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general fitness - any use? (Read 6826 times)

paul h

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general fitness - any use?
January 03, 2004, 04:58:43 pm
advice please ...

I'm into sport climbing as well as bouldering, now I need to get some general fitness for the sport  routes I have on my ticklist this year, which are all of the short powerful variety.

the power bit isnt a problem as I can train this through bouldering, campus board etc, but for power-endurance type fitness is using a rowing machine (on non climbing days) a good idea, or is this just going to bulk me up with unecessary muscle ... :?:

what else could I do for general fitness  ... apart from running - it bores the shit out out of me

Cheers
Paul

Rhys

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#1 general fitness - any use?
January 03, 2004, 05:29:15 pm
I think rowing machines are brilliant for fitness- not shure about stamina for climbing though. I wouldn't worry about bulk, when I was rowing I did ergs pretty much every day and I didn't notice any bulk growth. Hope this helps.

Rhys

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#2 general fitness - any use?
January 03, 2004, 05:32:30 pm
Oh, and I hear that Parisilas cave is good for getting power endurance- but probably not much use to you if you live outside North Wales :wink:

paul h

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#3 general fitness - any use?
January 03, 2004, 05:47:18 pm
cheers Rhys, Parisellas would be perfect but you guessed it, its 400 miles away :(

dave

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#4 Re: general fitness - any use?
January 03, 2004, 05:50:19 pm
Quote from: "paul h"
.... but for power-endurance type fitness is using a rowing machine (on non climbing days) a good idea,....


dunno about non-climbing, but isn't interval training supposed to be the bolmb for power-stamina, short routes etc?

Bubba

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#5 general fitness - any use?
January 03, 2004, 06:36:10 pm
Rowing will be excellent for you general fitness, and certainly better for your body than something like running. I shouldn't worry about bulking up - I've never seen a "big" rower!

Training maestro Neil Gresham says the following on his campus boarding page:

Quote
Using a Campus board will enable you to develop the following vital components of climbing performance:
- Contact finger strength (the ability to latch a hold at speed)
- Isometric ('hanging') finger strength (at a variety of different finger grips or angles)
- Explosive upperbody power (the ability to pull-up very fast and slap for the next hold)
- Neuromuscular timing. (the ability to control and synchronise the firing of relevant muscles)
- Short term power endurance (if exercises are performed for durations of 40-60 seconds)


So doing long campus routines might be the way to go if your body can take it.

paul h

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#6 general fitness - any use?
January 03, 2004, 06:42:20 pm
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So doing long campus routines might be the way to go if your body can take it.



i can feel the pain already  :twisted:

Rhys

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#7 general fitness - any use?
January 03, 2004, 06:42:49 pm
If seen some big rowers, funnily enough it was some of the women in the club- most were well fit and of normal stature, however some were mutant Bruce Lee/ Arnie hybrids that you only tried to pull after the other type had turned you down.

Ahh, the bitterness... :D

dave

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#8 general fitness - any use?
January 03, 2004, 06:46:59 pm
there was this lass rower at my college in uni who rowed for the uni and she had the biggest ass i'd ever seen - she was all ass in fact.

Rhys

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#9 general fitness - any use?
January 03, 2004, 06:49:01 pm
Mmmm, I'll be in my room... :D

T.H.

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#10 general fitness - any use?
January 03, 2004, 09:54:43 pm
Rowing is a f*ckin ace way of getting fit.  It works all the major muscle groups and doesn't put too much strain on the body like running can i.e you don't get shin-splints and knackered knees.

Also, there's no way you'll bulk up, as rowing is generally an aerobic/endurance activity, and therefore it'll make your worked muscles better at that kind of thing.  To bulk up you need to do strength training i.e. high intensity/low reps.

However, there's no way rowing is going to make you a better climber, apart from loss of fat (not saying that you are fat of course).

The key to good training is 'sport specificty'.  Basically, a sprinter wouldn't train by doing the 10,000metres, and vice-versa.

So to get better at climbing you're going to have to train the muscles you use climbing, in the way they're going to get used while climbing.

So, if you're a real climber, I mean boulderer, you're going to want to train your muscles with short bursts of intense activity.  Such as weighted one arm dead hangs, or weighted chin-ups where you can only manage a few reps.

For route climbing you've got to lower the intensity a bit, but increase the length of the activity.  This could be done by reducing your weight through a pulley system and then go up and down a campus board a for a couple of minutes.  Rather than building up masses of power, this should increase the lactate threshold of the muscles meaning you can fight off pump for longer(do a search for lactate threshold and you'll find loads of info).

paul h

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#11 general fitness - any use?
January 04, 2004, 06:02:27 pm
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Rather than building up masses of power, this should increase the lactate threshold of the muscles meaning you can fight off pump for longer


this sounds good, but I'm really looking for something to do on the days I'm not climbing ...

or maybe I'm not allowed a day off  :(

T.H.

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#12 general fitness - any use?
January 04, 2004, 07:23:08 pm
Then what you're thinkin' off is 'active recovery'.

You do all your hard core training on one day, then to speed up and improve your recovery you do less intense activity like rowing or jogging (I'd do rowing coz you can watch the t.v. while doing it) the next couple of days.

It's a simple principle, the exercise raises your heart rate, more blood gets pumped around the body, and with that blood come all the nice nutrients that repair trashed muscles, skin, tendons, ligaments etc.

Do a search for it, there's plenty of info to be found.

It won't directly improve you're climbing, but will mean you'll get more out of your climbing specific training.

danielb

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#13 general fitness - any use?
January 05, 2004, 10:44:36 am
I like rowing machines too good workout, I always seem to injury myself running (splints usually), currently I'm doing allot of swimming in attempt to get fit and lose the Christmas insulation I have aquired :)

DanielB

paul h

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#14 general fitness - any use?
January 05, 2004, 03:35:10 pm
Im gonna get me a rowin machine right now





when I get paid





from argos

danielb

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#15 general fitness - any use?
January 05, 2004, 03:42:29 pm
I would get one too but I have no where to put one atm.

:(

DanielB

paul h

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#16 general fitness - any use?
January 05, 2004, 05:02:27 pm
gonna put mine in front of






the telly


 
my girlfriends goin to love it

 :argue:

 

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