Training: Pull-Up's w/ weights.
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Winter training season has pretty much arrived, and I've been prepping for the lack of real climbing. I have been a lot of pull-ups, chin-ups, core exercises on the pull-up bar, etc.. and just started adding weight. |
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hang them down from your belay loop, but keep them far down, almost to your knees or shins. |
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Go to Play it Again Sports and get a used scuba weight belt. That's what I use. |
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Just be very careful doing lots of pull-ups. |
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John, you think it would be more beneficial to stick with hangboard training, lock-offs, and the like? |
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Yep, hanging from the belay loop works. I second John's comments on pull ups. It sounds like you have abundant pulling strength. I would spend more time on the hangboard working finger strength. Have you read much on train theory? If not, a good starting point might be RockProdigy's article on rockclimbing.com. |
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Thanks for all the suggestions! This is the 1st time I've ever really trained primarily inside, and I haven't done my research. I think I am going to re-direct my training to focus on finger and core strength, as suggested. E, thanks for the article, I believe one of my major problems is that I haven't been proactive enough in doing my research. Thanks all! |
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Are all pull-ups bad, or just pull-ups on a fixed bar? I'm worried about my shoulders, but would really benefit from more upper body strength. Would doing pull-ups on something that can swivel (i.e. rock rings, etc) make them okay, or should I just do something else entirely? |
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I go to the gym/fitness center and do pull-ups holding a dumbell between my toes. I do my sets with a 70 ibs dumbell at the moment.... it works great! :) |
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When doing weighted pull-ups be carful on the down motion. You should not lock your elbows forcefully. You can damage you elbow quickly. They just won't be used to the extra force. |
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The downward motion should take 2X's as long as the upwards. Slow and controlled, it is the more beneficial of the 2 motions. |
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I am a big fan of weighted pullups. Over all I think they have increased my strength the best which helps with endurance on the rock. I use a backpack with weights in the pack. Just don't over do the weight. I really hurt my shoulder doind three reps with 90 lbs. |
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Pull ups may help with endurance, I think where it may be good to be careful is that we men often try to power through climbs. On single pitch climbs with long reaches or dynos this may be benficial. May I suggest however that when bouldering, you practice resting. While practicing resting, you will see which positions are most comfortable and this is where your endurance will shine. Many good climbers are not necessarily über strong, but they have acquired, perhaps subconsciously, the use of body positioning in sending. Moving from rest to rest may be better for your long-term health, as well as build finger strength, and may help you remain calm and composed during awkward clips. |
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I tend to go the opposite route. I can do around 12 standard pull-ups with my normal body weight, but I like going to the gym and using the assisted pull-up machine to do sets of 25 at ~75% body weight. |
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Whether pullups or fingerboard stuff is the most beneficial is entirely personal. If you have great finger-strength already, finger-board may be a waste of time. If you can already to 40 pullups, those may be a waste of time. |
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I always emphasize on slow motion and form when doing pullups, never speed or overall number of reps, so thats not an issue. |
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When doing Pull ups for training do them slowly. This will increase your strength better and you will avoid damaging you joints. |
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For what it's worth,I feel pull-ups are of limited use in training for climbing. I wouldn't recommend doing sets of more than 10 at a time and with weights, no more than 1 to 3 of maximum effort. Any more is probably redundant and the time would be better spent climbing. As a number of sources note, pull-ups and hangs should be on first-joint edges, no smaller. |
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still dont understand how you use weights with the pull-ups training??? |
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If I read the OP correct, you're capable of doing 20 pull ups with 20 to 30 pounds of of weight added? That's 20 in all or 20 reps in a set? If you can do the latter, you're already a stud and the weights probably aren't doing you any good. |
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Jacob Krenn wrote: Any suggestions?I wholeheartedly believe in the "weakest link" theory. Improving your weakness improves your climbing the fastest. Lead head vs. strategy vs. core strength vs. forearm strength etc. So if it's the pump that causes you to fall the most often, that's the thing to work. If it's a bad lead head that makes you hesitate and not fully commit, that's the key. I don't think that we can say that certain exercises are bad and some are good. Each of us needs to work what we are bad at. |