How often and how hard should I climb

I've been climbing for 3 months, sending some V3s, one v4 and 5.9s. I am a nurse and I've done some research so I'm looking for some very specific advice. At this point I climb twice a week and go as hard as I can. I can't climb more than that without my finger joints hurting (I wont climb if my joints hurt, no injuries for me). So my question is, should I continue with this strategy until my hands can indure more time on the wall or should I do something like 3-4 days a week with one day being an "all out, burn out" day? Any other suggestions for strength training without too much tendon stress?

Hey, are you climbing 3-4 days a week indoors at the gym or outside on rock? You've probably heard it repeated many times but the proven way to become more efficient and stronger on the rock is simply to continue climbing for the first few years, as opposed to resorting to training power and strength through hangboard and campusing.

I'm assuming you're climbing at the local gym. Schedule permitting, have you tried doing a two hour session every other day, allowing two consecutive rest days once a week, especially after a hard session of projecting? Climbing three days a week, focusing on technique and efficiency should be more than enough to see yourself improve. Sounds like you're doing both rope and bouldering, which is a great variety to not only have as a training stimulus early on but to also aid in avoiding injury, as opposed to only trying hard bouldering every session.

Anyways, I like to think that in the context of climbing, strength can grow as a corollary of technique. Especially in the first few years, as your whole body adapts to climbing efficiently you'll see great gains in the strength necessary to climb at your current limit. I started climbing about three years ago and have been content with my progress, especially with my mental game. I just climbed my first 5.13 a few days ago at Reimer's Ranch.

Enjoy the journey!

Stregnth of muscle greater than that of tendons = torn tendons. That being said going as hard as you can isnt always about going 'hard', rather the types of workouts that are being done. I will often go to the gym to 'train' on the hangboard and systems walls and never climb an actual route. on other days i run 4x4's on a route near my limit, or find easier routes and climb as many of them back to back without stipping as I can.
It is also important to remember that climbing isnt all about grip and 'pull up' stregnth, and a great way for you to get 'stronger' (as in a stronger climber), is to incorporate other workouts in to your routine. Core, legs, shoulders, triceps are all important as well. It is also a good idea to alternate in various types of climbing workouts in, where you work on stamina, and power (on different days).

BrianLee
I'm at a small indoor gym. I can't climb more than twice a week but that may be due to always hitting the boulder problems really hard. In my mind I will benefiet most from working my hands up to the limit, but never crossing over into any kind of tendon pain. This way my body will respond to the level of stress and grow as rapidly as possible. Maybe this is a good approach but slow it down some days so I can get to the wall more often and have a more diverse workout? Let me know if that makes sense.

goingUp
Thanks, unfortunately I am at a really small gym with no hangboard but I'll soon invest in one. I understand how tendons work. Any other specific suggestions for my situation and skill level.?

Drfloat, it sounds like you are on the right track. If you want to learn more about this pick op a copy of either Training for Climbing or How to Climb 5.12 both by Eric Hörst. He devotes a number of pages to answering your questions. In a very simple summary, the number of days you climb depends on the intensity. So if you are climbing at a very low intensity you could probably get away with 5 days, but at a very high intensity 2 days is optimal. So my very no professional advice is to keep doing what your doing and you may eventually work up to a third high intensity day but if not your climbing is not going to suffer for it. I would recommend picking up either one of those books as they give you a good road map to avoiding mistakes that will hurt you later on.

I know you had specific training questions, but your thread title makes me think of that Audioslave song Show Me How To Live.

"You gave me a rope, now show me how to climb!"

About a year ago I was a few months into climbing myself. I went hard on the bouldering and eventually went to hard. My thumb tendon(the one that goes through my wrist and up my forearm) was hurt. It took a long time to heal and if I still climb to hard too often i can feel it getting sore.

I would advise warming up on an easy, longish, not bouldering route. Like a 5.6 twice up a wall. Then stretch your arms, hands and fingers before going into your real training. That particular habit has saved me from injuring myself again.

