The Case for Structure (Even If You Think You Hate It)
How a little intention can make climbing more rewarding — and accelerate progress.
For a lot of climbers, “training” sounds like a bad word.
Maybe it’s the pain of hangboard repeaters, or the sterile reduction of climbing to stats and spreadsheets. Something about it can remove the freedom and joy that drew us to climbing in the first place.
For others, structure seems to kill the social aspect — no one wants to cut off a story mid-sentence to say, “hold on, my rest interval just ended.”
Or maybe formal training just feels… heavy. Too focused on results, not enough on fun.
“It was almost the antithesis of what we believed in. Quantifying anything was anathema to most of us.”
But in practice, properly structured training emphasizes process over results, bringing more purpose and intrinsic reward to every session. Meanwhile, and somewhat ironically, a well thought-out routine increases the chances of progress and decreases the chance of injury — two of the greatest threats to a climber’s motivation and longevity.
Almost everyone who has climbed for more than a year has eventually reached the same crossroads: trying hard but not getting better. Feeling strong one week and flat the next.
This is where structure can actually liberate you rather than constrain you, by offering reliable steps towards your goals. You get the freedom to reach your potential.
So how can we attain the benefits of training without it feeling like a punishment?
Let’s look at how basic structure can break plateaus and bring back purpose. Along the way, we’ll share some of Tommy Caldwell’s thoughts from when he decided to structure his training in the lead up to sending The Dawn Wall. These excerpts are all from Chapter 17 of The Push.
“Meeting and climbing with people like Alex [Megos] made me wonder if my thinking was outdated. These kids were getting very strong very fast. I decided that summer I would train like him.”
Training Structure That Won’t Cramp Your Style
“I split my summer into training cycles. The first was to build my power through heavy and explosive fingertip hangs, weights, and bouldering… Mid summer I started an endurance phase, swapping out a few afternoons a week of bouldering for long days of sport climbing.”
The first step towards getting more out of your training is to bring some tactical rhythm to your week, by assigning some basic intention to each session. Almost any climber can benefit from this basic structure of three climbing days in a week:
Power Day: Hard boulders, limit moves, maybe some campusing. Short, max efforts.
Endurance Day: Long routes, laps, circuits. Get time on the wall, at an easy intensity.
Open Project Day: Free form climbing. Get on your projects or whatever inspires you.
The only guidance for the open project day is to spend it doing the thing you want to get better at. If you have a bouldering goal, boulder. If you have a route-climbing goal, get on the tall walls.
Not so bad, right? As a coach, I’ve seen countless climbers break through plateaus simply by organizing their week this way — no spreadsheets or stopwatches required.
If you want more detailed guidance on how to organize your sessions, or the types of workouts that support each of these intentions - reach out!
“I could feel my body changing. My strength-to-weight ratio skyrocketed. By the end of the training season, I could hang forever on tiny crimps, and I’d finish my sessions with two sets of fifty pull-ups. My confidence for the Dawn Wall steadily rose...”
Rest: The Most Underrated Training Tool
“At first the increased activity beat me up. I was constantly achy, sore, and lethargic… But gradually my body adjusted.”
The next thing to consider is your rhythm of rest and recovery. Rest is important to consider at three different levels:
1. Recovery within your session:
Especially on power days, recovery within your session is critical. Solid rest between attempts ensures that each attempt is a high-quality, maximum effort. Most climbers find this more rewarding as well, since rapid firing leads to a defeating downward spiral.
A good rule of thumb, particularly for boulder sessions - is 1 minute of rest per hard move completed. But of course, you have to listen to your body.
2. Recovery between sessions:
Ultimately, growing as a climber (or any athlete) is about exposing our body to a stimulus that drives it to adapt. The stimulus is in our climbing sessions. The adaptations occur while resting. Getting stimulus too soon before adaptations have occurred can overload the body and result in overtraining. The key is balance.
Good rules here are to avoid having back-to-back workouts of a similar nature (i.e. two power days in a row) and many climbers need at least one full rest day per week. Recovery patterns vary widely of course so it will take some time and reflection to find the perfect rhythm.
3. Recovery between cycles:
We’re not going to dive too much into macro cycles here, but it’s important to note that we also need periods of decreased training to recover from periods of intense training. A common pattern is to have a deload week once every few weeks with decreased training volume to allow the body to recover. These are also good moments to reflect and assess how well our planned training is serving us.
Finally, it’s important to note that rest and recovery are about more than just a break from stimulus. Sleep, nutrition, and stress management all play an important role in our ability to recover and be prepared for the next bit of training.
If you want personalized guidance on managing rest and recovery, talk to a coach.
Commit, Then Reflect
Even with structure, progress is almost never linear. As a result, it can be easy to question your training decisions. This is where having an experienced coach can bring the most value. Having a coach removes the guesswork. It frees you up to focus on the training and trust that you’re on the right path.
“For a while, my quantifiable strength actually decreased.”
That doesn’t mean your coach will get it right every time. But an experienced coach will recognize when it’s time to stop and assess whether the plan is working, and will know how to adapt and pivot when adjustments are needed.
With or without a coach, it’s important to reflect on your training often while being cautious not to overcorrect or react to minor fluctuations in performance. Here are a few tips on how and when to reflect, without ditching your whole plan every time you have a bad session:
After every climb — reflect on what went right and what could’ve been better. Whether you sent or not, there are almost always things you did well and things you could have improved.
After every session — some important things to ask yourself are - How do you feel? Did you train at the right intensity? What are your recovery needs going to be after this session? How well did your efforts align with your intention for today?
After every cycle (3-4 weeks) — now is when you can start assessing your training efforts a little bit. Even if you haven’t noticed a ton of progress, can you see how the work you're doing prepares you for the goal you’re working towards? Does it all feel relevant? Are there any parts of your training that you tend to skip or dread? What could you replace them with to keep you motivated?
So there you have it. Structure doesn’t have to make climbing less soulful. It just ensures that your effort adds up to something lasting.
You can still meet your friends at the gym, chase the fun problems, and try heinous beta. The difference is, you’ll know where each day fits in your bigger picture.
Call it “training,” call it “organized chaos,” call it whatever you want… Just climb with intention, rest with purpose, and let progress take care of itself.
What do you think? Whether you agree or disagree, or have questions about coaching – drop us a line down below! We’d love to hear from you.
