When it comes to route climbing, one of the most important attributes to train is power endurance.  Having good power endurance (PE) allows you to make it through long sections of difficult climbing and make it to the next rest before being too powered down to make the next move.  If you are looking to increase your route climbing level, then incorporating periods of PE training into your program is essential.

However, simply going to the gym and getting pumped out of your mind isn’t effective PE training.  To show you how to train it effectively, here’s a video from EpicTV featuring Tom Randall of Lattice Training.  In the video, Randall explains his scientific approach to power endurance training and gives you two different workouts that are guaranteed to help you maximize your power endurance potential.

“As Tom Randall explains, many think of power endurance as the ability to cling on to the wall when massively pumped. In fact, the real key to power endurance is maximising your aerobic energy production to stave off that pump, and keep you climbing at your max for longer. With that in mind, Tom puts climbing partner Pete Whittaker through his paces on these easy to follow exercises which will help manage your pump so you can send that project.” – EpicTV

Power Endurance Exercises:

According to Randall, the key to PE training is to increase the aerobic energy production of the forearms so that you can climb continuously for longer before reaching your max.  In other words, the goal isn’t simply to be able to climb forever while pumped, but to be able to climb harder and harder sections of climbing without becoming too pumped.

To train this ability, Randall prescribes two complimentary exercises that are meant to be done during different periods of your training cycle.  The first exercise focuses on increasing aerobic function and is meant to be the bulk of your PE bloc.  The second exercises focuses on really working the pump and is meant to be done right before you get on your goal route.  Here are the workouts:

• Improving aerobic function: interval training at or slightly above red point level.  Break climb/circuit into 4 sections.  Climb each section and rest 50% of the time it takes to climb it.  1 set = 4 sections and rests.  Do 2-4 sets.
• Working the pump: 4 weeks before getting on your project start reducing the rest period between sections by 5 seconds per week.  This will make the workout very pumpy and top off your power endurance.

Power Endurance Training Keys:

Beyond simply giving you these workouts, Randall also gives you some key principles that must be kept in mind during PE training.  Even if you don’t use his specific workouts, keep these principles in mind because they are the basis of effective PE training.  They are:

• Intensity must be high enough that you need to break the circuit into sections.
• Train on a circuit the replicates your goal route’s angle, duration, intensity, and speed.
• Intensity must be high but keep the pump in check until the end of the session.
• Power endurance training cannot be done continuously year round.

Click through below to watch the complete video and learn more about how you can get ready for your project or trip by adding these workouts into your training program.

Original Video: Lattice Training – Power Endurance

(video still courtesy of epicTV.com)

Other Articles You Might Like:

• Climbing Training: Power Endurance
• Building a Better Climber Part 4: Power Endurance
• How To Do The Power Endurance Program Without Routes
• Mark Anderson Advanced Endurance Training