RRC Archives

bouldering, trying hard while bouldering

http://cgi.ebay.com/Iron-Woody-Super-Vi ... 2a03988e49

bill ramsey used to swear by this.

Slopers and pinches on a steep bouldering wall is great for contact strength, don't even worry all that much about finishing the problems, just try to make moves to and from those kinda of holds. But if you want something to work while driving around, doing homework, etc, then check out iron mind - http://www.captainsofcrushgrippers.com/ - start low - even the number 1 isn't all that easy to close.

climbing. Hand strength is far less important than good technique.

kung fu mags are a good source for items similar to lurkist's suggestion... ah so

Crankmas wrote:kung fu mags are a good source for items similar to lurkist's suggestion... ah so

On a related note, there are two Kung Fu problems at Rumbling Bald that will up your hand strength if you get to where you can send. Kung Fu Grip and Xi Lin Wonder Palm, both total classics. And I can tell you, they call it Kung Fu Grip for a reason!

512OW wrote:climbing. Hand strength is far less important than good technique.

This is very important for sure. I know you are coming back from a break, so a gripper might help a bit, but I never found that training with those actually translated to better climbing. But, good technique will help. Maybe find a good coach or climbing that can teach, and pay them for a few lessons.

Try a bouldering workout kinda like this:

Warm up
15 minutes of just normal bouldering, problems within your limit, etc.
15 minutes of good holds, but really, really far apart, open feet. Try to do as many drop knees, back steps, step throughs as you can, but you should also have to really lock off to reach the next hold, even with the foot work.
15 minutes of 1-3 move problems on slopers and open handed pinches. Totally at and above your limit. The goal is just to be able to hold on while moving feet, etc. It should take several sessions to be able to do the problems, and just holding on should be a lot of work.

i've noticed that, since i broke my left wrist, my left hand strength is CONSIDERABLY less than my right hand. so, for me, i'm just looking for what works best to work on this while traveling or sitting in meetings or class or whatever.

i found one of the grip master pro's at Philip Galls and will try that for now - although the one Lurkist showed looks interesting. maybe once the grip master is too easy for me, i'll move on to the more advanced one