Where/how to focus training to improve endurance

[Chris W]

I understand that this is a rather simplistic question that could have a complicated answer, but I'm wondering what element of training I should emphasize to improve my endurance. At this point in my climbing, I typically do not fail on a route because I can't pull the moves; rather I fail because I get too pumped to hang on any longer. I've been using the novice trainee plan (page 186 of the RCTM) because it includes 4 weeks of base fitness in the hopes of improving my endurance. I noticed, however, that for this winter season, it took a full 2 weeks of power training to reach my prior seasons best efforts and an additional week to best them. So...

1) Is practical endurance for hard redpoint climbing (on sustained pumpy routes) trained more directly through the power endurance phase (via route intervals) or the base fitness phase?

2) Will my endurance training suffer by shortening my base fitness phase to 3 weeks in order to lengthen the power phase to 3 weeks?

[jcm]

Data that might be useful:

-Where do you usually climb, and what sort of climbing (trad/sport/etc.)
-What grades?
-What sort of situation are you pumping out in.  Is it a terminal pump the accumulates across the pitch, or a short-term pump due to a hard section?  Are you able to recover in rests?

These may or may not affect the ultimate answers, but would provide good direction.  "Sustained" and "pumpy" can mean very different things in different contexts.

[Charlie S]

I'm on the trad/big wall training regimen, which has only 2 weeks of dedicated ARCing. But it's interwoven with the strength phase, resulting in 6 weeks of some form of ARCing. That being said, when I get pumped out, it generally seems to fall on the small holds/PE-type movement as opposed to just base endurance.

Are you ARCing on the same steepness of wall that your goal routes are on?

[jcm]

Elaborating on my first post a bit, lets look at a few case studies of climbers who get pumped and fall off of routes, but for different reasons.

Climber A can climb all of the sections of his goal routes in isolation, but has a hard time recovering at the rests.  Once he gets pumped, it is terminal, unless there is a ledge to sit on.  He hasn't yet learned how to relax in a strenuous rest--to recover even in overhanging terrain.  He also picks up more fatigue than he should from the moderately difficult climbing on the pitch, where he should be recovering.  For him, the pump generally builds throughout the entire pitch, leading to ballooned forearms and exhausted meltdown.  The pump clock goes only one way.   For this climber, more base fitness is needed.  He needs the physiological adaptations to bring oxygen to his muscles and flush out waste products.  More importantly, he need the technical and mental adaptations to climb more efficiently through moderate terrain and to relax/recover in strenuous "rests".  Spending lots of time ARCing, getting outdoor route mileage, and practicing skills is important.  Mainly, he just needs to get more comfortable being in steeper terrain for a longer period of time. Some strength, power, and PE work are also important, so as to maintain balance, but base fitness needs a major emphasis.   Climber A is often a novice to intermediate sport climber (5.10-5.12a), although some sick strong boulderers who lack route skills also fall into this category.

Climber B is able to recover at the rests and in the easy climbing, and can do all of the moves/sections on his goal routes, but fails to link the 10-25 move hard sections between the rests.  For him, the "pump" is less a burning ballooned pump, but more a feeling of the power fading away throughout the hard bit.  For this climber, more PE is required, and can be best gained through linked boulder circuits.   More strength/power (so that the moves feel easier), and more Base (better recovery) will also help.  As such, this climber is probably best served by a classic balanced program with a good mix of base, strength, power, and PE.  Many intermediate, advanced, and elite sport climbers are Climber B.  Being climber B is good; it means you have a balanced skill set and can improve by following a balanced program.

Climber C is usually a seasoned sport climber.  He at one time was climber A or B, and spent a ton of time building base fitness.  In fact, he probably got stuck on that endurance-focused program for too long.  Now, he had great base fitness and can shake out on anything.  He is also pretty good at sustaining near-maximum mores for quite a while.  Unfortunately, his power/bouldering maximum is pathetically low for where it should be, at the route levels he climbs.  Because he trained base and PE for so long, he neglected power.  When he gets pumped, it is because he is doing 10-20 moves pretty near his bouldering maximum.  Alternatively, he just can't do the crux moves.  What he needs to do is up his bouldering max so that those moves don't feel so hard.  This climber can mostly neglect PE, and should focus on strength/power.  Even without direct PE work, his PE will improve as moves become easier for him.  Kris Hampton (of powercompanyclimbing.com) was Climber C for quite a while, and his High/Low program (described on his site) is a great approach for this climber.

