Bouldering training guides
Each one answers a single question first, then shows the exercises and a week that go with it. Written by Frank Blokdijk, bouldering coach and routesetter.
Training questions 19
Straight answers to the things climbers keep asking.
- How long to rest between boulder attempts without wasting your sessionAt your limit, rest 3 to 5 minutes between boulder attempts and give each problem about 3 good goes before you move on. Here's how that fills a session.
- How much antagonist training climbers need, without a second gym sessionAbout 10 minutes, twice a week, after climbing. One pushing exercise and one for the shoulders, 3 sets each, stopping with a few reps left.
- How to boulder two days in a row without wrecking the second dayMake day one hard and day two easy, with technique drills and easy climbing and no limit moves or hangboard. Keep hard finger days 48 hours apart.
- How to break a bouldering plateau without just training moreStuck at one grade for years? Test before you train more, spend more of each session on hard moves with full rests, and sometimes climb less.
- How to get the hip flexibility for high feet without stretching for hoursAbout 10 minutes of active hip work twice a week, plus high steps in your warm-up, does more for high feet than long passive stretches.
- How to keep a climbing log without losing your dataMake sure your log backs up to an account, check your last session shows up on a second device, and keep an export you can open without the app.
- How to keep your feet on steep boulders without endless core workoutsPractise body tension on steep flash-level boulders twice a week, and add 5 to 10 minutes of trunk work after climbing. For most boulderers, that's enough.
- How to log your boulders during a session, not on paper afterwardsLog each boulder right after you try it, with its grade, whether you sent it and the wall angle. It takes seconds and beats a list made later.
- How to plan your bouldering training without a coachPlan in 4 to 6 week blocks with one goal each, 2 or 3 sessions a week, the hardest work first in every session and a deload week at the end of each block.
- How to plan your climbing training without paying a monthly subscriptionA training plan needs weeks, sessions and a log, and none of that needs a subscription. What's free in Blok Sessions and what Pro costs, exactly.
- How to take a deload week without losing your strengthA deload week cuts your training by about half, often after three hard weeks. Climb easy, keep moving, skip max finger work. A week won't cost you strength.
- How to tell if your climbing training is working without guessingRecord a baseline on a few repeatable tests, retest every 4 to 8 weeks the same way, and keep a simple log, so you know what changed and why.
- How to time 7/3 hangboard repeaters with rest between setsOne set of 7/3 repeaters is 6 hangs of 7 seconds with 3 seconds off. Rest 3 minutes after each set and do 5. Here's how to time it.
- How to train your fingers when you can't hang your bodyweight yetTake weight off with your feet on the floor, a foot on a chair or a pulley. Feet-on hangs, moderate hangs and pick-ups let you add load in small steps.
- How to train your fingers without hurting your pulleysKeep finger training low-load and controlled. Warm up first, hang well short of max, add load slowly and take some hard climbing out. If it hurts, see a physio.
- How to use a climbing timer without pausing your musicPick a timer whose beeps play over your music and that keeps counting when you switch apps or lock the phone. Two quick tests tell you which kind you've got.
- How to warm up for bouldering without it eating half your sessionIn a short session, warm up for 10 to 15 minutes. Easy movement, easy boulders getting harder, then a few moves or hangs like today's main work.
- Max hangs or repeaters: which finger training to do firstIf you boulder, start with max hangs, 5 hangs of 10 seconds with 3 minutes rest. Repeaters come in their own block. Never do both hard on one day.
- When to start campus board training without hurting your fingersAfter two to three years of regular climbing, with no finger or elbow pain and limit bouldering already in your week. Start feet-on, short and fresh.
Plans for your situation 6
A sample week for one kind of climber, and the reasons behind it.
- A bouldering training plan for 45-minute sessionsA full bouldering session in 45 minutes: 10 to 15 minutes of warm-up, then one main exercise. Four evenings a week, with a sample week that adds up.
- A bouldering training plan for climbers over 40Two hard wall sessions a week, one easy session at home, four rest days and a planned deload every third week. A sample week and the reasons behind it.
- A bouldering training plan for two sessions a weekWith two sessions a week, make one about strength and one about everything else, with two or three days between them. Here's what goes in each.
- A climbing training planner for AndroidBlok Sessions is iPhone only. On Android, plan your bouldering training in the free browser planner at bloksessions.com/app with a free account.
- A climbing training planner for coachesMake a plan for each climber you coach, lay out their weeks in training periods and send it as a file or a private link. Planning is free.
- A hangboard training plan for homeHangboard twice a week at home, never on back-to-back days, with one wall day in between. A sample week, and when to make the hangs harder.
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