Would you like to be able to stay longer on the wall, pointing out increasingly difficult and longer routes and bouldering problems? Here are nine fantastic methods to improve your rock climbing stamina.

• Buy a climbing book or video and slowly practice the technique. Better technique results in more efficiency on the wall, which, in turn, means you last longer before you tire.
• Lift weights, targeting your core, back, shoulders, and arms (girls, this includes you, too). Weight training can be done after climbing or as a stand-alone workout.
• 4×4: Climb/boulder 4 problems in a row, rest 5 minutes, repeat for 3 more sets. Select four different bouldering problems (or use the same one if you want). Climb all four in a row without rest. Then rest for five minutes and repeat three more times on new problems. You can make this workout more difficult by reducing your rest period, choosing harder or longer problems, doing more sets (ie 5×4), doing more supersets (4×5), climbing each problem, or using light ankle weights, dolls, or harness.
• Do 30 to 50 bouldering problems, with a 1-2 minute break between each problem. Solve all problems in 60 to 90 minutes. You can do a similar workout by climbing 15-25 top rope routes, much more doable if you have an auto-belayer you can monopolize.
• Descend each problem or route. This will dramatically reduce the total number of issues you’ll be able to escalate, so wait until the end of your day if you prefer.
• Up, down, up, up, etc. until you can’t, rest 5-10 minutes, repeat Whether it’s climbing or bouldering, perform each superset with no rest between routes or problems, except for the few seconds it takes to walk to the next problem and start. If you’re climbing, consider finding a group of routes bundled together (to avoid having to join somewhere else), or just climb and re-climb the same route over and over again until you can’t.
• Go through the span around the gym, stay on the wall for 10-30 minutes, rest, repeat This variation does not need to be technically difficult. The goal is to stay on the wall for as long as possible, 10 to 30 minutes or more, for at least two to three sets. Find a corner or some jars to rest on, but whatever you do, don’t get off the wall until you just can’t stand up any longer.
• Play Add On with a friend to exhaustion Add On is a very fun bouldering game to play with one or more friends. Start by bouldering in three moves and then going down. Each successive climber must repeat the entire progression identically, then add three more. The winner is the last climber to complete all the moves without falling. Once someone wins, rest for a few minutes and play again.
• Perform any of the above variations while wearing a SCUBA weight belt/vest Weighted arm and ankle bands also work. Or you can just wear a lot of protection in your harness, mimicking traditional multi-pitch climbing, ice climbing, big walls, and other real-life climbing scenarios. Just don’t add so much weight that you can’t scale enough to really exhaust yourself at a deep level.