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Post by ryalbert on Mar 28, 2020 9:48:02 GMT -7
Hello everyone,
Most users on this forum must be in a similar situation right now, COVID19 forces us to stay away from the crags and gyms. I have the luck to have a Rock prodigy Training center as well as some very basic core training equipment (TRX straps to name them).
I started a strength phase a few weeks before going in confinement and now, I am starting to notice a certain stagnation in my finger strength, this would be the ideal time to move on to power but this seems impossible right now. What would you guys suggest to change/add in my training in order to make the best use of this precious time with my hangboard ? I started switching a few grips in order to provide a bit more variety to my body, but aside from that I feel a bit lost. I wish I could use this extra strength time to improve considerably.
I know, from having silently read this forum for years now, that Mark has spent a few years of his life almost only Hangboarding, I wonder if anyone else has had this kind of constraint and if any learnings could be shared.
Moreover, as the strength phase starts to last, I am starting to wonder if the joint stress might not accumulate in poor ways. Are there any risks in mindlessly working on a crimp for weeks (months ?) without significant improvements ?
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Post by Charlie S on Mar 28, 2020 14:01:59 GMT -7
If you've stagnated, first thing I would do is take a week off.
Next, I'd start the next cycle. Bump the weight way back down and work your way up.
You can train power on a hangboard, in a raw sense. In a climbing specific sense it's a little harder. Check out the "Simplest Finger Training Program" by Tyler Nelson, posted on TrainingBeta for some ideas.
Finally, don't overdo it. Now is not the time to get injured. While your risk of getting injured on a hangboard is pretty low, it can be easy to go too hard and then make something pop when you climb for real. The body does need rest. (Somehow, I have to learn this lesson every year. Damaged an A2, and that was only hangboarding once and Moonboarding once per week!)
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Post by psathyrella on Mar 29, 2020 7:47:43 GMT -7
I finished a hb phase where I was plateauing pretty hard about a week before we went to complete shut in. After a week or two moping, I was surprised to discover that arcing on a hb isn't really that bad, at least once you forget actual rock climbing is a thing that exists. No kick plate, I just put on rock shoes and chalk bag, stand on the floor, and listen to podcasts. I'm planning to arc for a few weeks, and 3-4 weeks after the end of my last hb to start a new hb. I think it would've been better to, as charlie suggests, do a recruitment phase before restarting with arcing. But I've never done recruitment hbing so it felt like a bigger thing to motivate for, and my home weight set is pretty limited since i just bought the ones i use for repeaters, so i guess i'm experimenting with repeated hyp phases. I have no idea how it'll go.
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Post by MarkAnderson on Mar 29, 2020 11:29:47 GMT -7
All good suggestions. I think the most productive thing you can do is repeated strength phases with breaks in between. Those breaks can be spent doing nothing or doing some non-strength climbing activity.
For example, let’s assume you just completed a 4-week strength phase. I would spend ~2 weeks doing something else, perhaps 5 days of rest then 9 days of HB ARCing, then start another Strength Phase. The second strength phase will likely see you making really fast progress back to your previous bests, so it may be shorter than your normal strength phase. I would go until you plateau, but don’t expect to do the normal number of HB workouts. Be careful not to overdo it.
The best thing about this strategy is that as soon as Earth reopens you’ll be ready to crush.
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Post by ehowell on Mar 30, 2020 8:07:55 GMT -7
All good suggestions. I think the most productive thing you can do is repeated strength phases with breaks in between. Those breaks can be spent doing nothing or doing some non-strength climbing activity. For example, let’s assume you just completed a 4-week strength phase. I would spend ~2 weeks doing something else, perhaps 5 days of rest then 9 days of HB ARCing, then start another Strength Phase. The second strength phase will likely see you making really fast progress back to your previous bests, so it may be shorter than your normal strength phase. I would go until you plateau, but don’t expect to do the normal number of HB workouts. Be careful not to overdo it. The best thing about this strategy is that as soon as Earth reopens you’ll be ready to crush. Nine days of HB ARCing! What a world we're in!  Stay safe everyone. Keep your fingers out of your mouth and only on your hangboard. But not too much. |
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Post by MarkAnderson on Mar 30, 2020 8:56:28 GMT -7
Perhaps I should’ve said “a 9-day phase during which you perform a few HB ARC workouts”
Ya, nothing is worth the misery of 9 straight days of HB ARCing!
