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

TO TRAIN POWER
     
    In climbing a steep, strenuous boulder problem, chances are you are performing some movements that meet the power-training criteria above. Assuming you are using your feet, then your arms are carrying less than body weight; and undoubtedly you are moving quickly—perhaps lunging—on the very hardest moves, so your upper-body muscles are working at a relatively high speed. Consequently, sending hard, steep boulder problems is a good method of power training (duh!). The training limitations relate to the fact that the typical boulder problem might only include one or two high-speed power moves, and as such it lacks the repeated movement needed for optimal training stimuli. This is, again, where indoor walls are preferable to out-door bouldering, since you can design a problem up a steep wall that requires several moderately fast power moves (ideally five to ten movements that can be performed in ten seconds or less). If climbing on medium to large handholds, power gains will come primarily to the larger pull muscles of the upper arm and back, whereas an advanced climber able to swing powerfully up a problem of small holds will be training both the forearm (grip) muscles and the large pull muscles.

     
    Figure 5.9 Force Versus Velocity Curve
     

PULL-MUSCLE SPRINTS
     
    Another good power-training strategy for the large pull muscles is to perform pull-ups, Bachar Ladder, or some other form of pull training at a rate faster than is normal for training. In doing such pull-muscle sprints, your goal is to fire the pulling muscles as fast as possible for five to ten seconds. In doing Power Pull-Ups, for instance, it’s important not to lower to a straight arm position at the bottom of the range of motion in order to facilitate the most rapid turnover rate possible. Of course, doing a set of Power Pull-Ups will be difficult if you lack base strength at the pull-up motion. In this case you should try to simulate hypogravity (reduced gravitational force) so that you are executing the correct number of pull-ups at a resistance less than body weight. You can achieve this by standing in a few loops of thick elastic cord or surgical tubing, or by training on a lat pull-down machine. Regardless of the exercise used, do two or three sets, with a three- to five-minute rest between sets, toward the end of your workout when your muscles are well warmed up.
REACTIVE TRAINING
     
    The National Academy of Sports Medicine defines reactive training as a quick, powerful exercise that couples a forceful eccentric contraction, followed immediately by an explosive concentric contraction. This advanced training technique (often referred to as plyometric training) holds great potential for advanced climbers looking to increase their contact strength and power—it’s also rife with risk for those who misuse or overuse reactive training exercises such as campus training, lunging exercises, and other explosive movements.
    When used properly, however, reactive training will actually strengthen tendons and ligaments—and, of course, the muscles too—and, thus, increase your resistance to injury when out climbing a physically stressful move or sequence. Consequently, I advocate a limited amount of reactive training for intermediate climbers, with an increase in volume and intensity of reactive training as one enters the elite category. One qualifying rule that no climber should overlook is that reactive training will be more harmful than beneficial if performed while injured. In particular, any finger, elbow or shoulder problems must be rehabilitated (rest and antagonist-muscle training) before engaging in reactive training of any type.
    First used by Russian athletes in the 1960s, reactive training was originally applied to climbing by the late Wolfgang Güllich with the advent of campus training. Before we get into this and other types of reactive training, let’s first look at the unique stimulus (and adaptations) created by these powerful movements. Given that reactive training involves fast, dynamic movements, the resistance used (training load) must be significantly less than in the maximum strength training exercises above. For many climbers, the resistance will need to be less than body weight in order to allow for the rapid movement and turnover that’s essential for effective reactive training. The resultant adaptations of such speed training are primarily neural, so reactive training alone will produce little in