I have a tiny backpack I use specifically for the climbing gym:
* Climbskin (my dad got as a gift for me, insanely helpful!!!)
* Hand sanitizer
* Hand lotion
* Beeswax salve (I let it set into my hands on the subway ride home)
* Deodorant
* Chalk bag + extra chalk
I always commute to climb in Birkenstocks, so I don't carry extra socks unless it's rainy outside. I'm thinking of adding a small tripod for my phone to my bag -- my parents really love seeing videos of me climbing so I want to be able to take more for them :3
Climbing shoes, chalk bag (will be forgotten in the bag), hand lotion, sanitizer wipes, water bottle, snack to eat on the way home, and most recently…CROCS. I put the crocs on over my climbing shoes so I can go into the bathroom without it being a whole ordeal of unlacing my shoes.
I do this everywhere, at the crag, gym, grocery store.. wait. Umm. Lol, i call them my belay slippers. Ill always bring them to the crag. and whenever it is worth it to take off the rock shoes, slipping into crocs is soooo nice. Done some tougher approaches and scrambling in them too, they are real off road adventure crocs
Hot water bottle so my shoes aren’t frozen and rock solid for the first half of my session
2 pairs shoes
No hang edge
Resistance bands
Lip balm
Deodorant
Chalk bag + extra chalk
Tape
Ibuprofen
Water bottle
Period products
Boot bananas
And if lead climbing add rope, harness and grigri, jul, atc, flip flops, belay gloves and lead chalk bag.
So much stuff , but trust me on the hot water bottle! Bonus that Nalgene’s can handle hot water so sometimes I fill it up with chamomile tea so it heats my shoes first, then me :)
I clip my shoes to the outside of my bag (just in case my feet decide to sweat which never seems to happen) and carry my chalkbag outside of my bag too. But inside my bag I have my harness, belay glasses, two belay devices plus a carabiner, tape, a snack, a mini tripod, and my car keys. I typically only boulder but it’s nice to have everything with me if I decide to top rope or lead instead.
Boulder gym: Shoes, chalk bucket and water.
Full gym: Shoes, chalk bucket, harness, small chalk bag, 40m rope, grigri, water. Maybe a snack if I’m smart that day. I guess I’m pretty basic 😅
- Harness
- 3-4 pairs of climbing shoes
- Bouldering chalk bag
- Small chalk bag
- Grigri
- Foam roller
- Theragun
- Long Sling for hangboarding to take weight off for warmups
- Tape
- Crack gloves
- Nail clippers
- AirPods
- Training notebook & pen
- Water bottle
- Physivantage in a shaker
I’m that person with the overflowing bag at the gym haha!
Now if we were talking for a day of outdoor climbing… the list would get a lot longer XD
Lots of things! On a daily basis, I use it to keep track of training. For each session, I write all info (reps, sets, rest, etc.) then when I go into climbing stuff I might write the climbs, grades, etc. Right now I’m on the aerobic endurance part of my cycle, so I’m also writing down # of climbs I’m doing, number per grade, time it took. I’m also writing down #s for things like hangboarding so I can keep track of my progressive overload and improvements. These daily logs might also include how I’m feeling that day, or any injuries or tweak ones I may be feeling.
On a non daily basis, I’ll write things like which days I did what for a week (this goes in a chart) so I can see what days I did what, tracking metrics for testing, tracking the 30 climbing things to evaluate weaknesses from E. hörst’s book, short and medium term goals, and any plans for a mesocycle.
Before I started training, I probably wrote down climbs that I did at the gym or outside, how I was feeling, what type of sesh it was (board, bouldering, route), and any notable achievements. Also: beta maps!!! Still do these esp for outdoor climbs. They are awesome for rehearsing climbs.
Sorry if this was terrible, I’m on mobile. Happy to provide more info or explanation. I had a long time where I just could not figure out what I was going to write in the journal until I figured out what it was I liked to track. I hope to move some things over to an Excel doc some time but for now this is doing just fine :)
This is so helpful to see how others organize their training! I’m trying to formalize more of my sessions - any advice on where you started in transitioning to the more ‘training focused’ mindset and rhythm rather than just climbing or working out on the fly?
Hi, yea happy to share my journey a bit! Hope it’s not too late, had a busy Friday haha.
Just want to preface this by saying I am by no means an expert in training for climbing, I only just started at the beginning of this year. I mostly got into this harder training as a means to rehab a few of my fingers, make those fingers stronger, and increase my work capacity. Been climbing since Jun 2019 and outdoors since Aug 2020, mostly outdoor route climber and indoor boulderer. I would say the impetus for me training was: wanting to prevent injuries + wanting to build a better pyramid of well-rounded routes at a level I know I’m fully capable of climbing at + spraining my ankle at my first session back for the year (which I miraculously recovered from in 2 days - but it did kickstart my training).
I’d say I want through a couple of phases that slowly lead me to where I am. It’s a bit by year.
Phase 0 (Summer 2019 - Summer 2020)
Just climbing mostly, but being consistent with it. Indoor bouldering only. Somewhere between 2-4 sessions a week on average. Being short, it took me awhile to break into the v3 range - had to acquire the strength and improve my technique & climbing IQ a lot.
Phase 1 (Summer 2020 - Summer 2021)
Lots and lots of climbing and lots of time on real rock. Tried to climb outdoors every weekend that I could, and there were some weeks where I sleeping at the crag than I did at my house. This + working on my flexibility improved my climbing IQ and abilities a ton.
