Best Gym Workout Routine for Rock Climbing (EXPLAINED)

Most experts recommend incorporating a warm-up and stretching routine in your workout to prevent injuries.

You can follow this rock climber workout routine to get the best results.

This routine will help you take your climbing skills to a new level. 

• First Exercise: Three sets of four to six Pull-ups.
• Second Exercise: Three sets of four to six Squats
• Third Exercise: Thee sets of Hammer curls with twelve to fourteen reps in each set
• Fourth Exercise: Three sets of Dumbbell wrist rolls with twelve to fourteen reps in each set
• Fifth Exercise: Do thirty minutes of average intensity cardio exercise
• Sixth Exercise: Three sets of Planks including each plank session lasting for one minute

Rock Climber Workout Routine in Gym for Best Results

You use all body muscles during a climbing session.

You can find a gym exercise routine that trains most of your body muscles.

It is better to exercise all body muscles in every gym session if your body can handle it.

Most climbers cannot recover from a full-body workout for many days.

You can split the exercise routine to ease training.

• Full Body. You can use this routine to exercise all body muscles in one session.
• Bro Split. This exercise routine is easy as you only focus on one muscle group.
• Upper/Lower. You can train muscles above the belly on the first day and below the abdomen on the second.
• Push/Pull/Legs. You can divide the routine according to muscle movement. Pushing exercises on day one. Pulling exercises on day two and leg exercises on day three.

List of Muscle Groups that Work Together when Climbing

We can divide the muscles in your body according to the location.

You can find muscle groups working together when climbing.

1. Bicep. You cannot perform any climbing moves without the help of the biceps because you need them to pull your body up.
2. Leg. There are many muscles in your legs. You can rely on glutes, hamstrings, and quads to push yourself on the wall.
3. Heart. Climbers who feel out of breath during climbing need cardio exercise. It will strengthen their muscles.
4. Forearm. You require strong forearms for better grip. You can work on your forearm muscles if you cannot hold small objects while climbing.
5. Back. When you grab something with your arms to pull your body towards it, your lats and back muscles start working.
6. Core. You require your oblique muscles to twist your body and abs to keep you stable on the wall.

Climbing Muscle Training Exercises

Doing compound exercises can help you train your body to climb walls.

Compounds muscle exercises allow your body to work the same as climbing.

You can include planks, squats, and pull-ups in your route because these are some of the best compound exercises.

You can focus on the muscles that do not work out during compound exercises.

You can work on these muscles individually.

Cardio exercises should be part of your muscle training because they strengthen your heart.

Differences in Reps Can Change Gym Exercise Output

You cannot select the number of reps without any research.

An increase in the number of reps can give you benefits.

It is not valid in all cases because some may not obtain benefits from the increase in muscle reps.

You can select the number of reps according to your goals.

• 4 to 6 reps in a set will help you increase muscle strength.
• 8 to 12 reps in a set will increase muscle size.
• You need to do more than 12 reps in a set to increase muscle endurance during climbing.

When you do more than 12 reps in one set, you will get muscle endurance and hypertrophy.

It is better than doing less number of reps.

Selecting Number of Reps to Achieve Your Goals

Most experts think climbers should increase the muscle performance of the forearms to increase climbing performance.

You can shift your focus to muscle endurance.

It will help you stay on the wall longer.

High muscle endurance will ensure your muscles generate enough power to move forward.

You can do it by increasing the number of reps in a set of compound exercises.

With these exercises, you can perform at a high energy level for a long time.

Selecting Gym Training Intensity for Climbing

You need to put your heart and mind into climbing exercises.

It is impossible to get maximum strength when you do not want to give maximum energy to the exercises.

We can take the example of the number of reps of pull-ups.

A climber should do more than 12 pull-ups in a set.

You can do it also, but you never push yourself to the limit.

Not doing all exercises with high intensity can hold you back and prevent you from achieving your climbing goals.

Ways to Find the Most Suitable Level of Training Intensity

To find out the suitable intensity level, you need to determine your failure point.

Exercise failure means you cannot do the reps with proper form.

You can go to the gym and try to pick the heaviest weight and perform an exercise routine.

You can use more weight if you can do reps without losing form.

It is better to check the number of reps you can do without failure.

You can select less weight if you cannot perform three reps without failure.

Professional athletes should try more weight and incorporate it into their exercise.

Taking Time to Adjust Training Intensity

You can adjust your training intensity after selecting a weight.

You can make the training intensity adjustment with progressive overload.

It will allow you to increase weight gradually or increase the number of reps.

Some suggest increasing the exercise intensity to increase the load on your muscles.

Experts recommend increasing the weight till you cannot do it anymore.

