Being efficient while climbing is very important, but we can’t force ourselves to the maximum output if we don’t rest enough. While there are thousands of climbing tutorials there is almost none about resting so if you ask other climbers “How long do you rest between climbs?” or “How to make my rest more efficient?” then we will give you all the answers because we already did the research for you.
So as a short answer we have to say that your rest time should be based on what you are trying to achieve. Most climbers want to have the best quality attempts every climb, and if that’s also your goal then the minimum rest time should be around 3-5 minutes between climbs, but if you want to focus on your stamina to increase it then your rest time should be around 1 minute.
Why do we need to rest between climbs?
The rest is necessary for your muscles because it gives your muscles a chance to remove wastes and replenish their energy supply. That will prevent your muscles from injuring too easily and give them strength for another climb.
Your body is not a machine and the top output of your muscle strength can’t be sustained for longer than a few minutes. Climbing is a sport where climbers often need to give their best to reach the top. If you are climbing a route that is well below your climbing skills then your muscles won’t fatigue as fast as they could while climbing harder routes.
How to make my rest between climbs more efficient?
Everyone has a different body, and the time between climbs should be adjusted to it, just make sure it is in the range of 3 to 5 minutes between every single attempt.
You will know after some time if that’s enough for your body to rest enough, so if you can see that you have a lot less power while climbing after 3 minutes of rest, you should check out if 5 minutes are going to increase your strength more than 3 minutes because it is not that obvious as it seems.
You should take deep breaths to get enough oxygen for your muscles, especially right before your next attempt. Also avoid drinking too much water, because it can make cause some rumblings inside your stomach while climbing which can be the reason for your fall.
You can try to stretch a bit your hands, wrists, and fingers, to make them slowly active for the next attempt. If you want to be sure that your muscles will almost fully recover their energy you should let them rest for about 5 to 10 minutes, but unfortunately there are some disadvantages of longer rests.
Are longer rests ruining my climbing session?
Unfortunately, if you want to recover a bit more then longer rests are good but there are some consequences. The first one and the most obvious one is that your climbing session will take a longer time overall.
If a climber on a single session can have around 20 attempts with a 7-minute break between every attempt that will make around 2 hours of resting for the whole session, which is a lot. Waiting that long time between every attempt will be just boring, so try to rest more only if you have confidence in the next attempt.
If you are waiting about 10 minutes between climbs then your muscles can cool down, which can be the reason for your injury, so you will have to spend some of that time to warm up again, and that is a big downside.
In summary – How long do you rest between climbs?
Resting is very important for your body because it gives your muscles a chance to replenish their energy supply and remove waste. The proper time for your rest should be in the range of 3 to 5 minutes, which will make you feel rested and full of energy.
Even if you would like to do longer rests then it is also fine, but remember to warm up a bit before the next climb and note that you will lose a lot of your time, due to the number of rests that you will have in single climbing sessions.
If even after a longer rest your arms are sore or you still feel fatigued then you should check out our new article “Sore Arms From Climbing? – Try Our Home Treatment Methods“.
