additional training (core/shoulders/flexibility)

[groggy]

so im through my 1st season now (thanks for the trainingsprogram boys!) and the only thing kinda bothering me was the "lack" of additional exercises.

so im mainly a boulderer (V9-10 right now) and after the season (i did the sportclimbingroutine) i feel like i have improved expecially on my fingers, but my core/shoulders and my flexibility are a bit behind. i cannot lockoff/pull in uncomfortable positions (7B+ moonboardproblems for example) which imo is because i lack general bodystrength (generating force from toes through my core onto my fingers) while holding on is absolute no problem, just moving while staying close to the wall is the problem i have on difficult climbs. and imo the extraexercises i should do after hangboardsessions/campusboardsessions are not enough to work this weakness.

the next season i will try a boulder-only season, but i´d like to know how to add extraexercises into the routine (like core in the days between the hangboardworkouts) or even more light workouts a day without messing up the regeneration needed for the program.

any input appreciated

Edit: one more general question: how do you guys train your legs? like for heavy toehooks on overhang terrain, i havent found anything about legtraining

[jessebruni]

I started climbing in a college gym which had no angles whatsoever and climbed there for 3.5 years. As a result I have always had a similar problem to you. I can generally hang off the holds, but moving between them requires pulling and/or locking off which I have trouble with. I've been doing the One Arm Inverted Rows after hangboarding and I think it's been helping quite a bit. In addition to that I've noticed that my larger pulling muscles are not fatigued after hangboarding, so the day after hangboarding I've been doing weighted pull ups, and super wide grip lat pulldowns. I think this has been helping me improve my pulling power and I'm going to stick with it until I feel that pulling is no longer a weakness. As for core I'm not sure what to say as I agree with you, not many core exercises are discussed in the book and I don't think that many core exercise which are popular are very specific to climbing. I really like the hanging leg lifts, but I find that I've hit a wall as far as building strength with those and adding more reps doesn't seem to help. I'm looking into getting some ankle weights so I can increase the resistance and hopefully get stronger with that movement. I'm sure Mark has more specific details as training core at a 5.14 level is probably much more involved than simple leg lifts.

[MarkAnderson]

Groggy,

I would start by checking out the Whole Body Strength Training section in Chapter 6. I do 3 sets of 4 to 6 exercises after each HB or LBing workout, and I feel like that is a good amount. You could certainly do more if you feel like you need it. Some folks like to do these on the day after their finger-focused workouts, which might be a good option for you if you want to add more volume. I would caution you not to over-do it though, climbing is still a bout strength-to-weight ratio, and adding a bunch of muscle mass in your shoulders, back and especially legs could be detrimental.

Regarding core exercises, we are working on a couple of blog posts with video that will discuss some more climbing-specific core exercises, including the stuff I've added over the last few months to improve my roof-climbing ability. So stay tuned for that.

[groggy]

i dont think the book lacks exercises, you can find exercises online everywhere. its just i thought from what i´ve read about training that it would be more efficient to schedule additional exercises on other days, expecially if they are for similar muscles or have a higher intensity so you dont mess up the recovery for your fingers.

your advice is pretty good, i never did many pullups, just 1 armed blocking and muscleups, always really high intensity low volume wich probably leads to my problem. i should change that around. for core right now i only do trys at a fullfrontlever until i feel like i cant slow down my legs at all, then doing 1 legged frontlever for 10 secs with reps until failure. this or/and doing the rotated leg pulls (from the gimmekraft book), which helped me alot with corestrength imo.

also on the moonboard i think i missguided you a bit, pulling is also fine, but pulling and staying close to the wall feels impossible at the same time at some movements (most of the time with really high or far left/right feet on a wall like the moonboard. maybe i lack general bodyknowledge to find the right exercises for those movements.

Edit: Thanks Mark, i guess i will try it out with the extraday and look at the results. I´m 184cm and 74 kg (down from 80kg at christmas) and still have enough fat to loose so i think adding a bit of muscle isnt wrong in my case. Also im not climbing for that long (only 2 years and i feel like i havent added all the required muscle i need to be well rounded as a climber). right now i try to only work weaknesses because i think i progressed too fast in the 1st 1,5 years.
and i´m looking forward to those videos!

[bk]

Feb 13, 2015 10:15:09 GMT -7 MarkAnderson said:

Groggy,

I would start by checking out the Whole Body Strength Training section in Chapter 6. I do 3 sets of 4 to 6 exercises after each HB or LBing workout, and I feel like that is a good amount. You could certainly do more if you feel like you need it. Some folks like to do these on the day after their finger-focused workouts, which might be a good option for you if you want to add more volume. I would caution you not to over-do it though, climbing is still a bout strength-to-weight ratio, and adding a bunch of muscle mass in your shoulders, back and especially legs could be detrimental.

Regarding core exercises, we are working on a couple of blog posts with video that will discuss some more climbing-specific core exercises, including the stuff I've added over the last few months to improve my roof-climbing ability. So stay tuned for that.

Looking forward to that post. Slightly off topic, but you might want to think about posting a link to your blog posts in the general section for readers who don't check the main site regularly.

[Steve]

The Rock Prodigy book doesn't seem to mention some of the injury prevention exercises that the Eric Hoerst books use, i.e. reverse wrist curls, and forearm rotation (I don't remember exactly what the name of it is). Do you consider these exercises useful?

Steve