Alright climbers– with cold temps driving more and more of us (except those in the SW) into the gyms, its time to start getting in gear for the spring climbing season.
One of my favorite workouts to increase power endurance is 4×4’s. Another reason I like this is once you are warmed up, it only takes 28 minutes to complete this– and for most people, you will be smoked when you are done. This is an exercise where you pick 4 problems at approximately 75% of your maximum– try and pick problems with varying styles on different angles.
You will need a stopwatch or some timing mechanism for this workout (do not wear the stopwatch around your neck).
Once you have your 4 problems, you will attempt to climb all 4 of them in 4 minutes. Once your 4 minutes of climb time is up, you get to rest for the next 4 minutes (this is one 8 minute cycle). Once your 4 minutes of rest is over, your climb time starts again, and you have the next 4 minutes to complete the same 4 problems. Repeat this cycle 4 times– at the end you will have attempted 16 problems (and hopefully completed most of them).
There are several variations to this. Two of the basic are:
1. Start with failure— If there is a problem you failed to finish, start the next round with the problems you failed on. Sometimes this allows you to compete a climb that you may have failed on because it was at the end of your climb time when you are the most fatigued.
2. Numbers— If you have problems A,B,C,D– your rounds will look like this:
- Round 1- A,B,C,D
- Round 2- B,C,D,A
- Round 3- C,D,A,B
- Round 4 – D,A,B,C
Have some fun, and enjoy the pump!!!