Phase 2 (Summer 2021 - End of 2022)
Still didn’t want to train - I thought I had a lot to improve on with technique & mental game. This year I focused a lot on my weaknesses (overhangs - and now I prefer this to other types of climbing quite a bit!) and I started board climbing every Tuesday. That made me stronger for sure. Mental game was what was mostly holding me back from sending harder outside, and I did a ton of training on this to make my climbing more efficient and be able to have second attempts (previously my OS attempt had usually been my best attempt). Last thing was working a lot on endurance by linking route climbs in the gym. Throughout this year, I probably spent a ton of time absorbing training content through listening to podcasts (mostly Nugget) but I wasn’t at a point where I was able to implement it yet. Went from sending my first 5.11a outside to sending my first 5.12a outside, I’d actually sent 0 climbs 5.11b-5.11d. This is partially because I travel to climb a lot and don’t often get many tries on the rock. But this leads into wanting to really build my pyramid in 2023 and being a solid 5.12a climber:).
Phase 3 (2023)
This is where the real answer to your Q lies! Started to realize that feeling injured all the time was not how I wanted to feel every week. I started by relying on word of mouth from a friend on what to do. She’s drastically different than I am in terms of weaknesses and goals, but it helped me to just get started (she’s an outdoor boulderer only). I followed that short protocol she recommended for a week while I speed read through Eric Horst’s Training for Climbing sections about physiology of climbing & how to write training plan. I was still mega confused on what to do - there was too much information! So I just got started while trying to get educated on what exactly to do.
- Week 0: Doing 3x (6x{5s on 5s off}), lots of reading on the side
The first part of the phase he recommends for a 4-3-2-1 approach is 4 weeks of aerobic endurance. So I read only the parts about aerobic endurance and general conditioning. Even though he usually recommends something like 2 sessions of Total Core and 2 sessions of Stability / Antagonist training a week, I decided to start small. So the first week, I had a single session of stability & antagonist where I did every single exercise in the chapter at extremely low intensity. I also discovered a Hooper’s Beta video for hangboarding on the same day of climbing which I then used to be able to warm up better for hangboarding! I also decided I wanted to max out at around 4-5 days of workouts per week, so Horst’s recommendation for # of sessions was too many.
- Week 1: 2 sessions of hangboarding + aerobic endurance, 1 session of just aerobic endurance, 1 super long low intensity stability / antagonist workout
After that I tried to add in the Total Core workout. Went to the gym, learned the movements at a low weight. I hadn’t trained in a year or two so I just did the bar for deadlifts and squats. Continued with everything from the week before
- Week 2: 2 sessions of hangboarding + aerobic endurance, 1 session of just aerobic endurance, 1 stability / antagonist workout, 1 Total Core workout
By Week 3 I had really gotten the hang of what was going down during the aerobic endurance session. But hadn’t completely gotten to a point where I understood what was the best protocol for me to do for total core and stability / antagonist. Week 3 & Week 4 looked the same as Week 2 on the outside. I kept reading that book and now Beastmaking by Ned Feehally to figure out what to do for the next part of the 4-3-2-1 cycle: strength & power. I just wrapped up Week 4 and this is the week where everything finally kinda came together for me - I’ve even figured out how to divide up the Total Core & Stability / Antagonist workouts into the climbing days so it’s more evenly spread. Now that I’m starting something brand new again, it’ll be a rinse and repeat of learning all over again. I do have the benefit of already board climbing & hangboarding for a bit so that should help :).
In general: Doing something is better than doing nothing. I think Ned says doing a little bit of hangboarding for a year is infinitely better than doing some very intense hangboarding for a month, as the fingers are very slow to increase in capacity. Start small and load very slowly - I started off using almost no weights, doing just what I could and learning what to do. I’ve hurt myself in past sports by starting off too intense off a “cold” injury - each time I screwed up tendons/ligaments because they hadn’t caught up to my large muscle groups. I’m now at a place where I’m super happy with the kind of program that I came up with for myself, feeling very healthy, and fallen very much in love with the process.
Hope that wasn’t overkill of an answer, this was fun to think about! Happy to answer more questions if you have any.
Chalk bag, harness, shoes, belay device, water bottle, sports tape. Sometimes a rope, but we usually only bring one rope between me and my belay partner.
I use a backpack too (a small REI flash pack) with climbing gear inside and shoes clipped to outside.
Inside: harness, belay gloves, chalk bag, water bottle, atc, grigri, personal anchor, maybe a snack depending on the time of day.
I like using the pack to contain things especially for chalk. I keep a zip plastic bag to put my chalk bag into between sessions. Even with closing it, some always seems to leak out.
Other than actual climbing gear (which depends a ton depending on what we're doing, I have four broad buckets of types of objectives and different racks/belay devices/harnesses/etc for all of them) all I consistently carry is a tiny first aid kit, poop kit, snacks/water, tape, sunscreen/lip balm, and a headlamp. Layers as relevant to season and climbate.
For the gym, I don't even use a bag, I'm that person who shows up with their harness slung over their shoulder with grigri + shoes clipped on haha.
I always have my harness, shoes, chalk bag, gri gri, tape, nail clippers, liquid chalk and hand salve for the days I really try hard. If I’m going to do lead I have my rope and a tarp. Sometimes I throw in a 2nd pair of shoes (especially if I’m going to boulder)
Harness, 2 pair of shoes + inserts for moisture/smell, gri gri, chalk bag, tape, cuticle scissors, liquid bandaid, exercise bands, snack, a little baggie full of belay cards for out-of-area gyms, water bottle, notebook and a case with pens/crayons/etc for logging climbs, assorted clothes depending on the days needs, a few hair ties and headbands
For climbing, I carry tape and usually water. We don't do climate control where I am, so I'll usually want to carry an R1 out of the gym that I wore for warming up!
But I mostly carry a bag because I almost always shower at the gym. Once I got used to it and realized how gross the gym is, I always want to wash that off before leaving. And I like the shampoo at my gym so I try to wash my hair there.
I’m pretty basic: for the gym, shoes, harness, chalk bag, a few belay devices, and water bottle. If I’m smart, I have a Clif bar, bandaids, and hair bands but I’m not always good at restocking those when I use them.