You can increase the number of reps or exercise frequency after increasing weight.

You should try to increase weight before adjusting the number of reps because it will help you get faster results.

Incorporating cardio will strengthen your heart.

You can climb without taking breaks when you do regular cardio exercises.

The Right Sequence to Perform Gym Exercises

Climbers try different exercise routines to maximize their performance.

You can specify everything to get small benefits.

Small advantages can add to give you maximum results.

Doing gym exercises in an accurate sequence can help you perform better.

You can start with the pull-ups.

Squats and hammer curls should come after that.

You can do wrist curls, cardio, and planks at the end.

This sequence can help you take your game to the next level.

You will start getting benefits from the first week of changing your exercise sequence to the best one.

Stretching and Warming Exercises before Intense Lifting

Stretching exercise will help you keep the muscles flexible.

You can prevent injuries by doing some stretching exercises before an intense lifting workout.

Warming-up exercises are also excellent for preparing your body for gym workouts.

You can walk fast to warm up your body.

It is better to sweat a little during the warming-up session.

You can lift more weight when your body is ready for it.

Climbers suggest running for a few minutes before lifting weights to prevent injuries and enhance your weight-lifting performance.

Keep The Heavy Compound Exercises at the Start

You should not do any exercises before the warm-up session.

Once your body is ready, you can do heavy exercises because you can handle them at the start.

Pull-ups can come in the first place because you need to use many muscles from your upper body to do it.

Squats can hold second place on the priority list.

You can also list more weight at the start.

It is due to more energy in your body.

You will get stronger when you lift more weight.

Trying it at the end of the session is unproductive because you lose the ability to lift heavy weights after a long exercise session.

Utilize Individual Muscle Exercises in the Middle of the Workout

You do not need more energy to pull from one muscle.

Most energy of your exercise goes to compound exercises because these exercises involve many muscles at once.

You can do compound exercises till you feel a lack of body energy.

You can do the individual muscle exercises at this point.

You cannot do it at the start because you will not have the body energy for the compound exercises after this workout.

Hammer curls and wrist curls are some of the best examples of individual muscle workouts.

Cardio and Core Exercises Can Come at Last

You can do cardio and core exercises when you cannot lift more weight.

It will be hard to do any lifting after an intensive compound and individual muscle workout session.

You can use the energy left in your body to do the core exercises.

It will drain more body energy from your body.

You can force your body to use deeply stored energy sources.

Core muscles recover very fast. You can do core exercises every day to get maximum results.

Most climbers can do core exercises when they have limited energy left after the exercise session.

It is helpful in climbing because you can use the core muscles when most other muscles are exhausted.

How Many Days Should a Climber Work Out?

Most workouts can work on specific muscles.

Once you perform compound exercises, your muscles suffer from some damage.

You can give your muscles some time to repair.

Most climbers can recover from intensive exercises within 24 to 48 hours.

Muscles take this time to stop fatigue effects.

Most experts recommend doing exercise three times in one week.

You can also climb and exercise in the same week.

You can exercise once weekly in the gym if lifting weights twice a week.

You can focus on the technique because the improper technique will not give you the best results.

Doing extra sessions with improper technique is unhelpful.

Professional athletes can do four or more intensive workout sessions in one week.

Adjust Your Gym Routine According to Your Goals

You cannot follow the same routine as an athlete because you are not on the same level.

A person can do five pull-ups easily if the climber is at an advanced level.

Beginners cannot do a single pull-up at the start without some help.

You can adjust your climbing and exercise routine according to your fitness level.

You may have to start with the minimum exercise and work to the advanced levels.

You may need to adjust your exercise routine according to the climbing sports.

There are different exercises for bouldering and wall climbing.

Ways to Adjust Your Routine According to Fitness Levels

You can determine how much weight you can lift at the start to know your level.

If you are strong, there is no need to start from the beginner levels.

You can choose a higher weight at the start to continue the progress.

Some climbers attach dumbbells to their feet to increase pull-up difficulty.

You can add plates to your back to increase the pull-up difficulty.

Some gyms have resistance bands.

You can use them at the start to assist you during pull-ups.

Bouldering vs. Wall Climbing: Routing Customization

You require speed and bursts of energy for the bouldering because you can win the game by climbing to the top fast.

Wall climbing is different because you need to focus on endurance.

You can do 6 to 8 reps in a set when you want bouldering.

There is no need to do extensive cardio and endurance exercises when you want to enter bouldering sports.

You can add more endurance exercises to your rock climber workout routine if you want to master wall climbing.

It is better to select short-interval intensive cardio for bouldering because it will help you bring energy from the deeper energy sources.

Wall climbing requires long cardio sessions because you can climb the wall for a long time.