Pick whatever sport you’d like.  Football, basketball, cycling, gymnastics, take your pick.  Athletes in all of these sports don’t just train by practicing their sport.  Instead, high level athletes in these disciplines all perform underlying strength training as a means of keeping their bodies healthy, strong, and ready to perform in their chosen disciplines.

Now look at climbing.  The best training for climbing is climbing right?  Well, it turns out climbers are no different than other athletes.  While we definitely need to practice climbing and climbing movement, we also have a lot to gain by training both climbing specific and non-climbing specific strength.

To explain exactly why strength training is so important, here’s an excerpt from Steve Bechtel‘s book STRENGTH – Foundational Training for Rock Climbing in which he makes a case for why strength should be at the foundation of all training programs.

Give it a read and if you like what you see be sure to check out the full ebook for more valuable information on exactly how to strength train for climbing!

STRENGTH: Why Strength Training?

STRENGTH – Foundational Training For Rock Climbing

If you like what you see above and are interested in more information on how to train strength for climbing, be sure to check out the full ebook.  In the book, Steve does a great job of laying out exactly how to improve your climbing strength.  Steve’s recommendations are simple, easy to follow, and effective.  Check out the full ebook for yourself by clicking through below!

However, if this isn’t exactly what you are looking for or doesn’t sound like the right fit for you, we offer a variety of programs that train everything from endurance to finger strength.  Check them all out here: Climbing Training Programs.

Full E-Book: STRENGTH by Steve Bechtel

(photo by Sam Lightner; courtesy of climbstrong.com)

Other Articles You Might Like:

• Weight Lifting Guidelines with Steve Bechtel
• 8 Functional Strength Training Exercises for Climbing
• Strength Training: The 4 Basic Movements You Should Be Doing
• Steve Bechtel: Power vs Strength