General Strength Building Exercises?

[jace]

So after a recent trip I realized that my core strength could be much higher. Does anyone have any recommendations for a good core workout? I don't have access to weights but can do floor exercises or hanging exercises.

On a similar note, what are some exercises other than pull-ups (I'm currently doing 20 sets of 5 pullups in 20 minutes twice a week) in order to improve overall climbing specific pull strength? 

Thanks

[alexandra]

I have posted a floor core workout in this thread that has worked for me: rockprodigytraining.proboards.com/thread/898/floor-exercises-core-strength
It takes about 10 minutes. At the end of this, you can also hold the plank for a few minutes alternating between side plank and regular plank. On the pullup bar, some good exercises are: Leg raises, followed by an L-sit pullup (I do 3 sets of 8 reps), Around the worlds, levers, and windshield wipers. See also this post of Mark: rockclimberstrainingmanual.com/2015/05/27/functional-core-training/. Theres another one I do in gymnastics, which trains a combination of pull, lockoff, and core but I don't know the name of it. One rep consists of a pull-up followed by a backward roll to a pull-up (hold for a few sec), then a forward roll to a pull-up. I do 8-12 reps of those. There are million other core exercises, but this group of them I like the best.

As for pull-ups, I think 20 sets is too much!! I think 3 sets of 5-8 reps would do the trick, and after that you are working more endurance/exhaustion. I do weighted pull-ups and chest to bar pull-ups to make the exercise harder and keep the reps short. Also, one arm pullup progressions (one arm pulling, the other holding on to something like a towel or a band). For example, you could do something like a set of 5 pull-ups, then a set of 5 chest to bar pull-ups, then a set of behind the neck pull-ups and repeat the sequence once or twice, EMOM. this should take 9 min total if you do it 3 times through.

Do you have access to gymnastics rings? There are some really great exercises there, one arm inverted rows I think have helped me the most (I do them with feel elevated on a box and a weight vest with lockoff at the top). Also muscle-ups, dips, and other one arm pullup variations which have been discussed in other threads.
Sorry for the long post, I LOVE pull-ups

[alexandra]

I forgot to mention another exercise I find very good because I works core/campusing skills/ pulling skills at the same time, but it is not so common to do unless you have a climbing rope (some climbing gyms have a rope though, so you might be able to try it there if your gym has one): L-sit rope climbs, you can see them here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcX8U1yjbYE (of course, since I assume you are not a gymnast, you should probably just do L-sit rather than L-sit straddle but you could try both versions). I do two or three of them in a session with 1-2 min rest in between (not every session), but no more than that- I get already tired from the first one!

[jace]

Ok well that could have gone better...your workout WORKED me! Stoked to have found a major weakness to start working on though!

[alexandra]

I just did another core exercise today, which I think is really good: weighted leg lifts to an L hold (hanging from the bar). I do 3 sets of 8 squeezing a 20 lb dumbbell between my ankles. I think adding the weight for the leg lifts made all the difference for me. Thought I d share, since it actually had never occurred to me before to do this exercise with weights (duh??)

[cirquebound]

I have been using this in addition to my regular work-outs. 3 sets with rep 10-8-6 (note failure achieved at 10-8-6 via increase weight per set).

willanglin.squarespace.com/climbing/2015/5/10/forearms

[mclay]

I thought I had a strong core...until I read Alexandra's posts.