Climbing

How do you know when you’ve hit your limit in training?

Recognizing Overtraining: The Key to Unlocking Success

How do I know when I hit my limit in training? I physically can't do anything anymore. I have been training and climbing for a long time and over the years there's been moments where I over trained accidentally, unintentionally. But I did and you know it immediately when you're trying to perform. So one of those trips was I was going down to try to free the world's longest sport climb down in Mexico in a place called El Gigante. And I over trained for it. I got there and I climbed poorly and I needed to come back one year later. And that was when I was able to do the route and I trained properly that second round and I felt amazing. But the first time I just felt depleted, extremely fatigued, never had full power, never had... That even affects your motivation, your mental game when you can feel that low. So over training is not a recipe for success.

Overtraining can lead to fatigue, lack of power, and a decrease in motivation. To prevent this, it is important to assess your physical and mental state before and during training to ensure that you are not pushing yourself too hard.

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How do I know when I've reached my training limit? It's when I physically can't push myself any further. Throughout my years of training and climbing, there have been instances where I accidentally overtrained. It becomes evident when I attempt to perform. One notable experience was when I went to Mexico to attempt to free climb the world's longest sport climb at El Gigante. However, due to overtraining, my performance was poor, and I had to return one year later. The second time around, after proper training, I felt amazing and was able to complete the route successfully. But during the initial attempt, I felt depleted, extremely fatigued, and lacked full power. This depletion even affected my motivation and mental game. It's clear that overtraining is not a recipe for success.

How do I climb longer without getting pump?

Mastering Climbing Endurance: Rest, Recover, Climb Longer

How do I climb longer without getting pumped? Well you're talking about building your endurance and endurance is built by practicing staying on as long as you can. But while you're doing that you're also trying to recover while on the wall. So recovery is a whole other game and that is where you're probably resting on a pretty good hold with pretty good feet in a pretty comfortable body position and your arm is extended straight above you or mostly straight and the other arm is able to go ahead and shake out a little bit. You could switch back and forth between this position resting heavily on your feet and allowing your arm to go ahead and de-pump for a moment and then you can de-pump the other arm. Then you can continue climbing up until you get to another rest. So what you're talking about learning is talking about learning how to rest on a root, recover, and then climb more. Rest on a root, recover, and climb more. That is how you climb longer.

To climb longer without getting pumped, practice staying on for as long as possible and learn how to rest and recover on the wall by switching arms and shaking them out. Position your body in a comfortable position and rest heavily on your feet while you extend one arm above you.

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To climb longer without getting pumped, you need to focus on building endurance and practicing staying on the wall for as long as possible. However, it's also important to learn how to recover while on the wall.

Recovery involves finding a good hold with stable footing and assuming a comfortable body position. One arm should be extended straight above or mostly straight, while the other arm can be used to shake out and release tension. You can alternate between resting heavily on your feet and allowing one arm to de-pump, then switch to de-pumping the other arm. This allows you to recover while continuing to climb until you reach another resting point.

The key is to learn how to rest on a route, recover, and then continue climbing. By mastering this technique, you'll be able to climb for longer periods without experiencing excessive fatigue.

What do you think is the average grade you climb after a year?

Year of Climbing: From Stagnation to Acceleration, It's All About Individual Dedication

What is an average grade you climb after a year? Wow that is a tough one. Everyone is so different. If you're only going once a week and climbing is just casual then you might be at the same grade you're at when you started at the end of the year. And if you're super dedicated and going four or five times a week and just pushing yourself and pushing your limits then you can go ahead and bump a bunch of grades in a year. Yeah this is all personal. I don't think that there is any direct answer that can go ahead and put anybody on particular paths. I've seen people accelerate from having never climbed to climbing 513 in a year. Is that normal? Probably not but I've seen people climb for 25 years or 30 years and still be at the same grade. So this is all about you and the energy you want to put into it and what you're seeking to get out of it.

There is no average grade for climbing, as it depends on the individual and how much time and energy they are willing to put into it.

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Determining the average grade someone can climb after a year is challenging as it varies greatly depending on individual factors. If climbing is more casual, with only once-a-week sessions, it's possible to remain at the same grade throughout the year. However, for those who are highly dedicated, climbing four or five times a week and consistently pushing their limits, it's possible to make significant grade advancements within a year.

There is no definitive answer or specific path for everyone. Some individuals can progress from never having climbed to climbing at a high grade like 5.13 in a year, although this is not typical. On the other hand, some climbers may stay at the same grade even after 25 or 30 years of climbing. Ultimately, the progress one makes depends on their personal commitment, effort, and goals in climbing.

How many pull ups should I be able to do before starting to do weighted pull ups?