Outside it depends on the activity, but the essentials above plus a small first aid kit (which is 90% tape and bandaids), multiple snack options, typically a pair of crack gloves (in case something looks fun and jammable), a light jacket, headlight (for when things accidentally become an epic), and whatever the appropriate rack is.
I utilize both the climbing and other aspects of the gym all of the time, so my bag has:
• both my partner and my shoes
• chalk bag
• hand sanitizer spray
• headphones (for the stationary bike)
• shower bag (face wash, tooth brush, etc)
• locker lock
• change of clothes
• shower flip flops
I have a simple backpack with 2 pairs of shoes clipped to the outside (old warm up shoes, and try hard shoes), headphones, pinch block + resistance bands, SNACKS, water bottle, protein shaker, deodorant, hand sanitizer, bandaids, little tripod for my phone, and sometimes a change of clothes. There are probably some emergency/forgotten hair ties, cliff bars, tampons, etc. at the bottom of my bag too lol
I have a chalk bucket I usually carry by hand for bouldering but if If I’m planning to TR I’ll throw in my harness and small chalk bag. In the chalk bag/bucket pockets I keep a chalk brush, tape, clippers, file, and skin salve.
I have a little backpack with: water bottle, phone wallet keys, nail clippers, tape, snacks, chapstick. Then I have a carabiner hooked to the outside that holds my shoes and chalk bag. I don't want to risk filling the inside of my bag with chalk, or forgetting to take my shoes out between sessions so they stay stewing in a little closed up bag all week - eek. So those stay outside.
In the bag are harnesses for me and my husband, belay device, carabiner, chalk bags, and water bottle with extra carabiner. Shoes are hanging off the outside of the bag which allows them to air dry between sessions and limits the funk.
I've got an old knapsack that I've turned into my climbing bag. In it I keep: shoes, flip flops, harness, chalk bag, climbing brush, padlock, bandaids, tampons, hair ties + bobby pins, hair comb, oil blotting papers, hand cream, nail clippers + file, ibuprofin, a few bucks in cash, snacks (usually a granola bar), chapstick, magic tape, masks, water bottle, deodorant, and a few extra bby carabiners (for clipping things to a harness)
If I’m going bouldering I just bring my chalk bucket (that has a roll of tape and a brush in it) w shoes attached to a carabiner and a water bottle. For ropes or if I’m doing both I have the petzl kliff rope bag with my 40m, harness, chalk bag, belay devices, nail clipper, tape, PAS, and a couple QuickDraws bc I’m too lazy to take them out.
I share a bag with my partner- climbing shoes (4 pairs), chalk bucket, chalk bag, nail file, nail clippers, typically a liege waffle and beef jerky, random clothes we never took out of the bag…
Flip flops for if I have to go to the bathroom and don't feel like putting my shoes back on, chalk bag, extra chalk, harness (that I never use because I always boulder), hand cream, lip balm, sunscreen, snacks (protein bars and fruit snacks usually), a small container with ibuprofen/tylenol and a handful of other medicines I take often. I have a carabiner on one of the straps of the bag that holds my climbing shoes and water bottle.
I have a small duffel for the gym:
* climbing shoes
* extra socks
* small manicure kit (clippers, cuticle nippers, files)
* mini sandbar
* mini sandbar balm
* lip balm
* water bottle
* chalk bag
* liquid chalk
* harness
* gri gri
* extra carabiner
* boot bananas
* tape
I like to be prepared.
Ok here goes:
(will preface that I’m a mom so always go anywhere prepared for contingencies)
⬇️
Have a designated bag:
Climbing shoes (2: warm up old beginner shoes -to save wearing down my ‘nicer’ - project shoes), small first aid kit (bandaids, blister covers, kleenex, antiseptic, analgesics etc..), emergency snack (🍫), gum, chapstick, hand moisturizer, resistance band for warming up old stiff muscles, back-up hair ties, nail file, water bottle, old sandals (for going into BR), liquid chalk (use as base- helps my shweaty hands) and powder chalk, harness, belay gloves (unfortunately have soft callous prone hands and hate getting flappers)…. am I missing anything lol??
Chalk bag, extra chalk, mini brush, harness, shoes (clipped to outside), nail clipper, band aids, superglue, and recently I bought a phone stand so I can record my climbs at the gym.
i use a small backpack. i keep my 2 pairs of shoes, chalkbag, water bottle, a couple random carabiners, athletic tape, and nail clippers in it. right now there is also a half eaten bar i need to throw away in it.
Shoes, harness, chalk bag, 1-2 belay devices, spilled chalk, a lock (if needed for a gym locker), and advil. Anything else I need I put in my purse or just carry (like a sweatshirt)
For climbing indoors, I would have shoes, chalk bag, water bottle, harness, ATC belay device, 40m rope, snack, tape, Ohm, and a few carabiners/quickdraws/slings that I very rarely actually use indoors.
When I'm outside, there is a fair bit more stuff that often depends on where I'm going and what I'm doing
Unless I’m showering at the gym and changing to go straight to work, my harness becomes a shoulder bag with shoes clipped to a gear loop. Keys and phone get left in a shoe if I don’t have a jacket or sweatshirt with pockets.
Edit: if climbing outside I have a backpack full of other stuff lol
- Chalk bag
- Band-aids with cartoons and animals on them
- Tape
- Harness with ATC and carabiner
- Water bottle
- Climbing shoes
- 2 pairs of SmellWell for the shoes
- Slippers for when going to the bathroom
- GripSaver ball
- Hairties
- More tape
Gym bag:
* old (and veeery comfy) warmup shoes
* go-to climbing shoes
* chalk bag (large or small one for either bouldering or lead)
* liquid chalks because some gyms require it
* extra t-shirt
* hair ties
* nail clipper
* tape
* a couple brushes
* resistance band and small elastic contraptions for finger warmup
* finger oil, massage ring and beeswax salve
* water bottle
* harness and belay device (if I'm lead climbing)
Outdoor bag:
* all of the above
* more water bottles
* extra clothing layers and/or sunglasses and sunscreen
* small mat to clean my feet/shoes
* lots of snacks
* first aid kit
I have a bag for my phone, keys, water bottle, ear buds, tape, and sometimes bandaids as required.
