aerobic endurance

i am by no means a training expert. the following is simply my understanding and what i have come across while researching for my own training regimen.


first, an brief overview for those who didn't pay attention in biology:
your body uses two systems to produce energy, the aerobic and anaerobic systems. the aerobic system is extremely efficient at bringing the important stuff (oxygen, nutrients, etc) and removing the waste, and is the ideal system for sustainable energy production. the anaerobic system, on the other hand, produces massive amounts of energy but does so at a cost: gross lactic acid build up. this lactic acid is the burn you feel in your forearms when are pumped. to generalize it, long distance runners rely primarily on their aerobic system and sprinters rely on their anaerobic system.

raising your local aerobic endurance in your forearms will raise the difficulty at which you can climbing without reverting to the anaerobic system at all. as you can probably tell, this is of little importance to climbers that primarily boulder; most problems are strenuous enough that the aerobic system rarely survives the first or second move, and short enough that it doesn't matter anyway. to route climbers, however, it is of utmost importance. this is especially highlighted on sustained climbs that lack a crux; the longer you can go without reverting to the anaerobic system, the higher your chances of success will be.

this training raises your aerobic threshold by making physical changes in your forearms: it enlarges the capillary network, increases the number of enzymes in the muscles, and strengthens the tendons.

i'm sure if you climb often you have noticed the veins in your forearms swell. if you've been in the game a while you will have also noticed that there seems to be more and more veins each time you take remember to think about it. this is the visual evidence that your capillary network is getting larger. now, you obviously don't grow new veins, but the existing ones do get larger. the new veins you notice are the same ones you have always had, except since they are larger now, they are more visible. these bigger veins and arteries can both supply more oxygen to the muscles, as well as remove more waste. they can also do it quicker, so it's a win-win all the way here.

while there is no visible evidence of the increased number of enzymes in your muscles, it definitely occurs. this higher amount of enzymes means that the muscle can process more nutrients while at the same time reducing the amount of lactic acid produced. efficiency, efficiency, efficiency.

finally, the increase of tendon strength is simply the icing on the cake. the general belief among climbers is that increasing tendon strength requires months of climbing before one should think of tendon training. also, it continues that the accepted method of tendon strengthening (hangboarding) is the realm of experienced climbers only. while it is true that overdoing it (like a beginner would while working on a handboard) will cause injuries, the idea that simply climbing in and of itself could create a noticeable increase in tendon strength is relatively unknown. if more people realized this, they would be less likely to injure themselves by over-stressing their tendons.

unfortunately, the only way to to train aerobic endurance is mind-numblingly boring: traversing or running laps on either top rope or lead. the idea is to climb 30-45 minutes at a difficulty just hard enough to get your forearms a little warmed up, and then maintain that same slight tingling for the duration of the workout. you don't want to ever be pumped, so avoid anything that makes your forearm feel worse than carrying the groceries in from the car. it should be noted that if there is no burn at all, then the climbing is too easy for you. this is a great time to work on your footwork, proper hold usage, or any other techniques you need to practice. if you're going to be climbing for this long at a time, you might as well take advantage of it.

now before you get all crazy on me, i know that climbing for 30 minutes straight is hard no matter how easy the moves are. if it is simply impossible for you to do, try starting at a shorter interval, 15 minutes or so. then bump up 5 minutes after you can complete the initial time interval successfully 2 or 3 times. rinse and repeat until you are at the target 30 minutes or more. if it's hard because climbing for that long is so freaking boring, then there is less you can do. the best answer to that is to find one of your climber friends and trick them into getting really stoked on training and getting strong. now, you should have someone that wants to train with you. having someone to talk to will make worlds of difference over the course of a workout.

it should be noted that if you are doing this on rope, make sure you are climbing both up AND down the route, and preferably on a rope that has multiple routes of similar difficulty on it. this way, it is possible to climb different things instead of taking the extra time to change ropes. also, changeover time DOES NOT count towards your climbing time, so switching all over the gym will lengthen the workout to even longer than necessary.

after a few weeks of this, you will have raised your anaerobic threshold by a sizable portion. once you step up your aerobic game a little bit, it will be time to get on with the real pain in the ass of anaerobic endurance training. stay tuned...