Ever fallen at the top of a project on a redpoint burn?
Most of us have. It’s not that sweet.
Want to learn how to build your climbing endurance to hopefully keep that kind of thing from happening?
This article from Steve Bechtel’s site, climbstrong.com, is a really good breakdown of endurance and what, specifically, that means for climbing.
“The need for “more endurance” is apparent to almost every climber, and is burned into the psyche of everyone who’s blown a redpoint at the anchors of a project. Almost reactively, our first inclination is to see out that same awful and debilitating pump again and again, in hopes that somehow we’ll be better able to handle it next time. Although this is correct thinking to a point, building the perfect endurance machine starts a long way from melting off jugs high on a climb.
To build perfect endurance, you’re going to want to go through three very long steps before you spend too much time conditioning for the pump.” -Steve Bechtel
Steve then describes what these three steps are: get good, get strong, and get power, and how they contribute to building endurance.
“In climbing, we’re interested in power endurance, muscular endurance, and all-day stamina. I like to look at climbing endurance in terms of gears, like in a vehicle. My “first gear” is strength and power, second is power-endurance, third is what I call “intensive endurance”, fourth is “extensive endurance”, and fifth is day-long stamina.”
Based on these “gears” of endurance, Steve outlines his new endurance program consisting of three different types of sessions: extensive endurance, intensive endurance, and power endurance.
To learn more about these types of endurance and how you can be training them to improve your climbing endurance, read the full article by clicking below. Learn how to keep from falling off the jugs at the top of your project because you’re too pumped to hang on!…
CLICK HERE: Climbing Endurance 3.0
(photo courtesy of climbstrong.com)
Steve Bechtel is the author of Strength: Foundational Training for Rock Climbers.
To hear more from Steve Bechtel listen to our podcast interview with him here.
