RRC Archives

I found this great site http://www.dragondoor.com/articler/mode3/232/
from a link from John Gill's site, which I got to from WIred Nut's site (thanks- great site).
this is a great resource for training one arm strength (which I think is helpful for climbing).
John Gill's site www.johngill.net is a great site for the history of bouldering and strength training. My thanks to John Gill for culling together this history.

wow...super cool!

One arm chin ups are an excellent strength builder for climbing. it's a regular part of my workout for mountaineering and trad climbing. An important factor to consider however is the placement of the off hand, many people choose to hold their chin up hand at the wrist or forearm with the off hand. This handicaps the benefit of the exercise, rather one would do better to place the off hand on the bicep of the chin up hand, this way it can be used for balance but not to assist in the chin up itself. Another excellent exercise is to perform doulble leg and single leg squats on a wobble board with a moderate amount of weight on a barbell. You'd be suprised how much you'll gain in balance and controlled power.

I was under the impression that one arm pull-ups should be done with the free fist shoved up your ass to help push.

also a laugh from the website:

'Flash' climbing is roughly the climber's equivalent of sight-reading in music. Essentially, it means being able to just go to a rock face and climb it, having done some preliminary checking first. Not many climbers can do this. As a glance through the photographs in Hörst's book will amply testify, those that can and do would certainly qualify for automatic Party membership on insanity quotient alone.

Rock climbers at the Flash level are true PTP folk: lean, mean, incredibly strong, and averse to building mass (particularly in the legs). The reasons for this are obvious: you don't want to haul a pair of heavy bulging thighs up a ninety degree crag with holds that barely allow one or two fingers to squeeze in. And you do want your arms, legs, fingers and toes to function reliably while you're hurling yourself up the said crag with the sea crashing over needle sharp rocks 90 feet below! Flash climbers need grips, pulls, and so forth that will work on demand: they have to because their lives may depend on them.

[quote="OB Juan" Another excellent exercise is to perform doulble leg and single leg squats on a wobble board with a moderate amount of weight on a barbell. You'd be suprised how much you'll gain in balance and controlled power.[/quote]


Dude, are you shittin' me? That is crazy sounding. It may work, but fcukstcik! I would kill myself trying that!

Mj

Dude, are you shittin' me? That is crazy sounding. It may work, but fcukstcik! I would kill myself trying that!

Mj[/quote]

No Way dude I wouldn't shit you, you might be my favorite turd. Fact is, find yourself on a 90degree rock face with over a 1000ft of exposure and you'll be damn glad you've done those squats. The alternative, you'll be hanging over 1000ft of exposure elvising and wishing you had right before you take the winger of a lifetime. If you can't do the exercises with a moderate weight, then start out just working with squats on the wobble board, start with two legs, get your balance and build up, just like you did with your climbing. The idea isn't to bulk up it's to train the muscles you have into skilled coordinated muscle groups with endurance. You'll thank yourself when you need to make some delicate balance move.

Yeah, I understand the principle of building your stabilizers and overall body stability, but jeez isn't throwing weight up on your shoulders while on a wobble board a bit, uh, dangerous? I could maybe see using dumbells, but barbells? As for the 90 degree rock face at a 1000 feet, I doubt I will be on that type of terrain. I climb in the Red where the rock is 30-40 degrees at 100 feet or less. But the training still sounds cool. I may have to modify it a bit, but it definitely sounds interesting.

Mj

Yeah man that's fine, like I said the idea is not to bulk up but build coordination strength and endurance. I'm not suggesting someone use a 45lb olympic bar with 2-25's or more. We're talking about a light retail 20lb bar and adding some weight, maybe a gross max weight of 40lbs. Let's face it Arnold don't climb and John long don't max out on reps. Besides just the wobble board squat practice even without the added weight (Barbell or dumbells) will radically improve balance and coordination, which all leads to better technique (at least if we have technique to begin with, and some don't). You get the point!

Here's another little twist, when you do the one armed chins and you get proficient, try it on your training board. Use the 4 finger, 3 finger, and 2 finger deep to shallow holds progressively. It will eat your shit up, I did both of these exercises prior to the east face of Whitney (3sets each 6 reps of shallow three finger holds, and 3sets of squats double and single leg, 20 reps each with weight in the 30 - 60 lb range) for about 3-4 months and I could just about climb the Web Bldg. in Lex. with stablity that was incredible, and the ability to flash a 5.9 200ft trad pitch with 1300ft of expoure with finger cracks and no foot holds clamly and deliberately.

Here's why the barball is better. Rarely have I ever been in situation where all of my weight has been directly over my feet (as simulated by dumbells). when I've needed to make some typically off balance move. Putting the additional weight out on the barbell replicates the off balance coordination needed to make that type of move.