RRC Archives

This is an interesting article I found on RC.com and I;d like to share it with everyone. I have a big problem with endurance on routes and after reading this article I think I will be able to improve on my weakness if I follow this advice.........................

The type of resting that Sharma does on Biographie and other really fit climbers can achieve in very difficult situations is possible because they have a rather high ANAEROBIC THRESHOLD in the muscles of their forearms. the AT is the intensity level at which lactate starts to build up in the blood and muscles. This is the point at which your forearm muscles begin to rely less on aerobic energy production (which produces minimal lactate) and more on anaerobic energy production (which produces a great deal of lactate).

To raise the AT level the science is well established, you must do a lot of work at an intensity level just BELOW your AT. For most climbers, Dead Hangs are going to be well ABOVE their AT.

I gague the AT of a climber by seeing what intensity level (grade) they can climb for 15 - 20 minuites without getting a pump. for a typical American climber who can red point 5.10 their AT is going to be about 5.8-, lower in many cases, higher in some. For someone like Sharma his AT may be in the range of 5.12c-5.13a probably higher. The point is, that on a 5.14 if Chris hits a 5.12 section his body will begin to recover because the intensity of the moves is well within what his forearm muscles can do with the aerobic energy system. Its the same for the 5.10 climber, when they hit that 5.8 section they will be able to slow down, rest and recover.

If you want to raise your AT you must do local aerobic training for your fore arm muscles. Dead hangs are going to be anaerobic and will have little effect on your AT.

As an aside, climbers can have dramatic differences in their aerobic and anaerobic fitness levels. Yesterday I went to do some routes with a friend who boulders consistently at the V9 level, he climbs several days per week and moves really well. I put him on a route that is 5.8 up to a 5.10 crux, the route gets the grade 5.11a. When he got to the crux he pumped out and feel off on the third move of the crux! You may say this is impossible because the climbing was so "easy" for him.

The fact of the matter is that by doing nothing but bouldering his forearms have been trained only for very short (15 - 30 seconds) very high intensity (v7 - v9) efforts. But what he NEEDED to succede on this route was to be able to climb 5.9 for several minutes. since he has never trained his AT it is not much high than it was when he first strated climbing, his AT is probably 5.7! The result of the huge gap in his fitness levels is that he can't really climb anything harder than 5.10 outdoors despite being a consistent V9 boulderer indoors.

Maybe this will help some of you all that are in my category!

Peace

Mason

Ok, so if dead hangs aren't the way to go then what should you do to raise you AT?

In sum, it looks like the author is saying run laps on long, easy routes.

Well, what is an alternative to running laps on long, easy routes? To me dead hangs is an at home training technique. So, what would be an similar exercise that you can do at home.

This topic really interests me because I, even more than Stewy, burn out on routes very quickly and have had little success in building endurance.

I really don't buy into the laps on easy routes thing. If you want to build the endurance for hard, at-your-limit type routes, then you need to climb hard, at-your-limit type routes untill you fall off because your hands open up on you. So, if you are trying to send pumpy 5.11a, then get on pumpy 5.11a/b/c's and climb them until you fall off. Repeat several times a day, at least two days a week.

Running a 10k on a flat track won't help that much with uphill sprints. But, uphill sprints might help with a 10k.

Wes

Read "How to Climb 5.12" by Eric Horst. I think you will find the answer there. The more power you have the more endurance you have. I have seen very strong people (carpenter types and others with strong arms) top rope flash 5.10 first time climbing. Outside on real rock.

last year i began working routes in a pyramid. my partner and i would warm up bouldering and after 45 minutes get on routes. we would rotate each go and follow this pattern. run 4 laps on something that you could walk. 2 laps on something that you could only complete once before failing. 1 lap above your red point level. and then back down on the same routes.

at the end of two weeks (two workouts a week) we began to increase the difficulty of the routes. my breathing and pump while climbing outside became less of a factor and i started to push into different grades.

the bonus was the improvement of my technique. being pumped improved my technique because i could not rely on my muscular frame and arms. i had to learn to use my feet and core when my arms were pumped.

laps on "easy" stuff is a waste of time....however, climbing routes which are easier than your redpoints..that works wonders. ya gotta make the muscles work to see improvement...and then lots of rest.

chin-ups on fingertips is aerobic, a dead hang is not

do very slow chin ups
then do some fast ones
then do some with your knees drawn to your chest
do chin ups with your hands far apart
do some with your hands in different positions
do push-ups on your fingertips

I can totally see this. I bet you if you can do 30 chinups on your fingertips you can breeze through relentlessly overhung routes.

Alan Evil wrote:chin-ups on fingertips is aerobic, a dead hang is not

do very slow chin ups
then do some fast ones
then do some with your knees drawn to your chest
do chin ups with your hands far apart
do some with your hands in different positions
do push-ups on your fingertips

I can totally see this. I bet you if you can do 30 chinups on your fingertips you can breeze through relentlessly overhung routes.

Nope. Way more to it the just pull up stuff. I have seen many people who can barely do 5 pull ups crush overhanging routes. And I have seen super fit people who can do sets of 25+ who can't send easy 5.11. I can do 10 pullups these days, and sending easy 12's without to much work. Contact power for climbing comes from climbing. Along with the endurance and technique.

Wes