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Training for ice
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Im doing more consistent and deliberate training this off season to prepare for some goals next winter. Curious what others are doing and what you have had success with. Im doing a progressive overload style gradually increasing volume over a few weeks, then deloading, then repeating the process. Below is a general breakdown of the training modalities im using. Not all done on the same day, i cycle through different ones, typically at the end of my general strength training 1) sets of dead hangs for time, weighted and un-weighted 2) timed sets of constant movement on my dry tool wall  3) calf raises and step ups on my short Plice wall  4) sets of banded tool swings ill also attach a 2.5lb weight to the head and do weighted swings  |
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I am going to try and rock climb as much as possible to get ready for September first, the first official day one is allowed to touch their tools again... |
Double Jwrote: Haha yes, i get on rock almost every weekend, but i break that no tools untill September rule to stay sane after work on weeknights! |
Double Jwrote: what? September 1st? |
DeLa Crucewrote: Yeah, it’s an official law in the states. |
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I'm thinking I'll do a cycle of fingerboard repeaters this fall, and I will probably do about half my sessions on ice tools. Forearm power endurance is a weakness of mine, and I think training this way might give me the confidence to climb some steeper ice next season. Has anyone done repeater type workouts on their tools? It seems like the hand/wrist position is different enough from the hang board that it is worth doing both. |
J Cwrote: Can you explain “repeater type” work outs to me. I have built pretty good forearm endurance dry tooling and doing hangs. I find that i get the most pumped from swinging, which is why im trying to work those banded and weighted tool swings in and improve my “swing” endurance. I have also been told by some very good climbers that i swing WAY to hard, so some of it is obviously poor technique. I really enjoy training so cant hurt! |
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I typically break my training up into strength, power endurance and endurance and I usually start sometime around the end of October. For Strength I do repeaters hanging on my tools just like hangboarding. I use a cycle of 5 sec work 10 sec rest (1 rep)....then repeat that 4 times (1 set). I usually do 4 sets like that. I use a bent 90 degree arm to mimic the joint angle you would be using when you lock off an arm and swing your upper tool. My goal is to barely be able to hang on at the end of each set so I had extra weight (beyond body weight) to get the right amount. Then for sets 5 and 6 I change it up a bit. I reduce the weight by about 50-60% and go until failure on both sets. My goal is 20-40 seconds.....and I adjust the weight whenever I am outside those parameters. So for me it might look like this. 4 sets of 4 reps with 90lbs extra. Rest 10 seconds between reps and 2 minutes between sets. Then 2 sets of 1 rep with 40lbs extra...hang to failure with 2 minutes rest between sets. For Powder Endurance I use a severely overhung area. In my old house I used the underside of the roof in attic. In my current house I put a high bar above my deck and then put my feet on the railing which is about 3ft lower and 4ft out to the side (see picture below). I just go back and forth from left to right across the bar. I do about a 30% work 70% rest cycle. The exact times I use are 1min 40 secs of work and then 4min 20secs of rest. I repeat that for 6 times.  For Endurance I go to our local drytool crag. I usually wear actual climbing shoes since my focus is on my arms. When I start off my training cycle I am just able to do one TR lap (35ft approx) and then rest for a few minutes. As I progress, I start doing double or triple laps, and by the end I am usually able to do 4 laps per burn. Sometimes around the end of the training cycle, I will wear a DIY fruitboot to increase the difficulty and get me back to doing only about 2 laps per burn. Usually I do about 4 burns per workout, so at beginning of my training cycle I am only doing about 4 laps but by the end it is at least 12. I typically try to do all of the above one time every week. It equates out to 25-35 minutes of actual tool time every week (depending on the number of drytool laps and the speed at which I climb). I have done this training now for 3 seasons and it has helped me immensely and my leading has progressed about 2 water ice grades in 3 years. It just gives me the confidence and endurance to feel like I can hang on for a long time when on lead and figure out a way to shake out and keep going. |
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When I first started ice climbing, my endurance training was traversing 200 ft of chain link fence with my tools. Wear something big and clunky on your feet so you can't stick your toes too deeply in the fence "fabric". Hella pumpy. |
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before I start "training for ice" I make damn sure I can fire ten bodyweight pullups under strict criteria only if I pass that test do I move on to any kind of work with tools. If I fail, then I need to do remedial work. |
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Marlin, thanks alot for that breakdown, a-lot of similarity to what I'm currently doing. Also beautiful dogs! Malamutes? My boy is always hanging out with me when training as well! Ice climbing is definitely his favorite activity  gunkiemike, ill give that a try! Mark, good point about having a solid strength foundation before moving to very specified training. |
ryan Smithwrote: Close, they are Huskies. They do like the cold and snow! |
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Maybe this is an appropriate place to ask the following: I used to have TFTNA but it was left behind at a former workplace that I’ll never be visiting again...I remember there was a blurb in there about a program for increasing max pull-ups reps, by progressively adding weight. Can anyone fill me in? I don’t want to buy the book again, as I prefer the plans on uphill athlete, but am really curious as to the exact formula Scott has for this. |
DeLa Crucewrote:  |
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Ryan Smith, Thank you very much! |
DeLa Crucewrote: Your welcome! I have followed that pretty closely and found it effective. |
Rob Cotter wrote: Ooo! Get Some! Those the Intellect holds? How do you like them? |
ryan Smithwrote: Yes Top Point Intellect holds three different kinds they pretty bomb sez Kaitlyn |
ryan Smithwrote: I think some of the other replies might have answered this, but I have in mind something like 7 s hang/3 s rest, with maybe 8-12 hangs per set. Over time increasing both number of sets as well as resistance. Interesting point about swinging vs hanging. I haven't noticed that the swing really gets me pumped, but I will pay attention to that next time I climb on ice. I am really looking for the confidence to just hang on as long as I possibly need. Just a thought, as an internet rando who has never seen you climb: if you really do swing too hard, perhaps making your "swing muscles" stronger is not the answer? Perhaps that would make the problem worse? Just sounds a bit like working your strengths, rather than working your weaknesses. I have done the TFNA pull up program on ice tools. Would recommend. |
J Cwrote: Very interesting analysis, i think that is definitely something i need to be conscious of. My theory is that doing banded and weighted tool swings, with proper swing form (good wrist flick) will help me develop better muscle memory for proper and efficient swing technique, and also increasing my swinging endurance. thank you for your response, i really appreciate the training feedback! |
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If you are able to train swinging technique, then I see how that might help. |
