What is Power Endurance and How Will It Improve Your Climbing
Climbing is a sport that requires both power to execute crux moves and endurance to complete a series of moves that make up a route in succession. Different disciplines of climbing can lean one way or the other on this spectrum of power and endurance, with bouldering often being seen as more power-intensive, and rope climbing requiring more endurance. Power endurance training is the key to developing the physicality needed for climbing. In rock climbing, power endurance refers to the ability to sustain powerful movements over a duration while managing or resisting fatigue. Generally, hobbyists of climbing do not require power endurance training. Still, it becomes crucial for athletes who want to elevate their sport climbing, competition bouldering, or any climb that requires executing dynamic moves over a prolonged period on the wall. Here’s a breakdown of what power endurance is and how training it can enhance your climbing performance.
What is Power Endurance?
Power endurance, in a physiological sense, is the ability to maintain high levels of muscular output for a prolonged period. It combines elements of both power and stamina, allowing you to generate force repeatedly without tiring too quickly. Unlike pure strength, which is the maximum force you can exert in a single move, power endurance refers to the sustained effort across multiple moments of exertion, executing at a level of strength that is both near maximum and with minimal drop-off.
Why is Power Endurance Important for Climbers?
The crux of a climb can be thought of as approaching your 1-rep max for a lift, where the move feels at the limit of your skill and your strength. Power endurance training is important for climbers because it focuses on developing the ability not to increase your crux maximum, but rather to execute moves up to the crux and beyond, in order to send a route. Power endurance involves developing the physicality required to successfully sequence challenging moves, which means maintaining your power output without fatigue. A well-developed power endurance helps prevent the dreaded forearm pump, allowing you to push through demanding cruxes, reach rests more efficiently, and stay composed on the wall.
Effective Power Endurance Workouts
A climber must build power endurance, which means consistently reaching the moment of near fatigue and practicing pushing through it to stay on the wall. It is not a flat training method, but rather a gradual progression to a crescendo. To build power endurance, focus on routines that blend sustained effort with high-intensity moves that are near your maximum output. Luckily, you don’t have to develop your power endurance workout from scratch. There are proven methods for building power endurance that you can incorporate into your training regimen today.
4x4s:
The classic 4x4 workout involves climbing four moderately difficult problems, around your flash grade or slightly below, in quick succession (meaning little to no rest, except perhaps to chalk up). After completing all four problems, take a short rest (typically around 2-3 minutes) and repeat this cycle four times. This workout challenges both your strength and recovery ability, mimicking the demands of longer sport climbs. If you find you are falling off your climb near the top in your third or fourth set, your workout is tuned correctly. If you are falling off your climb below halfway and in your first two reps, your problems are tuned too hard. If you are completing the four boulders without immense effort and struggle, your boulders are likely too easy.
Boulders on the minute:
Choose five to eight boulder problems that are close in difficulty and grab a timer. Start your timer and climb the first boulder. When you complete the boulder, you have until the timer reaches 1 minute to rest. At the top of the minute, you must climb your next boulder. Repeat this until you have climbed all the boulders in your set. After completing the circuit, rest for about 5 minutes. Repeat the circuit of boulders 3 to 4 times. Similarly to the 4x4, if you are falling off your boulders early on or taking longer than one minute to complete a climb, your circuit is tuned too hard. If you find your circuit too easy, either add more minutes to your circuit or increase the difficulty of the boulders in it.
Up-Down-Ups:
Pick a route, around your onsight level and avoiding face or slab, and climb it twice in succession, downclimbing when you reach the top, either using only the route’s holds or “rainbowing” down using any holds available. Rest for 5 minutes, then repeat the link-up. As your endurance improves, increase the number of linked climbs or reduce rest periods. This workout can be performed on both boulders and ropes, making it a great hybrid option for those who prefer to spend more time on vertical walls.
Too Much of A Good Thing
Power endurance is a great way to level up your climbing, but it should not replace all of your regular climbing sessions. Incorporate power endurance sessions 1-2 times per week, balancing them with strength and technique-focused days. Excessive power endurance work without adequate recovery can lead to common overuse issues, such as tendonitis, pulley strains and tears, and other unpleasant injuries that will hinder your climbing goals. It is always important to listen to your body and vary your training intensity accordingly.
Improving power endurance will make you a better, more balanced climber by helping you sustain effort during long or demanding routes. By incorporating structured workouts like 4x4s, boulders on the minute,up-down-ups, you will build the stamina and strength to send harder on the wall. Do you have a favorite power endurance workout that you enjoy? Let us know in the comments below!
