For a long term enjoyable climbing experience, you need to take care of several physical aspects of climbing – training, preventing injury, and improving recovery.

Let’s take a look at three general areas of training:

1.Strength: Strength and muscle size are not necessarily in direct proportion. When it comes to climbing you want strength, but not unnecessary size (weight). Focus on bodyweight exercises that mimic climbing moves to achieve this.

2.Balance: First, there’s muscular balance. If you only ever train the muscles you use for climbing – for example, the pulling muscles in the upper body – you will end up with muscular imbalances which leads to poor posture and injuries. Train opposite muscle groups by adding exercises like pushups, dips, and “Supermans” to your training program.Secondly, you need overall balance to help you stay in control of your movements. Every move you make originates from the core, therefore in order to develop balance, you need to develop a strong core.

3.Flexibility: Lack of flexibility will prevent you from advancing to higher grades simply because you can’t stretch far enough. Proper flexibility training will improve your flexibilty and range of motion, allowing you more freedom of movement against the wall.

Prevent injury and improve recovery by:

1.Warming up with some dynamic stretches before starting a climb – This will improve blood flow to the muscles and connective tissue, making it more supple and less prone to injury.

2.Cool down with slow static stretches after climbing – This will help rid the muscles of lactic acid. Also, the best time for static stretches as part of flexibility training is right after strenuous exercise when the muscles are warm and pliant. Do the stretches very slowly and hold it for at least 1-2 minutes each.

3.Supplement – Many people discount the value of proper natural supplementation. In a demanding sport such as climbing, taking the right natural supplements can really improve your results.

Three important supplements:

•Protein is necessary for cellular development – in both muscle and connective tissue.
•Glucosamine provides joint support.
•Omega-3 acts as a natural anti-inflammatory agent and also aids in lubricating the joints.
For more information, to book a training session, or to get a hold of these natural supplements

Article: 24 Jun 2010,  by Adele Theart, Certified Personal Trainer 

Contact Adele on 082 657 5257

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