First Step Training
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I am a beginner climber in college with a close group of friends who have been climbing for much longer than me. I enjoy climbing with them but I hate not being able to climb their routes and lagging behind. I understand that technique will come with time on the wall but, does anyone have or know of a good workout regime which will help me develop my climbing muscles so I have the proper base to build technique on. |
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Climb to strengthen upper body climbing muscles - nothing works better. |
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Don't try to keep up with your friends. Your finger tendons aren't yet up to the demands of small holds. |
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In the same boat as you, minus the friends lol. I've been climbing after work 3-4 times a week, but unfortunately I can only get in 45 minutes of climbing time as I get off work at 9 and they close at 10. |
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Okay, we're in a similar place I suspect, and having lost most of my fitness base to beer and a cessation of legit training in college, I'm on my own with no more coaches telling me how to train efficiently. I just got Training for the New Alpinism by Steve House and Scott Johnson (killer name Mr. Johnson) for X-mas and after 2 chapters I realize exercise science is a legit subject that is worth understanding if you want to be a capable mountain athlete. I'd already suggest this book on the basis of my brief reading so far. We'll see if I actually implement anything, beer is pretty tasty after all... If you are talking about not being able to climb at the same technical level as your friends, you're on your own; for me the internet, videos, blogs, and people I've met are good resources, though your more experienced friends are probably the most useful thing. Good luck. |
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Thank you all for the advice! I'm going to keep climbing focusing on pushing and progress but doing it smart and gradual to help mitigate injury risk. |
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I also kike this advices! |
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It looks like you are a boulderer, from your page, so be especially careful with your hands, go slow, and don't push those tendons! Like several said, work those big leg muscles as often as you can, and grab the holds as lightly as you can. Death grips on holds=pumped way too fast. |
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Brian, most likely the best option is to complete some basic climbing technique class (e.g., "Climbing technique 101", "Balance and technique", etc). |
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climbing friend, |
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I like Steve Bechtel’s material. Just keep it simple when training. Increase planning/complexity when you stop making gains. You should be able to make continuous progress from “just climbing”, at least initially. Check out “Neil Gresham Masterclass” on Youtube for technique stuff. |
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Weightlifting. Focus on your core ,the back of your arms and your back first. Then work biceps and do pullups. If its available use a campus board or a hang board 2-3 times a week. Core is very important. Its right up there with grip strength imo work core every day. I recommend dumbell exercises and many set with high reps. You dont want to get big. If you dont have a gym or weights do pushups and handstand pushups against a wall, situps crunches planks and set up a pullup bar. |
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Ok first step in training for climbing is climbing. Practice makes perfect is wrong, perfect practice makes perfect, so aim to repeat climbs with consistency and flawless technique. Then you need to focus on adequate rest. You need to let not just your muscles recover completely, but more importantly your tendons, which if you are new to climb have not yet adapted to the intense strain climbing will put on them. This may be broscience but tendon recovery is twice the time of muscular recovery. As far as weight training, it's simple back and biceps everyday. But seriously stick to compound lifts to build strength. Deadlift, squat, pushup, pullup, and core stuff. But the easiest way to pull harder is to just cut weight, like a lot of weight. For every pound lost is a pound harder you can pull. That's a fact. |
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I'm surprised nobody has brought up Neil Gresham's Master Class. For a beginner I'd say you should jump ahead to the 6th Video (Twistlock) and spend one session per video just practicing the moves in videos 6-9. I am recommending videos 6-9 because these are your bread and butter bouldering moves. You can go back through the earlier videos later and you'll get a lot more out of them, as well as the videos later in the series. |
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David Kerkeslager wrote: Yeah, no one except Jeff Moon 3 posts above 6 months ago! |
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Franck Vee wrote: I deserve this. |