UKC

Does anyone have any particularly good exercises they would recommend for trying to improve my climbing?

In reply to sj1295:

Going climbing??

In reply to sj1295:


Masturbation. Improves grip strength greatly.

In reply to sj1295:

I really depends "where you're at", as to what will give you the best bang for your time spent.

If we are to assume you are a beginer then really it just a case of climbing as often as possible i.e. maybe 3 times a week to begin with as your biggest gains will initially come from learning technique rather than physical training.

Excess body weight is unhelpful so if that's something you can improve then efforts in that direction would be rewarded.

You don't need to be a marathon runner but a good level of basic fittness does no harm. A bit of running ie half an hour a week would do the trick very efficiently.

Finally lack of finger/grip strength will eventually limit you. If you do have trouble getting climbing more than once a week then maybe a squeeze grip thing would be useful - I like the rubber ring type.

In reply to sj1295:

If only it were that simple!
Try Googling 'Training for Climbing' that should keep you busy for a decade or two.
It's a massive subject covered in many books, hundreds of blogs and thousands of forum posts.
As mentioned, if you are a beginner then the best thing you can do is to climb a lot, do that for a year or two and you'll figure out which bits you need to train more specifically.
If you want some basics to do when you can't get to a wall, then chin ups are probably the all time classic, any core (lower torso) exercises will help and cardio training will never do you any harm.
Have fun!

In reply to sj1295:

If you've just started climbing then don't get to colaught up in training, the best thing to improve you're climbing is getting out to as many different places,climbing on as many different surfaces and trying as many different styles of climbing as you can.
Just focus on getting out and enjoying climbing rather than staying indoors and training.

In reply to higherclimbingwales:

But remember to switch hands

In reply to higherclimbingwales:


LOL Make sure you are thinking about climbing whilst doing it - improves focus as well

In reply to sj1295:

Given total lack of background info and objectives I would suggest two:
1. Climbing - preferably with good climbers.
2. Anything/everything other than actually climbing - slightly flippant, but in the long term injuries are likely to be a major limitation to your climbing capabilities, so maintaining a balanced muscule/tendon/ligament development is important. Depending on what you mean by 'climbing', general fitness may also be a necessity.

In reply to sj1295:

Pull ups and deadhangs for when you cant go climbing.

In reply to sj1295:

Pistols, body levers and planches.