A Guide For Climbers: Bouldering Drills 101

Whether you want to “up” your bouldering game by adding bouldering drills to your climbing regimen, or you just want to switch things up with new drills, here’s your practical guide to training on the wall and becoming a stronger climber.

Why Include Bouldering Drills In Your Climbing Regimen

Bouldering drills aren’t for everyone. If you’re happy with your current skill level and strength, and you don’t care about getting better, then you don’t need to do them. For everyone else, adding bouldering drills to your sessions is one of the simplest ways to level up your climbing and your physical health. According to a study on the relationship between climbing ability and physiological responses to rock climbing, a better exercise regimen leads to a longer time to exhaustion and an improvement in climbing performance. In plain terms, smart training on the wall means you climb harder for longer.

How To Choose Which Drills To Add to Your Regimen

There are hundreds of bouldering drills out there, and chances are your climbing partner already has a list to share, so there’s no shortage of options. The real question is which ones you should actually put into your training.

The first thing to do is figure out your current strengths and weaknesses. One easy way is to try climbs of different styles a level or two below your current level and pay attention to the key skills each one demands.

Key Strengths In Climbing

• Strength: hand, forearm, bicep, shoulders, legs and core
• Dynamic vs static climbing
• Endurance
• Footwork technique
• Balance
• Momentum
• Flexibility
• Different types of climbing holds. Here is a climbing hold proficiency test that’s easy to do and great for showing your strengths and weaknesses on different types of holds.

Once you’ve sized up your strengths and weaknesses, look for bouldering drills that match them. There are drills for every key skill, so try a few over a handful of sessions and find the ones you actually enjoy.

After you’ve been at it for a month or so, re-evaluate and pick fresh drills that fit where you are now. Your weaknesses will shift as you improve, and your training should shift with them.

Number of Drills Per Training Session

Your climbing goals should decide how many drills you pack into a session. Keep in mind that some bouldering drills are far more intense than others, so if the session is already hard and tiring, you probably don’t want more than one intense drill. Instead, mix in one or two lower intensity drills. A lot of climbers like pairing high-intensity work with easy drills as active breaks through the session. Or you can build a whole session out of nothing but drills. How often you should be climbing matters here too, so it’s worth thinking about how many days a week you climb before you load up on drills.

Whatever the intensity, frequency, or number of drills you go with, make sure you’re not overworking any one muscle group, and pay attention to how your body feels as you go. Experiment week to week and find the sweet spot that leaves you tired but able to recover before your next session.

Don’t Forget To Warm Up

Before you climb, and especially before you start a bouldering drill, make sure you warm up. Plenty of climbers on YouTube brag that they skip it, but warming up lowers your injury risk and helps you climb harder. It gets blood moving through your body, which means you’re less likely to get pumped early and you can climb longer, more intense problems.

7 Bouldering Drills To Try

Pro climbers, coaches, and everyone in between have their go-to drills, so here’s a collection of some of the best ones for working different parts of your climbing. Once you know your current strengths and weaknesses, you can pick which drills to focus on first.

Below are 7 drills pulled from pro climbers, training books, and a few of my own favorites. Each one lists the main focus and the difficulty so you know when to reach for it. Try a couple, see what works for you, and adjust as you go.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Israel Gonzalez (@climber_mr.static) on Dec 26, 2018 at 6:17pm PST

1. Three Limb Climbing

Focus: Dynamic Climbing, Grip Strength, Footwork

Difficulty: Varies On Level

This one’s a lot of fun and a great way to practice dynamic climbing. What makes it stand out is that it builds grip strength and footwork at the same time, which you don’t see in a lot of drills. When you take a limb out of the picture, the other three have to work harder to make up for it.

Say you climb with both hands and one foot. You have to grip harder when you switch footholds because there’s nothing to counterbalance your weight. At the same time, you’ve got to be precise about where that one foot lands, because if you set it wrong, you’re off.

How It’s Done

1. Pick 3 to 5 routes or problems that are 1 to 3 levels below your climbing skill
2. Choose one limb you won’t use for the whole set
3. Keep the limb you’re not using down at your side

Pro Tip:

There are three levels to this drill, so try them all and see what fits your climbing.

• Level 1: The limb you’ve chosen can touch the wall. It can’t be on any holds, but it can rest against the wall and swing to help you reach the next hold.
• Level 2: The limb you’ve chosen can only swing. No holds, no touching the wall, but you can swing it for momentum on each move.
• Level 3: The limb you’ve chosen stays behind your body like dead weight. No holds, no wall, no swinging.

2. Downclimbing

Focus: Endurance, Footwork, Core Strength

Difficulty: Medium

Downclimbing is a great bouldering drill because it hits parts of your climbing that usually get skipped. It doubles the length of a route or problem, which is great for endurance, and it forces you to look before you move your feet on the way down. If you’re on an inclined wall, it’ll usually make you engage your core way more than you would going up.

How It’s Done

1. Find climbs that are 1 to 2 levels below your current skill level
2. Finish the climb, and instead of topping out, climb back down the same way you came up
3. Repeat on 5 to 7 different routes

Pro Tip:

Another variation is to climb up one route, and while you’re at the top, side climb over to a different problem (ideally a grade harder) and downclimb that one.

3. 4x4s

Focus: Endurance

Difficulty: Hard

4x4s are a classic interval bouldering drill built on a high volume of climbs at a lower grade. Interval bouldering is seriously effective for helping you do harder and longer climbs.

This study on the effect of interval bouldering on hanging and climbing time to exhaustion suggests that interval bouldering is a highly effective way to increase hanging and climbing time to exhaustion in competitive bouldering.

