1. Get a hangboard for your house and mount in above a doorway. The Metolius Simulator is the one that I use. You can search the internet for training routines, and/or use the one that comes with the hangboard. You can easily do a 10 minute very effective hangboard workout at home every morning.
2. Use your countertops or 2 chairs next to each other to do dip workouts, as opposed to pushups. Dips lend themselves better to climbing sport specific workouts. You can do 3-5 sets of dips in less than 5 minutes
3. Choose 3 different ab exercises and alternate between dip sets. My favorite ab exercises are side-crunches, hanging leg lifts, and raised leg crunches.
4. 20 Minute Interval runs are effective. Intervals mean that you run hard for 30 seconds, jog for 1.5 minutes, and repeat.

That obviously is a very short workout, but something is better than nothing. So adding all that time up, let’s say you wake up, get dressed for a run, run for 20 minutes, come home, do a hangboard workout, dips, and abs. You can get that complete workout in in less than an hour, maybe in less than 45 minutes. Can you find 45 minutes to workout in the morning? If your answer is NO, then consider waking up earlier! It will be worth it. I remember when I started training for climbing years ago, I started out doing short workouts like this, and soon became addicted to it, and began waking up earlier and earlier so I could get in more training!

Flexibility: Yoga

Strength-Building Asana Sequence for Climbers:

1) Down Dog

2) Warrior I — press the palms together and take the gaze upwards 5 breaths.

3) Release the arms behind the back, interlace the fingers, lean back, and touch the hands to the back thigh. Lower body remains in Warrior I position here. 5 breaths.

4) Keep the arms and legs as they are, just lean foward and extend the heart out over the front knee. 5 breaths.

5. Keep the legs as they are, release the arms, and then extend the arms forward as if you are reaching out to someone. 5 breaths.

6. Lean into the front leg and slowly stand up right into Warrior III. 10 breaths. Remember to keep this pose active! Extend back through the heel; extend forward through the finger tips. Keep raising that back leg and don’t let anything sag.

7. “Airplane” the arms to the side, and then “barrel roll” into Half-Moon Pose. 10 deep Ujjayi breaths. You may even try to take the bottom hand off the ground and extend that arm forward.

8. Very slowly, lower back into Extended Side-Angle Stretch. The landing here should be light and controlled. Hold Side-Angle for 10 breaths. Again, keep this pose super active. Extend forward through the top arm, and cut the back foot sharply into the mat. Imagine a line of energy extending from the back heel all the way throught he tips of the forward fingers.

9. Now here comes the fun part. 5 rounds of Extended Side-Angle Stretch into Half-Moon, and back again, holding each pose for 2 deep breaths. Remember to move between the poses with lightness and control.

10. End up in Half-Moon. “Barrel roll” back into Warrior III. Just 5 breaths this time.

11. Bring the hands to the floor and come into Standing Split. Hold for 10 breaths. Try to take both hands to the ankle so that your leg is doing all the work in holding you up.

11. From Standing Split, either press up directly into a Handstand or kick up into a Handstand. Alternatively, just come straight back into Chaturanga.

12. Vinyasa. Repeat on the other side.

(this was adapted from the Yoga for Rock Climbing Blog)

Power/Strength Exercise

One Arm Traverses and One Arm Lunges

1. Find a section of the climbing wall that would enable you to do a long traverse, on reasonably large holds.
2. Climb up onto the wall, tucking one arm behind your back
3. Traverse only using one arm and moving your feet.
4. Repeat for the other arm
5. Take a 2 minute rest, and do 2 more traverses for each arm.
6. Now find a spot where you can hang from one arm (feet on the wall too), and the lung up and grab a higher hold. This would be like a one arm dyno. Your goal is to do 12 of these in a row with each arm, take a 2 minute rest, and do 2 more sets for each arm.

Anaerobic Endurance

Steep Wall Lockoffs

1. Find a steep section of the climbing wall (preferably a bouldering area) that would allow you to put your feet on holds, and have your hands either on one large hold, or 2 holds next to each other
2. Find a hold higher up the steep wall that is at your maximum reach
3. Pull up into the holds your hands are on, and reach high with one arm to touch the hold that you chose at maximum reach. Do not grab it, just touch it and hold for 2 seconds. You other arm should be in a lock-off position
4. Lower back down, repeat immediately, for 20-50 reps
5. Do the same for the other arm, take a 3 minute rest, and do 2 more sets.

I hope you all benefited from these 3 exercises! Let me know if you have any questions. Also, check out Eric Horst’s Training for Climbing blog, where much of this was adapted from.