Bouldering is fun and full of colours. But if you’re reading this you also know it gets quite physical. Therefore, a bouldering warmup is what your body needs to handle well all the coordination work, dynamic movements, and difficult holds.
Want to get serious about climbing and still keep it fun? Keep on reading: we’re about to reveal the best finger and wrist exercises before you squeeze the water out of holds.
Why is bouldering warm-up important?
You know how before you start your car you have to wait for a few seconds and then start driving modestly until your engine is fully warm? Climbing can be a bit like this.
Despite its fun nature, bouldering is a demanding sport where your fingers and wrists bear much of the load.
Without a proper warm-up and repetitive strenuous movement, you’re most likely to suffer from finger strain, wrist pain and injury, and overuse problems such as tendinitis.
Keep in mind that a climbing warm-up goes far beyond bouldering.
As you age, your body will greatly appreciate the improved range of motion, overall enhanced tissue health, reduced soreness (also after a workout), and decreased inflammation in your tendons.
3 key benefits of a good warm-up before bouldering
- Injury prevention: A warm soft tissue such as muscles, tendons, and ligaments can better handle sudden strains than a cold one.
- Increased performance and improved body sensation: A warm and flexible body has a good flow therefore your overall climbing capabilities will be improved.
- Better mental focus: Even though I put it last, this one is my favourite. Don’t you just love having clarity and being in the moment? Warming up can help sharpen your mind, which is crucial for bouldering where problem-solving is key.
The ultimate bouldering warm-up guide in 4 steps
Contrary to what most climbers do when they initiate a session – climb, the best way to prepare your body for bouldering is it’s not climbing on easier grades!
In fact, an effective climbing warm-up is a combination of cardio, dynamic stretching and mobility exercises, joint-specific warm-up, and, ultimately progressive load climbing.
1. Increased blood flow (5-10 minutes)
Getting your blood flowing and raising your core temperature will send a message to your brain that your body must prepare for “battle”.
Reduce the risk of strains, be more fluid, and reduce after-workout soreness by doing these aerobic exercises
Exercises
Jogging, fast walking, cycling, or jumping jacks (3-5 minutes)
Arm and leg swings, jumping rope (2-3 minutes)
2. Improve mobility (5-10 minutes)
A warm body can better stretch, reach, and perform the wide range of movement required in climbing.
However, some of us are naturally more flexible while others are not so much. Therefore, it’s important to adapt and customise your warm-up.
For example, stiffer and less flexible climbers, should spend 5 minutes on mobility stretches and 3 minutes on stability exercises.
Climbers with loose joints who are very flexible, should spend 5 minutes on stability exercises and 3 minutes on mobility stretches.
Exercises
- Wrist rotations in both directions for 30 seconds
- Finger massage for blood flow, and explosive release (rapidly open and close your fingers for 30 seconds)
- Shoulder shrugs:
Rotations of 30-second blocks
- Leg and ankle rotations, torso twists
- Gentle hangboarding or scapular pull-ups (2-3 minutes)
- Hip and arm circles
3. Target stability and balance
According to a the 2015 study estimation of hand and wrist muscle capacities in rock climbers, climbers had 37.1 percent greater finger flexor strength than non-climbers but had similar strength in their finger extensors.
As a result, to avoid injuries, it’s crucial to target the extensors to balance these loads on the wrists and fingers.
Exercises
- Finger extensions: Place a rubber band (like this one) around your fingers and thumb, then slowly open and close your hand. Perform 2–3 sets of 10–12 reps. This helps activate your finger extensors and improve their stability.
- Wrist flexor stretch: Extend your arm with your palm facing up, then gently pull your fingers back using your other hand for 15–20 seconds per side.
- Wrist extensor stretch: Hold your arm out with your palm facing down and press the back of your hand with your other hand to stretch the top of your wrist for 15–20 seconds.
4. Progressive climbing (10-15 minutes)
At the 4th warm-up stage, your body should be warm enough to transition safely and pleasantly into actual climbing.
Ideally, start with 2 to 3 easy climbs. Easy routes will allow you to focus on technique.
Slowly build up to harder ones to activate the climbing muscles and mental focus.
Exercises
- Traversing or easy climbing (5-10 minutes)
- If you have a project you can hop on it and split it into several sections so you can do some specific warm-up.
Normally, at the end of your warm-up for bouldering indoors or on rock, you should feel activated and ready for bouldering.
Want to keep it short, but still effective? 10-minute warm-up before climbing from Hooper’s Beta:
3 secrets to having the best bouldering session
- A good warm-up should last around 20-30 minutes. Depending on your needs and what you want to achieve from climbing, you can do more or less.
- Following the steps is important. Starting with a general warm-up and finishing with gradual climbing will give time to your body to adapt and make sure you’re ready to perform at your best.
- Listen to your body. Depending on how you are feeling that day, extend the time spent on a certain exercise than on another. Our bodies are unique and based on what we did the previous days they can demand additional attention in certain areas. Therefore, be mindful.
Bonus: Along with fingers and wrists, shoulders also play an important role in your bouldering session. Therefore, remember to warm them up properly. If you want more on the subject, check out our guide on shoulders health and climbing: Injury prevention and recovery.
To wrap up
At the end of the day, it’s safe to say, I’ve been that climber who rushed to the wall, eager to send problems, only to feel stiff, disconnected, or worse, feeling sore and broken afterward.
But with time and experience (and injuries!) I understood that bouldering is more than just climbing: it’s solving puzzles on the climbing wall.
And like any good performance, the more time you dedicate to the preparation, the better the representation is.
I know it can sometimes be boring – but a solid warm-up isn’t just something to check off the list, it’s your chance to get in sync with your body, ease into the moves, and minimise the risk of injury.
And it’s never fun when the body refuses to cooperate mid-session.
Have you tried bouldering warm-up for finger and wrist before hitting the climbing wall?
What difference did it make to your climbing?
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