How It’s Done:

1. Pick 4 boulder problems that are 2 to 4 grades below your max. If V0 or V1 is your max, add feet or hands to make them easier (you want to be able to just finish the circuit)
2. Do all 4 problems back to back without resting, inside 5 to 6 minutes (if a problem has a top-out, either pick a different one or climb down)
3. Jog between problems to keep your heart rate up
4. Rest 4 minutes between sets and repeat 4 times

Pro Tip:

If you fall off before the halfway mark, try the problem again or start where you fell. If you fall from more than halfway up, move on to the next one.

4. Tennis Ball Climbing

Focus: Grip Strength, Footwork, Core Strength

Difficulty: Hard

The difficulty of this drill depends on the size of your hands, so to make it harder or easier, change the size of the object you hold while climbing. I tried this one recently and found it tough because my hands barely reached around the tennis ball. If you’ve got smaller hands like me, start with something smaller like a stress ball or a golf ball.

While you’re doing this drill, you’ll have to lean on your feet and core to stay on the wall, which is why on top of grip strength, it’s great for footwork and core.

How It’s Done:

1. Pick 3 to 5 climbs that are 1 to 3 levels below your climbing skill
2. Climb each route with a tennis ball in each hand

Pro Tip:

Pick a specific type of hold, like a crimp, and for this drill only do climbs that are mostly that hold type. If you’re not sure what to focus on, check out this climbing hold proficiency test to see where you need the most work.

5. Speed Climb

Focus: Dynamic Climbing, Momentum

Difficulty: Easy

This drill isn’t just for speed climbing walls, it works on any bouldering problem. By focusing on how fast you climb, you force yourself into dynamic moves and lean on your momentum. It’s perfect for climbers like me who need to work on committing to dynamic movement.

How It’s Done:

1. Pick 1 to 2 climbs that are a couple of levels below your skill
2. Time how long it takes to send
3. Repeat each climb 4 more times (5 total) and try to get faster each go

6. Coin Holds

Focus: Footwork

Difficulty: Low

This drill from 99 boulders is a great footwork exercise that’s a little different and can liven up your regimen. It does need a good-sized chunk of wall that won’t get disturbed by other climbers, so it’s better suited to a quieter gym. If you want more ways to sharpen your feet, we’ve got a whole roundup of footwork drills for climbing worth working through.

How It’s Done

1. On an empty section of wall, balance coins on as many holds as you can
2. Start bouldering using any handhold, but only footholds that have coins on them
3. When you place your foot, try not to knock the coin off
4. Repeat 10 times

Pro Tip:

If you knock a coin off, do five push-ups, put the coin back, and start over.

7. Lockoffs

Focus: Endurance, Arm Strength, Core Strength

Difficulty: Medium

This is a strength drill paired with endurance. Sure, you could head to the weight racks and build strength and endurance over there, but like a lot of climbers, I’d rather build both while I’m actually on the wall.

How It’s Done

1. Pick routes or problems you’ve finished before and can send 2 to 3 times in a row
2. Climb each one holding a full lockoff every time you move a hand. Bend your elbow all the way and touch your shoulder to the new handhold before you reach

Pro Tip:

You can make this drill harder by climbing on a steeper incline.

Keep The Drills Going Every Week

The hardest part of drills isn’t the drills themselves, it’s remembering to do them consistently. If you want a fresh climbing drill and a quick technique tip landing in your inbox every week, join the free Send Edition newsletter. It’s built around 15 minutes of focused training, so you always have something to work on next time you’re at the wall. And if you’d rather have your drills guided and tracked for you, the Grip & Grind app walks you through them session by session.

Conclusion

Every climber, no matter their level, can get something out of bouldering drills. The first step is spotting your weaknesses and picking climbing drills that go after them. If you don’t like a drill or find it too hard, there are plenty of others for every skill, so try a few and see what sticks.

Before your session, warm up so your blood is flowing and you’re ready to work. Up above I shared my favorite bouldering drills, and they cover a lot of different climbing strengths. If you’ve got a drill you love that isn’t on the list, send it my way. I know I’m not the only one who’d appreciate it.

Frequently asked questions

What are bouldering drills?

Bouldering drills are focused exercises you do on the wall to work a specific skill, like footwork, grip strength, endurance, or dynamic movement. Instead of just climbing whatever looks fun, you climb with a rule or a constraint (one limb off, downclimbing, coins on the footholds) that trains one weakness at a time.

How many bouldering drills should I do in one session?

It depends on your goals and how intense the drills are. If a session is already hard, stick to one intense drill, or mix one or two low-intensity drills in as active breaks. You can also build a whole session out of drills. Just don’t overwork any one muscle group, and leave yourself enough in the tank to recover before your next session.

How do I choose which bouldering drills to do?

Start by figuring out your strengths and weaknesses. Try climbs of different styles a level or two below your max and notice which skills each one demands. Then pick drills that target your weak spots. Re-evaluate every month or so, since your weaknesses change as you improve.

Do I need to warm up before bouldering drills?

Yes. Warming up gets blood flowing, lowers your injury risk, and helps you climb harder for longer. It’s especially important before an intense drill, when cold muscles are most likely to get pumped or tweaked.

Are bouldering drills good for beginners?

Absolutely. Most drills are done on problems a level or two below your max, so you can slow down and focus on technique instead of just trying hard. Easier drills like speed climbs or coin holds are a great place to start building good footwork and movement habits early.

Sara Climbing Coach, Climbing Trainer, Writer

Sara is the founder of Send Edition, author of '77 Drills to Help You Climb Better,' the creator of 'Elevate Your Climbing: Training Planner and Tracker,' and climbing coach.

See Full Bio

Climbing Training