The Real Secret to Effective Power Training

Hanging Up

You can train long or you can train hard, but not both — which is probably why so many of us train power so wrongly. (By “power,” we mean the product of strength and speed, i.e., the explosive force recruited any time you use momentum, or “go for it.”) Properly training power allows you to get stronger — to muckle through otherwise impossible cruxes. Thus, step one with power training is to realize you’re training, not just exercising. I.e., if you’re still firing out a steep wall on small holds three hours into a session, the problem’s nowhere near your maximum ability and you’re not really training power.

Because our local crags around Lander, Wyoming, feature short climbs with few holds, our training centers on power, but in a true-tolife way: using angles, holds, and movements found on rock. From what I’ve seen training climbers the past 20 years, the guy who uses his whole body to create power is better off than any “campus master.” So read on for big-picture ideas about training power the natural way.

Keep It Short

True power training is very intense — only 45 to 60 minutes. Add in 15 to 30 minutes of warm-up and cool-down, and you’re still done in subtwo hours. By keeping these sessions short (fatigue creates endurance, not power), you can do more per week — if you’re in shape, up to two or three hard power sessions, totaling close to three hours of quality work.

A typical power phase lasts four to six weeks and will often consist of mostly gym sessions. If you climb outside, only boulder or try short, difficult climbs — you’ll have little time (or energy) for other climbing. After this phase, you can cycle back into “normal” mode and put your power to the test. In a given year, you could fruitfully advance through three or four power phases. (Intersperse these, however, with a minimum of four to six weeks of less-intense training or climbing.)

Recovery Time Is Key

We don’t leave the gym with more power — it’s recovery that promotes improvement. In general, it should take 36 to 72 hours to bounce back from a proper power session. After this time, it’s critical that you again hit the system with another stimulus, or the first session’s value declines. (If you climb only once weekly, you’ll see no improvement.) On the flip side, rest too little or train too long (e.g., those fun four hours of nonstop gym routes with your buddies), and you fail to improve.

Specify

The more your training resembles your goal routes or problems, the better. That is, developing climbing power is about training the muscles of the back and the hip girdle. Sure, our arms get tired first, but it’s these “big” muscles that generate the most force and help us integrate our feet/legs. Climbers usually train power in several ways: power-focussed bouldering (discussed in this tip), random bouldering, system training, campus training, body-weight resistance training, and weight training. These latter five modes are fine, but should supplement, not replace, power problems (see “Perfect Power” sidebar).

Don’t Get Worked

At first, you might feel you aren’t properly “worked.” Perfect — this lets you come back hard in a couple days. Improvement is why you’re training. Be patient, be disciplined, and you’ll see gains as quickly as three weeks.

Speed It Up

Another good way to increase power is to increase speed. But because climbing is so technical, speed often decreases fine motor skill, hence hold-grabbing/stabbing accuracy. I’d recommend only going a wee bit faster — say five percent — to prevent your form from going to hell.

As an exercise, time yourself on some 10-to-12-move problems; then speed them up by no more than a second or two. Work on efficiency — if you get sloppy, slow down and re-evaluate. A few tricks: memorize the sequence from the ground, and climb from memory, not reaction;? move consistently upward — don’t fall into start-stop movement; and focus on your feet — your legs drive most movement, so make sure they’re not just dragging while you speed-lunge.

Steve Bechtel, a climber of 20 years, has pioneered 250-plus routes on six continents. He works as a performance coach for climbers and other athletes, owns Elemental Training Center (climbstrong.net) in Lander, Wyoming, and holds a degree in exercise physiology.

Perfect Power: a Workout Routine

This four-step workout looks simple on paper, but it works. Give yourself three or four weeks, and then test gains on personal benchmark problems.

Step 1: 15 to 30 minutes of warm-up, with resistance exercises (pull-ups and bodyweight squats) and some easier, yet increasingly intense, climbing. Cardiovascular exercise — say, a few minutes on the treadmill or stationary bike — is fine early in the warm-up, too.

Step 2: four to five tries on a hard problem (four to 10 moves), just above your onsight level, that requires explosive movement. Use holds big enough to train power, rather than failing because of finger strength. Think slopers, flat jugs, and big edges. If you don’t quite top out, that’s fine. Better to fail than to under-stimulate your system.

