Title says it. How do I train em? Heelhooks and balancy stuff hasn’t been feeling good compared to my upper body strength. Exercises etc would be much appreciated!
Squats. Bulgarian splits squats. True single leg squats. Keep your glutes and hammies activated to protect your knees. Train in rep ranges for strength to avoid unnecessary hypertrophy.
RDLs over the traditional deadlift will target the hamstrings and glutes needed for those heel hooks.
Pri Dunt
·
Mar 25, 2025
·
South Lake Tahoe, CA, USA
· Joined Oct 2020
· Points: 3,450
There is a spectrum from structured climbing to off-wall exercises.
I use structured climbing until I get diminishing returns. For heel hooks, I heel hook every move over a wide variety of terrain. To improve balancy moves, climbing with balls in my hands is an example drill.
Then I move to on-wall exercises such as repeated heel hooks without moving and repeated rock overs.
Off-wall exercises are less 20% of my training because of the relatively small amount of transfer. I choose variations that are similar to climbing demands. One legged hip thrusts with turning toe out to heel hook at end or one legged step-ups progressively closer to a wall.
I agree with Pri Dunt that most of your gains are going to be made on the wall. Mobility could be a factor. I would say if you can't sit comfortably in a squat with your heels touching the ground, you should definitely work on ankle mobility. Dropping your heels below the contact patch is crucial for smears. Being able to a clean pistol squat bodyweight easily (harder than with weight for me) was next level for me feeling strong on rock overs and getting high feet.