NICROS - Training Center

Effective training requires some basic knowledge of exercise physiology and proper training protocols. This, of course, is the purpose of the NICROS Training Center--to provide straightforward, practical, how-to information on all aspects of training for climbing! This article outlines the fundamental differences between training for strength, power, and muscular endurance, a topic that many athletes don't quit understand. Becoming a climber who "gets it", empowers you to understand your limiting physical constraints and train appropriately.

Strength Training Versus Local Endurance Training

Strength training results in neural and muscular adaptations that eventually enable muscle action at higher loads. Meanwhile, training local muscular endurance (aka anaerobic endurance) produces different adaptations—such as increased density of capillaries and mitochondria (the little ATP “factories” inside cells)—that will help sustain longer periods of vigorous muscle action (see figure). Certainly all climbers would benefit from enhancement in both areas; the form of training you emphasize, however, should match the demands of your preference climbing subdiscipline (see article on the SAID Principle).

Climbing icon Tony Yaniro long ago pointed out that “if you cannot pull through a single hard move, then you have nothing to endure.” From this perspective, strength training could be viewed as more important for boulderers and sport climbers. This notion is supported by the fact that strengthening a muscle also improves its endurance, because a stronger muscle can use a smaller percentage of maximum strength to execute a sequence of nonmaximum moves. What’s more, a stronger muscle will have a higher absolute anaerobic threshold than a weaker muscle with higher endurance capabilities. Conversely, endurance training will not increase maximum strength one iota. Of course, training muscular endurance is very important for those who engage longer sport climbers, multipitch and wall routes.

Muscular Strength Versus Muscular Power
Strength is defined as the force a muscle group can exert in one maximum effort. Your ability to pull a single hard movement or grip a small, difficult handhold is a function of your maximum strength. Muscular power is more complex, because it is the product of force and the distance through which the force acts. Therefore, power is the result of strength and speed. This would be expressed as: power = strength x speed (where speed = distance/time).

So while strength and power are clearly related, they differ in the rate at which a force is applied. A real-life example that helps clarify this distinction relates to your ability to grip a tiny hold versus your ability to quickly stick (draw in) a small handhold at the end of a lunge. The Figure below shows hypothetical force–time curves for three climbers. Climber A possesses the strongest grip strength and can hang on the smallest holds, but he is not very powerful. Climber B has less absolute strength than Climber A, but she is more powerful. Consequently, she can summon her strength more quickly (that is, she has greater contact strength), and she will be more successful at catching dynos and quickly latching on to tiny holds. Climber C is neither strong nor powerful—he’d better stick to climbing slabs.

Obviously, it’s ideal to maximize your strength and power, much like Climber B. This can be achieved by partaking in a variety of exercises that train both strength and power....subjects covered in-depth in other Training Center articles.