A good climbing warm-up is the cheapest insurance you can buy at the gym. Spend a few minutes getting your muscles literally warm and your blood moving, and you’re far less likely to flash-pump on your first hard move or tweak a finger before you’ve even tried anything. Below you’ll find 5 simple ways to warm up your whole body, because climbing is a full-body sport, and you can knock the whole thing out in 5 to 10 minutes.
What Makes A Good Climbing Warm-Up
A lot of climbers worry that if they put too much into a warm-up, they won’t have anything left to climb hard. That’s a fair concern, but it’s easy to solve. Keep the intensity low enough that you still feel strong and fresh, get your whole body warm (your muscles should actually feel warm to the touch), and you’ll come out ahead. The upside of warming up beats the risk of skipping it almost every time.
How long you go depends on how hard you go. A more intense warm-up doesn’t have to last as long. If you’ve ever done HIIT workouts, you already know the trade-off: crank the effort up a notch and you can get the same result in less time.
So for everyone who’d rather be climbing than warming up, a short and punchy warm-up in the 5 to 10 minute range does the job.
Here’s a 5 to 10 minute warm-up that gets you the benefits without eating into your session. Work through it in order, keep an eye on a timer, and stay relaxed.
Pushups: 1 to 2 Minutes
Climbing leans hard on your upper body, so pushups are a great way to get blood flowing up top. They also get your heart going, which pushes blood out to the rest of you.
The trick with pushups is finding the sweet spot in reps and intensity that works for you personally.
Plenty of climbers will tell you to do a set number of pushups, but everyone’s strength is different, so a set number doesn’t fit everyone. If you can do 5 pushups on your toes, a plan telling you to bang out 15 just isn’t built for you.
An easier way around it: set a time limit and do as many pushups as you can inside it. Keep a timer visible so you can rest when you need to and then get back to it, fitting in as many reps as you can over that window.
For intensity, mix up your pushup style. Try a wide stance and a narrow stance, or put one hand on something raised like a medicine ball while the other stays on the floor. Here are 30 pushup variations I found helpful.
Jump Rope: 1 to 2 Minutes
One of the main jobs of a warm-up is getting blood out to your hands and feet. The more blood you’ve got moving through your limbs, the less likely you’ll get pumped early on the wall. Jumping rope is a great way to make that happen.
Jump rope is good for your legs and core. And since climbing is mostly anaerobic, it’s also a handy way to sneak in some aerobic work, so even if you don’t jump rope to warm up, it’s worth adding to your week. If you like this kind of double-duty movement, you’ll get a lot out of these 10 minute workout routines for post climbing sessions too.
Try different styles while you’re at it. You can hop with both feet together or alternate feet. As the video below shows, there’s more than one way to jump rope, so find a variation you like.
Heads up though, jump rope isn’t as easy as it looks. It takes a while before you can go continuously without tripping up.
Arm and Leg Circles: 1 to 2 Minutes
Your shoulders and hips need full rotation and mobility to pull off climbing moves. Warming up those joints is a great way to avoid tweaking something on the wall. Get your shoulders going by drawing big and small circles with your arms. For your hips, you obviously can’t spin the joint a full 360, so swing your leg back and forth and side to side to hit the whole range of motion.
On top of warming the joints, arm and leg circles double as dynamic stretching, which helps make sure your muscles are ready to stretch and load once you start pulling. If you want to go deeper on this, the lower body mobility and flexibility challenge is a good next step.
Wrist and Finger Stretching: 1 to 2 Minutes
Wrist and finger stretches probably look a little silly to non-climbers, but anyone at the gym will know exactly what you’re up to. Flexor tendon injuries are some of the most common problems climbers run into. Worse, a tendon injury can pull you off the wall for six weeks or more, so it’s especially worth warming those up to keep them healthy.
You can work your finger and wrist tendons by flexing your wrist and fingers up and down. A few familiar ones are prayer pose and simply flicking your wrist loose.
Your fingers do so much of the work in climbing that it’s worth building them up over time, not just warming them up. For gym-safe hand work you can layer into your week, take a look at these grip training exercises to increase hand strength. If you’d rather have finger and grip sessions programmed for you so you don’t overdo it, the Grip & Grind app builds that into a plan.
