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Exercises

Warm up for rock climbing: shoulders, hips and grip in 10 minutes

Published October 24, 2026

Do 2 minutes of jumping jacks, then 2 minutes of mobility: 10 arm circles each direction, 5 walkouts and 5 cossack squats per side. Prepare the shoulders with 15 band pull-aparts, 10 scapular retractions and 10 external rotations per arm, then hang from a bar for 2 sets of 10-20 seconds and do 2 easy sets of 3-5 pull-ups. Finish with 3-4 easy climbs on big holds, getting a grade harder each time, before you try anything near your limit.

  1. Jumping Jack Calves, Quads
  2. Arm Circles Shoulders
  3. Walkout Abs, Shoulders, Chest
  4. Band Pull-Apart Shoulders, Upper Back
  5. Band Scapular Retraction Upper Back
  6. Dumbbell External Rotation Shoulders
  7. Dead Hang Forearms
  8. Pull-Up Lats

Get warm: 2 minutes

Climbing gyms are often cool, and cold hands and shoulders feel weak. Jumping jacks get your heart rate up and blood into your arms.

Raise

Jumping Jack

Calves, Quads

It warms you up in the corner of the gym in two minutes and gets blood into your arms and shoulders.

How to do it

  1. Stand tall, heels touching, arms hanging at your sides.
  2. Hop your feet out a little wider than your shoulders while your arms sweep up overhead.
  3. Hop back to the start as your arms come down, and keep a steady, springy rhythm.

Cues

  • Land soft on the balls of your feet
  • Arms travel all the way up

Common mistakes

  • Landing flat-footed and heavy: stay light and let your calves absorb each hop.

Swap for: Star Jump, High Knees, Jump Rope

Build a session with Jumping Jack

Shoulders and hips: 2 minutes

High reaches need full shoulder range, and high steps need open hips. These three drills cover both, then save long held stretches for after your session.

Shoulder mobility

Arm Circles

Shoulders

Climbing puts your arms overhead constantly. Circles take the shoulder through its whole range before you load it.

How to do it

  1. Stand with your arms straight out to your sides at shoulder height.
  2. Draw small forward circles, then let them grow larger over the set.
  3. Reverse the direction for the second half.

Cues

  • Small to big
  • Ribs stay down

Common mistakes

  • Shrugging up into your ears: keep the shoulders low while the arms circle.

Swap for: Band Pull-Apart, Plate Halo

Build a session with Arm Circles

Shoulders and hamstrings

Walkout

Abs, Shoulders, Chest

Holding the plank loads the shoulders gently, and the walk back moves the hamstrings for high steps.

How to do it

  1. Stand tall, hinge at your hips and put your palms on the floor, bending your knees as much as you need.
  2. Walk your hands forward until you reach a high plank.
  3. Walk your hands back toward your feet and roll up to standing.

Cues

  • Hands walk, feet stay
  • Hips level in the plank

Common mistakes

  • Letting the hips sag at the front: brace your belly before you walk back.

Swap for: Bear Crawl, Plank to Push-Up

Build a session with Walkout

Hip mobility

Cossack Squat

Quads, Adductors

High steps and drop knees need open hips. Sitting deep into each side prepares them.

How to do it

  1. Stand with your feet about twice shoulder width, toes turned slightly out.
  2. Shift your weight to one side and sit down into that knee while the other leg straightens, toes up.
  3. Push back to center and sink to the other side.

Cues

  • Heel of the bent leg stays down
  • Chest proud

Common mistakes

  • Dropping deeper than your hips allow: stop where your heel starts to lift, and go a little lower each rep.

Swap for: Dumbbell Lateral Lunge, Kettlebell Lateral Lunge

Build a session with Cossack Squat

Shoulder activation: 2 minutes

A light band switches on the muscles that set your shoulder blades and control the rotator cuff, so your shoulders stay stable when you hang and pull. Go light: this is preparation, not training.

Upper-back activation

Band Pull-Apart

Shoulders, Upper Back

It sets the shoulder blades back, the position you want when hanging and pulling on the wall.

How to do it

  1. Hold a light band in front of your chest with straight arms and hands shoulder width apart.
  2. Spread your hands outward until the band touches your chest, pinching your shoulder blades.
  3. Let the band pull your arms back in slowly.

Cues

  • Shoulder blades meet
  • Arms stay long

Common mistakes

  • Arching your lower back to finish the rep: use a lighter band and keep your ribs down.

Swap for: Band Face Pull, Band Rear Delt Fly, Band Scapular Retraction

Build a session with Band Pull-Apart

Scapular control

Band Scapular Retraction

Upper Back

Moving only the shoulder blades teaches the small engage-before-you-pull motion that you use on every hold.

How to do it

  1. Hold a band at chest height, arms reaching straight forward.
  2. Without bending your elbows, pinch your shoulder blades back so your hands move a few inches.
  3. Let the blades slide forward again and repeat.

Cues

  • Arms are just ropes
  • Blades move, elbows don't

Common mistakes

  • Bending the elbows into a row: the whole motion comes from the shoulder blades.

Swap for: Band Pull-Apart, Band Face Pull

Build a session with Band Scapular Retraction

Rotator cuff

Dumbbell External Rotation

Shoulders

A light dumbbell for external rotation prepares the rotator cuff, which steadies the shoulder in wide reaches and gastons.

How to do it

  1. Stand holding a light dumbbell, upper arm against your side and elbow bent to 90 degrees.
  2. Rotate your forearm out away from your belly while your elbow stays pinned.
  3. Bring it back across slowly and repeat.

Cues

  • Elbow glued to your side
  • Slow on the way back

Common mistakes

  • Letting the elbow drift off your ribs: put a rolled towel under it to keep it there.

