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

in your lower back, hips, and the side of your torso. Maintain a level head position and fix your eyes on the wall to the side of the bent leg. Hold the stretch for ten to twenty seconds, then return to the starting position for a few seconds. Perform a secondary stretch for twenty to thirty seconds. If needed, you can increase the stretch by levering your elbow against the thigh of the bent leg. Repeat the stretch in the other direction. Be sure to switch leg positions.

     
    Upper- and lower-abdominal stretch.
     

     
    Obliques and back stretch.
     

    Tips for Safe and Effective Flexibility Training
     
    1. Always engage in five to fifteen minutes of jogging, jumping jacks, or easy climbing before beginning flexibility training. Stretching a cold muscle can lead to injury.
    2. Stretch in a slow, gradually progressive manner. Stretching should produce mild discomfort, but never sharp pain.
    3. Perform a primary stretch of ten to twenty seconds. Release the stretch for a few seconds before performing a secondary stretch for twenty to thirty seconds.
    4. Direct slow, deep breathing throughout the stretch. Inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth.
    5. Maintain a neutral back position—neither rounded nor hyperextended—to maximize the stretch and avoid injury.
    6. Limit “gain” stretching to the lower body; excessive upper-body stretching is counterproductive and could lead to injury. Perform only light stretching of your shoulders—a small degree of tightness is good and needed to protect the shoulder joint.
    7. Refrain from excessive stretching of the forearm flexors prior to climbing, since this will reduce your maximum strength and power for up to one hour. Favor light stretching and sports massage prior to maximal climbing.
    8. An alternative stretch method, known as PNF, replaces the period of relaxation between the primary and secondary stretches with a period of muscular contraction. For most of the stretches described, this will require a partner to create an immovable resistance against which you can contract for six seconds. After this isometric contraction, relax completely and allow the stretch to lengthen the muscle. This is especially useful technique for individuals trying to overcome uncommon lack of flexibility in the legs and hips.
     
     
    Abdominal Crunch

     
    1. Start with legs bent and hands behind head.
     

     
    2. Crunch upward and repeat.
     

Training the Core Muscles
     
    In climbing vertical to overhanging rock, the core muscles of your torso play a key role in enabling your arms and legs to maximize leverage and transfer torque from hand to foot and vice versa. Many beginner and intermediate climbers making their initial forays on steep terrain find good-looking holds more difficult and pumpy to use and modest-length reaches feeling surprisingly long. The root of these difficulties is probably a complex blend of poor technique and insufficient strength in both the arms (obviously, they are the ones getting pumped up!) and, less noticeably, the torso.
    As you might expect, one good way to strengthen these core stabilizer muscles is by climbing frequently on steep terrain. If your specialty is climbing overhanging routes or if you regularly boulder on steep cavelike routes, chances are you’ve already developed a high degree of strength in these muscles (though you could probably still benefit from additional conditioning). If you are new to climbing, however, or if you have previously climbed mainly vertical to less-than-vertical routes, you would likely benefit significantly from some targeted training of these core muscles.
    Two “strength tricks” first popularized in climbing by John Gill are the gold standard of core-muscle strength. The front lever and straight-arm flag both require steely torso muscles. If you can do these two tricks, then your training time is better spent on areas other than the stabilizing muscles of the torso. Otherwise, employ a blend of bouldering and traversing on steep walls and executing the eight exercises described below.

 
ABDOMINAL CRUNCH
     
    Lie on the floor with your legs bent at about ninety degrees and your feet flat on the floor or hovering in the air about knee height above the floor (better isolates the upper abs). Cross your arms over your chest or place your hands behind your head (harder), but do not interlace your fingers behind your neck. Now lift your shoulder blades off the floor and exhale as you “crunch”