Any sporting activity, whether training or competition, should always be preceded by a warm-up. A distinction is usually made between general and specialized warm-ups, but the purpose of both is to prepare the body for work.

Warming up increases the elastic properties of the muscle tendon unit, therefore it follows that if you do not warm up correctly to a climbing or training session, then you are more likely to suffer an injury.

The function of a general warm-up is to activate the cardiovascular and metabolic systems and to stimulate hormone production. It is intended to warm the body up for performance, while a specialist warm-up, which always follows a general warm-up, helps to activate the muscle groups most frequently used in climbing and to fine-tune energy supplies and the nervous system. Such warm-up programme should last between 20 to 30 minutes.

General warm-up: Always begin your general warm-up with light jogging or skipping until you begin to feel warm or start to sweat slightly. This should be followed by stretching exercises, that bring into play all the important joints and muscle groups (calves, thighs, hips, trunk, shoulders, arms, fingers, neck). You should focus next on strengthening individual muscle groups, particularly those in trunk (stomach, lower back and upper back muscle), which are frequently neglected.

Specialized warm-up: The best way of warming up specifically for climbing is bouldering. Make sure you start on easier sequences and work up gradually to tougher ones, so that your fingers have time to adjust to the increasing strain. Most of the injuries sustained in sport climbing could be avoided if this simple rule were obeyed. Climbing familiar routes slowly is also a good way of warming up.