Step 3: six to eight tries on one or two max-effort problems requiring explosiveness, with two to three minutes of rest between each burn. Again, if you complete more than half the problem, it’s an attempt; though if you fall low, jump right back on. Remember, you are not going for a pump. If you feel fatigue, increase rest time. End this step when power declines even slightly.

Step 4: cool down on easy ground, with stretching or exercises that recruit the antagonist muscles. Push-ups, bench dips, and some planks/bridges seem to work — two to three sets of each, not quite to failure.

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Big Wall Tactics

Eight pitches the 1988 first ascent of Waterfall Wall—a dry-season-only Grade VI A4+ that follows the line of Upper Yosemite Falls—Rick Sylvester and I were eager to get to the first good crack of any length we had seen in four pitches.

A slanting dihedral began about 15 feet to right, but a pendulum would leave us too low. There were no features for bashies, horizontal edges for hooks, nor angled edges for opposing hooks on the steep, blank wall.

I did find vertical edges, however, and eventually devised a plan to hook across using tension from the rope: a hooksion traverse. I placed the first hook, attached an aider, then had Rick lock off the belay as I leaned right against the rope. Then, very gingerly, I placed my left foot into the aider and pressed it straight out to the left. Holding my body nearly horizontal against the rope’s tension, I reached out right to hook another edge. As I pressed my right foot into an aider clipped to this second hook, Rick slowly let out some rope. It took several more placements to gain the crack in the dihedral—about as much as I could handle of the incredibly strenuous horizontal position needed to keep the hooks in place on vertical edges—but I managed to reach the next crack without drilling.

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Adventure (Serious) Sport Climbing at the Point!

Climbing at the Point and Edd’s Place can turn into a serious situation should something go wrong.  Remember that unless there are some other climbers around, no one else on the island can rescue you but you!  The rappel approaches present some unusual challenges for many climbers, especially since many of them overhang.  Also, you will be rappelling on a single rope.  Depending on your rap device, you may want to add friction to the system.   We suggest the following procedure for first-timers.

climbing the roof

First of all, evaluate the surf conditions before rappelling.   Be sure your targeted belay stance isn’t being hammered by big waves.  If it is, you might choose another route, or one of the inland areas for the day.

Anchor one end of your rappel rope to a tree or thread on the top of the bluff.  Then tie a figure-8 on a bight with enough slack to reach the bolt anchor that's over the edge of the cliff.  Clip your harness into this knot to protect you when downclimbing to the bolt anchor.   You might want to protect this section of rope with a piece of hose or other padding (There are chunks of garden hose in the shed at Bluff View).  Leaving about 10’ of slack between knots, tie another 8-on-a-bight to anchor the rope to the bolts using two quick draws.

If you are the first person to rappel, clip the free end of the rappel rope into the back of your harness to keep it out of the sea.  If it’s windy, feed the rope from a bag or coil.  As you descend, clip the rap line into the bolts in order to stay close to the cliff; if you don’t you may end up hanging 15’ from the wall and 30’ above the water!  When you get to the belay anchors, clip yourself in and tie in the rap line securely!  
The second person to rappel, which will usually be the leader, brings the lead rope down in a bag.  This person unclips the rap rope from the draws as he/she descends and (sometimes) ends up hanging over the sea.  The first person then pulls them into the belay.
 One of the most common mistakes is to rappel all the way down and then remember that you left the lead rope on the top!  To combat this, we've developed the "one-two-three" check before starting the rappel:
1.    Am I safe?  Check your rap setup, anchors and harness.
2.    Am I taking everything I want?  Such as the lead rope, draws, ascenders, camera and chalk bag.
3.    Am I leaving everything I don't want?  Such as sunglasses and hat (you’re usually rapping into the shade).
Even when both of you are at the belay DO NOT release the rap line until the leader is off belay at the top of the route and ready to pull it up.  This rope is essential for self-rescue (prussik, Tiblock, Ropeman) if for any reason you should not be able to climb the route. 
Once the leader is at the top, belay from the anchors below the rim to avoid running the lead rope over any sharp edges. Have the belayer take a small stuff sack that can be clipped to the back of their harness.  When they’re ready to climb, they can stuff the rope bag (that you carried the lead rope in) into the sack and clip it to the back of their harness.

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