I have nothing but my speculation, but I believe that bouldering as hard as you can isn't great for your body within the first year or so. I think this because bouldering is about short, high srength problems. Strong Muscles + weak tendons = not good. I didn't understand then and I barely understand now, but you have a life time of climbing. No need to hurt yourself by climbing to hard to early. I also notice that I get less of a boost from training if I just boulder, and I get super tired super fast.

Thanks everybody for your helpful replies. I bought Training for Climbing and I am definitely going to change things up a bit. Focus a little more on top rope than killing myslef on boulder problems and impliment periodization.

If I was you I would be very cautious. Being a nurse, you can get shaky hands if you climb too much. That's why doctors don't ever climb because they are afraid to get shaky hands syndrome. Their careers would go up in smoke if they did. Also you can totally get staph infection and eczema from chalk. There are a lot of germs on climbing holds in general including the resistant to antibiotics, so there is always a possibility to get that.

lee moses wrote:Being a nurse, you can get shaky hands if you climb too much.

Nope. Source?

lee moses wrote:doctors don't ever climb because they are afraid to get shaky hands syndrome.

Wrong again. Source?

lee moses wrote:Also you can totally get staph infection and eczema from chalk.

Strike three. Source?
Please get back under the bridge and stop spreading misinformation on this site.

Daniel Winder wrote: Nope. Source? Wrong again. Source? Strike three. Source? Please get back under the bridge and stop spreading misinformation on this site.

Wow wow wow! Look who got his panties in a bunch! I know several people who are climbers and have hands that will not stop shaking. Ever! How do you explain that?

Also, show me a doctor who climbs, a real doc, not a dentist or a veterinarian and I will shut up. I bet you can't!

My girl got eczema from climbing, so she don't climb no more. She don't want me to climb either but I still do.

lee moses wrote: Wow wow wow! Look who got his panties in a bunch! I know several people who are climbers and have hands that will not stop shaking. Ever! How do you explain that? Also, show me a doctor who climbs, a real doc, not a dentist or a veterinarian and I will shut up. I bet you can't! My girl got eczema from climbing, so she don't climb no more. She don't want me to climb either but I still do.

I don't care enough to look it up, but there was a thread with a number of CO doctors(spoiler: they are climbers) that had posted. Also, I know of two nurses that climb and have some of the steadiest hands I've seen.

My hands used to shake really bad until I started climbing. I don't think that is a coincidence. Using as much legitimate medical theory as you are: I can say with absolutely authority that climbing reduces shakiness in hands by up to 90% in 100% of patients I've cared for.

I pushed myself a lot esp with bouldering the first year I climbed, and I had shoulder pain when turning the steering wheel of my car pretty much all that year. That was gym climbing maybe 3 hrs a week. I probably should have done fewer overhangs and dynamic moves.

Eventually something caught up strength wise and my shoulders turned out fine. I now gym climb 5-6 hrs a week. (Outside in warm weather, too, but not as often as I'd like, experiencing the whole sandwich generation thing.)

I dance on my off days and I find it's a great supplement to climbing. It's cardio, balance, foot strength, and flexibility. And keeping your shoulders back and chest open. Your forearms can rest. I recommend ballet, hip hop, modern, zumba, belly dancing...etc if you have even the smallest inclination.

lee moses wrote: I know several people who are climbers and have hands that will not stop shaking. Ever! How do you explain that? Also, show me a doctor who climbs, a real doc, not a dentist or a veterinarian and I will shut up.

I know several people who are climbers and are color blind, they can't see color. Ever! How do you explain that? Climbing must make people go color blind!

Just realized that I danced around your actual questions.

I don't recommend climbing with joint pain, and I do recommend adding routes that keep you logging the hours climbing but don't aggravate the joints that hurt.

So if your fingers hurt, do stemmy corners for legs and balance, and large volumes that require core strength and creative positioning.

lee moses wrote: Also, show me a doctor who climbs, a real doc, not a dentist or a veterinarian and I will shut up. I bet you can't!

