For many female climbers, upper-body and core strength can be weaknesses that affect climbing performance.  Obviously, with climbing being a sport that revolves around strength to weight ratio, addressing any weaknesses in upper-body and core strength is important for any climber looking to maximize performance.  While simply climbing on steep terrain will certainly produce some gains in these areas, it will only get you so far.  All climbers, but many women in particular, will benefit from some targeted training in these areas.

To help you address any deficiencies in upper-body and core strength, here’s an article from Rock and Ice by long-time climber, guide, and trainer Carolyn Parker that outlines two complimentary sets of exercises and the underlying protocols behind effective strength training.

“Most female climbers who train with me want more upper-body and core strength. Climbers are strength-to-weight-ratio athletes: We want to gain strength without growing bulky, heavy muscle. Training should focus on set and rep combinations structured to that end. As for all athletes, we also want to balance the demands of the sport to avoid imbalance injuries.” – Carolyn Parker

Upper-Body and Core Strength Exercises:

In recommending upper-body and core strength exercises that will help women improve climbing specific strength, Parkers breaks her exercises into two categories: exercises for muscle balance and pulling exercises that compliment climbing.  The first group of exercises is meant to work the antagonist muscle groups that are often neglected by climbing, while the second is meant to help produce climbing specific strength gains.

Doing the exercises from both of these groups is important as it will not only help you get stronger for climbing, but will also help train total body strength and keep you balanced.  Staying strong and balanced is the best form of injury prevention.

Exercises for Muscle Balance:

• 5×5 Push-ups
• 5×3 Overhead press
• 6×2 Turkish get-ups
• 5×5 Dips

Pulling Exercises that Compliment Climbing:

• 5×5 Pullovers
• 6×3 Pull-ups
• 5×5 Bent-over rows

The numbers before all of these exercises represent the number of sets x the number of reps.  Following these protocols is extremely important.  In doing these exercises, you are not looking to do lots of reps at a low weight or resistance.  Instead, you are looking for strength gains which are best made with low reps at high weight/resistance.  In other words, they should feel hard!

One quick note on these exercises: some of them are advanced strength training movements.  If you have never done them before, seek out the help of a coach or trainer who can teach you proper form.  If done properly, they can produce some major gains.  However, if done incorrectly, you can seriously injure yourself.

Click through below to read the complete article and learn more about how these exercises and types of training can help you take your climbing to the next level.

Full Article: Training Women For Upper-Body and Core Strength

(photo courtesy rockandice.com)

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