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

program given your current ability level and experience.
    Exercises in this chapter are divided into two main sections: exercises that target the forearm muscles controlling your finger strength and endurance, and exercises that target the large pull muscles of your upper arms and back. Each section has three subdivisions that classify exercises according to what physical capacity they most train: maximum strength, power, or local (anaerobic) endurance. The exercises in each subdivision are organized according to relative difficulty for the average climber, beginning with the easiest exercises and ending with the most severe, advanced-level exercises. Exercise difficulty and the appropriateness of an exercise for a given ability level is a most vital distinction. A novice climber could be injured in attempting an advanced-level exercise, whereas an advanced climber would gain little outside a warm-up by performing a beginner-level exercise. To help you in appropriate exercise selection, tables 7.1 and 7.5 classify the exercises according to difficulty.
    Before we dive into the details of thirty-three must-know exercises, I want to provide you with a deeper understanding of how your fingers and arms are used in climbing. Your levels of strength and endurance on various climbing movements are very specific to the grip and arm position used. Awareness of all the grip and arm positions is therefore an essential precursor to effective training in the most climbing-specific and effective ways.

An Overview of Sport-Specific Strength Training
     
    According to the Principle of Specificity, training gains in strength, power, and local endurance will transfer favorably to climbing only if the exercise is extremely similar in motion, body position, and functional use. It must therefore be a primary goal of climbing-specific training to train the fingers and arms in ways that are most similar to their use in climbing. Moreover, the most high-value training is that which targets your weaker finger and arm positions. While it’s natural to favor certain finger and arm positions—usually the strongest—as you climb, the greatest training payoffs come from targeting your weakest links. In doing so, neuromuscular adaptations gradually make you stronger and more confident in using every grip and arm position. It’s this kind of attention to subtle training details that differentiates average from extraordinary in training outcomes and future climbing performance.

Finger Positions
     
    The basic finger-grip positions are full crimp, half crimp, open hand, and pinch. Of course, there are many variations of the above positions—for instance, a one-, two-, or three-finger pocket can be gripped with a half-crimp or an open-hand position.
FULL CRIMP
     
    The full crimp is favored by many climbers since it provides what feels like the most secure lock onto small handholds. The hallmark of the full crimp is the hyperextension of the first joint of each finger and the sharp flexion of the second finger joint. The full-crimp grip is then secured by locking your thumb over the end of the index finger. Unfortunately, this grip position places the highest force load on the joints and tendons, and overuse can result in nagging finger injuries; excessive use of this grip is also hard on the lateral aspect of the elbow and may lead to injury. While it is absolutely necessary to use and train the crimp grip, the best approach would be to limit to holds that cannot effectively be gripped any other way. The full-crimp grip excels on small, square-cut edges, shallow flakes, and any hold that possess a small incut or recessed edge.
HALF CRIMP
     
    The half-crimp grip is just a variation on the full crimp in which you do not thumb-lock over the index finger. This reduces slightly the aggressive angles on the first and second joints of the finger, thus making the grip a bit more ergonomic. The trade-off is that the half crimp often feels less secure than the full, although you can develop strength and comfort in the half crimp through regular use and training. The half-crimp grip is most often used on small edges and shallow, incut pockets.
OPEN HAND
     
    The open-hand grip has distinct advantages over the crimp grip. First, the open-hand position is kinder to the finger tendons and joints, since it softens the joint angles and may allow the rock to provide some tendon support (your fingers wrap naturally over a curved hold). Furthermore, despite its