, and injury-free you feel on the wall.

Whether you're a boulderer or a rope climber, you've probably felt the dreaded pump—the moment when your forearms are on fire, your grip starts failing, and your hands just want to peel open. Even worse, the moves feel totally doable, but stringing them together from the ground up? That’s a different story. You find yourself thinking, "If only I had better endurance..."

Hosted at Movement Plano this past weekend, 21 of the country’s top Speed Climbers assembled for USA Climbing’s Speed Training Camp. Offering our Climbers premium lessons to aid in keeping their excellent performance this season. (photo by: Phuc Nguyen) Head Coach of the Team CRG Atlanta, Olexiy Shulga, led the wonderful climbing program. Utilizing her extensive expertise working with some of the county’s highest performing Speed Climbers. Various officials from the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee also made the journey to support our athletes, like Senior Strength & Conditioning Coach, Amanda Fleece, and Senior Psychological Services Provider, Sean McCann. (photo by: Phuc Nguyen) Beyond just tuning their skills in a more collaborative space, this camp gave the opportunity to bring together athletes from around the country to make bonds, compare programming, and share techniques. A chance some only get during competitions.

When we aim to level up our climbing, many of us tend to focus on finger strength, endurance, technique, or power. While these aspects of training are crucial to climbers, one element we often overlook is mobility. Before diving into how mobility can supercharge your climbing, let’s clarify what it really means.

What is a Spray Wall?

Fear is a natural response when climbing, whether you're scaling towering walls or tackling tricky boulders. It can keep you sharp, but it can also paralyze you if left unchecked. Managing fear is key to building confidence and finding joy in climbing, and one of the most effective tools you have is your breath. Here are some breathing techniques to help you stay calm and focused during your climbs.

Stalling out is seemingly the most normal thing that can happen to a person in climbing, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating, and it certainly doesn’t make it easier to fix. In early 2022, I was stuck on the Dinner Ledge of plateaus and searching for a way to improve, when my friend and climbing partner let me know that Movement Sunnyvale was starting up Peak Performance Training (PPT). I decided that getting professional coaches involved was a solid plan, so I signed up.

Does this sound like you? You’ve been climbing consistently, hangboarding, and training off the wall, but you still can’t send your project. Or maybe you’re a more casual climber but you’re so sore after each session, you’re not able to climb as much as you’d like. Either way, the missing puzzle piece may be nutrition.