9-23-09: The 9 week training cycle

It is about time that the fabled 9 week cycle gets explained in some depth. Many years ago, Randy Puro introduced me to the the 9 week cycle that he had adopted from the Eastern European training guru Tudor Bompa. He converted the power training cycle from his Periodization Training book and adapted it for bouldering. Here is my take if you will, on how to apply this method to bouldering.

WHO IS THIS FOR?
This program is designed for boulders. I think the best candidates are boulders who have been climbing for a while and have hit a plateau. If you have been climbing for only a year and climbing v3 - this is not for you. You would be better off polishing your climbing technique. It also takes a good amount of dedication and for that reason I think it is important to have concrete goals (projects) that you can use to motivate yourself throughout the training.

WHERE DO I START?
While this program is frequently referred to as the "9 week training cycle" it is really much more than 9 weeks! Secondly, you can also do a 6 week training cycle if you don't have much time. Here is an overview:

1) BASE
2) TRAINING
3) CONVERSION
4) CLIMBING
5) REST


BASE
This is where you get your body ready for the intense training by lifting 'easy' weights get your body used the exercises and the stress of training in general. A good rule of thumb is to plan for 6 weeks of base for a 9 week training cycle and 4 weeks of base for a 6 week training cycle.

For this phase you should be doing as many exercises as possible to try to increase your general fitness. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, boulder at the gym to warm up - but don't over do it and then head over to the weight area. Try to climb two days outside on the weekend if possible, to build up your connective tissues. The idea is to go for volume, not intensity.

When lifting, don't just work out your arms, try to hit every major part of your body. Start with a low number of sets (1-2) and do high reps (15-20). Over the course of the base phase, you want to increase the intensity to be doing 4-5 sets of about 10 reps by the last week.

TRAINING
This is the intense lifting part of the program that you will be doing on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Just as before, you should be climbing mainly to warm up (because you want to be fresh for the lifting) and getting plenty of bouldering in on the weekends.

As I said earlier, it can either be 6 or 9 weeks. Below is a picture of the complete 9 week training cycle. To do a 6 week cycle, just use the first 6 or last 6 weeks of the cycle.



You'll notice that the first step of the training cycle is to test. Tha means you need to test for your 'one rep max'. All the weights in this program are based on your one rep max (ORM). If it is your first time figuring out your one rep max, you can use and online calculator to help you out. But once you have done the first three weeks, I would try to test your ORM the real way: strap on some weight and see if you can lift it one time. It is important to test your ORM before weeks 1,4 and 7 and not use old numbers or guess at the increase.

Here is an explanation of week 2:

The percentages should be worked out in advance so you don't get bogged down with computation during your workout. If you weighed 150 lbs, and you could do only one pull up when you added 50 lbs, your ORM is 200 lbs (NOT 50 lbs). If you calculate your percentages based on 50 lbs, they would be way off. In this example, your 80% weight should be 160 lbs or your body weight plus 10 lbs.

On Tuesdays, start with what I call a primary pulling exercise: weighted pull ups, one arm pull downs, pull downs, curls, etc. Then do an opposition exercise like dips, push ups, or tricep pull downs to balance out your arms. On Thursdays use different pulling and opposition exercises. Make sure you feel fresh between reps - quality of reps is paramount. You shouldn't be failing on your last rep, if you are you should adjust our weights.

After focusing on the primary exercises above, now it is time to work on the secondary exercises, such as abs, hangboard work, shoulders, chest, legs, etc. With these I am not as scientific, but I adjust the intensity with to go along with the 9 week cycle.

CONVERSION
This is the transfer of your new-found lifting strength to climbing specific strength. While you will still do some training, you will basically try to boulder and campus as much as possible.

Lifting weights should be done with much lower reps and weights but in a more dynamic fashion. For example, a muscle up is like a pull up but instead of the normal clean technique, try to shoot yourself through the ceiling. Mainly this phase should be all about campusing and trying hard boulder problems.

CLIMBING
This should be pretty self explanatory! This is where you should theoretically should be peaking. My experience is that the peak will last approximately as long as the base portion of the cycle.

The conversion phase should morph seamlessly into the climbing phase as hopefully the conditions at your favorite crag are perfect. While there were no 2 rest days in a row for the entire program thus far, you can start to take more rest in a strategic effort to send your projects. Your body should respond pretty well to 2 days off after all that intense training.

REST
The most overlooked portion of any training program is usually rest. It should be noted that the rest phase does not mean you should be lazing around eating ice cream. Doing exercises to maintain your major muscle groups is key, and resting smaller muscle groups that get overused in climbing like your forearms and fingers will give them a chance to recharge.

Hopefully this will correspond to the rain & snow season and the summer season. Generally I will do a full 9 week program to get ready for the fall season and a quick 6 week program in Jan/Feb/Mar to get ready for the spring season.

Please let me know if you have any questions. After all, this is my first attempt to put all this into writing!

-Paul Barraza