Weightlifting as a Supplement to Climbing Training with Pro Climber Katie Lambert

April 30, 2022

During her Instagram takeover, PhysiVāntage Pro Climber, Katie Lambert discussed tips for using lifting as a supplement to support your climbing gains.

Post 1) Lifting to Mitigate Imbalances and Become More Resilient

Katie says, "lifting weights alone can't make you a better climber, but what it does do is make you a more physically balanced and resilient climber.

When we talk about lifting for climbing, we're talking about building strength to mitigate and balance out overuse patterns for injury prevention, to increase explosive strength and build our fast twitch fibers, and for longevity - as we age our ability to grow muscle decreases and if we've fallen into the fallacy that the lighter we are the better we will be at climbing, then we've set ourselves up for a potentially very frail, wispy and fragile old age. In my 26 years of climbing, I've continued to improve, push myself hard, continue to have strength gains and good recovery and I credit the last decade of that to increased and consistent weightlifting through each year. Lifting has not only helped my grip strength and power, but it's stabilized my entire trunk helping eliminate chronic low back pain I experienced through my first 15 years of climbing. It's made my knees happier, helped with lock off strength and helped in my tips to toes tension. Proper technique, proper application, intention, and proper fueling and refueling are all important as well."

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Post 2) Chronic Low-Back Pain and How Lifting Helped

"For years after a day spent climbing & high stepping, or after long approaches with heavy packs, especially multipitch or big wall climbing and hauling my low back ached. Folks kept telling me I needed a stronger core, and I just didn't fully grasp what that meant. I'd had a six pack or some version of that for as long as I could recall--by core they didn't just mean abdominals. They meant all anterior and posterior muscles of the chest, back, and abs- like lumbar, obliques, pelvis, etc."

Within the first few weeks of her lifting program, Katie saw major improvements in her discomfort, and she has not looked back since. >> See More About Her Repertoire >> Click Here!

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Post 3) Fueling and Refueling

Katie talks about proper fueling and refueling... The following ideas are important for proper recovery, hypertrophy, and performance.

According to her, "getting all of our fuel in the form of real food is best. When we don't have the time or availability of real food, good, clean supplements can go a long way! PhysiVāntage Weapons-Grade Whey is my personal go-to that helps me meet my daily-protein intake goals! As a general rule, 40% of our diet should be good carbohydrates, 30% good stable fats, and 30% good and digestible forms of protein. As for specifics on protein- a daily MINIMUM requirement is .36g/lb of body weight in protein. But the ideal is closer to body weight in grams of protein.

Nutrient timing and absorption are just as important as what we eat! Paying attention to any signs of gas, bloating, stomach aches and pains, constipation, loose stool, skin issues like acne or eczema, as well as excess mucous production and chronic inflammation which can all be clues that digestion is compromised.

Additionally, hydration is crucial! And a general daily rule is half your body weight in ounces daily as your baseline. On top of this you also need additional water and electrolytes, like FLOW, when engaged in strenuous exercise or work with a rule being ~ 6oz of additional fluid every 15 minutes of exercise."

Final Thoughts...

Regardless of whether or not one intends to practice rock climbing into old age, strength training should not be overlooked. Use it or lose it!

Visit Our Instagram for a full view of the takeover! Here.