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Brilliant training for climbing podcast (Read 15408 times)

kelvin

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#25 Re: Brilliant training for climbing podcast
September 17, 2014, 08:18:25 am
Nice article. As always, it's all about opinions and he openly admits this is what works for him. Case in point -

"I personally have never failed to redpoint a route because my lats weren’t strong enough to pull me up to the next jug. Unless you’re an elite ice climber, I doubt you have either."

My main weakness is not my fingers, it's my lats, my general all round strength. I'm certainly not an elite climber but I can list climb after climb where my basic strength has let me down. Flying Buttress Direct, Kirkus Direct and a whole host of HVSish roof stuff. I'm lucky if I can make three pullups, at the moment I struggle to do one but I can manage that max in the BM mono slots.

In general, I'd agree with most of that however because when I do train with structure, it's pretty obvious that I climb a lot better.


jwi

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#26 Re: Brilliant training for climbing podcast
September 24, 2014, 09:19:48 pm
Branded is a bad idea for reaching people like me who think: "branded diet/workout/etc=fad+bullshit=don't bother"

nathanie1

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I was quite interested in purchasing this book, but I've been slightly put off by Mike's views on stretching.

Obviously it's not on par with training finger strength and footwork, but surely being more flexible can only have a positive impact on your climbing? Watching the bouldering world cup I'm always impressed by how flexible most of the pros appear to be.

I also like the fact that on days when I really shouldn't do any finger related training I can always try and improve my flexibility (and one legged squats etc.). And then there's all the recovery benefits that stretching (and yoga) can have on your body. However I'll admit I can't back this up with any science, just my own experience :guilty:

petejh

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You could always buy a book on stretching if you want to get good at that  :shrug:

thekettle

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When I asked Dave Macleod about the notable absence of stretching from his book he gave a similar answer to the Andersons.

AFAIK despite much research there's no solid scientific evidence to support stretching reducing injury risk or reducing DOMS (aiding recovery).
Research suggest being at either end of the flexibility spectrum puts you at greater risk of injury. Stretching your own specific shortened muscles (if you have any) to achieve normal function makes sense. Pec Minor and Hamstrings in my case.
On the other side stretching does make you feel good, so as long as you don't pursue to hyper-flexibilty levels there's no problem? :shrug:
The physical benefits of yoga I would guess come mainly from the functional movement skills, body awareness, balance and joint/core stability it promotes.

jfdm

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You could always buy a book on stretching if you want to get good at that  :shrug:

I always feel that my flexibility could be better.
I had a look around and found this app rather than a book

http://yogastudioapp.com


I think it was £2.99 - I just put it on and stretch following the app.
Think it's great having used it over the last few weeks.


Sessions are either 15, 30 or 60 minutes long.
Focus on balance, strength or flexibility.
Beginner, intermediate, and advance levels.


There's plenty to go at.
My limbs feel better for it!
Hope this helps  :2thumbsup:


iwasmexican

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I read a lot of the Andersons' book in the summer (thanks Sasquatch) then bought my own copy recently. It is definitely a book that reinforces rather than challenges my prejudices - hopefully that's not a bad thing. Besides "don't run" ( :great: ) it is also amused me that they don't mention stretching (let alone yoga etc) anywhere in the book. I mailed them through their site about this and got a response from Mark Anderson:

"Ya, we're not big into stretching.  I'm super in-flexible. There are situations where flexibility matters, but the vast majority of the time I think it pales in comparison to finger strength and footwork.  It's probably a good idea to stretch a bit in the interest of maintaining your existing flexibility, since your flexibility decreases as you age.  Actually I think climbing is pretty good "active stretching" in its own right, so you might be ok without dedicating time to stretching."

Yeah agree that apply way more for routes and big wall stuff than bouldering, sure theres a limit to flexibility but anecdotally it's so useful to have for how hard it is to maintain. Look at ned for how useful it is.

andybfreeman

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are you strong these days Andy?

Not at the moment! But, I am back in training and my fitness is returning very nicely through the base fitness phase.  I am coming back to the UK next July for my brother's wedding so my training is now geared toward having my season 2 performance peak coincide with my trip. I am looking forward to finally finishing Cider Soak

 

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