During my senior year of college while I was writing a thesis, I made a promise to myself that helped me maintain my sanity: I swore that no matter what, I would make it to the indoor climbing gym two times each week, no excuses. And I did exactly that, either finding a ride or using public transportation to get there on my own.
This commitment not only helped me stay fit during a time when my workload was intense, but also, it helped me stay mentally focused, returning me to my work with a renewed sense of clarity and focus. Why? Because I had a mind-body outlet, a place to go where I could dissipate built-up energy and clear my head of work-related clutter.
Since that time, I've used this method throughout my life to help me through those times when tumult and turmoil dominate, and when rock climbing and training for climbing have had to take a backseat to life or work-related issues. Despite the time crunch and the exhaustion of a hectic schedule, I've learned that you can always find time to do at least a little bit.
That little bit proverbially goes a long way. Making time to train for climbing makes a person feel better about themselves physically, mentally, and emotionally, as a total being. Exercise promotes improved self esteem, as well as better sleeping habits. If you love to climb, why not put your energy into rock climbing training exercises, developing a program that segues into your busy schedule?
Creating Your Climbing Training Program
The key to developing a successful rock climbing training program that fits your schedule is to build each new exercise in slowly, until it becomes a habit, instead of tackling a gigantic training program all at once. Hiring a climbing coach or personal trainer to assess your weaknesses, and then outline and prioritize your training elements for you can be helpful, especially at the start.
Once you have an outline of the various recommended rock climbing training exercises, start setting weekly goals for yourself, based on the most important climbing exercises on your list. Begin with small, realistic goals that will not alter your lifestyle all that much, so that you don't feel so overwhelmed by an onerous and time-consuming exercise regimen that you choose to avoid it altogether.
For example, if pull-ups are a recommended training element, install a home pull-up bar, and then set a goal to do a total of 100 pull-ups in a week. After work, you can do one or two pull-ups every time you walk by the bar. Or, see how many pull-ups you can do during the commercials of your favorite television show. Acquire additional cheap, at-home training gear to facilitate workouts.
Strive for balance in the exercises you choose to include in your climbing training program. This means that you should incorporate training elements that work different muscle groups and other components of climbing training into each set of weekly goals. A week's worth of goals for a very busy person, then, might look like this:
- 100 pull-ups, total
- Two10-minute hangboard or grip-strength workouts
- Two 10-minute triceps workouts
- One 15-minute (total) opposing muscle workout, broken up however it fits throughout the week
- Two 30-minute cardio workouts
- Two 10-minute core workouts
- 5 minutes of stretching daily
- 5 minutes of visualization for climbing daily
- One or two sessions at the indoor climbing gym, focusing on specific climbing techniques that need work
- Good nutritional choices
Aim to spend more time or any extra climbing workout time on improving your climbing weaknesses rather than building up your strengths. If your time is limited, you'll want to focus nearly all of your training efforts on improving those weaknesses, because that will yield the most gains in your actual climbing ability level.
Summing It Up: Climbing Training for the Busy Person
Take advantage of the benefits of exercise by channeling your physical efforts into becoming better at something you love. Make small, attainable climbing-exercise goals that don't require huge amounts of time, and fit them around your work every day. No matter what you're doing or where you are, you can more likely than not incorporate some valuable rock climbing training exercises into your schedule.
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