Warming Up

Who's guilty of not doing this? I know I have been in the past, though it doesn't happen as much now (I'm getting too old not to)
My examples:-
Jumping on that V6 boulder problem
Starting a run with a sub-4min km (switching the targetting computer on too early to run people down)

Warming up  is as it says, raising the body temperature to get it ready for exercise. There are a few benefits to this. It gradually increases the heart rate and stops a shock to the system. Increases the blood flow to the muscles to increase the oxygen getting to them and the exchange of waste products, makes the muscles more pliable and flexible.

The best way to do this is gentle cardio, that increases in intensity, and doing movements that mimic the activity you are about to carry out - dynamic mobilisation.

And now to the point...
My main gripe is people at the climbing wall who spend 20 mins + doing static stretching and think this is warming up. It isn't.
1) It doesn't do the things mentioned above.
2) You are stretching cold muscles that are not as pliable, this can cause injury in itself, but can produce micro tears in the muscle that can then be made worse by exercise.
3) It can lead to a loss in strength and power because the muscles have been lengthen.

If you do want to do static stretching as your routine then warm up first and then rewarm as your body will get cooler as you stretch and are inactive.

The other thing is watching people doing a load of 'sun salutations' to warm up. A bit better as it is dynamic but it is mostly in one plane and doesn't mimic the activity that you are going to be doing. What about some trunk rotation, lateral flexion, shoulder rotation, abduction/adduction of the joints.

The question is - what have you come to the climbing wall to do? What is better? 20 mins of stretching or yoga or 20 mins of gently climbing/traversing increasing in difficult, actually doing what you came to do? Within 3 visits you could get an extra hours climbing in and maybe improve.

So my tips: -
Gentle cardio warm up 40%-60% of perceived exertion level
Dynamic mobility
Easy climbing

Save the stretching til the end of your session to lengthen the muscles you have shortened doing the activity, or go to yoga.

For more information check out Gaz Parry's articles in Climber magazine and I'll leave you with a quote of his - "You are always warming up until you do your hardest bloc"