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How early or late should you start doing climbing specific training?

Original Post
David Anders · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2018 · Points: 0

Hi yall,

Im very new to climbing, only a month into it. The reason why im asking this question is because i am only able to climb once a week. Im afraid the 6 days rest might be a little much and i wont be training up my (climbing / finger) muscle.

I've watched video where there are beginner hang board exercise but I've also read that you should only start using the hang board after a year or two into climbing.

If i am still too new to be using a hang board or be doing climbing specific training. What other exercise should i be doing to help out with my climbing every week?

Thank you. 

Tylerpratt · · Litchfield, Connecticut · Joined Feb 2016 · Points: 40

Wait at least 1 year and until you are climbing 5.11 for hang-boarding imho. Even then only use it as a small supplement for your climbing. Definitely don't do anything on the campus board until you are climbing 5.12 consistently at least 1.5 years in.

Ken Noyce · · Layton, UT · Joined Aug 2010 · Points: 2,658

While there are certainly methods for safely hangboarding as a beginner, in reality, it's not going to help you much if at all.  Right now I can guarantee you that strength isn't what is holding you back, it is almost certainly technique, and by doing hangboarding to get stronger you will just learn bad habbits.  I do agree that once a week is probably not enough climbing time, but it would be a much better idea to figure out a way to work technique than strength at this point.  Good luck!

Greg D · · Here · Joined Apr 2006 · Points: 883

Only a month in and you are thinking about training? Fuck that. You haven’t the slightest clue what climbing is all about or what it will mean to you. It means something different to everyone and it can be enjoyed at so many different levels.

Climb as much as you can in different places indoors and outdoors with different partners and have fun.  There is tons and tons of climbing that requires zero training. Do it for a year or so and go from there. 

Nick Drake · · Kent, WA · Joined Jan 2015 · Points: 651
Tylerpratt wrote:  Definitely don't  bother with anything on the campus board until you are climbing 5.13+/V10 consistently at least 5 years in.

Fixed that one. The campus board is the most overused piece of equipment for intermediate climbers, sure it gets rapid force production ("contact strength") up, but it does so at the expense of ignoring the rest of the body in movement (unless of course you are actually training for the gigantic lock offs of action directe). Are holds less than 1 pad hard to use on a 45 degree system board? If you answered yes simply get on the system board and set hard movement from poor feet. Train initial of movement from the hips, core tension, the whole shebang, WHILE working contact strength. 

If you can easily and statically do moves on the smaller "yellow school holds" of the moonboard then I see value in campus training. 
Ryan Pfleger · · Boise, ID · Joined Sep 2014 · Points: 25

I'm going to go the opposite direction with this one. If you love it and want to improve, but only have one day a week then sure, go ahead and "train" a little bit, but do so in a way that enables you to maximize the time you get to climb. Like Jake said, work on your flexibility. Train your general fitness. If you lift weights, try throwing big grips in the bar. Use a hangboard if you have access to one, but try training endurance with it. Throw a chair underneath, a foot or so back from the hangboard, put both feet on, and stay on as long as possible. We are talking minutes, not seconds. Switch holds while staying on. Chalk up. Take a rest and do it again. This should get your endurance up so that when you are out climbing you can get MORE movement training in before your body, skin and everything else calls it quits. Read some books. Figure out how to setup a top-rope that won't kill you. Learn how to build a safe and efficient anchor. Learn how to escape the belay. Best idea... build a woody in your garage so you can climb 3 times a week!