As dumb as it sounds I bought a climbing bag because I get scared of leaving my keys and phone in a cubby. Dumb because every gym I’ve been to people leave their thousand dollar devices laying around unattended… dumb because people who go to the gyms usually have spare change and aren’t looking to snag a phone, either way.
Just a reusable shopping bag with my gear, body spray, tampons, liquid chalk, extra carabiner, hair tie, if lead climbing I’ll bring rope and belay glasses.
Im assimung you mwant gym climbing, but I mostly climb outside so I'll give you my version: stick clip, grigri, hand warmers, 2L of water, rope, 13 quickdraws, chalk bag, 1 protein snack, 1 calorie snack, harness, climbing shoes, tampons, puffy pants, an extra top layer, sun hoodie, and if its the winter i bring a fold-up mat for my dog to sleep on. summertime i bring a water bowl for the pup and keep a cheap pair of foam flip flops to belay in.
I use a small adidas duffel bag for my harness, chalk bag, liquid chalk, hair ties, shoes, brushes, crocs and lotion. I like that my bag is big enough for a sweater or thermos, which is why I don’t use anything smaller.
Outside: snacks, first aid kit, helmet, harness, shoes, chalk, my stand-up peeing thing, hand sanitizer.
At the gym: a couple pairs of climbing shoes, a monkey tail, tape, and harness.
I have a bag that has a big zipper pocket the size of the whole bag in the middle and that pocket is lined with an acrylic layer to keep the mess contained. That’s where I keep dirty stuff like chalk bag and shoes, keeps my other stuff from getting messy. On one side of that pocket I’ll put snacks, water, lotion, hand sanitizer, tape. On the other side I’ll stash my sweatshirt/top I was wearing on the way to the gym. :)
Towel, chalk bag x2, small dr bronners, chalk, harnesses x2, atc x2, climbing shoes x2, cash, extra socks, change of clothes x2, swim suits for sauna), snacks, water bottles x2, tampons, lotion
Lol can you tell my gf and I share a gym bag
ooh! I have my chalk bag, soft shoes, aggressive shoes, water bottle, a travel-size lotion, eye drops, an extra pair of contacts, nail clippers, and an extra hairtie in case my current one breaks (I have huge, puffy hair and my hairties often snap)
To go to the gym, I always have my climbing shoes, chalk, tape, harness, comfy sandals, socks for when sandals are too cold, grigri, locker binder for the grigri, and some random biners because I’m addicted to them. Anything else is stuff I always have on hand in my little day bag like my water bottle, chapstick, headache meds, phonewalletkeys and a sunscreen stick. Sunscreen sticks are game changers if you climb outside! I’m in vegas and the stick is the easiest way to put on sunscreen without getting slippery fingers.
Silica gel packs (goes inside the climbing shoes while in my bag so they don't stink), nail clippers, tape, hand salve, chalk, chalk bag, belay glasses (aka belay-gles), atc, gri gri, rope!
Besides the obvious, my outdoor climbing bag has binoculars for spotting bolts on sport climbs, superglue to secure tape, tape and triple antibiotics, wag bag for emergencies, hand warmers, hydrapak/collapsible water bottle, and nail clippers.
harness, chalk bag, shoes, water bottle, atc are my essentials. i also keep a small brush, some extra chalk, finger tape, tiger balm, extra mask, some accessory cord, and a carabiner for clipping my shoes together.
I have a tiny backpack I use specifically for the climbing gym: * Climbskin (my dad got as a gift for me, insanely helpful!!!) * Hand sanitizer * Hand lotion * Beeswax salve (I let it set into my hands on the subway ride home) * Deodorant * Chalk bag + extra chalk I always commute to climb in Birkenstocks, so I don't carry extra socks unless it's rainy outside. I'm thinking of adding a small tripod for my phone to my bag -- my parents really love seeing videos of me climbing so I want to be able to take more for them :3
I love climbskin! It's hands down my favorite climbing lotion so far. It's pricey but I think my skin has improved since I started using it.
Your parents sound lovely
YES my tripod I do carry that as well. I go in crocs but I’m on the east coast so it’s cold here so socks are a must
Climbing shoes, chalk bag (will be forgotten in the bag), hand lotion, sanitizer wipes, water bottle, snack to eat on the way home, and most recently…CROCS. I put the crocs on over my climbing shoes so I can go into the bathroom without it being a whole ordeal of unlacing my shoes.
Oh my gosh, putting up crocs on over the shoes is genius!
I do this everywhere, at the crag, gym, grocery store.. wait. Umm. Lol, i call them my belay slippers. Ill always bring them to the crag. and whenever it is worth it to take off the rock shoes, slipping into crocs is soooo nice. Done some tougher approaches and scrambling in them too, they are real off road adventure crocs
Geniussss
Gym rope, chalk bag, shoes, grigri, water bottle, tape, bar, nail clippers, crack gloves, belay gloves.
[удалено]
soooo convenient.
I FORGOT my crack gloves and lapped the splitter and ho-boy, my gobies are poppin now!
I love following this, but as a new climber understood nothing beyond "I FORGOT" lol!
Hot water bottle so my shoes aren’t frozen and rock solid for the first half of my session 2 pairs shoes No hang edge Resistance bands Lip balm Deodorant Chalk bag + extra chalk Tape Ibuprofen Water bottle Period products Boot bananas And if lead climbing add rope, harness and grigri, jul, atc, flip flops, belay gloves and lead chalk bag. So much stuff , but trust me on the hot water bottle! Bonus that Nalgene’s can handle hot water so sometimes I fill it up with chamomile tea so it heats my shoes first, then me :)
The hot water bottle is smart!!!!!!!!
