Can Training Respiratory Muscles Improve Your Bouldering Performance?

As bouldering continues to boom in popularity, both recreational and competitive athletes are exploring additional training methods to enhance their climbing. Bouldering is commonly referred to as a resistance-based sport, but there is a significant aerobic demand that can impact athletic performance and recovery time.¹ Training the respiratory muscles has been studied in other sports and may be able to improve performance and recovery for climbers as well. Athletes on a bouldering wall generally spend between 30-40 seconds climbing, with rest times ranging anywhere from just a few seconds to 20-plus minutes. While there is no limit to rest time as a recreational boulderer, increasing the speed of recovery allows you to return to the wall faster and accomplish more goals during the climbing session. By strengthening respiratory muscles, climbers can improve their oxygen intake and utilization, which not only aids in faster recovery between attempts but also supports sustained power and endurance during the climb itself. Enhanced respiratory efficiency can delay muscular fatigue and improve core stabilization, allowing climbers to maintain optimal performance on the wall for longer periods and tackle more challenging problems with greater confidence.

• [Also Read: A Simple Guide to Bouldering Harder]

A Brief Anatomy of Respiratory Muscles

Respiratory muscles are found within and around the chest and assist the lungs with inhalation and exhalation. These can be categorized as inspiratory muscles, which lift the chest and assist with inhalation, and expiratory muscles, which assist with depressing the chest and forced exhalation. While normal breathing is mostly passive and requires little muscle engagement, forced inhalation and exhalation utilizes the accessory muscles of the chest and abdomen to assist with movements associated with breathing.² The main muscle contributing to inhalation is the diaphragm; its muscle contraction occurs during inhalation and increases the vertical diameter of the thorax to draw more air into the lungs.

Respiratory muscle function can be determined by the strength and endurance of the respiratory muscles.³ Inspiratory muscle fatigue, which is a decrease in maximal inspiratory pressures over time and is a result of the demands of breathing, has been observed and researched in a variety of endurance sports.⁴ Inspiratory muscle fatigue causes a decrease in exercise performance due to the locomotor muscles, like the arms and legs, and respiratory muscles competing for the limited supply of oxygen.⁵ Climbers experience inspiratory muscle fatigue which leads to the dreaded “pump,” or “getting bricked.”

Respiratory Muscle Training & Inspiratory Muscle Training

The proposed benefits to respiratory muscle training (RMT) are a decrease in perceived breathlessness and perceived exertion, plus a reduction of respiratory muscle metaboreflex. Metaboreflex is a bodily response to increased respiratory demand, where the body will constrict the blood vessels in the limbs to redirect and prioritize sending oxygenated blood to the respiratory system, like to the lungs. This redirection of blood flow can lower athletic performance by limiting the available oxygen and increasing the carbon dioxide in muscles, causing lactic acid buildup in critical climbing muscles like the forearms.⁴

Inspiratory muscle training (IMT) is a subtype of respiratory training that promotes diaphragm hypertrophy, increases the proportion and size of muscle fibers of the intercostal muscles, delays respiratory muscle metaboreflex, improves efficiency of respiration, decreases perceived breathlessness and exertion, and improves respiratory endurance.⁶

Inspiratory muscle training is often done with the aid of a small handheld device that applies resistance during inhalation. The feeling of resistant inhalation can also be practiced by inhaling with a hand covering the mouth. IMT has traditionally been done in isolation, but athletes may see additional benefits in diaphragm activation and ventilatory threshold by combining IMT training with boulder training on the wall.⁶ Because this concept is relatively unexplored in the climbing context, there is no definitively “correct” way to train respiratory muscles for climbers. Nevertheless, the prescription of respiratory muscle training should reflect the climber’s training goals and current fitness levels.⁶

How you can begin to train respiratory muscles

Intentional slow and fast breathing

Intentional breath work can have psychological and physiological benefits for climbers. Slow breathing, or diaphragmatic breathing, can help increase oxygen intake, improve relaxation, increase focus, and improve posture.⁵ To slow your breath, take a controlled deep breath through the nose and fill your abdomen with as much air as possible, pause at the top of your breath, then let the air go by exhaling through the mouth. People may also call this belly breathing, where air fills the belly as opposed to lifting the chest. This type of breathing can be done for just a few breaths or a few minutes before beginning the activity, depending on the athlete’s preparation strategy.

Likewise, fast breathing can also be beneficial in preparing you for a climb. Taking quick, deep breaths using the chest muscles can increase heart rate and activate the sympathetic nervous system, or “fight or flight” system, and may help to increase your energy and “hype you up” before a climb.⁵ The type of breathing used before getting on a boulder problem is up to the individual; some may respond better to one type over the other, so try both and see which suits you better.

Timing matters

Respiratory muscles have two functions: assisting with ventilation and increasing the stability of the trunk when contracted.⁴ Training respiratory muscles can enhance the strength and endurance of the thoracic musculature; however, synchronizing breathing with movement may optimize the engagement of these muscles across both ventilation and trunk stability activities. When making a move on a boulder problem, the trunk muscles engage to provide additional stability to the spine while the extremities are moving. By exhaling during this movement, you will encourage the trunk muscles to fire in unison and improve efficiency with the movement. Sometimes bracing and holding your breath is necessary to create more intraabdominal pressure, like performing a heavy squat, so you may find that is necessary with some powerful or dynamic moves.