Ken Noyce · · Layton, UT · Joined Aug 2010 · Points: 2,658
Ryan Pfleger wrote: I'm going to go the opposite direction with this one. If you love it and want to improve, but only have one day a week then sure, go ahead and "train" a little bit, but do so in a way that enables you to maximize the time you get to climb. Like Jake said, work on your flexibility. Train your general fitness. If you lift weights, try throwing big grips in the bar. Use a hangboard if you have access to one, but try training endurance with it. Throw a chair underneath, a foot or so back from the hangboard, put both feet on, and stay on as long as possible. We are talking minutes, not seconds. Switch holds while staying on. Chalk up. Take a rest and do it again. This should get your endurance up so that when you are out climbing you can get MORE movement training in before your body, skin and everything else calls it quits. Read some books. Figure out how to setup a top-rope that won't kill you. Learn how to build a safe and efficient anchor. Learn how to escape the belay. Best idea... build a woody in your garage so you can climb 3 times a week!

I don't think you are going in the opposite direction at all, no-one here is saying not to "train", we're just saying that as a complete beginner there are much more effective ways to train than with a hangboard.  If a hangboard is literally the only thing you have to use, it can be used, but there are much better ways to train as a beginner.

Jer · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2015 · Points: 26
Ken Noyce wrote: While there are certainly methods for safely hangboarding as a beginner, in reality, it's not going to help you much if at all.  Right now I can guarantee you that strength isn't what is holding you back, it is almost certainly technique, and by doing hangboarding to get stronger you will just learn bad habbits.  I do agree that once a week is probably not enough climbing time, but it would be a much better idea to figure out a way to work technique than strength at this point.  Good luck!

Nonsense. What bad habits are you referring to?

OP has 1 day a week to climb and that's not going to stimulate strength gains. I haven't seen any reason why training finger strength should lead to bad habits. Obviously work on technique when you have the time. Sure, a beginner could possibly get more progress in their first month by training technique exclusively but that doesn't mean hangboarding is not helpful for long term gains. 

Take it easy, make sure you have proper form, and listen to your joints to prevent injury. Hangboarding can be one of the safest training methods
Ken Noyce · · Layton, UT · Joined Aug 2010 · Points: 2,658
Jer wrote:

Nonsense. What bad habits are you referring to?

OP has 1 day a week to climb and that's not going to stimulate strength gains. I haven't seen any reason why training finger strength should lead to bad habits. Obviously work on technique when you have the time. Sure, a beginner could possibly get more progress in their first month by training technique exclusively but that doesn't mean hangboarding is not helpful for long term gains. 

Take it easy, make sure you have proper form, and listen to your joints to prevent injury. Hangboarding can be one of the safest training methods

The bad habits of musceling through moves that could be done much more efficiently with a little bit of technique.  This is an extremely common problem with newer climbers, and by building additional strength it makes it so that they end up continuing to climb harder and harder with extremely poor technique because they are able to thereby reinforcing that way of climbing.

Jer · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2015 · Points: 26
Ken Noyce wrote:

The bad habits of musceling through moves that could be done much more efficiently with a little bit of technique.  This is an extremely common problem with newer climbers, and by building additional strength it makes it so that they end up continuing to climb harder and harder with extremely poor technique because they are able to thereby reinforcing that way of climbing.

It's not like he'll magically be able to muscle through 5.14 after a couple weeks on the hangboard. There will still be strength failures which might be prevented with improved technique. Maybe he'll have shitty technique on 11a instead of 10b, but I see no reason that stronger fingers would slow progress of technical skill given a fixed amount of time for skills training.

Steve Marshall · · Concord NH · Joined Jul 2014 · Points: 45
Ken Noyce wrote:

The bad habits of musceling through moves that could be done much more efficiently with a little bit of technique.  This is an extremely common problem with newer climbers, and by building additional strength it makes it so that they end up continuing to climb harder and harder with extremely poor technique because they are able to thereby reinforcing that way of climbing.

True, but I don't think that means you can make the recommendation that new climbers should avoid improving their fitness so that they don't accidentally become too strong to climb well. (I am using a reductio ad absurdum here, not trying to put words in your mouth).

IMO having enough grip strength is important to doing moves on HARDER routes correctly. If you can grab a hold relaxed and in control then you can look around and figure out how to use it instead of bearing down on a crimp that's too small for you thinking ohgodohgodohgodithurts and trying to throw yourself past it.