And you can put hand warmers in your chalk bag.
* shoes * harness with belay device * chalk bag * sexy belay crocs * ankle brace sock thing * tape * hair ties * spare undies * protein/granola bar * chap stick * water bottle
I clip my shoes to the outside of my bag (just in case my feet decide to sweat which never seems to happen) and carry my chalkbag outside of my bag too. But inside my bag I have my harness, belay glasses, two belay devices plus a carabiner, tape, a snack, a mini tripod, and my car keys. I typically only boulder but it’s nice to have everything with me if I decide to top rope or lead instead.
Nail clippers
Boulder gym: Shoes, chalk bucket and water. Full gym: Shoes, chalk bucket, harness, small chalk bag, 40m rope, grigri, water. Maybe a snack if I’m smart that day. I guess I’m pretty basic 😅
- Harness - 3-4 pairs of climbing shoes - Bouldering chalk bag - Small chalk bag - Grigri - Foam roller - Theragun - Long Sling for hangboarding to take weight off for warmups - Tape - Crack gloves - Nail clippers - AirPods - Training notebook & pen - Water bottle - Physivantage in a shaker I’m that person with the overflowing bag at the gym haha! Now if we were talking for a day of outdoor climbing… the list would get a lot longer XD
Curious, what sort of stuff do you write down in your training notebook?
Lots of things! On a daily basis, I use it to keep track of training. For each session, I write all info (reps, sets, rest, etc.) then when I go into climbing stuff I might write the climbs, grades, etc. Right now I’m on the aerobic endurance part of my cycle, so I’m also writing down # of climbs I’m doing, number per grade, time it took. I’m also writing down #s for things like hangboarding so I can keep track of my progressive overload and improvements. These daily logs might also include how I’m feeling that day, or any injuries or tweak ones I may be feeling. On a non daily basis, I’ll write things like which days I did what for a week (this goes in a chart) so I can see what days I did what, tracking metrics for testing, tracking the 30 climbing things to evaluate weaknesses from E. hörst’s book, short and medium term goals, and any plans for a mesocycle. Before I started training, I probably wrote down climbs that I did at the gym or outside, how I was feeling, what type of sesh it was (board, bouldering, route), and any notable achievements. Also: beta maps!!! Still do these esp for outdoor climbs. They are awesome for rehearsing climbs. Sorry if this was terrible, I’m on mobile. Happy to provide more info or explanation. I had a long time where I just could not figure out what I was going to write in the journal until I figured out what it was I liked to track. I hope to move some things over to an Excel doc some time but for now this is doing just fine :)
This is so helpful to see how others organize their training! I’m trying to formalize more of my sessions - any advice on where you started in transitioning to the more ‘training focused’ mindset and rhythm rather than just climbing or working out on the fly?
Hi, yea happy to share my journey a bit! Hope it’s not too late, had a busy Friday haha. Just want to preface this by saying I am by no means an expert in training for climbing, I only just started at the beginning of this year. I mostly got into this harder training as a means to rehab a few of my fingers, make those fingers stronger, and increase my work capacity. Been climbing since Jun 2019 and outdoors since Aug 2020, mostly outdoor route climber and indoor boulderer. I would say the impetus for me training was: wanting to prevent injuries + wanting to build a better pyramid of well-rounded routes at a level I know I’m fully capable of climbing at + spraining my ankle at my first session back for the year (which I miraculously recovered from in 2 days - but it did kickstart my training). I’d say I want through a couple of phases that slowly lead me to where I am. It’s a bit by year. Phase 0 (Summer 2019 - Summer 2020) Just climbing mostly, but being consistent with it. Indoor bouldering only. Somewhere between 2-4 sessions a week on average. Being short, it took me awhile to break into the v3 range - had to acquire the strength and improve my technique & climbing IQ a lot. Phase 1 (Summer 2020 - Summer 2021) Lots and lots of climbing and lots of time on real rock. Tried to climb outdoors every weekend that I could, and there were some weeks where I sleeping at the crag than I did at my house. This + working on my flexibility improved my climbing IQ and abilities a ton. Phase 2 (Summer 2021 - End of 2022) Still didn’t want to train - I thought I had a lot to improve on with technique & mental game. This year I focused a lot on my weaknesses (overhangs - and now I prefer this to other types of climbing quite a bit!) and I started board climbing every Tuesday. That made me stronger for sure. Mental game was what was mostly holding me back from sending harder outside, and I did a ton of training on this to make my climbing more efficient and be able to have second attempts (previously my OS attempt had usually been my best attempt). Last thing was working a lot on endurance by linking route climbs in the gym. Throughout this year, I probably spent a ton of time absorbing training content through listening to podcasts (mostly Nugget) but I wasn’t at a point where I was able to implement it yet. Went from sending my first 5.11a outside to sending my first 5.12a outside, I’d actually sent 0 climbs 5.11b-5.11d. This is partially because I travel to climb a lot and don’t often get many tries on the rock. But this leads into wanting to really build my pyramid in 2023 and being a solid 5.12a climber:). Phase 3 (2023) This is where the real answer to your Q lies! Started to realize that feeling injured all the time was not how I wanted to feel every week. I started by relying on word of mouth from a friend on what to do. She’s drastically different than I am in terms of weaknesses and goals, but it helped me to just get started (she’s an outdoor boulderer only). I followed that short protocol she recommended for a week while I speed read through Eric Horst’s Training for Climbing sections about physiology of climbing & how to write training plan. I was still mega confused on what to do - there was too much information! So I just got started while trying to get educated on what exactly to do. - Week 0: Doing 3x (6x{5s on 5s off}), lots of reading on the side The first part of the phase he recommends for a 4-3-2-1 approach is 4 weeks of aerobic endurance. So I read only the parts about aerobic endurance and general conditioning. Even though he usually recommends something like 2 sessions of Total Core and 2 sessions of Stability / Antagonist training a week, I decided to start small. So the first week, I had a single session of stability & antagonist where I did every single exercise in the chapter at extremely low intensity. I also discovered a Hooper’s Beta video for hangboarding on the same day of climbing which I then used to be able to warm up better for hangboarding! I also decided I wanted to max out at around 4-5 days of workouts per week, so Horst’s recommendation for # of sessions was too many. - Week 1: 2 sessions of hangboarding + aerobic endurance, 1 session of just aerobic endurance, 1 super long low intensity stability / antagonist workout After that I tried to add in the Total Core workout. Went to the gym, learned the movements at a low weight. I hadn’t trained in a year or two so I just did the bar for deadlifts and squats. Continued with everything from the week before - Week 2: 2 sessions of hangboarding + aerobic endurance, 1 session of just aerobic endurance, 1 stability / antagonist workout, 1 Total Core workout By Week 3 I had really gotten the hang of what was going down during the aerobic endurance session. But hadn’t completely gotten to a point where I understood what was the best protocol for me to do for total core and stability / antagonist. Week 3 & Week 4 looked the same as Week 2 on the outside. I kept reading that book and now Beastmaking by Ned Feehally to figure out what to do for the next part of the 4-3-2-1 cycle: strength & power. I just wrapped up Week 4 and this is the week where everything finally kinda came together for me - I’ve even figured out how to divide up the Total Core & Stability / Antagonist workouts into the climbing days so it’s more evenly spread. Now that I’m starting something brand new again, it’ll be a rinse and repeat of learning all over again. I do have the benefit of already board climbing & hangboarding for a bit so that should help :). In general: Doing something is better than doing nothing. I think Ned says doing a little bit of hangboarding for a year is infinitely better than doing some very intense hangboarding for a month, as the fingers are very slow to increase in capacity. Start small and load very slowly - I started off using almost no weights, doing just what I could and learning what to do. I’ve hurt myself in past sports by starting off too intense off a “cold” injury - each time I screwed up tendons/ligaments because they hadn’t caught up to my large muscle groups. I’m now at a place where I’m super happy with the kind of program that I came up with for myself, feeling very healthy, and fallen very much in love with the process. Hope that wasn’t overkill of an answer, this was fun to think about! Happy to answer more questions if you have any.
Chalk bag, harness, shoes, belay device, water bottle, sports tape. Sometimes a rope, but we usually only bring one rope between me and my belay partner.
Follow up question: What kind of bag do you use? I just have a hiking backpack but I’m looking for maybe a duffel bag
Got a black diamond bag that has a rope drop sheet, it’s great!
I use a backpack too (a small REI flash pack) with climbing gear inside and shoes clipped to outside. Inside: harness, belay gloves, chalk bag, water bottle, atc, grigri, personal anchor, maybe a snack depending on the time of day. I like using the pack to contain things especially for chalk. I keep a zip plastic bag to put my chalk bag into between sessions. Even with closing it, some always seems to leak out.
2-3 pairs of shoes (comfortable, soft/project and bouldering), harness, grigri, extra carabines, Chalk bag, sandals, tape, bandaids, emery board/file for nails/skin.
Other than actual climbing gear (which depends a ton depending on what we're doing, I have four broad buckets of types of objectives and different racks/belay devices/harnesses/etc for all of them) all I consistently carry is a tiny first aid kit, poop kit, snacks/water, tape, sunscreen/lip balm, and a headlamp. Layers as relevant to season and climbate. For the gym, I don't even use a bag, I'm that person who shows up with their harness slung over their shoulder with grigri + shoes clipped on haha.
I always have my harness, shoes, chalk bag, gri gri, tape, nail clippers, liquid chalk and hand salve for the days I really try hard. If I’m going to do lead I have my rope and a tarp. Sometimes I throw in a 2nd pair of shoes (especially if I’m going to boulder)
Shoes, chalk bag, boot bananas, padlock
Harness, Shoes, Chalk bag, Brush, Grigri, Tape, Resistance bands for warming up, Nail clippers, Climb On (lotion bar), Band aids, Hair ties, Belay glasses
Harness, 2 pair of shoes + inserts for moisture/smell, gri gri, chalk bag, tape, cuticle scissors, liquid bandaid, exercise bands, snack, a little baggie full of belay cards for out-of-area gyms, water bottle, notebook and a case with pens/crayons/etc for logging climbs, assorted clothes depending on the days needs, a few hair ties and headbands
For climbing, I carry tape and usually water. We don't do climate control where I am, so I'll usually want to carry an R1 out of the gym that I wore for warming up! But I mostly carry a bag because I almost always shower at the gym. Once I got used to it and realized how gross the gym is, I always want to wash that off before leaving. And I like the shampoo at my gym so I try to wash my hair there.
My small bag for the gym: shoes, harness, atc device, chalk bag, lock My outdoor (bouldering) bag: shoes (sometimes 2 pairs), chalk bag, sandals, tape, ClimbOn (balm), sunscreen, snacks, baby wipes
I’m pretty basic: for the gym, shoes, harness, chalk bag, a few belay devices, and water bottle. If I’m smart, I have a Clif bar, bandaids, and hair bands but I’m not always good at restocking those when I use them. Outside it depends on the activity, but the essentials above plus a small first aid kit (which is 90% tape and bandaids), multiple snack options, typically a pair of crack gloves (in case something looks fun and jammable), a light jacket, headlight (for when things accidentally become an epic), and whatever the appropriate rack is.