Inspiratory muscle training

The diaphragm is a skeletal muscle that can be trained in a similar fashion to any other skeletal muscle in the body responding to overloading by building strength and/or endurance). IMT is commonly done with a handheld device such as a POWERbreathe, but if you would like to try resisted inhalations now, simply make a fist with your hand and place the thumb side of your fist over your mouth and take a quick, deep breath. Your fist will block airflow, and you will begin to feel the muscles in your neck and thorax working to lift your chest.

To overload the diaphragm, find a resistance with your fist that yields failure within 30 breaths, or within 2-3 minutes of resistive breathing. If your goal is increasing strength, try to increase the intensity of the resistance for fewer breaths; to increase endurance, reduce the intensity and try for more breaths.⁷

Strength Training Exercises for Respiratory Muscles

Diaphragmatic breathing

Diaphragmatic breathing will help you to engage your diaphragm independent from your accessory chest muscles. To practice this breathing exercise, lie on your back with knees bent and perform belly breaths without lifting your chest. Perform 30 deep breaths, pausing at the top of your inhale before fully pushing the air out of your abdomen.

Challenge: Place a kettlebell on top of your stomach to add resistance to your diaphragmatic breaths.

Dumbbell pullovers

This exercise is great for working your entire upper body, including the serratus anterior. The serratus anterior is one of the respiratory muscles that help to lift your ribs during deep and heavy breathing, like after high intensity exercise. To perform dumbbell pullovers, lie on your back on a bench, giving your arms room to hang off the bench when raising them overhead. Grabbing the head of a dumbbell with both hands, start with your hands over your chest. On your inhale, slowly lower the dumbbell overhead until your biceps frame your ears. Exhale as you return the dumbbell back to the start position over your chest. Perform 10-12 reps for 2-3 sets for a strength focus of these muscle groups.

Challenge: Orient yourself perpendicular to the bench, as demonstrated below, to maintain a bridge position with your lower body to engage your glutes and hamstrings.

Side planks

Planks in general are great for increasing the strength of your abdominal muscles, but side planks add an extra component of balance and stability to the abdominal muscles, which is often necessary for making moves while bouldering. To perform a side plank, lie on your side and stack your elbow under your shoulder. When you are ready, lift your body up so your elbow, forearm, and feet are your only points of contact on the ground. Hold this position for as long as possible, keeping a steady breath throughout. Perform 2-3 sets of this on both sides. If this feels too challenging, you can lower your bottom knee to the ground to shorten the lever arm between your points of contact with the ground.

Challenge: Turn this into a rep exercise by slowly lowering your hips to a hover over the ground on your inhale and return to a side plank on your exhale. Perform 10-20 reps for 2-3 sets.

Conclusion

Respiratory muscle training has been researched for many years, but there is still much to learn about its application to climbing. While there are similarities between the aerobic capacity in climbing and other sports, we must still consider a personalized approach to RMT that may change with differing goals of the athlete. RMT can benefit both recreational and competitive climbers; an increased interest in this topic will help inspire researchers and coaches to determine a protocol for RMT as it pertains to the rock climber.

The content provided in this article is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Any exercises or recommendations mentioned are general in nature and may not be suitable for everyone. It is highly recommended to consult with a qualified physical therapist or healthcare professional before attempting any exercises, especially if you have any pre-existing injuries or medical conditions. Always prioritize your health and safety, and seek personalized guidance tailored to your specific needs.

References

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2. Lowe, R. (2018). Muscles of Respiration. Physiopedia. https://www.physio-pedia.com/Muscles_of_Respiration
3. Jurić, I., Labor, S., Plavec, D., & Labor, M. (2019). Inspiratory muscle strength affects anaerobic endurance in professional athletes. Arhiv za higijenu rada i toksikologiju, 70(1), 42–48. https://doi.org/10.2478/aiht-2019-70-3182
4. HajGhanbari, B., Yamabayashi, C., Buna, T. R., Coelho, J. D., Freedman, K. D., Morton, T. A., Palmer, S. A., Toy, M. A., Walsh, C., Sheel, A. W., & Reid, W. D. (2013). Effects of respiratory muscle training on performance in athletes: a systematic review with meta-analyses. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 27(6), 1643–1663. https://doi-org.lmunet.idm.oclc.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e318269f73f
5. Migliaccio, G. M., Russo, L., Maric, M., & Padulo, J. (2023). Sports Performance and Breathing Rate: What Is the Connection? A Narrative Review on Breathing Strategies. Sports (Basel, Switzerland), 11(5), 103. https://doi-org.lmunet.idm.oclc.org/10.3390/sports11050103
6. Shei, R. J., Paris, H. L., Sogard, A. S., & Mickleborough, T. D. (2022). Time to Move Beyond a “One-Size Fits All” Approach to Inspiratory Muscle Training. Frontiers in physiology, 12, 766346. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.766346
7. Respiratory Muscle Training. (n.d.). Physiopedia. https://www.physio-pedia.com/Respiratory_Muscle_Training
8. “Home.” POWERbreathe, www.powerbreathe.com/us/.
9. Breathing through your fist to suppress the urge to cough – instructions – PARI. www.pari.com. Accessed March 12, 2024. https://www.pari.com/int/blog/fist-breathing-technique/

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