How to Properly Warm Up for Climbing
The best way to get stronger at climbing is by staying healthy and not getting injured… and the best way to prevent injury is to warm up your body so that it’s ready to climb! Warm-ups also improve your performance on the wall. A combination of immediate benefit, plus forward-thinking injury prevention is a big win in our books!
Here are our recommended warm-ups:
Joint Circle Exercises
It is important to get your joints started moving with low-impact exercises. This means doing arm, elbow, wrist, knee, and ankle circles. Complete 7 circles in a clockwise direction, then 7 circles in a counter-clockwise direction, at with each joint. We like to start at the top with your shoulders, and slowly move down the body in order to ensure we’re not skipping any joints by accident. Go for full range of motion on these — don’t limit yourself to small circles, or you’ll miss out on the main benefits warming up!
Light Dynamic Stretching
Dynamic stretching is a safe way to warm up your body because it puts less strain on your muscles and joints than jumping straight into projecting. These movements should only be held for 5 to 7 seconds each, max. Deeper, longer stretches would be considered static stretching, which is NOT what you want to do in a warm up with a still-cold body. The goal in dynamic stretching as a warm-up is to get your body moving in its full range of motion, but we’re not looking to test your limits and increase flexibility here.
We sell a book called Climb Injury Free that goes over all the different dynamic stretches specific to climbing. Each movement tries to mimic a climbing movement you will do on the wall during your climbing session.
Theraband Pulls
Therabands are low-impact exercise tools that allow you to complete different movements with some added resistance. Specifically it is important to use the theraband to warm-up your shoulders. This means doing exercises that stimulate that make your shoulder start working and feeling a light burn during the exercise. The amount of strain on your shoulder with a theraband is far less than the strain of your body weight on the wall. The theraband is meant to bridge the gap. The book Climb Injury Free explains the different types of theraband exercises specific to climbing.
Light Hangs
The hangboard is a great tool for warming up your fingers, though you have to use it properly. Choosing a large edge to use, make sure to have the right hand position on edge, and slowly apply pressure to your fingers by pulling down. MAKE SURE TO KEEP YOUR FEET ON THE GROUND, so that your fingers are not taking the full weight of your body. We recommend doing about 3 to 5 sets to warm-up your fingersr. Each set would consist of 3 reps of 7 seconds on, with 3 seconds off in between. Take a 2 - 3 minute break between sets, and you can slowly increase the intensity. Sign up for one of our adult classes, which go over climbing hand positions and techniques.
Easier Climbs
When you get on the wall, start by doing easier climbs on all different wall angles. This will better allow your body to warm up since it has been exposed to more positions and movement patterns.
If you’re looking for detailed descriptions of dynamic stretches that target your climbing muscles specifically, we recommend picking up a copy of Climb Injury Free by Jared Vagy. Written for climbers with a focus on preventing and rehabbing the most common injuries in our sport, it provides visual depictions of a variety of stretches and Theraband exercises that will get you adequately prepared to start trying hard!
Pick up a copy in the gym, or purchase one now for delivery!
Things to reflect upon after adding to or changing your warm up routine include asking yourself: Did my body feel less stiff on the wall? Did my body recover faster between attempts? Did I feel stronger in the session? Did I feel less achy? Understanding how you feel and noting how warming up changes your climbing will hopefully give you the drive to continue warming up before every session. I warm up before every climbing session, and it’s the best thing I have ever added to improve my climbing overall.
Happy Climbing!
