What's the easiest way of improving my strength without a large investment of time?
I've been climbing for about 7 years starting when I was 31 years old. Initially I made rapid progress as I learned the various techniques etc, but after about a year I plateaued and I haven't really made any progress in the last 6 years. I have kids and I'm pretty busy all week so I only get to climb, with another friend my age at the weekend so as it stands I'm doing about 2 hours climbing per week. I can reliably climb up to a French grade 6b or a bouldering grade V4 but that's about it.
People generally say that my technique is good but what I really lack is strength. I see other people do routes that are beyond me and I get as far as "that pull" or "that hold" and I simply don't have the strength to do the move that's required.
So here's the thing, I'd love to go up another grade and to be able to climb V5-V6 routes but it's clear that if I don't make a change to how much training I'm doing it won't happen. I don't have a lot of time but I'm wondering what I could do with a few hours at home over the week that would help me improve at the weekend? Would two 20 minute finger board sessions mid-week at home be enough to get me up a grade? What kind of things would I be best investing my limited time in?
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Hmm,
I've just found some excellent resources which seem to answer my needs. There's a podcast here called "performance tips for weekend warriors" which seems to fit my needs and a training program. I'll be trying this out and seeing where I get on:
http://trainingforclimbing.com/podcast-14-performance-tips-for-weekend-warriors/
http://trainingforclimbing.com/training-programs/
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What you really want to do is "repeatedly" train in Bodyweight / Calisthenics/ Gymnastics/ Acrobatic oriented muscle chain & neural pathways, across varied planes & directions of motion; especially those of disadvantaged leverage.
Now, rock climbers may have "higher endurance" due to longer climbs, but pound for pound the disadvantaged positions some of these folks bodies can achieve would leave a climber flabbergasted. That is strength in "directions" that no climber or body builder would have ever bothered, which they have to have trained to perfection.
One of the places I got into that initially was a forum called BodyWeightCulture (.net).
That eventually led me to an article on Dragon Door around Gymnastic Strength training by Coach Christopher Sommer who sometime around/ after that started "Gymnastic Bodies" website, forum - which led to a Book and Online training programs.
Gymnasts undergo some of the highest loads & variations of loads in different directions than any other sport, so their training centers hugely around not just muscle strength, but tendon & soft tissue with mobility and strength in all directions of disadvantaged leverage.
So, being able to "condition" and "strengthen" the entire muscle/ body chain and control its "coordinated" movement & proprioception is going to be uniquely beneficial.
There are a few other programs/ books around this from other sources so do look it up, but largely this was usually knowledge only known to people in the Gymnastics arena that is now out.
A picture worth thousand words; You and I wont reach this anytime soon, but the direction/ pathway is as good as it gets for Strength to Weight ratio.
http://bodyweighttrainingarena.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/image-4.jpg
The books & training programs are copyrighted so I cannot share the content but if you are so inclined you can find the Table of Contents and some previews & freebies online that depict/ show/ indicate the direction of these & Articles that give you a glimpse into the types of exercises.
Rock Climbers using / training in similar ways:
https://www.reddit.com/r/bouldering/comments/4wunyn/strength_exercises_for_rock_climbing_on_gymnastic/
https://www.trainingbeta.com/gymnastic-rings-strength-training-for-climbing/
https://vimeo.com/127016821
Case Study: How an Accomplished Climber Used Gymnastic Rings for Better Performance - https://gmb.io/climber-sami/
https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/improve-climbing-using-gymnasticbodies-strength-mobility/
https://touchstoneclimbing.com/a-gymnast-in-the-climbing-gym-cisco-gonzalez/
http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/outdoor/adventure/2015/01/rock-climbing-gymnast-andrea-hah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjwP1NEUxXs
https://youtu.be/DFojqoAfJ7g?t=46
https://youtu.be/8CAtQeFbwic?t=282
Cautionary Note: Some reference samples of starting points/ mid points & where it goes.Some of these are advanced moves so there are progressions & conditioning to get there. Since the advent of GB/ GST lot of tutorials (good & bad) have popped up.
Please do your homework before you try them as they can screw up your joints/ tendons if done wrong or done before your body is that level.
To whet your appetite (free content from their FB/ Youtube channels):
Great Overview / Fundamental Article by Steven Low (former GB member):
http://stevenlow.org/the-fundamentals-of-bodyweight-strength-training/
His 2nd Book
https://www.amazon.com/Overcoming-Gravity-Systematic-Gymnastics-Bodyweight/dp/0990873854/ - See Table of Contents
Where it all Started: GB Forums
Multi Plane Pulling (a term never heard or seen by me elsewhere - Google it)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAGMcEoDbg0 -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riTZNhGI-Jo
Yewki and it combines a pullup, a row and a front lever together
http://www.bodyweightculture.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-8931.html
https://www.facebook.com/GymnasticBodies/posts/1088319601191739
Front Lever Progressions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3EwjmqsPnw
https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/forum/topic/155-front-lever-pulls-a-conditioning-necessity/
360 Pulls - A Multi-Plane Pulling Exercise https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/forum/topic/263-360-pulls-a-multi-plane-pulling-exercise/
http://www.gymnasticbodies.com/blog/
https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/really-causes-tennis-elbow-fix/
https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/joints-pop-crackle-doesnt-mean-think/
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This depends on the person of course, but yes, any type of extra exercise which is sufficiently long would be beneficial. And 20min of fingerboard might just do the trick. Especially with climbing where strength can become the limiting factor. However if it is really enough to get to e.g. 6C is something different. A fingerboard is mainly about forearm strength. Ok, biceps as well if you're doing pull-ups, but that is about it. And while forearm strength is important in climbing there's a ton of other muscles you'll be using as well: climbing really is a 'using the whole body' type of sport, especially when adavancing to the higher grades.
So: the fingerboard won't hurt (though keep in mind to warm up gradually to avoid injuries) but to know whether it helps you'll have to try it since there's more to climbing than just fingers. Probably, unless you are a pro working on some specific body part, the single best exercise for climbing is simply more climbing. If I go from once a week to an average of 1.5 times per week, after a month or two I'm climbing 1 grade higher. I tried other things like fingerboards and never got any yield like that. What did help me a bit, but not as much as actual climbing in a dedicated spot, was mimicking climbing by having multiple fingerboards and whatever could serve as a grip and creating a small climbing route at home. You do need the space for that though. Climbing trees is another thing, though more dangerous. But it's also more fun, and hence easier to sustain, than the just seeminly pointless hanging from a fingerboard.
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