Swap for: Dumbbell Lying External Rotation, Band Face Pull

Build a session with Dumbbell External Rotation

Shoulder and trunk stability

Plank Shoulder Tap

Abs

Tapping from a plank challenges the shoulders and trunk to stay still, which helps on steep walls.

How to do it

  1. Start in a high plank with your feet a little apart.
  2. Lift one hand and tap the opposite shoulder.
  3. Put the hand back down and tap with the other side.

Cues

  • Hips don't rock
  • Slow taps

Common mistakes

  • Swaying the hips with every tap: widen your stance and move slower.

Swap for: Plank, Bear Crawl

Build a session with Plank Shoulder Tap

Hangs, light pulls, then easy climbs: 4 minutes

Hang from the bar to warm your grip, then do a few easy pull-ups. Then climb 3-4 routes well below your limit on big holds, each a little harder, so your fingers warm up before small edges.

Grip warm-up

Dead Hang

Forearms

Short hangs on a bar warm the fingers and forearms with the whole hand, before you ask them to hold small edges.

How to do it

  1. Grab a pull-up bar with an overhand grip a bit wider than your shoulders.
  2. Lift your feet and hang with your arms straight.
  3. Breathe and let your shoulders stay active, not shrugged into your ears or fully slack.

Cues

  • Long arms, steady breath
  • Grip firm

Common mistakes

  • Swinging on the bar: start still and keep your legs quiet.

Swap for: Band-Assisted Pull-Up, Pull-Up

Build a session with Dead Hang

Pulling primer

Pull-Up

Lats

A few easy pull-ups wake up the lats and arms for the climbing to come. Stop well short of tired.

How to do it

  1. Hang from the bar with an overhand grip slightly wider than your shoulders.
  2. Pull your elbows down toward your ribs until your chin passes the bar.
  3. Lower all the way until your arms are straight again.

Cues

  • Chest to the bar
  • Full hang between reps

Common mistakes

  • Kicking to finish the rep: stop the set when the pull slows rather than swinging.

Swap for: Band-Assisted Pull-Up, Assisted Pull-Up, Inverted Row

Build a session with Pull-Up

Put them together: example sessions

Each session below picks from the exercises above for one situation, with the sets, reps, rest and RIR filled in. Open one in the session builder to change a pick, price it from a recent set, and add it to RIRLift.

Session 1

Before a bouldering session

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts3× a week
  • Working sets30 a week
  • Per workout~15 min
  • EquipmentResistance Bands, Pull-Up Bar

You boulder a few times a week and want to try hard problems without a slow start.

Full routine with hangs and pull-ups, then easy problems that build toward your limit. Every set stays far from failure.

Boulder Warm-Up
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Jumping JackSeconds. 2 × 30–45 4 15 s
Arm CirclesEach direction. 1 × 10 4 0 s
Walkout 1 × 5 4 15 s
Band Pull-Apart 1 × 15 3 15 s
Band Scapular Retraction 1 × 10 3 15 s
Dead HangSeconds. 2 × 10–20 4 30 s
Pull-Up1 warm-up set first 2 × 3–5 4 1 min
How to run it
Do it on arrival, before your first problem.
How to progress
When it feels easy, add one more easy problem, not more pull-ups.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

Before roped climbing or outdoors

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets20 a week
  • Per workout~15 min
  • EquipmentResistance Bands, Dumbbells, Pull-Up Bar

You lead or top-rope and your first route is a long one.

More shoulder activation and the cossack squat for high steps, because long routes ask for steady shoulders more than a big pull.

Route Warm-Up
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Jumping JackSeconds. 2 × 45 4 15 s
Cossack SquatPer side. 1 × 5 4 15 s
Arm CirclesEach direction. 1 × 12 4 0 s
Band Pull-Apart 2 × 15 3 15 s
Dumbbell External RotationPer arm, light. 2 × 10–12 3 15 s
Plank Shoulder TapPer side. 1 × 10 3 20 s
Dead HangSeconds. 1 × 15–20 4 30 s
How to run it
Do it at the crag or the gym before your first route.
How to progress
Make the first route one grade easier on cold days.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

Before fingerboard or strength training

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets22 a week
  • Per workout~20 min
  • EquipmentResistance Bands, Dumbbells, Pull-Up Bar

You train climbing strength on a board or with weights and want the shoulders ready.

Adds weighted-ready pull-up ramp-up sets after the band work, so the session's first working sets start warm.

Training Warm-Up
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Jumping JackSeconds. 2 × 30 4 15 s
Walkout 1 × 6 4 15 s
Band Scapular Retraction 2 × 10 3 15 s
Dumbbell External RotationPer arm. 1 × 10–12 3 15 s
Dead HangSeconds. 2 × 20 4 30 s
Pull-Up2 warm-up sets first 3 × 4–6 3 90 s
How to run it
Do it before any hangboard or pulling session.
How to progress
Add a ramp-up set when your working load rises.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

How do you warm up for rock climbing?

Raise your heart rate, move the shoulders and hips, activate the shoulders with a band, hang and pull lightly, then climb a few easy routes that get gradually harder.

How long should a climbing warm-up take?

Around ten minutes off the wall, then 3-4 easy routes. Longer on cold days.

How do you prepare your body for rock climbing?

Train your pulling and grip, keep your shoulders and hips mobile, and warm up before every session with easy climbing that builds toward your limit.

Should I warm up my fingers before climbing?

Yes, with gradual load: hangs on a bar with the whole hand, then easy climbs on big holds before small edges.

Should I stretch before climbing?

Keep it moving before you climb. Longer held stretches fit better after your session.