Climb 3 Grades Lower: 1 to 2 Minutes
Now that you’ve warmed up your whole body, upper and lower and tendons included, it’s time to get your body used to the actual movements of climbing. This one doubles as a technique brush-up.
By dialing in technique during your warm-up, you’re more likely to keep it in mind once you’re on your projects. So this last step gets you ready physically and mentally at the same time. If you want a few things to focus on while you cruise the easy stuff, these 17 footwork drills for climbing give you plenty to play with.
Pick a couple of climbs that are well below your limit so they take minimal effort and let you focus on movement. Same idea as before: this is about quality, not reps, so climb as much as you comfortably can in 1 to 2 minutes. Trying not to get hurt in the first place is half the game, and these tried and tested recovery methods help you keep showing up session after session.
Want a short climbing drill in your inbox every week? The Send Edition newsletter sends you one focused, roughly 15 minute climbing drill each week, and it’s free. It’s an easy way to keep building on the movement work you started in this warm-up.
More About Training for Climbing:
- How To Climb More Often Without Getting Injured | Tried And Tested Methods For Recovery
- Lower Body Mobility And Flexibility Challenge
- Neglected Techniques Necessary For V4-V5 Progression
- 17 Footwork Drills For Climbing
- Mental Training For Climbing
- How Often And Hard Should You Climb To Get Gains?
- When Should You Start Hangboarding For Boulder’s
- Is Bouldering When Sore Bad?
- The Top 22 Climbing Techniques And Skills And How To Do Them
- 23 Tips For Climbing Slabs
- When To Flag In Climbing And How-To-Do It (With Videos)
- How To Learn Climbing Technique For Beginners
- What Should You Record In A Climbing Journal?
- Climbing Endurance: Muscle, Skin And Mental Training
- How To Deal With Fear Of Falling
- How Many Days Should You Climb Per Week?
- 5-10 Minute Warm-Up For Climbing
- What Is A Dyno And How To Do It
- What Is A Gaston In Climbing? Powerful Moves For Beginners
- Can Foam Rolling Improve Rock Climbing Performance?
- 7 Things Climbers Should Do On Rest Days For Better Performance
- When Do You Need A Rest Day?
- How To Climb Your Best – Pros And Cons Of Rest Days
- Static Vs Dynamic Climbing Movement: Pros And Cons
- 5 Habits For Healthy Climbing That You Haven’t Thought Of
- 5 Things To Improve Climbing Performance And Sustainability
- 10 Minute Workout Routines For Post Climbing Sessions
- How To Use Climbing Holds: Techniques For Improved Climbing
- A Guide For Climbers: Bouldering Drills 101
- 12 Easy Workouts To Increase Hand And Grip Strength For Climbers
- What Are Undercling Climbing Holds And Why Climbers Love/Hate Them
- What Is A Crimp In Rock Climbing And How To Train For Them
- 7 Common Mistakes in Rock Climbing For Beginners
Frequently asked questions
How long should a climbing warm-up be?
For most climbers, 5 to 10 minutes is plenty. The length depends on intensity, so a shorter warm-up just needs a bit more effort. The goal is to get your whole body warm without draining the energy you want for your session.
Will warming up make me too tired to climb hard?
It shouldn’t, as long as you keep the intensity low. Warm up enough that your muscles actually feel warm, but stop well short of fatigue. Done right, you’ll feel more ready, not more tired.
Why do climbers stretch their fingers and wrists before climbing?
Flexor tendon injuries are some of the most common injuries in climbing, and a bad one can keep you off the wall for six weeks or more. Gently flexing your fingers and wrists up and down warms those tendons so they’re ready for the load.
Should I climb as part of my warm-up?
Yes. Finishing with a few easy climbs, around 3 grades below your limit, warms your body up to real climbing movement and lets you brush up on technique before you try anything hard. Focus on quality of movement, not the number of reps.
Do I need equipment to warm up for climbing?
Not really. Pushups, arm and leg circles, and wrist and finger stretches need nothing at all. A jump rope helps for the aerobic part, but you can swap in jumping jacks or a light jog if you don’t have one handy.
