How many times you are able to climb per week will have a direct impact on how quickly you progress in your climbing journey. Those who are able to go more frequently will see results and will progress much quicker than those who struggle to find the time to go. This begs the question, is climbing once a week enough?
On average, climbing once a week is frequent enough for beginners to improve their climbing ability. More experienced climbers will need to climb more frequently (2-3 times per week) to see significant results. The climbing session duration, intensity, and structure all affect the climber’s progress.
Even for beginners, climbing more frequently than once per week will lead to more results. However, there are ways to make sure that one weekly session will provide the maximum amount of results possible. If done correctly, as we will talk about later, even intermediate and possibly even advanced climbers can see progress climbing just once per week.
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Climbing Once A Week For Beginners
As beginners start on their climbing journey, they will have a lot to learn. This can seem overwhelming at times but beginners will become experienced climbers in what feels like no time passed at all. Every climber starts somewhere and has gone through the same learning curve that beginners are about to embark on.
How quickly they progress is directly determined by how much time and effort they are able to dedicate to climbing. Although going 2-3 times a week would be ideal for beginners to climb, some may not have the opportunity to do so. Which is fine. Climbing once a week will be enough to start.
Beginner’s bodies are still getting accustomed to climbing and the different movements and techniques it uses. Just getting out for a session without any real plan in place should be enough for them to progress.
However, if they are anything like me, they will want to progress and get better as quickly as possible. Climbing willy nilly without a plan is not the best approach to do this.
Creating an overall plan for a session, structuring it, and adjusting the session duration and intensity accordingly will help beginners get the most out of climbing once per week.
Climbing Session Structure
It will be beneficial to structure the climbing session to allow for optimal progress. Picking a main focus of the gym session will allow beginners to practice a specific aspect of climbing to work on and design their session around it. Some common climbing aspects beginners may choose to focus on may be climbing endurance, dynamic movements, foot placement, finger strength, etc.
Once the focus of the session has been picked, the climber will be able to choose which routes/movements/holds in the gym that they will focus their session around. This will help climbers stay locked in and get the most out of their weekly session.
Climbing Session Duration
Session duration will depend on the main aspect trying to be improved. For instance, if a climber is working on climbing endurance, they should adjust the session duration to be longer to allow for this. On the flip side, if the climber is focusing on powerful dynamic movements, they will not be able to perform these forever and should plan to have a shorter session.
Because you will only be climbing once per week, you will have an extended duration of off/rest days. If you have the time for longer sessions, I highly recommend taking full advantage of it and making them as long as you can. The 6 days of rest following the long sessions will allow your body to fully recover and be ready to go for the next one.
Climbing Session Intensity
Session intensity will also depend on the main aspect trying to be improved. More intense sessions should be performed for the quicker, more powerful dynamic movements. Less intense sessions should be performed when the climber is trying to focus on technique and foot placement.
Keep in mind that more intense sessions will have to be shorter in duration than less intense ones. Climbers are only able to do so much before getting gassed.
Climbing Once A Week For Experienced Climbers
Intermediate and advanced climbers will not see the same level of progression as beginner climbers going just once per week. More experienced climbers will have already adjusted to the basic movements and will have developed a decent base level of climbing strength.
Professional climbers are able to train two times a day for 6 to 7 days a week. Unfortunately for us mere mortals, we are typically unable to devote this much time to climbing and are forced to fit it in when we can.
For more experienced climbers to progress, I highly recommended that they climb at least twice a week. However, if this is not possible due to time constraints, it is still possible to gain valuable skills and keep improving by going just once a week.
For this to happen, experienced climbers need to go into their weekly session with purpose and treat it like a training session. Gone are the days where they can go into the gym, fool around, and come out the other side a completely different level of climber.
A session purpose needs to be developed i.e. technique, endurance, dynamic movements, etc. and be the focal point of the climber’s time. Doing this will allow the climber to hone in on the aspect of their climbing that needs work and give them a measuring stick to go off of for the next week.
More experienced climbers should plan to increase their climbing volume, difficulty or session duration each week. This will help the climber to progressively overload and improve climbing performance.
The only way to get better at climbing is to work at it and put in the effort.
The Bottom Line
On average, climbing once a week will be sufficient for beginners to start to improve and see progress. It is possible for more experienced climbers to see progress only climbing once a week as well; however, the weekly session needs to have purpose for that to happen. Experienced climbers will need to think about what they want to work on and develop a plan of attack to see the most results climbing just once a week.