Unlocking the Power: The Key to Starting Weighted Pull-Ups

How many pull-ups should I be able to do before starting to do weighted pull-ups? This is one of those questions I would say depends upon what your goals are. Are you looking to develop more power? Are you looking to develop more strength? Or are you looking to develop the ability to do a weighted pull-up with a bunch of weight? So ultimately a pull-up is an explosive move which is related to power. So if you're looking to develop power, you need to make sure that your strength is there that can handle the power you're about to develop, if that makes sense. If it doesn't, we need to make sure that everything connected inside our body is going to stay connected when you start doing weighted pull-ups. If not, you're going to get injured and be out for months, maybe a year or so. Is there a number of pull-ups that you need to be able to do? No. There's time on rock, time training, all the past expertise that you have doing physical activities that all factor into that question.

The number of pull-ups you need to do before doing weighted pull-ups depends on your goals, your strength level, and your prior experience. Ultimately, it is important to make sure your body can handle the weight before attempting weighted pull-ups to prevent injury.

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The number of pull-ups you should be able to do before starting weighted pull-ups depends on your goals. Are you aiming to develop power, strength, or the ability to do weighted pull-ups with significant weight? Pull-ups require explosiveness, which is related to power. If your goal is power development, ensure that your strength is sufficient to handle the power you're about to generate. It's crucial that your body is adequately prepared and connected internally to avoid injuries that could sideline you for an extended period. There isn't a specific number of pull-ups you must achieve before attempting weighted pull-ups. Factors like experience, training time, and past physical activity expertise all play a role in determining readiness for weighted pull-up training.

How can I make the jump from V3 to V4? It feels impossible!

Unlocking the Secrets: Mastering V4 Climbing in 3 Simple Steps

How can you make the jump from V3 to V4? It feels impossible. The first thing I would say is watch the stronger climbers in your gym or outside what they're doing and try to emulate them. And oftentimes what you're going to notice is that their footwork is probably a bit more precise, meaning you're going to stand over your big toe on the holds. The other thing you're going to notice is that their body position is going to allow them to be more efficient when they're climbing the route or sorry the boulder problem. They're going to be able to use more power and be more explosive when they're climbing so they may not do things very they may do things very slowly which requires more power and they might do things dynamically meaning they're kind of lunging or jumping for a hold. So as you watch and gain techniques from other folks then you get to try them and then you make them your own and perfect them and you will progress.

Watch more experienced climbers and try to emulate their footwork, body position, and powerful movements. Use these techniques to make the jump from V3 to V4.

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To make the jump from V3 to V4 and overcome the feeling of it being impossible, my suggestion is to observe stronger climbers in your gym or outdoors and try to replicate their techniques. Pay attention to their precise footwork, ensuring that you stand over your big toe on holds. Additionally, notice their body positioning, which allows for greater efficiency and power while climbing. They may move slowly, requiring more power, or employ dynamic movements like lunging or jumping for holds. By learning from others and incorporating these techniques into your own climbing style, you can progress and perfect them over time.

Is indoor climbing a better way to train for outdoor climbing?

Indoor Climbing: The Pinnacle of Training for Outdoor Success

Is indoor climbing a better way to train for outdoor climbing? Let's just put it this way. All of the absolute best climbers in the world, sport trad or boulder, have spent a significant time training indoors. So yes, you can go ahead and have repetitive sequence. You can maintain the variety that you're trying to. You can get whole different differentiation, angle differentiation, difficulty differentiation, all in a hundred square foot area. And that is a big difference than going out to your local crag that may only have certain style of routes, certain difficulty of routes, whether the routes are boulders. So yeah, indoor climbing is certainly the pinnacle of training. But for me, climbing is about being outside. So my progression was significantly slower because I only climbed outside, but once I went inside, I passed the grades that I was stuck at.

Yes, indoor climbing is a great way to train for outdoor climbing as it offers more variety and options for progression.

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Indoor climbing is indeed a highly effective way to train for outdoor climbing. Many of the world's top climbers, whether they specialize in sport, trad, or bouldering, have dedicated significant time to training indoors. Indoor climbing offers the advantage of repetitive sequences, a variety of angles and difficulties within a confined space. This contrasts with local outdoor crags that may have limited route styles and difficulty levels. In terms of training, indoor climbing is considered the pinnacle. However, personally, I believe that climbing is meant to be experienced outdoors. While my progression was slower because I exclusively climbed outside initially, once I started incorporating indoor climbing into my routine, I was able to surpass the grades I had previously been stuck at.

Rob Pizem answers your Climbing questions. See all the advice Rob Pizem has and get answers to your own Climbing questions.

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Rob was born in Ohio and didn't even learn about rock climbing until after graduating high school. Having his first climbing experiences at the New River Gorge, West Virginia gave him the climbing bug and he has been at for over 30 years. He continues to travel the world for climbing and adventuring, always seeking the ever elusive perfect route. His passion is establishing new climbs big and small. His favorite places to climb are in the Italian Dolomites and in Zion National Park. He has been teaching high school science and engineering for over 20 years. Rob now resides in Grand Junction, Colorado where he is a proud husband and a father of two boys.