Low Intensity - High Volume
Level: Intermediate
Focus: Endurance and Efficiency
Style: Bouldering
By increasing the volume of climbs at a lower intensity, you build aerobic endurance and improve your ability to climb more efficiently over longer sessions. This session also teaches you to manage your energy levels and use rest periods strategically, which is vital for longer climbing projects.
High Intensity - Low Volume (Power and Problem-Solving Focus)
Structure: Select 3-4 boulder problems that include dynamic moves, requiring bursts of power and complex problem-solving.
Holds: Smaller holds and volumes, with a focus on crimps and pinches to challenge grip strength and precision.
Volume: 3-4 problems, with 3-5 attempts per problem, prioritizing quality of attempts over quantity.
Rest: 5-10 minutes between attempts for full recovery, allowing for mental preparation and physical readiness.
Grading: Problems at or slightly above your max, challenging your limits in a controlled manner.
Session Duration: 1 to 1.5 hours, with significant emphasis on warming up properly with dynamic stretches and light climbing, followed by a focused cool-down targeting muscle relaxation and flexibility.
Overview
This session is designed to improve aerobic capacity and muscular endurance, crucial for long climbs or maintaining performance across multiple climbs. The focus on low intensity ensures that you can sustain effort over time, emphasizing movement efficiency and stamina.
Structure
Total Problems: 10-15 boulder problems.
Attempts per Problem: 2 attempts.
Sets: Consider the entire session as one large set, with the goal being to complete the circuit of problems within this set. You may repeat the circuit if desired, depending on your endurance level and session goals.
Balancing Attempts and Sets
Attempt Definition: An attempt here means trying a problem from start to finish. Limiting to 2 attempts per problem helps maintain a focus on endurance without overtaxing the your strength.
Rest Between Attempts: Short rest periods of 2-3 minutes between attempts are key.
This limited rest:
- Mimics the continuous effort required on longer routes.
- Helps you learn to manage and recover your energy levels efficiently.
Rest Between Problems: Given the endurance focus, a shorter rest of about 5 minutes between different problems helps keep the heart rate moderately elevated, simulating the endurance demands of longer climbs while allowing brief recovery.
Circuit Structure: The session can be structured as a circuit, where you move from one problem to the next in a sequence. This structure promotes a steady, prolonged climbing effort, enhancing endurance.
Focus on Endurance and Efficiency
Endurance Building: By climbing a higher volume of problems with short rest intervals, you develop the aerobic capacity and muscular endurance needed for sustained climbing efforts.
Efficiency Practice: You are encouraged to focus on efficient movement, including precise footwork, controlled breathing, and optimal use of rests. This session is an opportunity to practice pacing and energy conservation, critical skills for longer climbs.
Why This Balance?
The balance between attempts and problems in a High Volume session is carefully chosen to improve endurance while minimizing the risk of overuse injuries. The structure:
- Encourages you to focus on technique and efficiency, which are key to improving endurance.
- Provides enough volume to challenge and improve aerobic capacity and muscular stamina without pushing into the high-intensity zone, which could lead to excessive fatigue or injury.
- Allows you to practice mental endurance and focus, as maintaining concentration over many problems and managing fatigue becomes part of the challenge.
Integrating this sessions into your training routine can significantly enhance your ability to sustain your climbing over longer periods. This is not just about physical endurance but also about developing the mental resilience required to maintain performance when tired, a crucial aspect of successful climbing at all levels.
As volume increases so does stress on your tendons and ligaments. Introduce de-load weeks to minimize risk of injury. A common used structure is 3 weeks of climbing, 1 week of de-load.
