Training like a pro climber

Train Like a Pro Climber: Three Key Concepts

My name is Nik, I'm a competitive climber and coach . Lately, I've seen a lot of content on how to train like a pro climber, but there are some key ideas that often get overlooked. With my background and my experience training with professional climbers, I want to share the three most important concepts that separate the best from the rest.

Before diving in, it’s important to acknowledge that you can’t just start training like a pro climber overnight. Pros train anywhere from 15 to 40 hours a week, and I've been training for over ten years while still being at the lower end of that range. However, if you want to take your climbing to the next level, understanding these principles will help you structure your training more effectively.

1. Volume and Intensity

This concept is simple, but many climbers struggle with it when building their training plans: balancing volume and intensity. If you want to climb as much as a pro, you need to build your capacity over time.

A common mistake I see is people only training at their limit—whether it's max effort board climbing or intense calisthenics. Pushing yourself is crucial, but training exclusively at your limit will make you both a weaker climber and more prone to injury.

So what should you do? Add submaximal training that develops different energy systems. Here are two key examples:

• Arcing (Aerobic Capacity Training): Climb at around 30% of your max intensity for 10–20 minutes on the wall. This helps with general fitness, capillarization, and recovery.

• Power Endurance Training: Climb at around 60–80% of your max, completing a boulder every two minutes while gradually building fatigue throughout the session.

You might wonder, “I only boulder—does this really matter?” Yes! If you want to increase the volume you can handle, you need to build your work capacity through lower-intensity training.

2. Finger Strength

Finger strength is crucial, but there are three key aspects to consider: force, capacity, and variation/coordination.

• Maximal Force: Training methods like half-crimp max hangs and limit climbing help build tendon stiffness and protect against injury.

• Capacity: Submaximal training, such as repeaters or sport climbing, builds tendon size and endurance for sustained climbing.

• Variation & Coordination: Many climbers focus too much on structured hangboarding, but every hold in climbing isn’t a perfect 20mm edge.

If you only train finger strength in one joint angle (e.g., half crimp), you’ll struggle, especially outdoors. Here’s how to improve:

• On a spray wall, choose holds that force grip variation, like slopey crimps or pinches.

• On a hangboard, train different grip positions: full crimp on a 14-10mm edge, open-hand on slopers, and three-finger drag on pockets.

Each grip type offers unique advantages:

• Full crimp: Maximizes leverage to pull yourself into the wall.

• Drag position: Uses passive tension in the arm to reduce effort and improve efficiency, especially for sport climbing.

3. Skill Development Through Repetition

One of the biggest misunderstandings in climbing is how to effectively practice skills. Since climbing is so variable, many people use enough repetition when practicing. Using constraints can help guild your practice to increase learning outcomes. Simply repeating an easy climb a thousand times won’t guarantee technical mastery if you’re reinforcing bad habits. Instead, effective constraints include:

• Technical Difficulty: If a climb is very technical, you must move efficiently to succeed.

• Climbing Economy Under Fatigue: Especially in sport climbing, efficiency is everything. When you’re tired, you naturally learn to manage fatigue through better technique and movement economy—just like watching a pro climber effortlessly float through a route.

Repetition is key to both of these ideas. Mastering a move at your limit takes multiple attempts, and refining technique under fatigue requires many repetitions. This process builds an understanding of movement and ultimately leads to true mastery.

Final Thoughts

Training like a pro climber isn’t about jumping into high-volume, high-intensity workouts immediately. It’s about progressively building your capacity, strengthening your fingers intelligently, and refining your skills through deliberate practice. If you integrate these three concepts into your training, you’ll be on your way to climbing at a much higher level while reducing your risk of injury. Happy training!