Bouldering vs Ropes in the gym

Hey everyone,

So I’m wondering what everyone’s take on the relative merits of bouldering and roped climbing as training for outdoor sport/trad.  I’ve noticed that there’s a range of habits of strong climbers where I climb; some exclusively climb routes (lead), some mostly boulder, some do a combination of the two.  What do you do, and why?

Different strokes for different folks fam.

I find that bouldering not only helps to increase my peak strength, but it also helps normalize the feeling of falling which is very important for those just starting leading.

Top-roping of course is good for building stamina on routes and boosting ego too.

Its good to try them all out, no one discipline is "better" than another, they just accomplish differe t goals.

I can up my endurance via LBC's or rope repeaters in a few weeks.  However, moving up in V-grades, or getting appreciable gains in strength and power take me entire seasons, if not years.  I only really trained with ropes for the majority of my climbing career, and plateaued at the 12a/b range for a long time.  I finally started getting serious about bouldering the past couple winters, and my rope grades pretty immediately went up.  Now, the vast majority of my training involves limit bouldering, hangboarding, and campusing, with LBC's being incorporated as rope season approaches.  However, I'm definitely the ectomorphic/hard-gainer type (and climb primarily at a crux-based area, the NRG)...  My mesomorph buddy who has amazing pinch strength and can do one-arms and 100# pulls actually starts getting -worse- at ropes if he gets too boulder-strong.  

the one type of training that all of the strongest climbers do, is bouldering.

Do it with a weight vest and work the smallest holds at any given angle that you can. Maybe make up your own problems so as to work your weaknesses. Work on moving off of a hold and not just hanging on to it. Work making big moves statically.

Downside is that it is easier to get injured, especially with added weight, as it is very dynamic and doesn't do shit for endurance.

I also don't think that anyone should do any focused training until they are sending .12a outside.

For me, training for roped climbing always involved bouldering.  There really weren't any gyms, at least not close by, and so we would always find some rock wall along a building and run laps on it until we flamed out.  In all honesty, if there were gyms I probably wouldn't have gone to them, but instead seeked out something more low key.

One of us seemed to always have a campus board and a Bachar ladder too.  I recall many bouts of tendinitis in my elbows from too many laps on a Bachar ladder.  If a gym is all you have access to for training, then I'd boulder and climbed roped for strength training.

The only activity that will increase your route-finding abilities is time on routes.    

Hmm...interesting.  How do you keep your mental game in check?  I find that I lose my head if I haven’t led in a while.

Mark Paulson wrote: I can up my endurance via LBC's or rope repeaters in a few weeks.  However, moving up in V-grades, or getting appreciable gains in strength and power take me entire seasons, if not years.  I only really trained with ropes for the majority of my climbing career, and plateaued at the 12a/b range for a long time.  I finally started getting serious about bouldering the past couple winters, and my rope grades pretty immediately went up.  Now, the vast majority of my training involves limit bouldering, hangboarding, and campusing, with LBC's being incorporated as rope season approaches.  However, I'm definitely the ectomorphic/hard-gainer type (and climb primarily at a crux-based area, the NRG)...  My mesomorph buddy who has amazing pinch strength and can do one-arms and 100# pulls actually starts getting -worse- at ropes if he gets too boulder-strong.  

Could you clarify what LBCs and rope repeaters are?

Im predominately a rope climber and I rarely rope up in the gym. Gym routes tend to be consistent and lack a defined crux. The emphasis is usually on flowing movement. This is atypical of an outdoor route; they tend to be more bouldery. Plus gym bouldering give me greater opportunity to expand my repertoire of movement.

And for endurance, I'll usually just link boulder problems or do 4x4s. Much easier to tune the difficulty to my needs. Vs the normal gym route set of one easy route next to one hard route. 

+1 for bouldering.

The rope climbing i have access to locally is too short, and lead rope climbing in a gym couple hours away is generally set in the same style of easy starts, and couple hard moves at the top.

The sweet spot for me, as far as training for RRG climibng, is power endurance. Limit bouldering/campus gets me the power that is hard for me to gain. Hangboard gets finger strength. And closer to the season I get on with 4x4s, or LBCs (linked bouldering circuits)  and get that sweet spot of PE.

