How it works
The complete guide to your training journey
Climbro guides you on the fastest path to sending your project
Performance Evaluation
The first step with Climbro is to assess your climbing-specific physical fitness. This is done by completing four tests in sequence, called the “Performance Test Battery”, which provides insight into the key physical qualities of your forearms. The tests are:
- Max Strength – measures your maximal finger strength.
- Finger RFD – measures your rate of force development (explosive finger strength).
- Continuous – measures your forearm aerobic capacity.
- Intermittent – measures your forearm anaerobic capacity.
It is very important to carefully read the test descriptions in the app and follow the instructions precisely. To obtain valid results, you must rest sufficiently between tests as prescribed. The results from the “Performance Test Battery” are presented as climbing grades in a Radar Chart, allowing you to clearly identify your strengths and weaknesses.
Personal Training Plan
Once you have completed the battery, you can get a personal training plan to improve your weakest point. The plan consists of 16-24 training sessions. Each session consists of several exercises with different intensity, repetitions, work and rest times designed to improve your worst performing ability. The app tracks your progress and timing and guides you when to train or rest. It evaluates how well you have performed each exercise and how well you are following the schedule of the training plan. After you have completed your current training plan, you can do again the “Performance Test Battery” to check your progress and get a new training plan. To learn more about the training plans click here.
Performance Test Battery
The test battery consists of 4 tests that assess your finger strength, power, endurance, and strength-endurance. The tests must be performed when you are fully recovered in order for the results to be accurate. They can be completed over several days; however, all 4 tests should be finished within a maximum of 2 weeks so the battery can correctly represent your current physical condition. The raw test scores are converted into French climbing grades, allowing you to compare your strength and endurance levels. You can track your progress by comparing the current and previous performance battery graphs.
The presented grades indicate the level of difficulty you could potentially climb based on your current strength and endurance. If you climb harder than predicted, you are likely compensating with better technique, mental skills or other abilities. If you climb below the predicted level, you may not yet be fully realizing your physical potential on routes, or you may have less technical and mental experience than the average climber at your ability level.
Once you have completed the battery, you can generate a personal training plan from the “Workouts” screen. The battery results are valid for one month. If more than a month has passed since your last battery and you want a new personal plan, you will need to complete a new battery to reassess your current fitness. The “Battery expiration date” field shows how long your results remain valid.
The “Performance Test Battery” screen displays results for both lead and boulder climbing styles. You can easily switch between the two views by tapping the “Lead” and “Boulder” tabs. To see detailed information about a specific test, tap the corresponding result circle on the graph to open the detailed results screen.
At the bottom of the battery screen, you will find summary scores for your previous and current test results.
Single Tests
The tests that comprise the Performance Test Battery can also be performed individually whenever you want to assess a specific physical quality.
It is highly recommended to perform the “Max Strength” test regularly, as its results are used to determine the absolute intensity of all other tests and training exercises. When you save the result of a single “Max Strength” test, you have the option to store it at your profile level. All tests and workouts use the maximum force values saved in your profile to calculate the appropriate intensity for each hand.
The “Finger RFD” (Rate of Force Development) test measures how quickly you can generate force on a hold. It reflects your explosive finger strength, which is especially important for dynamic moves, powerful deadpoints and bouldering performance. Higher values indicate a greater ability to apply force rapidly.
The “Continuous” test measures your ability to maintain steady force over time at a constant intensity. It reflects aerobic endurance and your capacity to sustain submaximal effort during longer routes.
The “Intermittent” test assesses your ability to repeatedly produce force with short rest intervals. It reflects power-endurance and your ability to recover quickly between hard moves or sequences.
You can also choose to perform the “Continuous” and “Intermittent” tests with the opposite hand from the one used in the Performance Test Battery in order to assess its physical condition and identify potential imbalances.
The “All Out” test evaluates your anaerobic endurance by measuring how long you can sustain force production at a fixed intensity. It reflects your ability to resist fatigue during hard sequences and longer cruxes. Strong results in this test indicate better resistance to pump and improved high-intensity endurance.
Test results
After each test execution the app shows the test results and you can save or discard them. The results include scores for lead and boulder styles presented as climbing grades using the corresponding grading systems – French Sport and Fontainebleau. The results also include various performance indicators that are applicable for the given test as :
- Repetitions – the number of repetitions performed
- Time in target zone (Abs.) – the absolute time in target zone
- Time in target zone (Rel.) – the ratio of the time in target zone to the total work time
- Avg Force (Abs.) – the average force applied while working
- Avg Force (Rel.) – the ratio of the average force to the max force of the given hand
- Performance (Abs.) – the absolute Force Time Index – the product of the absolute avg force and time in target zone
- Performance (Rel.) – the ratio of the Force Time Index and your body mass
- Hang time – the hang time (only for Finger Hang test)
- Max force (Abs.) – the absolute max force of the given hand
- Max force (Rel.) – the ratio of the max force of the given hand to your body mass
The “Test results” screen shows also information about the hand and hold configuration, where it has been started from (Performance battery or Single test) and execution date.
Workout Plan
Once you have completed a full Performance Test Battery, you can generate a workout plan focused on improving your weakest area. The plan consists of 16–24 numbered sessions (workout days), each including several exercises. Every workout day is scheduled for a specific date. If you fall behind, the number of delayed days is shown below the workout day, and the plan schedule is automatically recalculated.
Workout plans are designed to be combined with regular climbing. However, you should ensure proper recovery before high-intensity sessions such as “Strength” and “Hypertrophy”, ideally allowing at least two rest days beforehand. If your upcoming session focuses on endurance, it is acceptable to climb high-intensity routes beforehand, provided you are still able to complete the exercises as prescribed. The execution score of each exercise reflects how well recovered you were before performing it. As a general rule, consistently achieving good execution scores is essential for the plan to be effective.
The “Progress and Timing” status bar shows how much of the overall plan you have completed, along with a timing score that reflects how closely you are following the schedule. The timing score indicates how effective the overall plan will be if you maintain your current consistency. To maximize training effectiveness, you should aim to complete each session on time. If you have missed sessions, we do not recommend completing upcoming workouts earlier than scheduled just to improve your timing score—unless you can perform them with good execution scores, which would indicate sufficient recovery capacity.
After completing the workout plan, you can repeat the Performance Test Battery to evaluate your progress and receive a new workout plan targeting your next weakest area.
Single Exercises
The “Exercise” screen offers predefined exercises with specific parameters designed to target different physical qualities:
- Strength – develops maximal finger strength.
- Hypertrophy – stimulates muscle growth and improves strength-endurance.
- High Intensity Endurance – improves high-intensity endurance and oxygen extraction capacity.
- Medium Intensity Endurance – enhances oxygen utilization and overall endurance performance.
- Low Intensity Endurance – stimulates aerobic adaptations and improves capillarization.
- Recovery – promotes blood flow and supports metabolite removal.
These exercises are intended for more experienced climbers who prefer to follow their own training structure and understand which physical quality they need to improve. Individual exercises provide the flexibility to decide what and when to train.
When performing standalone exercises, it is important to monitor your execution scores to ensure proper integration of Climbro training with your climbing sessions. Consistently achieving good execution scores is essential for the training to be effective.
Exercise Results
After each exercise, the app displays your results and allows you to either save or discard them. The most important metric is the execution score, which reflects how accurately and effectively you completed the prescribed workload.
The execution score is calculated by comparing the expected workload with the actual workload performed, using the Force Time Index (FTI). FTI represents the total force applied over time, providing a precise measurement of how closely you matched the prescribed intensity and duration. This approach ensures that the score reflects the true mechanical work performed rather than only time spent in a target zone.
If Adaptive Intensity is activated, the app automatically adjusts the target intensity during the exercise when you are unable to consistently reach the prescribed force zone. This helps you complete the intended workload while maintaining training quality and reducing the risk of excessive fatigue.
If you are unable to achieve a good execution score, it is most likely that you have not recovered sufficiently before starting the exercise. The results also include the following performance indicators:
- Time in target zone (Abs.) – the absolute time in target zone
- Time in target zone (Rel.) – the ratio of the time in target zone to the total work time
- Avg Force (Abs.) – the average force applied while working
- Avg Force (Rel.) – the ratio of the average force to the max force of the given hand
- Performance (Abs.) – the absolute Force Time Index – the product of the absolute avg force and time in target zone
- Performance (Rel.) – the ratio of the Force Time Index and your body mass
The “Parameters” section show details of the definition of the exercise like the number of the sets and repetitions, work and rest times and intensity.
The “Exercise results” screen shows also information about the hand and hold configuration, where it has been started from (Workout plan or Single Exercise) and execution date.
Performance Analytics
The “Performance Analytics” screen provides information about your performance over time. It shows the aggregated weekly best results for the selected tests, period and source of execution.
Selection Criteria
You can choose which test results to be included in the report by selecting the desired tests, period and source of execution.
By default all tests are selected and the period is set to the last full 3 months plus the past days of the current month.
The “Source” selection parameter filters the tests done as part of a performance battery or single tests.
Performance History Chart
The performance chart provides information about your progress over time. It shows the aggregated weekly best results for the selected tests, period and source of execution.
The aggregated results are presented as a Line chart, so it is easy to compare the level of your physical qualities over time.
You can switch between “Lead” and “Boulder” view to see the corresponding test scores. The scores are internally stored as decimal numbers, and thanks to this you can see more precisely if a test result is a little bit more or less than a given grade. That means that if for example you have the same grade score for a given test in the last two executions, you can still find out which one is better.
Training Analytics
The “Training Analytics” screen provides various summary information about the exercises performed for a given period.
Selection Criteria
You can choose which exercise results to be included in the report by selecting the desired exercises, period and source of execution.
By default all exercises are selected and the period is set to the last full 3 months plus the past days of the current month.
The “Source” selection parameter filters the exercises done as part of a workout plan or single exercises.
Total Exercises
The “Total Exercises” chart shows the total count and workload of all exercise results for the selected exercises, period and “Source” filter.
The results are grouped by exercise type, so you can easily see what is the ratio of the training workloads with different intensity for a given period. The workload is presented using the absolute Force Time Index measurement unit (t.s – tons.seconds) normalized to the standard 2.3cm hold. The Force Time Index or FTI is a product of the average force and the working time in the target zone.
Exercises by Month
The “Exercises by Month” chart shows the total count and workload of all exercise results for the selected exercises, period and “Source” filter, aggregated monthly. The results are grouped by exercise type, so you can easily see what is the ratio of the training workloads with different intensity for each month. The workload is presented using the absolute normalized Force Time Index measurement unit – tons.seconds.
Avg Execution Score
The “Avg Execution Score” chart shows the average score of all exercise results for the selected exercises, period and “Source” filter, aggregated monthly. The results are grouped by exercise type, so you can easily see which exercises you are able to complete with good score and which you are not. This is very important in order to understand how much to rest before starting a given type of exercise and how to combine optimally training on Climbro with climbing. The execution score is using a 5-point scoring system, where 1 is “Poor” and 5 is “Excellent”.
Summary
The “Summary” table shows the summary results of all selected exercises for the chosen period and “Source” filter.
The table shows the total count, total workload and average execution score for each exercise type.
Free Measurement
The Free Measurement function is designed for advanced climbers, coaches and researchers who require full control over testing and training variables. It allows you to customize all key work parameters, including intensity, number of sets, number of repetitions, work duration and rest intervals. This gives you complete flexibility to design any test or exercise protocol according to your specific needs.
Intensity can be defined relative to your current profile FMax (maximum force) or set as an absolute value in kilograms. Setting the intensity to 0 disables the intensity target zone, allowing unrestricted force production without visual guidance.
You can configure infinite repetitions or unlimited work duration when needed, for example during an “all-out” test or when performing open-ended endurance assessments.
The minimum rest time between sets is calculated automatically based on the defined number of repetitions and work duration, helping you maintain a logical and structured protocol.
All session results can be saved for future reference. In addition to summary metrics, the raw force data can be exported in CSV format, enabling detailed analysis in external software for coaching, research or performance monitoring purposes.
