Have you ever wanted to climb the stone walls of Yosemite and the rocky cliffs of Utah and Colorado? You might be after the thrill of thinking where next to step or which crevice to hold, while at the back of your mind you’re imagining that a wrong step could be proven fatal. Or, you may be seeing yourself on top of the wall, overlooking the wonders of nature, sweetened by the knowledge that you’ve overcome the challenges as you crawled your way to the top.
If you have to courage and willpower to make that ambitious ascent, aside from having presence of mind and a dauntless heart, you will also definitely need strength and endurance to be successful in your attempt. You have to prepare yourself physically and mentally. Specific muscle groups need to be strengthened to boost your climbing ability. And because of this, you’ll have to face serious training to get yourself ready to meet those mountain walls.
The strength-building workout should target the back and the core, as well as combine triceps and chest exercises to ensure that there are no muscle imbalances. You can train in Equinox. Aside from having state-of-the-art gym equipment, they also have indoor rock climbing facilities, where you could have private lessons with their highly-experienced instructors.
Below are some of the regular gym exercises you can perform.
- Fourteen reps and three sets of Spiderman pushup. To do this, start with a traditional pushup as you lower your body on the ground. Next, raise your left knee to meet your left elbow, and alternate sides with each repetition.
- Ten reps and three sets thumbless-grip pullups.
- Eight reps and four sets of one-arm suspension inverted row. Keeping your stabilizer muscles engaged, and your feet fixed apart wider than the width of your shoulders, quickly pull your body up and hold it for three seconds before lowering it back down slowly. Alternate arms after each set.
- Twelve reps and three sets of forearm kettlebell curl. Stand in a with knees bent, one foot in front of the other, pick up the kettlebell. Squeeze the base as hard as possible and make sure the handle isn’t facing you. Quickly curl it up to your chest, and then put it down with a three-count measure.
- Fifteen reps and three sets of reverse cable fly. Set the cables above the height of your shoulders. You will not be doing the usual fly; instead, move your hands crossing each other, and then withdraw your shoulder blades to move the cables away from you.
Indoor rock climbing training.
Once you’re confident that you can now carry your own weight and move and hang easily, you can now proceed to have rock climbing exercises. You should know that the little rocks attached to the walls have color designations, and that the patterns have difficulty levels. The difficulty rating corresponds to a v-number, from v-0 (easiest) to v5 (advanced). The v numbers can go up to 14, but are practically impossible to complete.
To test your progress, each week you can sum up the v’s (or the problems) you have completed to arrive at a v-sum.
Your workout will have three categories, which you can call: X, Y, and Z. Each category will have two phases: Warm-up and Climbing. These two will then have their sets of exercises.
Category X
- Warm up: ultimate elbow stretch, sit-up, pushup, 25-move wall traverse
- Climbing: climb eight challenging routes based on your level
Category Y
- Warm up: ultimate elbow stretch, sit-up, pushup, pullup, dead-hang, bodyweight squat
- Climbing: hangboard complex, dumbbell front squat, dumbbell shoulder press, feet- elevated hip lift, flutter kick, Russian twist, plank, pigeon stretch
Category Z
- Warm up: instep stretch, sit-up, pushup, lunge, twenty-move wall traverse
- Climbing: ten rounds of boulder problem, burpee, and body weight; EO’s and side plank right; Russian triangle and plank; ultimate elbow stretch, pigeon stretch, and hip flexor stretch
The above exercises are difficult to do on your own, especially if you are a beginner. Seek the help of a professional to ensure that what you’re doing are correct.
You don’t have to be an expert if you want to climb rocks. If you could find locations for beginners, no one’s stopping you to try them. Always ensure that you have the right and complete equipment when you do these activities. Buy your items from reputable companies so you have confidence that the things you’ll be using can be trusted with your life.
Furthermore, you can join groups of enthusiasts in their rock climbing events. They should be able to bring you to locations you may not have heard of, and they should be able to impart techniques that you can use on your level of expertise.