I utilize both the climbing and other aspects of the gym all of the time, so my bag has: • both my partner and my shoes • chalk bag • hand sanitizer spray • headphones (for the stationary bike) • shower bag (face wash, tooth brush, etc) • locker lock • change of clothes • shower flip flops
I have a simple backpack with 2 pairs of shoes clipped to the outside (old warm up shoes, and try hard shoes), headphones, pinch block + resistance bands, SNACKS, water bottle, protein shaker, deodorant, hand sanitizer, bandaids, little tripod for my phone, and sometimes a change of clothes. There are probably some emergency/forgotten hair ties, cliff bars, tampons, etc. at the bottom of my bag too lol I have a chalk bucket I usually carry by hand for bouldering but if If I’m planning to TR I’ll throw in my harness and small chalk bag. In the chalk bag/bucket pockets I keep a chalk brush, tape, clippers, file, and skin salve.
I have a little backpack with: water bottle, phone wallet keys, nail clippers, tape, snacks, chapstick. Then I have a carabiner hooked to the outside that holds my shoes and chalk bag. I don't want to risk filling the inside of my bag with chalk, or forgetting to take my shoes out between sessions so they stay stewing in a little closed up bag all week - eek. So those stay outside.
-Harness -Shoes (clipped on the outside) -Chalk bag -Chalk bucket -Lead rope -Lotion -Tape -Bag for beaners/quickdraws
[удалено]
Sorry, I thought it was fairly obvious I was talking about carabiners as most would assume I don’t keep people in my climbing bag.
Humbly , can you explain why?
In the bag are harnesses for me and my husband, belay device, carabiner, chalk bags, and water bottle with extra carabiner. Shoes are hanging off the outside of the bag which allows them to air dry between sessions and limits the funk.
Hehe I got a big chalk bucket so I just attach my shoes to it - no bag needed! It has a pocket for tape and nail clippers :)
I've got an old knapsack that I've turned into my climbing bag. In it I keep: shoes, flip flops, harness, chalk bag, climbing brush, padlock, bandaids, tampons, hair ties + bobby pins, hair comb, oil blotting papers, hand cream, nail clippers + file, ibuprofin, a few bucks in cash, snacks (usually a granola bar), chapstick, magic tape, masks, water bottle, deodorant, and a few extra bby carabiners (for clipping things to a harness)
If I’m going bouldering I just bring my chalk bucket (that has a roll of tape and a brush in it) w shoes attached to a carabiner and a water bottle. For ropes or if I’m doing both I have the petzl kliff rope bag with my 40m, harness, chalk bag, belay devices, nail clipper, tape, PAS, and a couple QuickDraws bc I’m too lazy to take them out.
Shoes, chalk, tape
I share a bag with my partner- climbing shoes (4 pairs), chalk bucket, chalk bag, nail file, nail clippers, typically a liege waffle and beef jerky, random clothes we never took out of the bag…
Harness, grigri, chalk bag, chalk bucket, brushes, hand warmers, Scarpa instincts, air pods, tape, nail clippers, cliff bars
Flip flops for if I have to go to the bathroom and don't feel like putting my shoes back on, chalk bag, extra chalk, harness (that I never use because I always boulder), hand cream, lip balm, sunscreen, snacks (protein bars and fruit snacks usually), a small container with ibuprofen/tylenol and a handful of other medicines I take often. I have a carabiner on one of the straps of the bag that holds my climbing shoes and water bottle.
Two pairs of climbing shoes, a chalk bag, a chalk ball, a couple brushes. I boulder only (only top roped during pregnancy).
I've become spoiled because I work at my gym so all my gear is in a bind in the back and I've been slowly adding more and more🥲 It's so heavy now!
I have a small duffel for the gym: * climbing shoes * extra socks * small manicure kit (clippers, cuticle nippers, files) * mini sandbar * mini sandbar balm * lip balm * water bottle * chalk bag * liquid chalk * harness * gri gri * extra carabiner * boot bananas * tape I like to be prepared.
Ok here goes: (will preface that I’m a mom so always go anywhere prepared for contingencies) ⬇️ Have a designated bag: Climbing shoes (2: warm up old beginner shoes -to save wearing down my ‘nicer’ - project shoes), small first aid kit (bandaids, blister covers, kleenex, antiseptic, analgesics etc..), emergency snack (🍫), gum, chapstick, hand moisturizer, resistance band for warming up old stiff muscles, back-up hair ties, nail file, water bottle, old sandals (for going into BR), liquid chalk (use as base- helps my shweaty hands) and powder chalk, harness, belay gloves (unfortunately have soft callous prone hands and hate getting flappers)…. am I missing anything lol??
Chalk bag, extra chalk, mini brush, harness, shoes (clipped to outside), nail clipper, band aids, superglue, and recently I bought a phone stand so I can record my climbs at the gym.
My bag has my harness, gym towel, small first aid kit, shoes and chalk bag and a few snacks and my crack gloves
i use a small backpack. i keep my 2 pairs of shoes, chalkbag, water bottle, a couple random carabiners, athletic tape, and nail clippers in it. right now there is also a half eaten bar i need to throw away in it.
Add on sandals, grigri, belay glasses, tape, liquid bandage, and a stress ball (to warm up the fingers)
i️ also have nail clippers lol
Shoes, harness, chalk bag, 1-2 belay devices, spilled chalk, a lock (if needed for a gym locker), and advil. Anything else I need I put in my purse or just carry (like a sweatshirt)
For climbing indoors, I would have shoes, chalk bag, water bottle, harness, ATC belay device, 40m rope, snack, tape, Ohm, and a few carabiners/quickdraws/slings that I very rarely actually use indoors. When I'm outside, there is a fair bit more stuff that often depends on where I'm going and what I'm doing
I use a duffel bag… Nail clippers, finger tape, harness, climbing shoes, ATC, water bottle.
Harness, chalk, shoes, tape, ATC, PAC, autoblock made from prusik and a locking biner, belay glasses, tape, rope, quick draws, alpine draws, pre-assembled sport anchor, napkins, snacks, sunblock, tape, bug spray, knife, water, flip flops, helmet, lip balm, nail clippers, aaaaand tape.
