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Training in Isolation

Mon Mar 16, 2020

It is March 16th 2020 and COVID-19 is making everything difficult and awful. And while I’m anxious about the health of my friends and family I’m anxious about other minor things. One of those is that my local gym and the climbing wall I visit regularly will be forced to close. In part this is because the climbing wall is a social space, but I also have list of things I want to climb this summer1 that I know I need to be working now to achieve with a reasonable margin of safety.

I suspect that a lot of people will be in a similar position to me where restrictions on health & fitness activities will not be great for one’s physical and mental health.

Fortunately the folks at Lattice Training have released two videos, with more promised, of core and general workouts for climbers which can be followed at home with minimal equipment. I haven’t attempted these yet because I’m still able to continue my normal activities, but I anticipate that in the weeks to come I may have to follow and adapt these to maintain and, hopefully, develop my own level of punter performance.

The first video is general conditioning for climbers using a pull up bar2 and floor exercises:

The second video is core conditioning for climbers:

Yes, both of these are intended for rock climbers as a broad category, but as general workouts are probably good starting points for many individuals. They should at least show that being trapped at home doesn’t mean missing out on time you would have spent at the gym or climbing wall.

Stay safe,

Will


  1. I’d like to get a week or more of big mountain days in the Cairngorms or on and around Ben Nevis covering lots of classic scrambles and easier rock routes. ↩︎

  2. Australian pull ups are a thing that exist and might be easier to improvise from household furniture. ↩︎

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