Bouldering makes rope climbing easier. Especially when you relate a 5.12a crux to a V4 boulder problem.

bruno-cx wrote: Leading indoors is aid climbing and sure way to get elbow tendonitis.

Interesting.  Why do you say that about leading in particular?

Lena chita wrote: +1 for bouldering.

The rope climbing i have access to locally is too short, and lead rope climbing in a gym couple hours away is generally set in the same style of easy starts, and couple hard moves at the top.

The sweet spot for me, as far as training for RRG climibng, is power endurance. Limit bouldering/campus gets me the power that is hard for me to gain. Hangboard gets finger strength. And closer to the season I get on with 4x4s, or LBCs (linked bouldering circuits)  and get that sweet spot of PE.

Aaah, that’s what that means.  Thanks!

You people act like you can't downclimb a lead climb in the gym after getting to the top. Touch the ground and repeat until people start complaining that you're hogging the purple route. 

kevin deweese wrote: You people act like you can't downclimb a lead climb in the gym after getting to the top. Touch the ground and repeat until people start complaining that you're hogging the purple route. 

I think you missed that part where several people explained what the bouldering provides that roped climbing lacks, for training. Downclimbing, laps, and timed rope intervals have their place in training, sure. But they are not a substitute for bouldering.

My outdoor climbing got a lot better when I switched to a gym with 70-foot-plus lead walls. Getting on overhanging lead routes that high regularly did a lot for both my endurance and my head game. Even though I don't climb that kind of stuff outdoors the endurance and can-do attitude that comes with it really pays off on long trad.

I'm sure bouldering a lot more would up my game, but I really don't like taking those 15 foot falls onto a mat. 

Ted Pinson wrote: Hey everyone,

So I’m wondering what everyone’s take on the relative merits of bouldering and roped climbing as training for outdoor sport/trad.  I’ve noticed that there’s a range of habits of strong climbers where I climb; some exclusively climb routes (lead), some mostly boulder, some do a combination of the two.  What do you do, and why?

I boulder exclusively inside. It's way more efficient in terms of time at gym vs. workout. I've also had way better results from endurance training with linked bouldering circuits than I have with climbing on routes indoors.

Also, what's your definition of strong? Around this area, most of the stronger route climbers (>5.12+) who aren't 14 year old mutants almost never rope up indoors.

Señor Arroz wrote: My outdoor climbing got a lot better when I switched to a gym with 70-foot-plus lead walls. 

I would certainly lead more at the gym if our facility had a long, consistently overhanging wall-- especially for training for RRG-type routes.  Consider yourself lucky!

I'm sure bouldering a lot more would up my game, but I really don't like taking those 15 foot falls onto a mat. 

Neither do I-  I have no compunction about backing off top-outs or sketchy moves up high-  few things are more ignominious than being out for a season (or two) because you broke your ankle trying to horizontal dyno for the finish hold on that purple V5.  If you're gonna hurt yourself, at least do it outside.

climbing friend,

bouldering is bettah!

you would sculpt your guns into ferocious coiled pythons, ready to attack on slighest of provocations!

Mark Paulson wrote: I would certainly lead more at the gym if our facility had a long, consistently overhanging wall-- especially for training for RRG-type routes.  Consider yourself lucky!

Oh, I do.

Yeah, I have something similar at my gym.

Lena chita wrote:

I think you missed that part where several people explained what the bouldering provides that roped climbing lacks, for training. Downclimbing, laps, and timed rope intervals have their place in training, sure. But they are not a substitute for bouldering.

Lol, No one has said anything that bouldering has that modifications of one's approach to roped climbing can't emulate. What I see in this thread is people using their preconceived notions of what the differences are between bouldering and roped climbing and using those definitions to shut down any sort of creative use of roped climbing because... well, who knows? Maybe because your roped route setters suck by starting easy and ending hard and not creating any variance in their setting. Bad setters, bad gym, bad climbers. 

John Wilder wrote:

It's been my experience that it's just harder to move fast enough and try hard enough on a rope to really get stronger. The logistics alone make it slower, and grades in general make it easier.

Can you train effectively on a rope, sure- but imho, it requires a good deal more effort than bouldering.

I'm trying to understand what you mean by "move fast enough" on a rope? Do you mean explosive movements? Or do you mean that rope leading gets slowed down by clipping? What about toproping?