Training for Climbing, 2nd: The Definitive Guide to Improving Your Performance (How To Climb Series)

workout, and limit use of Tabata to just two days per week.
    Enlist a partner to time (use a stopwatch) exact work-rest intervals of twenty and ten seconds, respectively. Have your partner call out the “start” and “stop” points for each interval over the four-minute Tabata. Upon completing your four minutes of training, switch roles and direct your partner through the arduous four minutes—it’s payback time!

Pull-Muscle Training
     
    In this section you will learn how to train for maximum strength, power, and anaerobic endurance in the large pulling muscles that help propel you upward and enable static lock-off positions. While the standard pull-up has long been a staple exercise for climbers, its effectiveness is greatly limited for anyone beyond novice ability. Upon reaching a modest level of pull-up strength—can you do fifteen to twenty pull-ups?—it becomes more important to train lock-off ability, one-arm strength, and raw power. Following are details on sixteen exercises for training the large pulling muscles of the upper arms, shoulders, and back.

Maximum-Strength Exercises
     
    As in building maximum finger strength, training to increase pulling and lock-off strength requires high-intensity stimulus that will produce rapid muscular failure. This is a vastly different workout strategy from that described for building anaerobic endurance (in which you want to avoid muscular failure). Revisit the training methodology described in chapter 5 if you need clarification of the ideal protocols for training maximum strength, power, and endurance. Described below are six exercises for training maximum strength.

     
    Table 7.5 Classification of Pull-Muscle Exercises
     

PULL-UPS AND LAT PULL-DOWNS
     
    As mentioned above, pull-ups are the most obvious exercise for climbers, and they are highly effective for beginner-level climbers. If you are unable to do a single set of fifteen pull-ups, then you should make pull-ups a staple exercise that you engage in three days per week. Perform your pull-ups on a bar, the bucket hold of a fingerboard, or a set of free-hanging Pump Rocks. Use the Aided Pull-Up method described below if you are unable to do at least eight pull-ups.
    Mount the bar or board with your hands in a palms-away position (the way you usually grip the rock) and about shoulder width apart. Pull up at a relatively fast rate in order to reach the top position in one second or less. Pause at the top position for just a moment, and then lower yourself to a two-second count. Subvocalize one thousand one, one thousand two. Upon reaching the bottom position, immediately begin your next pull-up. Continue in this fashion until you can no longer perform a complete pull-up.
    Do three to five sets with a rest interval of at least three minutes between sets. As your pull-up strength improves, begin to vary the distance between your hands to better simulate the wide range of hand positions you’ll encounter in climbing. Switch to Hypergravity Pull-Ups (described below) when you are able to do three sets of fifteen or more pull-ups.
AIDED PULL-UPS
     
    Use the Aided Pull-Up if you can not do at least three sets of eight pull-ups. The strategy is simply to have a spotter hold you around your waist and lift a portion of your body weight so that you can do eight to twelve less-than-body-weight pull-ups. Use this exercise three days per week, and soon you’ll be doing pull-ups on your own!
    Mount the bar or hangboard with your hands in a palms-away position and about shoulder width apart. With the spotter standing behind you and holding lightly around your waist, begin doing pull-ups with the spotter providing help only on the upward phase. Pause for a moment at the top position, and then lower yourself to a slow two-second count. The spotter should let go during the down phase so that you are lowering your full body weight. Continue doing pull-ups in this manner until you reach eight to twelve total repetitions. Rest for five minutes and then perform two more sets.
    Eventually you’ll find that doing the same pull-up training becomes monotonous and provides little additional gain in climbing strength. At this point it’s best to employ one of the following variations on the pull-up, or even to cut back on pull-ups, replacing them with other pull-muscle exercises on the pages that follow.
HYPERGRAVITY PULL-UPS
     
    As your pull-up ability improves, you will need to add resistance to continue training maximum