Five-minute boulder repeaters
3 rounds: 5 min of repeated laps on one problem or circuit, 5 min rest.
- Slot
- On the wall
- Focus
- Power endurance
- Time
- 25 min
- Intensity
- High
- Injury risk
- High
- Intervals
- 3 × 5:00 on, 5:00 off
- Equipment
- Boulders, Timer
How to do it
Pick a problem or short circuit you can climb several times in a row even when tired. Climb it over and over for 5 minutes, stepping off only to get straight back on, then rest 5 minutes. Do 3 rounds. If you can't keep going for the full 5 minutes, pick easier problems.
High injury risk. Only do this fully warmed up, rested and injury-free, and stop at the first sign of pain in your fingers or elbows. Training is at your own risk.
Who it’s for
Deep power endurance, the kind that keeps you climbing when your forearms are already gone. It’s a hard session and it belongs in a block, not in every week.
Common mistakes
- Choosing a problem that’s too hard. You need to keep climbing for five minutes. If you’re falling off after ninety seconds, drop the difficulty.
- Resting on the wall. Step off only to get straight back on. Continuous is the whole idea.
- Cutting the five-minute rest. Equal work and rest. Shortening the rest turns three rounds into one and a half.
- Running it year-round. Two to four weeks in a block, twice a week at most.
How to progress
Harder problems for the same five minutes, not longer rounds. If you can complete all three rounds comfortably, the problems were too easy.
When it fits
The training periods this exercise fits into in Blok Sessions.
- Power Endurance Keep your power through one hard move after another.
- Performance Peak for a trip or a comp: focus, reading problems, trying hard.
Related blocks
Start with a ready-made block
A six-week strength plan with a deload, as a file for the app, and seven short emails on how to run it.