Yeah, the one that attended to me two summers ago. We even have the same climbing friends.

lee moses wrote: Wow wow wow! Look who got his panties in a bunch!

Even if you had contributed some actual content, I don't put up with sexist, demeaning, asshole comments. You can leave our panties alone and get off my thread.

I climb outside, for at least a couple hours, 5 times per week. I boulder, trad, or sport climb.

I wont always go as hard as I can. I just go with whatever I (or we) feel like doing. I can usually get out for two hours after work before sunset once February starts.

Do what feels good. I like to do yoga in the evenings/morning, as well as mess around with kettlebells, run, or do another sport on days when I don't climb (if I have energy). It's good to work out opposing muscle groups, keep the joints fluid, and relax the muscles and finger (especially if your rock is really sharp)

Not everyone can get outside this much, but it's more about the body and mind.

Sending v4 and 5.9 seems like an odd combination :)

Feeding the Troll

Lee Moses, you are a dumbass (even as trolls go)
go back to your moms basement and read some more George R.R. Martin phallic references.
Your brain obviously cant handle intellectual thought, or scientific reason.

eczema is a overreaction by your bodies immune system (a genetic predisposition, often linked in people with asthma) that develops a rash, or a dermatitis (inflammation of an area of skin). Although it is possible for chalk to cause this, it is highly unlikely, and would be linked to a very small and specific sup-group of people, whose immune systems would be doing this with stress and other allergens (of which chalk is low on the list of).

Stahp A, is everywhere, its in your nose right now, its on your hands, its on your shirt, no shit its on climbing holds. Wash your hands, or go live in a bubble (or back to your moms basement is cool with me)

To debunk your shaky hands theory your linking climbing to causing long term tremors is up there in logic with linking getting harry palms from masturbating too much (I assume you shave your palms daily?). For starters there is only in your mind, mild correlation between the two stated facts, zero causation (you know someone who developed a tremor, and this person also climbs). are you asserting this person developed a form of PTSD whilst climbing? or became hypoglycemic for a short period of time causing a mild shaking (resolving on eating anything). either way, this statement is fallacious.

NO Dr.s climb, well, you probably are still in high school and this statement holds about as much water as a dixie cup with no bottom.
or your assertion that veterinarians, and dentists are not Dr's. due to a phd, and not MD's, ehh, i'm done, but had a good time getting to this point, this one really shouldn't require any venom spewed in your direction. I have already surmised that you are a high school failure, who lives at home with mommy, who has an overactive compulsion towards sexual self satisfaction who probably doesn't hold the intellectual capacity to understand thought beyond stage one (or barely even that far).

The first year of climbing is SO FUN and ADDICTING, enjoy it!

The most important thing is to listen to your body. Beginner climbers can make huge gains in muscle in the first few months which is super addicting because it seems like you can climb a harder grade every week, but beware that tendon strength takes longer to develop. It is totally cool to push yourself (and really the only way to get better) but if you are feeling pain in your ELBOWS, SHOULDERS, OR FINGERS consider taking a few days off or changing the kind of climbing you are doing (bouldering at your limit is probably the most dangerous style for tendons). If however, your forearms and biceps are burning, this is a good thing--do not let go.

The other reason not to over-do hard bouldering is that although you might be able to power through the moves, a lack of technique and muscle memory puts the tendons at a greater risk particularly when trying dynamic movements.

Despite all the tendon talk, I think you should climb as much as you feel like. And the best way to develop technique is to climb everything including hard bouldering and wild dynamic moves. All the beginner climbers that I knew who turned into great climbers were totally hooked immediately and spent at least 3-4 days a week climbing.

If you are asking the question, you're already on the right track and will be just fine (and will probably be crushing like a champ in a couple years). From my experience the 3 month point seems about the right time for a new climber to start developing some climbers elbow.

P.S. check this out. youtube.com/watch?v=vZsa0bB…