Climbing-Specific Strength Training: 6 Exercises You Can Do at Home

Many climbers make the mistake of only focusing on climbing. One of the best ways to improve at climbing, indeed, is to climb more. However, neglecting other forms of training, specifically strength training, can leave you susceptible to injuries and prevent you from unlocking your full potential. 

If you’ve been climbing regularly for at least a few months and are ready to break into the next level, it might be time to add in climbing-specific strength training exercises. Since climbing is a bodyweight sport, it’s easy to train climbing-specific muscles with bodyweight-only movements. This means you can easily do them in the convenience of your own home whenever you have a few free minutes. 

6 Climbing-Specific Exercises You Can Do at Home

Upper Body

Archer Pushups 

Archer pushups mimic the lock-off position in climbing. They target the chest, shoulders, triceps, and core. Climbing places a greater emphasis on the muscles involved in pulling mechanics (i.e., back muscles), potentially making them stronger than your chest muscles. Performing strength training exercises that target the chest and other muscles involved in pushing mechanics can help prevent muscle imbalance injuries. Archer pushups are an advanced pushup variation, but you can easily modify them by performing them on your knees. 

Suggested Workout:

Perform three sets of 4-8 archer push-ups per side. Rest 1-2 minutes between sets. 

Chair Dips 

Chair dips primarily target the triceps, a critical muscle for making moves like lockoffs and mantles feel easier. Make the dips harder by straightening your legs in front of you and lowering yourself as deeply as possible without discomfort. For an easier variation, keep your knees bent, and don’t lower as far. 

Suggested Workout:

Perform three sets of 10-15 chair dips. Rest 1-2 minutes between sets. 

Core 

Hollow Hold Leg Lifts

Core strength is critical to climbing. Elevate your core workout with hollow hold leg lifts. The hollow hold is a common movement seen in gymnastics and calisthenics, two sports that share similar strength requirements to rock climbing. 

Rock climbing demands high levels of body tension. At all times, you are engaging multiple muscle groups to keep you on the wall. Performing leg lifts while maintaining the hollow body position requires you to maintain body tension from head to toe, strengthening not only your abs but your entire body. 

Suggested Workout:

Perform three sets of 15 hollow hold leg lifts with 30-45 seconds rest between each set. 

Plank Knee to Elbow 

Planks are an incredible exercise for climbers. If you envision your body position on the climbing wall and rotate it horizontally, you get something close to a plank position. Adding a knee-to-elbow movement to planks mimics a high step on the climbing wall. To make the exercise more challenging, hold a forearm plank. To make the exercise easier, stay in a high plank. 

Suggested Workout:

Perform three sets of 10 knee-to-elbows (only count one side; otherwise, do 20 reps if counting both sides). Rest 30-45 seconds between each set. 

Lower Body

 Side Lunges 

Rock climbing involves many unilateral movements. Side lunges improve unilateral leg strength in the frontal plane (moving side to side). They target your glutes, quads, adductors (inner thigh muscles), hamstrings, core, and calves. Rock climbs can be straight up and down, but they can also involve moving laterally before continuing upward. Adding side lunges ensures you're strengthening your muscles in all planes of movement, so you're prepared for all types of movements when climbing. 

Suggested Workout:

Perform three sets of 10 lunges per side. Rest 1-2 minutes in between sets. 

Single Leg Squats 

Single-leg squats round out the six exercises you can do at home to increase strength. These target your glutes, quads, and hip flexors. Climbers will frequently have to perform single-leg squat variations when on the wall, such as standing all their weight on one foot or advancing out of a high step. Start with a squat depth that is achievable without compromising form or losing your balance. Over time, you can work your way up to a full pistol squat, which requires extensive strength and mobility. 

Suggest Workout:

Perform three sets of 8-10 single-leg squats per side. Rest 1-2 minutes in between sets.

Combining The 6 Exercises Into One Workout

The good news is you don’t need to do all these exercises in one go to reap the rewards. If all you have are five-minute breaks throughout the day, do one exercise during each break. But, if you want to knock them all out at once, here’s a quick at-home workout routine!

Total Time: ~ 30 - 40 minutes

Format: 3 Rounds, 6 Exercises

Equipment Needed: Chair or bench, yoga mat (optional)

The Workout:

4-8 Archer Push Ups 

Rest 30-60 seconds

10-15 Chair Dips 

Rest 30-60 seconds

10-15 Hollow Hold Leg Lifts

Rest 30-60 seconds

10 Plank Knee-to-elbows (per side)

Rest 30-60 seconds

10 Side Lunges (per side)

Rest 30-60 seconds

8-10 Single leg squats (per side)

Rest 90-120 seconds.

Repeat two more times. 

Adding these six climbing-specific strength training exercises to your daily routine will build the extra strength needed to send your projects and advance your climbing. Each movement mimics on-the-wall scenarios and recruits frequently used muscles. Over time, you can make the exercises more challenging by increasing the sets, repetitions, or adding weight. If you give any of the exercises a try, comment below on how they go and if you find them helpful!