Have you spent all winter training in the gym hoping for a spring/summer season full of sending?  If you have, you’re probably psyched that the seasons are changing and you’ll be able to get out and put all your hard work to the test.

However, this kind of seasonal transitioning can be difficult, and if you haven’t been consistently climbing outside, you probably won’t feel like you are in peak form, despite all your training.

To help you transition from training mode into a performance phase, here’s an article by climbing trainer, Alli Rainey, in which she outlines why seasonal transitioning can be difficult. She then describes some strategies that can be used to ease the process.

“For most of us most of the time, the results from training come much more gradually than we’d like them to, and it takes time to mold and adapt raw, gym-begotten strength and power gains into noticeable, usable gains in route-climbing performance.” – Alli Rainey

While most of Rainey’s advice is geared towards sport climbers, her suggestion that sport climbers incorporate some fitness training into their program even while they are training power during the off-season, and vice versa during the climbing season, can be applied to all types of climbing.  While focusing on your weaknesses is definitely one of the best ways to improve, you don’t want to lose ground in other areas of your climbing as a result.

Ultimately, manipulating your training in this way to create performance peaks can be a difficult balance that will in all likelihood take some trial and error to figure out.  However, if continual improvement as a climber is your goal, it’s a process you will have to get used to.  Click through below to read Rainey’s complete article.  Her suggestions will definitely help.

Click Here: Seasonal Transitioning with Alli Rainey

(photo courtesy of allirainey.com)

Other Articles You Might Like:

• Transitioning from Gym to Crag
• Maintaining Performance: Staying Strong to Perform Your Best All Season
• TBP 012 :: Alli Rainey on Training, Cardio, and Body Weight
• Periodized Training for Climbing: Different Types and Pros & Cons