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Post by ryalbert on Apr 1, 2020 6:13:34 GMT -7
Thanks a lot for the answers, indeed this makes sense and I started to apply your advices promptly ! (...) Ya, nothing is worth the misery of 9 straight days of HB ARCing! Today was the end of my rest, and I can confirm that no one on earth deserves to undedergo this amount of HB ARC. On a vaguely related subject, but maybe this deserves a whole new thread : One of the RCTM's biggest strengths, in my opinion, is to optimize perfectly a training under the constraint of time and busy life. However, this COVID situation allows currently much more free time. Would you guys suggest to adapt your training relaxing this constraint ? In other words, would you do things any differently knowing you can have all the time in the world to train ? |
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Post by MarkAnderson on Apr 1, 2020 9:02:47 GMT -7
I wouldn’t make any major changes to your physical training , but you can dedicate more time to areas that are often neglected like stretching, pre-hab exercises and mental training. Some people with extra time like ARCing on the day after Hangboarding, but it sounds like we’re already sick of ARCing  |
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Post by siobhans on Apr 2, 2020 10:05:05 GMT -7
To be fair, one unexpected joy of the extra time is reading the RCTM again for all the extra nuances. Silver linings.
Training wise, The repeated strength phases sounds logical. But with no actual climbing until say, June(?) would it be worth doing any power endurance work on the hangboard? Or is the logic just that PE can be built relatively quickly, so just work on it when the world returns to normal?
My next cycle was due to start in a week and I'd planned to just follow the whole thing on a hangboard* for fear of having zero endurance upon returning.
*with a shorter BF phase
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Post by MarkAnderson on Apr 2, 2020 15:55:22 GMT -7
I think there is some long term benefit to PE training, so it would be worthwhile to train if you could do it effectively. However, I suspect (never tried it) that training PE on a HB is so terrible and less effective that it just wouldn’t be worth it. I think your time would be better spent training strength or local endurance (ARCing).
It would probably be worthwhile to train PE on a campus board if you have one.
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Post by MarkAnderson on Apr 2, 2020 15:58:26 GMT -7
To be fair, one unexpected joy of the extra time is reading the RCTM again for all the extra nuances. Silver linings. I really appreciate this. Many people have the book, but in my experience very few have thoroughly read it. |
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Post by jetjackson on Apr 2, 2020 21:56:18 GMT -7
I'm going to assume that bouldering is likely the only thing that I'll be able to do in the next 3-4 months. I'm going to do another strength cycle, work on my core (weakness) and then really nail the campus and moonboard for a month or so. Hoping that come end of May they will relax the restrictions on outdoor activities in Australia and I'll be able to do some solo bouldering. At that stage, if it looks like outdoor climbing will be back on the cards by September, I'm thinking I'll jump into a new phase and extend the ARC and PE sections, and just focus the strength/power phases on returning to previous max, rather than trying to hit new PBs. I guess I could thoroughly read the RPTM |
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Post by ryalbert on Apr 3, 2020 0:30:34 GMT -7
To be fair, one unexpected joy of the extra time is reading the RCTM again for all the extra nuances. Silver linings. I really appreciate this. Many people have the book, but in my experience very few have thoroughly read it. I've had the luck to buy it at the same time as one of my friend and this book was at the origin of hours of debates/margin notes/reinterpretations. Once in a while the knowledge and understanding of my training reaches a new question, and by thoroughly rereading some chapters of the book I often find a very clear answer in a simple sentence I would have overlooked.
It's just so dense in valuable information it's hard to have it all on the first try. Also I think this kind of book is most often read with a very particular question/objective in mind, so everything aside from that might be a bit blurred by the passion.
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Post by siobhans on Apr 3, 2020 5:55:01 GMT -7
I really appreciate this. Many people have the book, but in my experience very few have thoroughly read it. I've had the luck to buy it at the same time as one of my friend and this book was at the origin of hours of debates/margin notes/reinterpretations. Once in a while the knowledge and understanding of my training reaches a new question, and by thoroughly rereading some chapters of the book I often find a very clear answer in a simple sentence I would have overlooked.
It's just so dense in valuable information it's hard to have it all on the first try. Also I think this kind of book is most often read with a very particular question/objective in mind, so everything aside from that might be a bit blurred by the passion.
Ah man getting it at the same time as a friend sounds awesome. Haha I've done that so many times, even when I'm sure it's not something in there. All the information backing everything up feels like being given the tools to evaluate other training protocols too. So good. True, I guess some people just want the programme in it's bones. It's a shame though, the book's a weapon  |
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Post by siobhans on Apr 3, 2020 5:57:30 GMT -7
I think there is some long term benefit to PE training, so it would be worthwhile to train if you could do it effectively. However, I suspect (never tried it) that training PE on a HB is so terrible and less effective that it just wouldn’t be worth it. I think your time would be better spent training strength or local endurance (ARCing). It would probably be worthwhile to train PE on a campus board if you have one. Thanks, I appreciate that- don't want to be doing sessions that just aren't worthwhile. Sadly no campus board, so strength and ARCing it is! |
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