“Tolerance” Training

“‘Tolerance’ is the ability to sustain a high-level of strength for several moves on a climb. This quality is known by many names, including power-endurance, endurance, and strength-endurance.” –Steve Bechtel

And, as Spanish climber and coach Jose Luis Ballesteros puts it:

“Tolerance is the ability of the whole body to withstand the demands of a strenuous route, one that lacks rests.”

This is a great article from climbstrong.com, by Steve Bechtel (also author of Strength: Foundational Training for Climbing). In this article, he covers a good workout plan for building tolerance, talks about how to include it into your current training plan, and the reasons behind it.

The main exercises in this workout are designed around a set-up that is available to most climbers- 12-20 foot long boulder problems at varying angles. The exercises are different variations of what you may have heard of as “up-down-ups”. Steve includes ways to optimize these exercises based on what your goals are.

Learning how to train with a purpose is super important for improving your climbing. If you could use a little more “tolerance” (as we all could), this article should be really helpful!

CLICK HERE: “Tolerance” Training

(Photo: Mikey Schaefer)

Other Articles You Might Like:

• Climbing Training: Power Endurance
• Training: 10 Exercises for a Complete Core
• Strength Training Guide by Steve Bechtel
• Eight Ways to Improve Your Footwork