Climbing Warm Up (Super Quick)

Warm-ups are essential for good performance but they can be a bit…. boring. The solution to this is NOT to skip the warm-up and jump straight on the wall (we know some of you do!) but to make it quick and efficient so that you can get the fun bit, climbing! In addition to this it is important to make the warm-up balanced and sufficient for the whole body. In this video we run through Josh’s regular but quick full-body warm-up, from legs to fingers.

Let’s be honest warm-ups kind of suck When you get to the gym all you really Want to do is get on the wall and start Climbing but warm-ups are of course Important for your performance and also Your injury prevention So today we’re Going to go through a pretty minimalist Warm-up which is going to start from the Lower body to the upper body and to our Fingers and we’re going to try and cover All bases in a fairly short time so you Can get to the fun bit which is the Climbing a lot of warm-ups will often Tell you to start with some cardio or Pulse raising activity and today I’m Going to skip that personally I can Never really be bothered to do this bit I’m just going to make sure my warm-up Is Progressive as we go through before We start trying hard and we said we’re Going to start from the lower body so We’re going to start with some lower Body squats and this will have a similar Effect of getting your pulse raised up I’m going to go through just three Squatting exercises but all of these are Going to be for a full range of motion And that’s really important because Climbing we need to display our movement Through a large range of motion and also Be strong through that whole range of Motion so this is going to act as a Warm-up for the lower body but also Opening that range of motion and some

Flexibility exercise This first exercise is going to be a Split Squat and we’re going to do an Elevated split squat which means Elevating the front foot so most gyms Have a mat like this if you’re outside You can use a rock or you can do it flat On the floor and the aim here is to Lunge forwards and down so the forwards Bit is key as I lunge in I want to be Going into this rock over position so I’m getting a nice deep lunge this is Going to help with the ankle flexibility Like that rock over position the hip Flexion which you get from high steps But also the hip extension as this knee Comes back and I make it this a longer Position and I’m just going to Lunge in And out of this for at least six reps And I might come back around a second Time for this Foreign [Music] See what I’m also doing here is trying To keep it nice and slow I’m moving Slowly into that sort of deep end range Of motion and getting as deep as I can Into this split squat position and I’m Also going to feel a stretch through the Quads and hip flexors as that back leg Travels back bringing my belly towards My thigh trying to get really nice and Deep for opening up that High Step Potential

Foreign [Music] That first squatting exercise is Starting to warm up the lower body again Through that full range of motion and This is an inline kind of lunge so Working on hip flexion and hip extension We’re now going to move into a Cossack Squat which is going to be a side to Side lunge and this is going to work on That hip abduction which is really Helpful for those large bridging Positions and bringing your open hips And getting hips close to the wall try To keep both feet pointing forwards and Lunge as low as you are comfortable Moving try to keep the heel on the floor If you can but you might find that your Heel raises off the floor as well that’s That’s absolutely fine as well it’s Going to depend on your ankle Flexibility too this ankle I broke a Couple years ago and it’s never regained Fuller information so I tend to lift the Heel I think it’s absolutely fine we’re Really trying to work on hip adductors And that squatting position so don’t be Too concerned before your ankles are Doing I’m just going to alternate from Side to side trying to get as deep as Possible opening up those hip abductors Which is going to help with those Frogging positions and getting hips Close to the wall

[Music] [Music] Again I’m gonna go for something like Six reps on each leg Okay so I’m already starting to get Pretty warmed up the Jumper’s off and Into a t-shirt just from doing these Squatting exercises this last one is Going to be a horse squat or a plie Squat the aim here is to open up the Hips and squat in a wide position now I’m also going to use my hands on my Elbows to keep my hips open so a little Bit more assistance to push me into a Stretch this is really important to open Up that range of motion before you start Climbing So feet fairly wide apart you can do This at different whips it’s going to Depend on how flexible you are but as I Go down to the squat I’m just going to Hold it trying to get to a 90 degree Angle in the knees but I’m pushing out As well trying to open up this position From here I quite like to rock a little Bit from side to side just opening up The hips and this is going to finish my Sort of lower body warm-up and the Flexibility that’s going to help me move On the wall and keep that movement Efficient [Music] I’m going to hold this squat for Anywhere between 20 to 30 seconds but

