Getting yourself ready for climbing after lockdown

Welcome back to the NOMAD x Climber Care Blog! 

It’s been a while - since we’ve written a blog; since we’ve been outside our homes; since gyms have been open. You get the gist. While some of us have been lucky to have a crag or home board in our five kms, a lot of us have had to forgo all climbing (except for getting in and out of bed) for the last three months.

This blog post is aimed at everyone, but especially those of us without any climbing training tools who are planning to climb a lot ASAP. As a physio working almost exclusively with climbers, I treated a lot of people with overuse injuries following the last lockdown. Many people were simply too psyched to climb and tried to get back into it way too early. I’m not saying don’t get excited, just remember that you haven’t climbed for a while and maybe you’re not as strong as you were three months ago. 

To help bridge the fitness gap, NOMAD and Climber Care have come together to provide you with a basic, low commitment training program to help boost your fitness levels and rebuild your training capacity prior to the reopening of your favourite bouldering gym.

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The program consists of four exercises to be repeated twice a week for the month before the gyms open. Each exercise requires little to no equipment and is scalable to your ability. We’ve also filmed  them and uploaded the videos to Nomad’s Instagram and YouTube channel so that you can access them quickly wherever you are.

The exercises are available in this spreadsheet: so that you can keep track of what you’ve done and hold yourself accountable to the training. They’re also listed below.

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The Exercises

Pick a level (1,2,3 or 4) and do 3 sets of the suggested reps at 60-70% of your maximum effort. Take 2-3 minutes rest between sets, and leave at least one day of rest before your next session to gain fitness in a sustainable way.

Squats (8-12 reps)

1. Double-legged bodyweight squat 
2. Double-legged bodyweight squat jump
3. Single-legged squat to bench/chair/sofa
4. Single-legged squat 

Pushups (8-12 reps)

1. Knee pushups with hands wide or close
2. Pushups with hands on elevated surface (hands higher than feet)
3. Pushups with hands wide
4. Pushups with hands close

Planks (Do continuously for 30-45s)

1. Plank - Static on elbows or hands
2. Plank - Mountain climbers
3. Plank - Shoulder taps
4. Plank - Hands to elbows to hands

Pullups (5-8 reps)

1. Jump up, slow down
2. Disjointed - Complete one rep then put your feet on the ground before the next
3. Complete 5-8 without stopping (if 5 is hard then try for sets of 2-3)
4. Frenchies - Lock off (stop moving) when your elbows are bent to 120’, 90’, and 60’ 

If this isn’t challenging enough for you or you’re after something more tailored to your needs, both Climber Care and NOMAD offer coaching that you can enquire about.
Make an online booking for Climber Care here or view the NOMAD beginner rock climbing course here.

See you on the other side of lockdown!
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Stay safe and enjoy! <3 The NOMAD Team

Written By: Nomad Specialist Coach - Dr. Mattias Braach-Maksvytis - DPT.