IMPROVING YOUR PERFORMANCE WITH AEROBIC AND ANAEROBIC CONDITIONING
In 1999 I was a fit and focused climber. I was bouldering well and redpointing at a high level but I was frustrated by one aspect of my climbing. I couldn’t improve my on-sight. While I had enough power endurance for short durations of difficult moves, I was poorly trained to handle the much longer durations of difficult climbing necessary to on-sight above my limit. To amp up my on-sight, I needed to raise my anaerobic threshold.
CROSSING THE LINE
Two separate systems, the aerobic and the anaerobic, produce all the energy muscles consume. The system that predominates at any moment is determined by movement intensity. With easier climbing, all muscular energy is produced using oxygen.
As intensity increases (the climbing becomes more difficult), your body cannot supply oxygen fast enough to sustain the workload. Above this point, the anaerobic system kicks in. Your “anaerobic threshold” defines the intensity level at which the production of lactic acid, by the anaerobic system, is greater than its removal.
Climbing above your threshold brings about an accumulation of lactic acid in the muscles, which causes your forearms to burn and feel pumped. Lactic acid limits the time you can continue climbing before muscle failure—the more difficult the climbing relative to your maximum contraction, the faster you pump out.
The good news is that both the aerobic and anaerobic systems can be improved with proper training. You can raise the intensity of climbing at which you begin to get a pump with aerobic conditioning, and you can climb longer after a pump sets in with anaerobic training.
Next installment: Continuous Climbing Training