The most important aspect for climbing is the insight that maximal strength can also be increased without increasing muscle mass. Increasing strength without increasing muscle mass is important in climbing because the climber must move his or her own body. In climbing the power-to-body-weight ratio is a factor that decisively influences performance. It is the power-to-weight ratio that strongly influences climbing performance, not strength alone. Explosive force application is the basis of transferring strength training to power for climbers. Functional strength is expressed in terms of acceleration, execution time or velocity - especially in athletics. Program design that dismisses this fact, are fundamentally unsound. Moving through an acceleration path, and applying rapid and/or high-speed force such as a campus pull, is the name of the game.

We do not use all of the fibers in a muscle at once, but some use more fibers than others. An athlete's maximal strength is mainly determined by the number of muscle fibers recruited by the nervous system for the movement, together with the cross-sectional surface area of these fibers. Correct technical execution is often impossible without sufficient strength. Performance of bouldering/climbing skills with virtuosity often demands a great deal of strength. With insufficient strength, the climber learns a move with one technique only to have to relearn the move when he or she has increased strength. Relearning can be very time-consuming, frustrating, and is a substantial source of inefficiency in the training process.

Special, specific strength training for an event provokes an adaptation of the neuromuscular processes that control the skill. The fraction of the absolute strength that can be voluntary activated may be increased with maximal strength training. Consequently, maximal strength and the transfer to power can be increased by other means than by increasing the cross-sectional surface area of the muscle.

Muscle size is important for strength, but climbing conditioning must not become body building. Well trained 10-year-old girls and 12-year-old boys commonly show comparatively high values of relative strength. But as children and teenagers become taller and therefore heavier, their relative strength should decrease. Relative strength often does seem to decrease, especially during pubertal growth spurts and skill performance deteriorates at the same time. In the case of the pubertal male climber, the problem is due to a relative strength that cannot keep up with the increase in body mass due to body height growth.

Types of Strength

1. Absolute Strength. One must begin with Absolute Strength which could be defined as the greatest amount of force that can be exerted at anyone time regardless of the athlete's weight. Absolute strength could be tested in the laboratory to determine the ultimate contractile possibilities for any muscle group. This also must include the factor of contractile ability without causing injury to bone, ligament, tendon or muscle. It is the goal of the training program to strive for Absolute Strength, but one must realize that without electro stimulus, athletes cannot volitionally reach this plateau.
2. Maximum Strength is the amount of force that can be exerted volitionally. This maximum, unique to each individual, may not be developed in relationship to the absolute ability of the athlete. The training program must be designed to close the gap between Absolute and Maximum Strength in order to reach optimum performance.
3. Relative Strength is specific to the athlete's mass and the ability to apply force. If the athlete is hindered by excessive body fat, then the relative strength of the individual decreases. Lean muscle mass is necessary for optimum performance in climbing. One athlete may be able to lift heavier loads than another due to the mass of the body, but it may not be relative to the performance desired.
4. Dynamic vs. Static Movements. During athletic activity, athletes rely on antagonistic movements and concentric/eccentric contractions to transfer into motor/skill performance. Timing becomes of utmost importance in reaching the Transference Principle. The body has to be taught to turn the switches "on and off" during certain movements in the proper biomechanical sequence. If certain muscle groups are elicited out of order one loses the summation of forces that are desired and maximum optimum performance suffers. If the timing is off and the spatial positions are not reached in the proper sequence, then performance suffers and coordination and mobility are not used to their maximum.
5. Power is the ability of an athlete to overcome resistances by a high speed of contraction. Once the athlete is proficient in the dynamic and static movements it is possible to develop power. Power is the combination of dynamic and static activity in the proper sequence to be able to mechanically be efficient in movement. The greater the temporal patterning through spatial positions, the greater the power that can be developed.
6. Strength Endurance is the athlete's tolerance level against fatigue in strength performances of longer duration. The athlete's work capacity in this area is extremely important to buffer the neuromuscular fatigue level which directly effects biomechanical efficiency.
7. Special Strength can be defined as the type of strength required to perform the component parts of technique. The Principle of Complimentary Overload is introduced in this training plan to provide strength that is directly related to the event. Essentially, the athlete strengthens the body according to the demands of the activity.
8. Specific Strength would directly relate to the demands of the technical execution of the event. The Theory of Specificity with all of its component principles merging together to produce the specific strength that is required to execute the event to its maximum. An athlete who performs an event with the lack of specialized strength will have a breakdown in performance.
9. Isometric Strength is applied when no change in the length of the muscle occurs when executing a muscular contraction. This would relate to stabilization in a joint angle for instance. The joint can be stabilized by using this kind of strength training in the program to create an angle that is prepared to contract the forces that result during application.
10. Isotonic or Dynamic Constant Resistance is a muscular contraction in which the muscle exerts a constant tension. This is the traditional kind of strength that most athletes and coaches include in their training programs. This kind of strength occurs when the inner forces are greater than the outer forces and movement occurs. The overload principle can be applied in a logical progression and strength gains can be noticed periodically. This type of activity can enhance maximum strength and create a progressively stronger individual. This type of training can begin to close the "gap" between Absolute and Maximum strength.