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

muscular motor units and summon peak strength. While the maximum-strength-training exercises described earlier will yield some improvement in contact strength, reactive training exercises that emphasize speed and shock loading is the optimal method for increasing contact strength. Since fast, dynamic movements are fundamental to effective reactive training, the resistance used (training load) must be significantly less than in the maximum-strength training exercises. For many climbers, the resistance will need to be less than body weight to allow for the rapid movement and turnover (change in direction) that’s essential for effective reactive training.
    As explained in chapter 5, reactive training is appropriate for only intermediate and advanced climbers with no recent history of finger, elbow, or shoulder injury. Begin with the tamer feet-on exercises (less than body weight) and progress gradually to the feet-off exercises over the course of months or years. A few sets of reactive training will impart all the stimuli that are necessary for favorable adaptations—resist the urge to perform additional sets. Remind yourself that such neural training does not produce extreme fatigue, so if you train to the point of high fatigue, you are doing far too much and tempting injury.
    Following are five reactive training exercises listed in order from least stressful (lowest force load and injury risk) to most severe (highest force and injury risk). Controlled One-Arm Traversing and One-Arm Lunging are ideal icebreaker exercises for climbers wishing to add some reactive training to their routines. Both exercises are to be executed on a vertical to slightly overhanging (harder) modular wall, so that each one-arm movement results in a dynamic catch that “shocks” the forearm muscles. Contact strength gains achieved through this form of feet-on “reactive light” training are limited, however—beyond a certain point you will need to graduate to feet-off campus training to stimulate further gains.
ONE-ARM TRAVERSING
     
    One-Arm Traversing is a simple exercise with two big payoffs: increased grip strength and speed of contraction (contact strength). Use this exercise twice per week as a complement to maximum-strength-training exercises such as hypergravity bouldering, heavy finger rolls, and such.
    Select a vertical section of an indoor wall with enough room to traverse ten to twenty feet on medium-size handholds and small- to medium-size footholds. Climb up onto the wall so that your feet are just a foot or two off the floor. Now remove one hand from the wall and hold it behind your back. Begin traversing with small, quick lunges from one handhold to the next. Optimal technique is to draw in your body toward the wall and lunge to the next handhold, doing so all in one smooth motion. This drawing-in of the body facilitates a quick grab at the next hold while upward momentum briefly reduces your load—this is commonly called a deadpoint move. Advance your feet onto new footholds as needed to keep your center of gravity over your feet and maintain balance. Continue traversing in this way for eight to twelve total hand moves, and then step off the wall. After a brief rest, step back up on to the wall and traverse the opposite direct using the other hand. Perform two or three One-Arm Traverses with each hand.
    As a final note, it’s important to perform only small, controlled lunges that allow you to catch the next hold with a slight bend in your elbow. Shoulder and elbow injuries could result from consistently catching lunges with a fully extended arm. Stop using this exercise if you feel pain in your fingers, elbows, or shoulders.
ONE-ARM LUNGING
     
    Once you are proficient at One-Arm Traversing on vertical walls, you can proceed to one-arm up-and-down lunges on a slightly overhanging wall. This exercise is also done feet-on, although the up-and-down motion creates greater dynamic force, especially on the downward catch. This extra stress will trigger further neuromuscular adaptations, and it’s a good icebreaker before graduating to campus training.
    Select a section of indoor wall that overhangs anywhere from five to twenty-five degrees past vertical—the steeper the wall, the more difficult the exercise—and possesses numerous medium- to large-size hand- and footholds. Ideally you can set a few modular holds specifically for performing this exercise. Set two footholds about a foot off the ground, and then set two