training for climbing trips

For our final discussion in this series on climbing trips, we're going back to the start: how to prepare for a trip.

As a reminder, think through your goals and expectations for the trips as you plan your preparation.

Preparing for volume

You may choose a bigger volume-based trip if it's your first time to a crag and you're taking a more exploratory approach, or if your trip is long and there are a number of climbs you'd like to take down.

For these types of trips you'll need capacity: your body needs to be prepared to handle a lot of climbing.

To increase capacity, go low and slow. A good rule of thumb is to increase volume by no more than 10% each session.

Let's say for example your workout is to repeat boulders 4 grades below redpoint. For session 1, you repeat 10 boulders. That means for your next session, you should repeat 11 boulders.

Another example would be doing up/downs on routes for 5 minutes (300 seconds) at a time for session 1. For your next session, you can do up/downs for 5.5 minutes (330 seconds).

Give yourself at least 3-4 weeks to build up capacity so your body can adapt.

Preparing for projecting

You may choose a project-focused trip if you've been to an area before and have focused in on a couple of climbs you'd like to complete, or if you're on a very short trip.

Tailor your training to be specific to the climb you are trying. Is it a long resistance sport climb? Is it a short and powerful boulder?

Also think about how many tries you'd like to be able to give your project in a day and if you also need to build some projecting-specific capacity for it. Similar to the above, increase your projecting sessions by 10% at a time (whether you measure by attempts or by time spent trying a project).

Again, give yourself at least 3-4 weeks to prepare for the specifics of your project.

Year-round preparation

Having a good foundation of strength and technique will always support your trip goals, no matter which type of goals you have.

With a solid base, you can give your training a little "boost" of 3-4 weeks of specific training. If you don't have as much of a base, I recommend at least 8-12 weeks of training before a trip.

What did your preparation for your last trip look like and how did it go?