[douglas]

I haven't heard of many (any?) strong climbers training on gymnastic rings. I'm looking to supplement my powerlifting with some pure upper body after gaining a stone in a couple of months. What advice is there regarding ring training for make benefit great climber? Thanks! Who trains on rings?

[iwasmexican]

cant really say much for them other than you will hurt all over for days after even an hour session of 5-6 exercises, which can only be a good thing.


plus you ll be able to do an iron cross eventually, and that cant be a bad thing either...

[saltbeef]

look at your original post, i don't know if you are hoping that power lifting is going to benefit your climbing, but you've gained a stone of presumably excess muscle mass that your fingers are now going to support. Are rings going to offset this? no they are likely to compound it. Try climbing with a 7kg weight belt and see if you notice a difference.
(danger anecdote ahoy! this comes from someone who has done rings in the past, i don't think they benefited me much at all, far less than climbing steep stuff or going on a fingerboard. even then this is questionable benefit as I would improve more from time on rock)

[tomtom]

The best training for climbing is.....

[Paul B]

(danger anecdote ahoy! this comes from someone who has done rings in the past, i don't think they benefited me much at all, far less than climbing steep stuff or going on a fingerboard. even then this is questionable benefit as I would improve more from time on rock)

It sounds like you'll have more in common with Saltbeef regarding muscle mass than compared to me (meat loaf vs. a twiglet) but I found rings extremely beneficial in sorting out weak and unstable shoulders. Incidentally at the time steepness was certainly my forte but I could barely hold static L-sits etc. on the rings.

[slackline]

The best training for climbing is.....

To be found here

[tomtom]

The best training for climbing is.....

To be found here

Noo.. not graphs...

The best training is climbing!

[Muenchener]

I haven't heard of many (any?) strong climbers training on gymnastic rings.

Er, John Gill?

[dobbin]

I could barely hold static L-sits etc. on the rings.

Much to our combined amusement eh Salty? Burnt off by the Barrett

[abarro81]

Are you lot spending your time and energy powerlifting etc on crack, living a long way from any rock/walls or can take the most phenomenal training load that using this stuff as a supplement doesn't negatively affect your more important sessions?

[Paul B]

I could barely hold static L-sits etc. on the rings.

Much to our combined amusement eh Salty? Burnt off by the Barrett

Burnt off and then laughed at by the Barrett

[saltbeef]

I could barely hold static L-sits etc. on the rings.

Much to our combined amusement eh Salty? Burnt off by the Barrett

VERY FUNNY! Its almost as good as this video

[saltbeef]

I think Barrows is incredibly talking sense.
Paul I think L sits get progressively harder as your hamstring/back flexibility decreases. Paul you can't touch your toes. I would've thought banging out a couple of sets of press ups will give you sufficiently strong shoulders and won't negatively impact on your core climbing sessions where you will reap the most reward in imprvement in terms of climbing as Barrows suggests. (of course I will still just go to the wall and fuck about - hence 7b 4 life!)

[Paul B]

I think Barrows is incredibly talking sense.

I'll start listening to Barrows on strength training advice when he actually does a hard move instead of avoiding them through choice or through knees... (Edit: I missed out 'Lank')

Joking aside I (partially) agree. I'm not wholly convinced by the benefits of powerlifting (or weights in general) for climbing. For me personally, rings really helped sort out my shoulders at the time (they were a ticking time bomb of instability), I also think they helped a lot with my core although I did start doing them mainly as I was getting bored of the board(s). However, this is purely anecdotal and Mason, who I was doing ring sessions with at the time went on to dislocate his shoulder not long after.

[slackline]

Joking aside I (partially) agree. I'm not wholly convinced by the benefits of powerlifting (or weights in general) for climbing. For me personally, rings really helped sort out my shoulders at the time (they were a ticking time bomb of instability), I also think they helped a lot with my core although I did start doing them mainly as I was getting bored of the board(s). However, this is purely anecdotal and Mason, who I was doing ring sessions with at the time went on to dislocate his shoulder not long after.

I don't really train, but in reading around for writing the benchmarking thing I came across this in MacLeods 9 out of 10 climbers (pp76-77)

In general, weight training is not really the most efficient form of training for the vast majority of climbers. Nearly all climbers need to climb more. So they should spend any spare time they have for training just doing the climbing related stu. Weight training is a powerful but rather blunt instrument, even when done correctly. For climbers who have other things in their lives besides climbing (so their time for training is limited), some other form of real climbing is always a more ecient way to make gains. It's possible to target specifc muscle groups or areas of weakness in climbing in just the same way as weight training, but still be learning technique and tactics at the same time. Time spent pumping iron is time not learning any climbing skills.

