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

refined and better targets the forearm muscles. By removing the training of arm positions (as in System Training) and through the progressive addition of weight, HIT is the ultimate maximum grip-strength-training method for climbers. Since I first promoted this exciting training method in my book How to Climb 5.12 in 1997, HIT has been adopted by thousands of climbers around the world as their top choice for training finger strength. ( Note: This HIT workout is not to be confused with the popular bodybuilders’ “HIT program.”)
    In the adjacent photo you see me training on third-generation HIT Strips (available from Nicros, Inc.), a unique platform I develop for optimal HIT workouts. Each HIT Strip possesses identical crimp edges and two-finger pockets that are ideal for laddering up and down until failure. Weight added around the waist is increased or decreased to produce grip failure in twenty or fewer total hand movements (ten or fewer per hand). Feet simply step on resident holds on the wall, and the body should twist and move just as it would in climbing a steep route. This is obviously an extremely specific exercise that targets—and indeed hammers!—all the major grip positions used in climbing. For intermediate and advanced climbers, there is simply no better way to train grip strength.

     
    The author (plus twenty pounds) on a HIT wall.
     
     

    The effectiveness of HIT is a result of its fulfillment of the four fundamental requisites for training maximum grip strength explained on page 137. While the other finger-training exercises meet one, two, or three of these requirements, only HIT meets all four. Visit the Nicros.com Training Center for more information on the HIT Strip System and how to build a HIT wall.

     
    Table 7.4 Sample HIT Workouts
     
    HIT Workout Tips
     
    1. Always engage in an extended period of warm-up activities and bouldering before beginning a HIT workout.
    2. Limit your total hand moves per set to twenty or fewer (ten or fewer per hand) by adding weight around your waist. Purchase one or more ten-pound weight belts or, alternatively, place several scuba divers’ weights into a fanny pack. Do not use a weighted backpack—this weight would be cumbersome and unnatural due to its displacement from your center of gravity.
    3. Climb briskly and without hesitation —do not stop or pause midset to rest or chalk up. Consider using a spotter so that you can climb confidently up to the point of failure.
    4. Try to climb through the reps with normal foot movements and body turns. Smaller footholds (about an inch deep) are better, yet giving too much thought to footwork will slow you down—the goal is to train your fingers, not footwork and technique.
    5. Limit rests between sets to exactly three minutes. Use a stopwatch and stick to the planned order and schedule of exercises. Only this way will you be able to quantify and track your gains in finger strength! If you’re sloppy about the length of rests, the numbers become meaningless.
    6. Keep a training book in which you log the weight added and reps performed for each set. Then you’ll always know what weight you need for a given set and can easily track your gains (weight and rep increases) from workout to workout.
    7. Always do your HIT workout in the same order, and never perform more than two sets per grip position! Performing a third set will provide few added stimuli, but it will dig a deeper hole for you to recover from (requiring more rest days) and add to your risk of injury.
    8. Tape your fingers (X method) to help protect your tendons and increase skin comfort.
    9. Sand down the HIT Strips slightly if the texture causes pain that prevents you from completing each set to muscular failure.
    10. Increase rest days if you find your HIT reps and weights decreasing. If you ever feel weak on the rock after a HIT workout, it’s due to insufficient rest—it can take up to three or four days to recover from a HIT workout. Expect initial workouts to require a longer recovery period, whereas your future adaptations will speed recovery to just two or three days.
    11. Cycle on and off HIT every two weeks, or employ HIT workouts during the three-week maximum-strength phase of the 4-3-2-1 or 3-2-1 Training Cycles (see chapter 8).
     
     

Contact Strength Exercises
     
    Contact strength is your ability to quickly grab a hold and stick it. This capacity is directly related to the speed at which you can recruit the forearm’s