Climbing for Rowers: How to Use Climbing in Your Training

Use climbing as a once or twice weekly addition to your rowing training, for grip, pulling strength and a mental break from the erg. It won’t raise your erg score directly, because your legs and aerobic engine drive the stroke and climbing trains neither very much.

The verdict changes close to a race. In the 2 weeks before a 2k test or regatta, keep climbing easy or drop it, as a sore finger is a bad trade for a little variety.

What rowers get from climbing

Quality	What climbing trains	Where it shows up in rowing
Pulling strength	Lats, rhomboids, biceps	Finishing the stroke
Grip and forearms	Holding your weight on small holds	A relaxed hold on the handle or oar in long pieces
Trunk control	Staying close to the wall	Holding position in the drive
Mobility	High steps and reaching	Hip and shoulder range
Balance	Precise hand and foot placement	Sitting still in a boat
Variety	Problem solving and company	Motivation through a long winter

What it won’t do

Climbing does little for leg power, and it does little for the steady aerobic fitness that rowing depends on. It also adds load to your fingers and elbows, which already work on long rows. Count it as general conditioning. It’s a bonus on top of your rowing, so don’t drop a key session to fit it in. If you want a session for your heart and lungs instead, rowing vs skipping and rowing vs running for weight loss compare two simple options.

Where it fits in your week

The key is keeping hard climbing away from your hardest rows. As a rule of thumb, leave 48 hours between them.

Day	Option A: 1 climb a week	Option B: 2 climbs a week
Mon	Steady row, 45 minutes	Steady row, 45 minutes
Tue	Intervals	Intervals
Wed	Rest	Rest
Thu	Climb, 60 to 75 minutes	Climb, 60 minutes, moderate
Fri	Strength	Steady row, 30 minutes
Sat	Long steady row	Long steady row
Sun	Rest	Easy climb, 45 minutes, or rest

An easy rowing day pairs well with a climbing session. If your grip feels weak on the erg the day after climbing, you did too much. Cut the session by 15 minutes next time.

A first session

The British Mountaineering Council’s indoor climbing basics say most large walls run introductory taster sessions with all equipment provided, and most won’t admit complete beginners until they’ve done one. You’ll also fill in a registration form on your first visit, so answer honestly about your experience.

Bouldering suits most rowers best at first. You stay low above thick mats, with no ropes to manage, and it fits into an hour.

Block	Time	Detail
Warm-up	10 minutes	Short jog, shoulder circles, wrist rolls, finger stretches
Easy climbing	15 minutes	The easiest problems, focusing on quiet feet
Main climbing	30 minutes	Problems you can finish, with 2 minutes of rest between attempts
Cool-down	5 to 10 minutes	Gentle stretches for forearms, shoulders and back

Rowers often climb with too much arm. Keep your arms straight where you can, and push with your legs. It’s the same idea as the erg, where the legs start the work.

Once you’re used to it, work on a few harder problems with full rests of 2 to 3 minutes. Finish with trunk work such as hanging knee raises or planks. Keep the number of hard attempts low if you rowed hard the day before.

How to protect your hands

Rowers’ hands already take a lot, so this matters more for you than for most beginners.

1. Warm up your fingers. The BMC suggests finger stretches as part of any routine.
2. Stop before you’re exhausted. It says most injuries happen when you’re tired, on one last go at a problem.
3. Prefer open-hand grips. It describes crimping as the finger position most likely to cause injury.
4. Fall on purpose. Practise a low fall onto the mat, and down-climb when you can.
5. Build up slowly. Keep to 1 session a week for the first 4 weeks.

If you get sore fingers or elbows, take a week off climbing, and have a physio look at any pain that lingers. Keep your grip strength work light in the same week.

Common mistakes and fixes

Mistake	Fix
Climbing hard the day before intervals	Move the climb to after a rest or easy day
Trying harder problems when tired	Stop the session when your forearms feel pumped and weak
Doing extra grip training on top	Let climbing be your grip work that week
Replacing a steady row with a climb	Add climbing only once your key rows are in place
Going straight to outdoor or lead climbing	Learn roped climbing on a course, with a qualified instructor

Going further

Roped climbing needs an induction or a course, and you should learn belaying from a qualified instructor. Outdoor climbing needs more gear, proper training and experienced companions, so build your skills indoors first. Never buy second-hand safety gear of unknown history.

If you’re still deciding whether the wall deserves a place in your week, our comparison of rowing machines and indoor climbing sets out what each trains, and rowing machines vs swimming helps if you’d rather be in the pool. Our guide to cross-training for rowers shows how other sports fit, and the training hub has more ideas for structuring your week.