Lynn Hill Learning Rock Climbing Advice & Training Method Series - Physical Endurance Elements

In the previous post, I shared the psychological quality of my endurance training. In the following article, I will introduce the basic elements of physical fitness in endurance training.

Free climbing requires a combination of strength and endurance. Some people will be more suitable for a particular type of rock climbing. Although I like all types of rock climbing, it seems that I have to perform better than the route that requires strength. This may be because my slow-fiber ratio is higher than myofibers. Each person is born with a specific ratio of slow and fast muscle fibers. Fast-twitch fibers can provide a temporary burst of power, powered by the glycolysis energy system. One can improve endurance through training, but it is obviously impossible to increase the ratio of fast muscle fibers to slow muscle fibers.

Slow muscle fibers are powered by another energy system - the Krebs cycle (also known as the TCA cycle, the citric acid cycle). This system is more efficient in activities that require high endurance, but the energy output is much slower because certain steps are required to release the energy in the cells. Depending on the intensity and timing of the exercise, the body may use one or both of these energy systems. Therefore, when developing a training plan, different exercise intensity and exercise time can achieve better results. However, if endurance is the goal of training, then the training plan should be adjusted accordingly.

In order to train endurance, I will try to climb more pitches as much as possible, and usually the time between breaks for each climb is not very long. Compared to strength training, endurance training does not require much recovery time between each group of exercises. According to the size of the endurance to be trained, I will take different training intensity. If I want to reach a moderate endurance level, I would choose to climb multiple moderately difficult routes with a maximum intensity of about 70-85% (50-60 moves). Or even worse, I will climb long distance multi-rope routes with a slightly higher intensity.

When training for free climbing on the Nose route, in addition to practicing on the artificial climbing wall at home, I climb up to 20 pitches per day so that I can practice as much as possible. Every day I spend 1 hour and sometimes 1.5 hours running training. I must have enough stamina to be able to climb freely when reaching the most difficult part of the Nose route. The first difficult route on the route is “The Great Roof”, which is nearly 2,000 feet above sea level. The “The Changing Corners” section is the most difficult part of the route, with an altitude of more than 2,500 feet. I guessed that if you listen to your intuition and efficiently complete the lower elevations of the route without consuming too much energy from your body, you will still have enough power to free up the entire route. However, the most difficult part of climbing these roads is not to resist physical resistance but to face psychological challenges. The rock climbing process at El Capitan is thrilling and requires rock climbers to use subtle techniques, sharp timing and confidence. Of course, at the time I was in a very good stage in all aspects of my life, and it was the best way to climb this long-distance route, which also convinced me that I could do it.

There are also some other exercises that can help everyone to prepare for rock climbing and avoid the damage caused by excessive exercise. In the next article, I will introduce some of the training forms that I think are useful.