Climbing stamina (longish)

I find it very discouraging that my climbing stamina seems to be rather weak. Upon the advice of many people I have bouldered and strengthened my technique so that when I am climbing I am not exhausting my muscles. I have found that mastering the lower grades can help you to climb the higher grades with more proficiency later on. For instance, if I am struggling and barely finishing a 10+, it is best to go back and practice 9's. Using this technique I have managed to climb better and more efficiently.

I have learned a lot of techniques for maintaining stamina on the walls. When I rest I lean back and allow the strain to go to my skeletal system and not my muscles. I shake out my arms and keep them limber. I wait for the blood to drain away from my arms so they are not so pumpy. I maintain normal breathing so I do not psyche myself out. But regardless of these factors I find my climbing stamina to be woefully short, leading me to wonder how you guys do these long climbing trips.

The last few times in the gym I usually last around 2 hours before I am utterly useless for climbing. I try and go when I am rested and after I have last digested a meal for optimal strength. I warm up with some light bouldering and limbering up my muscles. Then I start on a nice 5.8 or 5.9 route which I know I can stretch out my limbs on. I slowly work towards 5.10 inclines and then I try a 5.11 at my peak Then I cool down with some lower grades again. The problem is that I find my 'peak' to be pretty short. At the end of 2 hours I am pretty exhausted and my body is tired. I know I have reached the end when I can't even stay on the big juggers anymore.

I am wondering if my lazy ways need to change if I am ever going to be able to participate in longer climbing. I don't want to go on a climbing trip, start at 10 in the morning, and be crying like a baby at noon. I have always taken the approach that 2-3 times a week in the gym is enough but my stamina is woefully inadequate. Maybe it's the stifling gym air? Maybe it's the deadening cold winter? Maybe it's my diet. Maybe I am just overthinking this too much.

I'd just like to hear from some people how they rate their stamina. I find my stamina in other areas to be just fine, like I can play a shinny game of hockey for 5 hours, or I can go on long hikes. Thanks for any advice you can offer me.

It is easy to blow yourself out in the gym. There are no approaches, hikes between routes, no packing up, unpacking, taking shoes on and off, you usually don't take a break to eat in the gym either. In the gym, you climb route after route. When I do gym sessions, I typically pull 15 or 20 routes inside 2-3 hours. A full day of climbing outside, and I may only get 5 routes, 10 at the MOST. So, when you do move to doing full days of climbing, I think you will find that volume wise, you will be doing much less 'climbing', per say. But, in reality, you will actually be REALLY climbing. As opposed to training for climbing ( aka gym climbing). As for long routes, most people don't do really long routes that push their level in a sustained manner. Some people, however do, and they are the true bosses of climbing. I can consistently climb and onsight strong 10's and I can climb 11a/b with maximum effort and some working. Will I be climbing a sustained 10 pitch 5.11 anytime soon? No. If I were going to do a 10 pitch route right now, I might do something with a 5.10 something crux pitch or two with the rest being more moderate climbing. Hope this helps.

against the spirit of gravity,

The problem is that I find my 'peak' to be pretty short. At

Adrian, you are crude and rude. You shouldn't be discussing your performance in public like that!

Inez You were talking about, ahem, climbing? Oh, so sorry.

Big juggers have always worm me out..at times before my peak!

Cheers,

I found myself in the same predicament , what I found helped my stamina is the following. I dropped down 2 grades in the gym and at the same time picked up the speed of my climbing and didn't rest between climbs i/e didn't swap with my belay partner just kept at it until trashed then I belayed my partner who climbed until he was trashed.After a couple weeks of that I found my overall stamina had improved way past anything I had previously noticed. A further thing that has helped is my home woody which is an overhung lead roof that ends up 9 metres out and 6 metres up, I find that if I do this a couple of times once a week it not only helps in the shoulders and neck but it gets the overhung leader head rewired. I'm thinking that your hockey game should keep your aerobic fitness up but hey I'm no sports physio or anything so don't just take my advice.

As Christian said, the gym is designed to trash you quickly. I wouldn't judge how you'll do on a road trip by gym standards. Here are some random thoughts.

. Climb in the gym in a threesome or otherwise make sure you give yourself more recovery time between routes.

. Climb easier stuff, build up to a single or couple of hard routes, then build down again. After all, when you come to the Gunks, you're not going to spend the day entirely on 10s or 11s.

. Climb an easier route, then downclimb or lower quickly and then climb it, or another easy route on the same rope, immediately. Don't let the gym start creating the body-expectation that exertions only last 30 feet. Try to simulate full pitches (minimum 75 feet).

. Make number of routes, or just plain mileage, a goal, instead of highest YDS numbers. Plan an ideal Gunks day of x 5.6 pitches, y 5.7 pitches, z 5.8s, etc., then add one or two grades and then translate that into a gym goal of so many hundred feet of 5.8, so many hundred feet of 5.9, and so on.

. Learn to find rests and semi-rests on *every* route and use them even if you're not tired or worked at all. Learn to rest before you need it. Learn to find places to shake out even without stances.

. Learn what really tires you out. If you fall off huge jugs at the end of the gym day, then it's hand strength. For me, hard crimping is hard to do two days in a row. On the other hand, I can crack climb seven days in a row. If you plan a more-than-two-day road trip, try to make the trip feature what doesn't trash you out.

. Make sure you do something aerobic. Climbing generally isn't, and gym climbing especially. What can trash you more than the climbing on some road trips is the long approaches, ugly talus fields, slippery stream-like trails, all with a not-light backpack on, done with less sleep and different meals than you're used to at home.

-steven-

Sport climbing and Gym climbing may share a pumpy quality, but certainly all 0utdoor climbing isn't like that. I have only been to a gym a couple times in my life. I was fully pumped in no time at all, on fairly low grade routes.

Outside on the other hand, I have climbed 22 hours at a stretch, or climbed 50 pitches in a day, and not had my arms pumped at the end of the epic.

Enjoy who you are, where you are, and things will be best. If you happen to get stronger and better, there will still be long way to go and if you are in the habit of beating up on yourself, it never ends

Peace

karl

Snip

Thanks to all who answered me on this question. I have printed off each of the answers and passed them to some of my climbing companions since they had been experiencing similar effects (Don't worry, they are my close friends). The suggestions I got were great, I am going to try them soon.

Steven, I see what you are saying about gym vs outdoor. As the others have agreed upon, bad stamina in the gym does not necessarily translate to bad stamina outdoors. I hope continuing my hockey will maintain the aerobic fitness I need in the future.

As promised, Here's my follow-up on the super-human exploits of the guy hiking 12 after 12 on lead without any hint of tiring...

To refresh, I previously wrote:

What I forgot to mention is that in addition to the above, he also hiked the over-hanging 12a thin-hands to off-fingers crack, and then warmed down by climbing the 10a on the 50 foot wall up and down.

So last night I posed the question:

'So what is your secret to climbing all those hard routes with minimal rest time in between?'

He replied:

'I've been climbing a long time, (14 years) and I have done those routes so many times that they're no problem even when I'm tired.'

So there you have it!

Hardman Knott