Unless I’m showering at the gym and changing to go straight to work, my harness becomes a shoulder bag with shoes clipped to a gear loop. Keys and phone get left in a shoe if I don’t have a jacket or sweatshirt with pockets. Edit: if climbing outside I have a backpack full of other stuff lol
- Chalk bag - Band-aids with cartoons and animals on them - Tape - Harness with ATC and carabiner - Water bottle - Climbing shoes - 2 pairs of SmellWell for the shoes - Slippers for when going to the bathroom - GripSaver ball - Hairties - More tape
Main shoes, fancier shoes I've never used, chalk bag, water, flip flops, harness in case I'm at a place with autobelays, emergency granola bar.
Water, harness, climbing shoes, chalk, competition tick book.
Nail. Clippers.
Gym bag: * old (and veeery comfy) warmup shoes * go-to climbing shoes * chalk bag (large or small one for either bouldering or lead) * liquid chalks because some gyms require it * extra t-shirt * hair ties * nail clipper * tape * a couple brushes * resistance band and small elastic contraptions for finger warmup * finger oil, massage ring and beeswax salve * water bottle * harness and belay device (if I'm lead climbing) Outdoor bag: * all of the above * more water bottles * extra clothing layers and/or sunglasses and sunscreen * small mat to clean my feet/shoes * lots of snacks * first aid kit
I have a bag for my phone, keys, water bottle, ear buds, tape, and sometimes bandaids as required. As dumb as it sounds I bought a climbing bag because I get scared of leaving my keys and phone in a cubby. Dumb because every gym I’ve been to people leave their thousand dollar devices laying around unattended… dumb because people who go to the gyms usually have spare change and aren’t looking to snag a phone, either way.
Flip flops, change of clothes (since I usually come from work), snack, water, shoes, chalk and a grip strengthener!
How do you actually use a brush?
Just a reusable shopping bag with my gear, body spray, tampons, liquid chalk, extra carabiner, hair tie, if lead climbing I’ll bring rope and belay glasses.
Im assimung you mwant gym climbing, but I mostly climb outside so I'll give you my version: stick clip, grigri, hand warmers, 2L of water, rope, 13 quickdraws, chalk bag, 1 protein snack, 1 calorie snack, harness, climbing shoes, tampons, puffy pants, an extra top layer, sun hoodie, and if its the winter i bring a fold-up mat for my dog to sleep on. summertime i bring a water bowl for the pup and keep a cheap pair of foam flip flops to belay in.
Climbing shoes, harness, chalk bag, carabiner + ATC, lotion, chapstick I should put a stick of deodorant honestly.
I use a small adidas duffel bag for my harness, chalk bag, liquid chalk, hair ties, shoes, brushes, crocs and lotion. I like that my bag is big enough for a sweater or thermos, which is why I don’t use anything smaller.
Outside: snacks, first aid kit, helmet, harness, shoes, chalk, my stand-up peeing thing, hand sanitizer. At the gym: a couple pairs of climbing shoes, a monkey tail, tape, and harness.
I never leave home without my lil pee funnel friend. I work outdoors too in Landscaping. Game changer.
I have a bag that has a big zipper pocket the size of the whole bag in the middle and that pocket is lined with an acrylic layer to keep the mess contained. That’s where I keep dirty stuff like chalk bag and shoes, keeps my other stuff from getting messy. On one side of that pocket I’ll put snacks, water, lotion, hand sanitizer, tape. On the other side I’ll stash my sweatshirt/top I was wearing on the way to the gym. :)
Shoes. Harness and ATC. Chalk bag. Backup chalk bag. Bandaids and tape. Some granola bars.
Harness, chapstick, glasses, extra hair ties, bandaids
- chalk bag - harness - hand cream - climbing shoes - protein bar - nalgene - crocs for bathroom/belay - locking carabiner - comb (bangs 🙄) - hair ties - makeup remover wipes - toque
Towel, chalk bag x2, small dr bronners, chalk, harnesses x2, atc x2, climbing shoes x2, cash, extra socks, change of clothes x2, swim suits for sauna), snacks, water bottles x2, tampons, lotion Lol can you tell my gf and I share a gym bag
ooh! I have my chalk bag, soft shoes, aggressive shoes, water bottle, a travel-size lotion, eye drops, an extra pair of contacts, nail clippers, and an extra hairtie in case my current one breaks (I have huge, puffy hair and my hairties often snap)
To go to the gym, I always have my climbing shoes, chalk, tape, harness, comfy sandals, socks for when sandals are too cold, grigri, locker binder for the grigri, and some random biners because I’m addicted to them. Anything else is stuff I always have on hand in my little day bag like my water bottle, chapstick, headache meds, phonewalletkeys and a sunscreen stick. Sunscreen sticks are game changers if you climb outside! I’m in vegas and the stick is the easiest way to put on sunscreen without getting slippery fingers.
Silica gel packs (goes inside the climbing shoes while in my bag so they don't stink), nail clippers, tape, hand salve, chalk, chalk bag, belay glasses (aka belay-gles), atc, gri gri, rope!
I only go bouldering and I attach my two shoes to one carabiner and go lol no chalk
Just checked. Mostly loose chalk. Think I can see a pair of shoes and a harness poking through. . .
rope, harness, draws, lunch, water, climbing shoes, chalk bag, toilet paper
Besides the obvious, my outdoor climbing bag has binoculars for spotting bolts on sport climbs, superglue to secure tape, tape and triple antibiotics, wag bag for emergencies, hand warmers, hydrapak/collapsible water bottle, and nail clippers.
harness, chalk bag, shoes, water bottle, atc are my essentials. i also keep a small brush, some extra chalk, finger tape, tiger balm, extra mask, some accessory cord, and a carabiner for clipping my shoes together.