I’m never really too strict on the time As long as I get it done and I feel good Then I’m going to come back out of it And move on to the next part of the Warm-up so I’ve finished with the low Body I’m going to move on to the upper Body now and I’m going to start by doing Some pressing exercises before I do my Pulling exercises and a nice way to do This is start with some incline Press-ups but I’m actually going to Start with some scapular press-ups first And with that incline I’m just going to Do it against the mat so it’s nice and Easy angle before I move to doing Something on the floor so the aim of the Scapular press-up is to actually get the Scapular moving forwards and backwards And this is quite nice done on this Incline position I’m just going to be going in to full Scapular retraction and pushing all the Way back out I’m just going to start With this I’m going anywhere between six to ten Reps Just warming up the scapula [Music] Then after that I’m just going to go Into a proper press up so I’m going to Bring all the chests all the way down to The mat and push all the way through Just to get the pushing muscles the Triceps warmed up as well

[Music] [Applause] Foreign [Music] Course can change the difficulty of this Doing on the floor doing it against the Wall a higher surface going to change The difficulty depending on the angle That your body is relative to the floor So I’ve done some pressing exercises I’m Now going to move to some pulling Exercises and just like we did with the Press up I did some scapular movements First before moving into the full range Of motion with my arms I’m going to do The same on the pull-up bar and I’m Going to be doing some scapular shrugs So I’m going to be pulling it up and Down first working on the scapula and Then after I’ve done sort of six to ten Reps of that I’m going to move to a full Pull-up and again you can vary the Assistance here using a band or if You’re trying to really recruit strength And you’re already quite strong you Might even add weight in the warm-up Foreign [Music] [Music] Like I said at the beginning I’m going To try and keep this relatively short so I’m pretty much done with my upper and Lower body I’m just going to move to the Hang board now I’m going to do a few

Hangs sub maximally just to get the Things warmed up and then we’re going to Hit the wall so over to the hangboard Now and we’re going to be using Obviously the most comfortable and best 20 mile Edge there is and I’m not ready To just start hanging body weight on This Edge just yet so what I’m going to Do is I’m going to leave my feet on the Floor and just slowly lower some body Weight into it obviously this is rarely Subjective about how much weight it’s Going through but just use your Perception it’s going to feel easy Moderately hard quite difficult but when I feel ready I’m going to do a few hangs Taking my feet off of the ground as well Foreign [Music] Foreign Another thing I’d quite like to add to My warm up on a hangboard is actually Just some overcoming isometrics so Pulling against the edge without my feet Coming off the floor and I’m going to Have to do this one-handed so that I can Actually pull quite hard without my body Weight coming up this is because in a Warm-up you might want to recruit your Finger strength quite a bit before you Move to your climbing for example if You’re having a board session it’s going To be fairly intense and body weight Hangs might not really be that intense

If you’ve got quite a decent history of Hangboard training so what I’m going to Do so I can actually pull a bit harder Without putting on a harness and faffing Around weights it’s literally just Pulling against the edge of one hand I’m Pulling relatively hard so 80 90 of my Max effort just to get the forearm Properly warmed up and recruited before I get on the climbing wall whereas with When I’m just warming up very gradually At the beginning and I’m doing some sub Maximal hangs I’m going to be holding For somewhere between 5 to 10 seconds These ones are gonna be relatively short Just three seconds at the most really Just pulling hard letting go and Swapping the hands so you can do this a Few times and after a few Reps for me That feels kind of enough to start my Warm up on the wall and that’s where We’re gonna go now so when we first Start climbing on the wall of course We’re going to start fairly easy before We jump into any projecting we want to Make it Progressive but in those Progressive climbs when it’s fairly Sub-maximal I’m going to have three Different focuses that I’m keeping in Mind in my warm-up the first one is Skill I’m going to be trying to move as Efficiently as possible focusing on my Hip position focusing on my foot Placement it’s going to be easy climbing

So you can put up a lot of attention Here so you don’t throw away that time This is really valuable time in your Training the next thing I’m trying to Focus on and I might do this on Different climbs is can I be developing My range of motion my flexibility on the Wall and what I quite like to do with This is taking High steps or bridging Positions trying to open up that frog Position actively but also luring in Today’s positions for example on a down Climb kind of luring into a high step to Help stretch those muscles that are Going to assist me when high stepping The last thing I’m going to think about Is developing a little bit of snap a Little bit of power in my climbing and Because it’s sub maximum climbs I’m Going to be on the bigger holds so I’m Going to kind of swing around a bit do Some bigger moves and Dinos and get all Those muscles firing on the easier Climbs so I can carry that power through Into my harder climbs later on warm-ups Of course can be hugely varied and you Probably have some of your favorite Go-to warm-ups so let us know in the Comments below if you have something That we’ve not done today that you think Other people could benefit from and a Final piece of parting advice would be If you make a warm-up routine that you Enjoy try and stick to it try and make

It a bit of a habit because this also Helps in your confidence and your Ability to keep getting it done and Adhering to that warm-up I hope you Enjoyed this episode and we’ll see you Next time [Music]