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Lifting For Climbing
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Been feeling stale and like I need to shake things up. It's been a long time since I did any body work/ lifting, but thinking it may help bring back some explosiveness, some energy, and maybe even correct some imbalances. Anyone have a routine or exercises they like and feel complimented their climbing training? |
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Antagonist muscle training helps keep me away from imbalance injuries. I mostly do bench press, military press, dips and reverse bicep curls (with an EZ-bar). I also do reverse wrist curls to keep tendonitis at bay. Interesting enough, after many years of doing those, they don't seem to blast my forearm extensors as much as they used to. Finger extensions with a broccoli band seem better for that right now. Conspicuously absent from my training regimen: legs. I do a fair amount of mtb racing and just call it good at that. Also, I like doing core leg raises while hanging from the pullup bar or in a captain's chair. |
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Training the hinge movement (kettlebell swings, deadlift etc) changed the way I move on steep terrain. Posterior kinetic chain strength has improved my ability to use body tension by leaps and bounds |
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Last year I had several injuries that felt tweaky and unhealed, so I spent the winter lifting weights to try to bolster my joints a bit. I've gained about 12 pounds and now I suck (even more) at climbing. I'm hoping that I eventually learn to climb with the extra weight and things even out, but right now it's pretty frustrating. My knees feel better and I'm actually able to run now, which I couldn't do all last year, but it has definitely not helped my climbing. |
Eric Chabot wrote: I second this! Doing these posterior strengthening exercises have given me a massive boost in the ability to really toe into bad feet in the steeps. |
Eric Chabot wrote: This sounds great. I definitely feel anterior-heavy (unsurprisingly) so I'll try to work this in! |
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Deadlifts are king (I was taught traditional RDLs so I tend to do those). I love em and feel they're a great complement, and they also seem to have helped with minor back pain from sitting to much at my desk job. |
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I like to stack upper body muscular endurance with calisthenic full body movements to help gain grip strength and full body mind-muscle connection. For upper body muscular endurance my go-to is the "ascending giant set" rep scheme, to perform this you pick an exercise such as the pull-up, pushups, or any other compound upper body movement. The basic set-rep outline is to perform a single set of a manageable number of pullups or pushups (6 pullups or 30 pushups), then rest. For the subsequent sets you repeat the first set and then add on a second with some kind of variation. You continue to rest between sets, adding exercises and volume with every subsequent set. This might look like Set 1: 6 Pullups Set 2: 6 Pullups, 4 Wide Grip Pullups Set 3: 6 Pullups, 4 Wide Grip Pullups, 6 Pullups Set 4: 6 Pullups, 4 Wide Grip Pullups, 6 Pullups, 4 Chinups Set 5: .... It is fine to take up to 3 minutes rest between sets, but try to keep rest within each set to a maximum of 30 seconds between movements. As you get to sets 4,5,6 if you can no longer meet this 30 second rest requirement it is a good sign that you are tapped and should finish the exercise routine. With time, you will notice that your endurance will increase and you can add more sets. For Calisthenic Strength, one of my favorite exercises right now is hips to bar. This trains strength in the lats, the core, and the posterior chain (it's kind of like an upside down deadlift). To begin, hang from a pullups bar with legs straight, feet off the ground. Then proceed like you are going to perform a "toes to bar" movement. Once you are in the toes to bar position, lever your torso upwards "pulling" your hips into the bar while clenching your butt cheeks and pulling your body tight. This is a great exercise to gain strength for front levers, and the next level up from doing a traditional toes to bar ab workout, when you are in the final position it will be like the top out of a deadlift, but inverted, with your hips making contact with the pull up bar, and your feet straight up in the air. Perform these in sets of 4-6 reps to build strength. |
Dirt King wrote: Major bang for the buck on this exercise. Good addition to the thread, thanks!  |
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The power clean is a useful lift for climbing. It’s dynamic, requires pulling and total involvement of the legs, the core, and the back. When done with at least 12 reps or so, it mimics climbing routes where there’s maximal exertion for a couple of minutes and then a rest spot. When I do sets of power lifts, I stretch between sets rather than rest. https://blog.thewodlife.com.au/challenging-power-clean-emom-tia-clair-toomey/ |
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I have found planche exercises have really helped with general strengthening of the lats and lower back without stressing my elbows. Same with bench press for lats and shoulders. Bonus for the bench press is feeling way stronger in compression movements. Last year I had a coach correct my bench press technique and put on an additional 50 lbs in a couple months, turns out I’ve been doing it wrong for like, 25 years |
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All great suggestions. Just make sure you stay climbing and not become 100% training/lifting. I see lots of beginner climbers spending as much if not more time lifting and hangboarding than they do actually climbing. I think the best way to get explosive is to climb on steep boards. Supplement this with a bit of hangboarding and lifting. Good rule I've used is 80% time should be climbing, 20% training. Oh, and rest a lot! |
F r i t z wrote: It’s a kip? |
Tradiban wrote: I guess all the YouTube videos show people kipping but I do it strict form. Just starting out in a toes to bar and mid way through engaging the lats and pulling the hips towards my hands so that I finish the movement hanging upside down from the bar with my feet in the air and a fully straight spine. |
Dirt King wrote: Horizontal or vert? Sounds like a good option for “playground fitness”. |