What climber do you most resemble?  Plan your training accordingly.  

[Chris W]

My local [and thus primary] crag is all sport, with vertical to 15 degrees overhanging terrain. The holds are primarily edges, ledges, finger buckets and crimps. I worked hard this past summer and fall in my base phase and can now do a 30 minute ARC set on my 15 degree wall in my barn but it's forearm screaming good time to last that long. I have to rest frequently on large jugs or edges.

Climbing steep overhanging "cruxless" routes without good rests is where I struggle. Routes with cruxes interspersed with good rests are a bit easier. I spent over a year trying to send an overhanging 5.11c on good holds, then turned around and onsighted a very techy 5.11c vertical/slab route. It took about 15-20 minutes to climb, but I was able stand hard on some tiny edges to take weight off my arms one at a time to rest.

I've yet to climb 5.12, but came close last season. This spring I'm trying to swallow some humble pie and build a base of 5.11 routes at my local crag in preparation to [hopefully] send 5.12 in the fall. None of the routes have moves I can't do; it's just a question of hanging on to the holds long enough to finish the route.

[tedwelser]

When I was younger I used to be type "C" in JCM's typology. Now, I am coming back after a decade with no training and only periodic recreational climbing. So I no longer have the same capacity to hang on and recover and am trying to learn how to get some of that back while also building better finger strength than I ever had before.

I would say that besides the skill aspects of endurance, the capacity to recover seems to depend on the size of the hold (and therefore finger joint angles) and also on the percentage of body weight that you have to support with your hands while resting.

So it seems like you likely have good endurance using medium holds while maintaining a high proportion of your weight on your feet, while you are not as prepared to hold a much higher percentage of your weight with your hands on a good hold while you match and rest.

It seems like training base fitness / ARC on a steeper wall and then also including a larger hold with higher weight in your HB series might help. This fall I included a HB exercise where I added heavy weight, but held onto the tops of the RP pinches as an open hand hold. I alternated back and forth from left hand to right hand, while putting a small amount of weight on two footholds to help maintain body position on the one arm hangs.

My logic was that I wanted to increase my top end jug finger strength in what was essentially a matching jug rest, but with extra weight. I also varied my ARC sessions to include some passages with jugs on steep terrain, and others with only medium and smaller edges on less steep terrain under the observation that I wanted to cultivate endurance for both steeper and less steep terrain.

[Chris W]

Would you think that the physical adaptations from ARC training are cumulative from season to season? It's already mentioned in the book that power endurance gains come and go quickly...

[brendann]

In my experience, fitness gains drop off rapidly, so an extended base fitness phase will have little impact on the macro cycle outcome. Luckily fitness gains come just as quickly, so you should see rapid improvement in two weeks if you can stomach 10x20min. sessions of ARC a week. I have also found that ARCing on big holds+steep walls translates into vertical crimpy endurance as well. It's tough to ARC on small holds since your feet and skin give out before your forearms.

Eva Lopez has been doing some good writing on the subject: Eva Lopez on ARC training

[rmesav87]

Does anybody have any experience / thoughts / comments on ARC workouts based on Hear Rate? I've noticed that not many climbers (if any) train with a heart rate monitor, but I'm hoping to find a better way to monitor ARC's efficiency, and a hear rate monitor should do the trick. The thing is, when i'm pumped my heart rate can increase far above the considered "Aerobic Performance zone", which is where i guess I should be aiming for when ARCing....

THanks!

[sr]

During outdoor mileage days, I experimented with heart rate and climbed routes at about 70% heart rate (basically zone 1 as described by Steve House, Training for New alpinism).   I was able to experiment and get a feel for what this felt like and didn't always use a heart rate monitor.

Anecdotally, I think there is value in using HR to monitor effort, but I only experimented with it for a part of a season.

I have some things I would like to experiment with this summer..

[Charlie S]

I'm still in the middle of an HRM survey during this training cycle, but figured I'd chime in with some personal data.

Heart Rate and Calories Burned by event (all durations taken into account; need to separate that out later):


Obviously PE is still missing on that.

Heart Rate by climb difficulty:


And cumulative time (since I started tracking this 2 months ago) spent in different cardio zones separated out by sport:


P.S. the climbing tracking sheets are turning into a robust Access database.  I'm floating ideas of a web-based SQL app but have yet to devote the time to it.