[Dave Westlake]

Hi Guys

gonna be climbing lots of slab routes    over the summer and was wondering if anyone had any good training tips to get my calves ready for the dreaded leg pump?  

i go to the gym a fair bit at the moment but just do upper body stuff. i dont live anywhere near any rock or decent walls so no point in telling me to get out climbing more!

any ideas appreciated

Cheers Dave

[a dense loner]

stand on the edge of a kerbstone for a bit stressing the baby cows.

[andy higginson]

i go to the gym a fair bit at the moment but just do upper body stuff

...and you want to know what you can do that might get your legs stronger?
No idea, sorry, but I'll be sure to let you know if I think of anything
 :roll:

[Dave Westlake]

i go to the gym a fair bit at the moment but just do upper body stuff

...and you want to know what you can do that might get your legs stronger?
No idea, sorry, but I'll be sure to let you know if I think of anything
 :roll:

Thanks for that andy, really helpfull.

What i wanted to know was: is there any particular excersise in the gym that i can do that would increase stamina in my calves and specifically target the burning sensation of leg pump? not: i want stronger legs, what shall i do?

incidentally, my legs are pretty strong anyway cos i used to do loads of walking.  i wanna get some stamina in my calves that is specific to slabclimbing.  I figured its probably difficult to get specific enough results from the machines in the gym and i thought a bit of advice might be useful.

 :bash:

[clm]

do denses kerbstone and then go from tip toes to heels down - repeat.
also possible on the bottom step in your house if you dont want the neighbours to think you are wierd.

[andy higginson]

is there any particular excersise in the gym that i can do that would increase stamina in my calves and specifically target the burning sensation of leg pump?

ok, do the suggested exercises - standing with toes on step then raising and lowering - sets of 30 - 50 with dumbbells in hands. can also be done on a leg press machine by pushing the weight away from you only using your toes. Again, high reps for endurance.

[SA Chris]

Also try doing squats on one leg. Good for developing balance too, but not great if you have dodgy knees.

[webbo]

find a seated calf raise machine or gym thats got one.

[Paz]

I don't know who the hell I am to comment on the Gresh' but he did loads of calf raises for Indian Face and still got calf pumps.  It might be a case of the pump's would've been even worse if he didn't do the calf raises but still:

I rate the repeated standing on tip toes, it sounds crap but the pump you get feels exactly the same as slab pump.  So bollocks to getting stronger calfs and gym membership, they're bloody big muscles to start with and anyway you want stronger feet too, tip toes reps allow you to get used to training through the same pump you're going to get from the route.  I think.  Anyway, I haven't tested it yet and though I'm not an expert (in this area) I'm sure I'm right - let me know how you get on!

[Dave Westlake]

cheers dudes,
 

tried the kerbstone thing (on a step) and it seemed to work.

Laters