Endurance is a hallmark of climbing vertical terrain. Climbers just starting out will recognize the notorious pump involved in sustained vertical routes, rendering your forearms useless and adding insult to injury with onerous knots. Luckily there are ways to train for endurance, and TRUBLUE is one of your best options in the gym. Here’s why:
ARC Training
ARCing is climbing at your limit for a continuous and extended period of time, something the TRUBLUE Auto Belay, your tireless partner, helps facilitate. The goal is to climb without a break for 20-45 minutes straight, maintaining a slight pump throughout your workout. You can perform up to 3 sets in a single ARCing workout. Make sure you’re not severely pumped or swollen. If this happens, you may want to find a route with a lower difficulty rating or on lesser angled terrain. Assess how you’re feeling each day and adjust the route difficulty accordingly.
Linked Sport Climbing Circuits
Linked sport climbing circuits are a way of training endurance where several near limit sports climbs are linked together. Look for several routes below a TRUBLUE Auto Belay that will let you create a circuit of roughly 40 hand moves. You can make different circuit variations with these routes each time you train based on the intensity you’re looking for.
Pyramids
Use the TRUBLUE Auto Belay to train on a pyramid. Start with a high volume of climbs that you know you can do. This will be the bottom of your pyramid do 4 laps on these routes. Once you finish, you can move on to routes that are slightly more difficult. Do 3 laps, then move back to the lower difficulty to cool down. Try and accomplish the entire pyramid. You can adjust the pyramid to be more difficult as you improve.
Route Intervals
Climb a route a full grade above your onsight. For example, if your onsight is 5.11, choose 5.12. Do a total of 4-6 laps on the route and rest 8-10 minutes in between each lap. If you fall, come down and try again.
The TRUBLUE Auto Belay makes it possible to run laps on the wall without wearing out your partner, or letting them practice on another TRUBLUE in tandem. For other training tips, see our Training with a TRUBLUE Auto Belay posts on Strength and Skill Development.
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