3 Staple Indoor Climbing Workouts Every Climber Should Know

One of the best ways to improve at climbing is to climb more. If showing up to the gym and hopping on whatever looks fun is all you have the bandwidth for, that consistency still counts.

But if you’ve hit a plateau, want more structure, or are looking for a more intentional way to train, it may be time to add climbing workouts to your sessions.

A climbing workout is simply a planned session designed to improve one or more of three key areas: power, power endurance, and endurance. Search any of those terms online, and you’ll find no shortage of advice. The challenge is figuring out which workouts are actually worth repeating.

To keep things simple and sustainable, we’ve highlighted three staple indoor climbing workouts every climber should know. Each one targets a different training goal, and all three are proven, repeatable options you can work into your routine.

Staple Indoor Climbing Workouts

1. 4x4

Best for: Power endurance

Time: ~30 minutes

Directions

1. Grab a stopwatch or set a timer for 4 minutes.

2. Pick 4 boulders that are about one grade below your onsight level, or moderate enough to complete at roughly 70–80% effort. Overhung climbs usually work best.

3. Start the timer.

4. Climb the first boulder 4 times in a row with little to no rest. Your goal is to finish all 4 laps within 4 minutes.

5. Rest for 4 minutes.

6. Move to the next boulder and repeat.

7. Continue until you’ve completed all 4 boulders.

Workout Notes

It may take a few tries to dial in the right difficulty. At first, you might choose climbs that feel too easy or too hard.

A good target is to complete all 4 reps on the first 2 boulders. If you fall on the last 1–2 reps of the third or fourth boulder, that’s okay. The goal is effort, not perfection. The exception is if you’re falling in the first few moves every time. In that case, scale the climb back so you can get at least halfway through.

2. Circuits

Best for: Endurance

Time: ~20 minutes

Directions

1. Find an open boulder wall, spray wall, or LED training board such as a Kilter Board or MoonBoard.

2. Grab a stopwatch or timer.

3. Complete 6 rounds using this format:

   1. 1 round of 3 minutes on / 3 minutes off

   2. 2 rounds of 2 minutes on / 2 minutes off

   3. 3 rounds of 1 minute on / 1 minute off

4. During the first 3-minute round, aim for 50–75 moves.

5. Use that first round as your benchmark, then scale your move count down for the 2-minute and 1-minute intervals.

Workout Notes

This workout works best when you climb with intention instead of just staying on the wall at all costs. The goal is to finish tired, not so pumped that you peel off the wall.

Use a mix of hold types and difficulty levels to manage intensity. By the end of each rest interval, you should feel recovered enough to keep moving. If you don’t, make the set easier by using better holds.

If you start getting pumped mid-set, take a short on-the-wall rest by shaking out on a jug or moving to easier holds. Once the pump settles, bring the intensity back up. You can also break the set into two or three sections while still staying on the wall. Wearing a chalk bag during this workout can help.

3. Limit Bouldering

Best for: Power

Time: ~1 hour

Directions

1. Choose 5–10 challenging boulders that require about 90–100% effort.

2. Give yourself 3 attempts on each boulder.

3. Rest for at least 3 minutes, and up to 5 minutes, between any solid attempt or send.

Workout Notes

The goal here is max effort on every attempt. If needed, add or remove holds from a climb to get to the right intensity.

What counts as a “solid attempt” is up to you, but a good benchmark is trying to link 2–6 hard moves together. Taking at least 3 minutes of rest is critical. The draft notes that this is the minimum time it takes for muscles to regenerate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the energy source of your muscle cells. If you rush the rest, your power output on the next attempt will likely drop.

How to Work These Into Your Routine

You now have three staple climbing workouts you can use to train with more purpose. Adjust them based on your goals, recovery, and experience level.

A simple starting point is to choose 1–2 of these workouts per week. Over time, you can build up to doing each one once per week or repeat the workout that targets the area you want to improve most.

In general, we don’t recommend repeating the same workout more than twice in a week or doing more than three structured workouts total in a week. That helps reduce injury risk and gives your body time to adapt.

The workouts matter, but so do rest and recovery. That’s where your body actually adapts to the stress of training and gets stronger over time.

Have questions about any of these workouts? Comment below.