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

this way for fifteen to twenty repetitions. Choke up on the hammer if this feels overly difficult. Perform two sets with each hand.
    Alternatively, you can cut a 14-inch length of 1-inch-diameter dowel (or purchase a blank dumbbell bar) and mount a few one-pound weights on one end. A total resistance of only two or three pounds is all you need.

Training the Large Push Muscles
     
    These exercises are equally vital for maintaining balance in the stabilizing muscles of the shoulders and upper torso. The three exercises described below will go a long way toward maintaining the necessary balance and, hopefully, the health of your shoulders through many years of rigorous climbing. If you have an existing shoulder problem, these exercises may help mitigate the pain and prevent further injury. Still, it’s essential that you to see a doctor or physical therapist for guidance specific to your affliction.
    While the three following exercises can all be performed on standard health equipment (Cybex, free weights, and so forth), I would not advise that you buy a club membership just to gain access to the necessary machinery. Instead a onetime investment in a few dumbbells (less than $50) is all you need. Alternatively, you might ask the climbing gym you patronize to purchase a few dumbbells for the purpose of training the antagonist muscles of the forearms and upper torso.
SHOULDER PRESS
     
    The shoulder-press motion involves a motion that is almost exactly opposite that of pulling up while climbing—thus no exercise is more central to antagonist-muscle training. Although you can execute this exercise with a common health club shoulder-press machine, performing dumbbell shoulder presses provides a more complete workout of the many small stabilizing muscles of the shoulders. Here’s how to do it.
    Sit on a bench with good upright posture and feet flat on the floor. Begin with bent arms, palms facing forward, and the dumbbells positioned just outside your shoulders. Press straight upward with your palms maintaining a forward-facing position. As your arms become straight, squeeze your hands slightly inward until the dumbbells touch end-to-end. Lower the dumbbells to the starting position. The complete repetition should take about two seconds. Continue this motion for twenty to twenty-five repetitions. Strive for smooth, consistent motion throughout the entire set. Rest for three minutes and perform a second set.
     
    Shoulder Press

     
    1. Palms face forward.
     

     
    2. Touch dumbbells end-to-end.
     

    Women should start with five-pound dumbbells and advance to ten- or fifteen-pounders when they can do twenty-five reps. Most men can begin training with fifteen- or twenty-pound dumbbells and then progress to twenty-five and thirty pounds as they are able to achieve twenty-five repetitions. Over the long term it’s best not to progress beyond 40 percent of your body weight (total weight lifted): Heavier weight may build undesirable muscle bulk.
BENCH PRESS (OR PUSH-UPS)
     
    The bench press is a staple exercise of power lifters and bodybuilders, but it’s also useful to climbers striving to maintain stable, healthy shoulders. The key is to use only moderate weight—begin with a total equal to about 25 percent of your body weight and progress up to 50 percent (never more). For example, a 160-pound climber would begin training with two 20-pound dumbbells (40 pounds total) and progress up to training with, at most, 40-pound dumbbells or 80 pounds with an Olympic bar.
    Lie flat on a bench with bent legs and your feet flat on the floor. Using an Olympic bar or two dumbbells, begin the exercise with your hands just above chest level and palms facing your feet. If you’re using a bar, your hands should be a few inches wider than your shoulders. Press straight up with a slow, steady motion. If using dumbbells, squeeze your hands together to touch the ends of the dumbbells together upon reaching the top position. Return to the starting position, pause for a moment and then begin the next repetition. With a bar, be careful not to bounce the bar off your chest. The goal is slow, controlled movement that takes about two seconds per repetition. Continue for twenty to twenty-five repetitions. Rest for three minutes before performing a second set.
    As an alternative, push-ups provide a workout similar to the bench press. Begin with your hands shoulder width apart and build up to doing two sets of twenty-five repetitions. If necessary,