Hangboard Season 01 (Nov 25th 16'~Dec 23rd 17')

[kader]

Hi,

i would like to write some feedback of my 1st season of the RCT and ask for advices for the next season which should start this saturday

i used the beastmaker 2000 and the intermediate hangboard workout


set 1 is 7 hangs of 7 secs on/3 secs off at weight x
set 2 is 6 hangs of 7 secs on/3 secs off at weight x+5kg (except for pinches: x+1.25 kg)
3 min between sets and 3 minutes between grips

1st grip: Large edge, IMRP open
2nd grip: Deep two finger pockets, MR open
3rd grip: Small edge, half crimp
4th grip: Large edge, IMR open
5th grip: Wide pinch dead lift
6th grip: 35 degree sloper, IMRP open
7th grip: Narrow pinch dead lift

I did 10 hangboard session (bouldering planning) with 2 rest days in between
if i managed the second sets of one grip, i would add 1.25 kg in the next session (0.5kg for pinches), otherwise I used the previous workout weight

The progression of the 2nd set was (failure to complete in orange):



What  I did not like:

• It took 1 hour to do the workout, excluding the warmup and the supplemental workout
• The 1st grip seemed to take too much of my energy and made the 2nd and 3rd very hard while the 4th always felt ok
• Slopers a bit condition dependent
• I was very tiring

What I did like:

• Stronger fingers:)
• Working out at home makes the whole thing more enjoyable (music, heater etc)
• The recording of the numbers made me try really hard. Many times i could not believe I made it and yet beat my score during the next workout.
• It was very tiring

The results:
I did 15 boulders at my max level in about 4 climbing session and upgraded my max grade. I was a bit conservative about challenging myself to higher grades because i wanted to dominate my previous max grade, which used to dominate me
I was a pleasure to kick people i considered much stronger than me's asses
It boosted my confidence and now i am back on track to realize my goals that i had given up on 2 years ago (after some failures and sever injuries)
The fact that the workout is systematic makes it easy to focus on sensations and feel one's current state of fatigue, or finger strength
On the moonboard, the results were dramatic (during the power phase). in Jan 2016 i could not do 6c but after only 1 month of training i did several 7b and got close on 7c in Jan 2017. 

I am going to use the same scheme for next season, but i would like to tweak it a little bit

• I am worried of overloading during grip 2. Should I reduce the pocket size and go lighter?
• Grip 1 was supposed to be the warm-ip but took to much energy. I am thinking of using alexandra 's warmup routine and give up on this one
• I am thinking of adding MRP open, or RP open, any thought?
• I will use the grippul pinches instead of my DIY pinches (if they get delivered in time)
• I am thinking of using my previous 6th/7th hangboard workout as the start of the next season, is that realistic?

Any thoughts are welcome! (i will make a similar post about the power phase)

Attachments:

[jetjackson]

I'm confused about the pinches - are you using some kind of pinch block lift system with weight attached?

If so, do you do the rep with both of them at same time, or individually?

[tetrault]

I am worried of overloading during grip 2. Should I reduce the pocket size and go lighter?
- What are you worried about overloading? Do you mean you are trying too hard and making grip 3 performance suffer? Or do you mean something else?

Grip 1 was supposed to be the warm-ip but took to much energy. I am thinking of using alexandra 's warmup routine and give up on this one
- If the warmup is too hard, lower the weight. I know it's hard sometimes as you are getting in the mindset to go all out, but that is not the point of the warmup.

I am thinking of adding MRP open, or RP open, any thought?
- There has been some discussion on this board regarding these grips. You should be able to search for it. Some people feel doing MRP or RP helps to teach their RP fingers engage on other grips. Other people do not bother with these grips due to lack of specificity to real climbing.


I am thinking of using my previous 6th/7th hangboard workout as the start of the next season, is that realistic?
- In my personal experience, this would be way too hard and is not realistic. However, I am on the "old, plateaued" and "non-atheleletic" side. I used to use my 2nd workout weights to start the next cycle, for what it is worth. Now, changing starting weights from season to season is more of an exception rather than the routine.

[MarkAnderson]

Feb 22, 2017 16:13:12 GMT -7 tetrault said:

Some people feel doing MRP or RP helps to teach their RP fingers engage on other grips. Other people do not bother with these grips due to lack of specificity to real climbing.

I use MRP quite a bit outside, so I would not consider it to be lacking in specificity. That said, I don't train it any more, because I have other grips that are more important for me to train. As for RP, I can only remember using that grip once while face climbing. However, that grip is fairly common on thin cracks, especially pin scars.

Feb 22, 2017 16:13:12 GMT -7 tetrault said:

I am thinking of using my previous 6th/7th hangboard workout as the start of the next season, is that realistic?
- In my personal experience, this would be way too hard and is not realistic. However, I am on the "old, plateaued" and "non-atheleletic" side. I used to use my 2nd workout weights to start the next cycle, for what it is worth. Now, changing starting weights from season to season is more of an exception rather than the routine.

+1

[tetrault]

 "lack of specificity to their personal climbing goals" may have been more accurate regarding MRP or RP.

one thread is here: link

[kader]

Feb 22, 2017 15:31:34 GMT -7 jetjackson said:

I'm confused about the pinches - are you using some kind of pinch block lift system with weight attached?

If so, do you do the rep with both of them at same time, or individually?

Yes. I did them individually but started the left hand as soon as the right hand was done

As for MRP, the idea is to get used to engaging the pinky side more as it's i think connected to stronger muscles

[kader]

Feb 22, 2017 16:13:12 GMT -7 tetrault said:

I am worried of overloading during grip 2. Should I reduce the pocket size and go lighter?
- What are you worried about overloading? Do you mean you are trying too hard and making grip 3 performance suffer? Or do you mean something else?

Grip 1 was supposed to be the warm-ip but took to much energy. I am thinking of using alexandra 's warmup routine and give up on this one
- If the warmup is too hard, lower the weight. I know it's hard sometimes as you are getting in the mindset to go all out, but that is not the point of the warmup.

I am thinking of adding MRP open, or RP open, any thought?
- There has been some discussion on this board regarding these grips. You should be able to search for it. Some people feel doing MRP or RP helps to teach their RP fingers engage on other grips. Other people do not bother with these grips due to lack of specificity to real climbing.


I am thinking of using my previous 6th/7th hangboard workout as the start of the next season, is that realistic?
- In my personal experience, this would be way too hard and is not realistic. However, I am on the "old, plateaued" and "non-atheleletic" side. I used to use my 2nd workout weights to start the next cycle, for what it is worth. Now, changing starting weights from season to season is more of an exception rather than the routine.

1- I mean this grip might be tweakier with high load large pocket than with moderate load and shallower pocket

2- Agreed with the warm-up thing, i could not give up on my routine because i wanted consistency

3- I think this grip is worth training because of the muscular advantage of engaging the pinky (connected to the larger back muscles). In Japan, the reason yakuza get their pinky cut when forced to "quit" is because without it makes it impossible to use a gun . In judo it's also the key for a tighter grip that enables a better control of the opponent. In terms of climbing i am thinking of it as trying to make the hold rotate.

4- I guess your milage might vary for this one, yes. I don't want to be too aggressive with this one nor too conservative...

[daustin]

Feb 23, 2017 6:26:41 GMT -7 kader said:

I guess your milage might vary for this one, yes. I don't want to be too aggressive with this one nor too conservative...

Much better to be too conservative than aggressive IMO