In all of my observations, more fit people climb harder things sooner than less fit people. I think that overall, climbing harder things is more important to developing technique than trying to avoid campusing 5.9s.
Nick Drake · · Kent, WA · Joined Jan 2015 · Points: 651
Jer wrote:

Nonsense. What bad habits are you referring to?

Poor understanding of body position to expend the least amount of energy on a particular hold layout, imprecise footwork, over gripping, initiating movement from arms instead of hip position, poor core tension, using two feet on edges instead of engaging a flagged foot to control hips from drooping, focusing on hand hold position instead of the feet that will allow you to achieve it, using too high of feet, using too low of feet resulting in an over stretched position you can't move out of, hesitation on dynamic movement, a small movement vocabulary which leads to slow progress for onsights............................I could write a novel.

Aleks Zebastian · · Boulder, CO · Joined Jul 2014 · Points: 175

climbing friend,

if he has only one daay each week passing for the climbing and is quite bored with much free time, he is probably "overgripping" something! ha ha ha ho ho hya ha myah!

Gumby King · · The Gym · Joined Jun 2016 · Points: 52

I pretty much agree with the previous comments (I did skim them).  Focus on technique first since that's where you'll get your biggest gains.  If you're out of shape it probably wouldn't hurt running or biking to lose weight and increase cardio and overall fitness.  Unless you're already super flexible, you can work on increasing flexibility at home.  When I started climbing, lack of hip flexibility was a major issue for me.

If you have access to weights, you could look into exercises that'll help prevent climbing injuries (e.g., Shoulder Press, Deadlift, Squat, and Bench).  If you're new to weight lifting I recommend hiring a trainer (find a coach who isn't naive to climbing) to learn technique.  But seriously, since you're new just climb and learn technique/movement.  

If you do hang boarding make sure you learn proper technique since improper technique can lead to shoulder injuries.

R E R · · Southern California · Joined Sep 2011 · Points: 4,947

No you better not touch that hangboard. Don't even look at it. You are not ready. Tendon strength is not the same as muscle strength. Building strength in your tendons is a slow process since they take 2 to 3 times longer to recovery than muscles. This is why the general rule for hangboard training is after 1 year or 2 of consistent climbing. For general training on technique and basic exercises go here http://trainingforclimbing.com/

Andrew Rice · · Los Angeles, CA · Joined Jan 2016 · Points: 11

You don't say why you can only climb 1 day per week. I agree that you don't need to work on climbing-specific strength. Basically that's finger-hand strength improvement. However, general fitness and flexibility goes a long way toward climbing well. I find yoga particularly complimentary with it. So is any basic aerobic exercise that helps keep weight in check and improves overall fitness: running, biking, hiking, swimming...

JF M · · NoCo · Joined Jul 2010 · Points: 1,863

Never before 10am and never after 8pm. 

Greg D · · Here · Joined Apr 2006 · Points: 883

Does everyone know that when you post stupid shit, everyone already in the thread gets a notification that someone new has contributed to the thread. 

Gumby King · · The Gym · Joined Jun 2016 · Points: 52

Our you could disable the notifications...

David Anders · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2018 · Points: 0

Thank you all for your reply.

The reason why I cant climb during weekdays is because of work. I do not want to give out any other information on my work, sorry.

Yes, the main reason why I want to train my body that would help me the most when I am climbing over the weekends is because I am afraid due to the long break between each climbing session, I might not be getting stronger.

I guess general fitness and training my flexibility seems like the best way to go. I know many have already warned me to stay away from the hangboard but I need to ask this too, will I be resting too much between climbing sessions (5-6days) for my fingers to gain any strength?

Ryan Pfleger · · Boise, ID · Joined Sep 2014 · Points: 25
David Anders wrote:Will I be resting too much between climbing sessions (5-6days) for my fingers to gain any strength?

Maybe not initially, but at some point, fo'shizzle. Luckily, finger strength is one of the easiest things to train without actually climbing.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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