Post by jcm on Apr 27, 2016 15:19:31 GMT -7
I have an interesting data point for the forum. One question that seems to recur (for me and others) is whether it is worth it to hangboard on slopers, and how much carryover training on edges will have to sloper strength. A recent experiment I conducted suggests that edge training will increase sloper strength…
I used to use slopers (Beastmaker 1000) during hangboarding, but dropped them from the lineup a year ago in an effort to shorten and simplify my hangboard workout. Since then, I have trained only edges and pockets on the hangboard (half pad imr open, half pad half crimp, 1-pad MR), and also use pinch blocks. Similarly, my power training (indoor limit bouldering) was on edges and pockets. My goal routes mostly involve crimps and fingerlocks. Basically I didn’t touch any slopers for a year, except when warming up in the gym.
On Monday, I was doing HB workout #6 of my strength phase. Toward the end of the workout (at the same point when I used to do the slopers), I decided to add in the sloper to test where my sloper strength stands. After two “warmup-up” sets at low weight, I casually PR’d it with 6 reps at +50 lbs (previous PR was 5 reps at +45), and felt like I could hang more. In some ways this was surprising, since I had done no sloper training, but in some ways it was not, since I had made significant gains on the pocket and edge grips in the last year.
Conclusion: my sloper strength increased, even though I only trained edges for a year. For me, this solidifies my decision to neglect slopers during hangboarding. I might have made even greater gains if I had specifically trained for slopers, but for my goals slopers are a low-priority hold. I had been worried that neglecting slopers would create a weakness that would be an issue down the road, but this result alleviates this worry.
I used to use slopers (Beastmaker 1000) during hangboarding, but dropped them from the lineup a year ago in an effort to shorten and simplify my hangboard workout. Since then, I have trained only edges and pockets on the hangboard (half pad imr open, half pad half crimp, 1-pad MR), and also use pinch blocks. Similarly, my power training (indoor limit bouldering) was on edges and pockets. My goal routes mostly involve crimps and fingerlocks. Basically I didn’t touch any slopers for a year, except when warming up in the gym.
On Monday, I was doing HB workout #6 of my strength phase. Toward the end of the workout (at the same point when I used to do the slopers), I decided to add in the sloper to test where my sloper strength stands. After two “warmup-up” sets at low weight, I casually PR’d it with 6 reps at +50 lbs (previous PR was 5 reps at +45), and felt like I could hang more. In some ways this was surprising, since I had done no sloper training, but in some ways it was not, since I had made significant gains on the pocket and edge grips in the last year.
Conclusion: my sloper strength increased, even though I only trained edges for a year. For me, this solidifies my decision to neglect slopers during hangboarding. I might have made even greater gains if I had specifically trained for slopers, but for my goals slopers are a low-priority hold. I had been worried that neglecting slopers would create a weakness that would be an issue down the road, but this result alleviates this worry.
