The role and importance of cardio in climbing training vary largely depending on your goals, baseline, and type of climbing. If you are primarily a boulderer and in generally good shape, you likely don’t need additional cardio. If you are a sport climber interested in steep endurance routes, you may benefit from 1-2 short anaerobic sessions per week. If your goals lie in long multipitch routes, aerobic fitness may even become a factor. That said, if you enjoy running or biking, you can continue incorporating it into your schedule as long as the total volume is low enough to avoid interfering with climbing and training sessions.
The following are HIIT (high-intensity interval training) workouts. This form of cardio alternates between high-intensity exercise (such as sprinting) and either low-intensity exercise (such as slow walking) or complete rest. Unlike LSD (long slow distance) cardio, which most people perform at a moderate intensity for 30-60 minutes, HIIT is far more effective as it increases the EPOC (post-exercise oxygen consumption) period. You can do this workout with tools like a jump rope or by doing jumping jacks, sprinting up a hill, or using a rowing machine or treadmill—anything that gets your heart rate up! Just follow the work-to-rest intervals in your program for a total of 5-10 intervals. For example:
