How to get my lead climbing certification
How I did it: The "final exam" itself is fairly simple: just take a fall from several feet above the top clip. If you are on belay, you are trying to do a nice, clean, dynamic catch (unless the climber is low enough to deck).
Getting there isn't quite as simple. First you have to find somebody crazy enough to do this thing with you. To put your lives in each others' hands. To trust that you will be caught if you fall.
Next, our gym requires us to be comfortable on 5.10- and able to on-sight 5.9 on top-rope before giving the lead rope class. Training ourselves to be able to do this took just over three months.
Lessons & tips: At the beginning, just climb. Climb, climb, climb. Climb until your arms scream at you and your shoulders are numb in the morning.
Climb to failure every session. Climb as long as you can. Sessions will start very short and increase in length as you develop stamina. Aim for 3-4 hour sessions.
Make sure to start each session with a warm-up routine; you need to look one up. This will ease your muscles and tendons into service instead of cold-starting everything. This warm-up is either 1 of 4 hours or it is an extra hour outside of the gym.
Consult your doctor and see if a mild NSAID (400 mg of Ibuprofen) might help you train for longer by keeping inflammation of the tissue to a minimum.