There is more text on page 77 saying that there are a handful of pro climbers who use it, but that amounts to only weak anecdotal evidence and that many other pro climbers perform at a similar level without recourse to weights.

[Nibile]

 :icon_beerchug:I don't think that rings are specifically good for core, unless you become able to perform routines that warrant you a 9,00 at the Olympics.
The kind of core needed in climbing is a lot more complex than holding an L-seat, in my opinion. But I could easily be wrong.
I think that rings are awesome to develop a particular kind of upper body power that can then trained again specifically for climbing.
We must remember that a ring session can also give a very different stimulus to the body while resting fingers for example. Not everyone has the luxury of endless time or enormous climbing walls or close rocks, as to avoid anything else than climbing itself in its various forms.
I consider lifting - and if I were to do rings I'd consider rings as well - as an active rest day, climbing wise, in which I can potentiate the climbing specific training of the days before and after with a full body recruitment. Lifting increases testosterone production also and this is crucial for strength training.
I've only tried rings once at The Works, and they felt good.
Just my opinion, no science, punter level, etc...

[Nibile]

Also, many people could avoid rings also because they could train in a more specific way the same weaknesses, or firstly address more important weaknesses.

[douglas]

Wow, I'm incredibly grateful for the replies. There is a lot to digest here.

First of all, I don't live near a wall, the Cave, Tor etc, so Saturday and Sunday are the only days I can do moves. Tuesday and Thursday I train on the fingerboard, one hour sessions. So am I lazy on the fingers front.

Monday, Wednesday, Friday are currently powerlifting days, again one hour sessions (ish). These sessions are targeted directly at developing climbing muscles in the body; back, sides, shoulders, arms but by their nature they involve legs and thus some muscle gain is dead weight. I was considering replacing some powerlifting sessions with ring work for two reasons; they involve no leg, and front core can more easily be trained than by lifting weights.

I would be interested in hearing opinions on what else I could do? More or longer fingerboard sessions? Other than that I don't know. I'm 78 kgs, 6 foot 4, can't hang an edge one handed or do a one armer, but can almost front lever.

Not on crack, just want to get better steep bouldering.

[abarro81]

I suspect I'd fingerboard more in that situation - Tues, Weds and Thurs. 1hr including warm up or after warm up? If the former then add on 30min for sure. Arm and core work on bar. Core work on floor.

Only training for bouldering or routes too?

[iwasmexican]

second that get on the fingerboard more. reckon you re that rings would do more good than lifting though, but in your case fingers are probably holding you back more?

[douglas]

Thank you. I was unsure that a fingerboard session third day on would do any good at all..? Currently one hour including warm up.

Routes vs. bouldering, I'd love to do both but I honestly don't have the motivation to train endurance on a fingerboard and don't want to spend the weekend lapping stuff to get fit. The PE end of bouldering I can just about get motivated for.

The thing is, on a fingerboard I'm sure I need stronger fingers to get better but going climbing I feel like if I could just lock harder or hold the swing easier or stick the foothold I could climb it and that makes me believe I need a stronger body... tricky one.

[kingholmesy]

Is there any scope for you to build a woody?

[abarro81]

If you can't do 3 1 hr fingerboard sessions on consecutive days I can't see you ability to tolerate training load being high enough that the power lifting wont be negatively affecting your climbing on the weekend. Or your fingerboarding for that matter. Could be wrong though.

1hr inc warm-up seems like very little, do you warm up really quick? It takes me 30min before I'm pulling near my max. That only leaves 30min training time - not very much.

I'd probably do something like
T - max 1 arm hangs
W - Lopez style hangs, 4 hang repeaters/encores, core
T - repeaters/encores, core

[douglas]

Okay, brilliant. Currently my sessions are 20 mins warm up. 20 mins 3-hang repeaters, 20 mins open to crimp switches. So aimed at finger flexor hypertrophy.

I appreciate the advice.

A woody, I dream!

[richdraws]

Sack rings, don't go anywhere near them. I blame them and false grip for my Duputryens. Also, unless you have no ego whatsoever you will attempt an iron cross. At best you will hold it for ten seconds and ruin your shoulders for ever.
They're shit.