[Xan]

Being a not very tall person who has noticed a few improvements in strength lately I also seem to have hit upon a problem. On occasions where I am locked off as low as is possible for me and reaching with my other hand to a hold at full stretch, I am unable to move out of this position due to (it seems to me) lack of strength in the shoulder itself. Basically the shoulder is locked in place and I can't transfer any weight which might help me break out of this position. This could occur reaching either up or across - it seems to happen both ways.

Simply put, are there any specific exercises I could look into which would help me to develop this strength? I'm not a big fan of a training plan as such and prefer to just climb as much as possible, but this issue seems to be consistently stopping me from completing moves so I would be interested to know more.

Thanks.

[shark]

Maybe you are being too static? Have you tried jerking your hips or legs to break the lock?

The answer is always deadlifting

[John Gillott]

I'm presuming your other hand isn't holding a good hold at this point - if it is just relax a bit of course and let go with the locked arm / hand.

So, let's assume you've got hold of a poor hold or no hold at all (you need to go that bit further) and / or you're on steep ground. If a dynamic approach is no good you might need to turn a deep lock into a combination of a lock and a press, or begin to move into a press. Done statically it's partly a matter of the relevant strength and partly about controlling the small careful movements you need to perform in this position. For strength: maybe bench presses taking the bar all the way on to your chest (have someone on hand in case of emergencies) and / or deep pressups (do them elevated, hands and feet on chairs, so you can drop your body below the horizontal)?

[SA Chris]

Sounds to me like a classic campus board problem? Bit of campus training?

[ghisino]

On occasions where I am locked off as low as is possible for me and reaching with my other hand to a hold at full stretch, I am unable to move out of this position due to (it seems to me) lack of strength in the shoulder itself.

let's assume you are reaching with your right hand
i don't understand if :

a) you already have the next hold in your right hand, the problem is that you are fully stretched and for some reason you can't "validate" this hold and move your feet up etc..

b) you are still reaching with the right hand, you can't lock any lower with your left hand although you feel that it's theoretically possible.


everyone else understood b) and they gave you good answers...

if it is a) it might be a shoulder problem, finger problem or core&footwork problem...
"hanging shrugs" for shoulders
deadhangs for fingers
simply doing lots and lots of full-stretch movements if it's anything else...

[Sasquatch]

On occasions where I am locked off as low as is possible for me and reaching with my other hand to a hold at full stretch, I am unable to move out of this position due to (it seems to me) lack of strength in the shoulder itself.

let's assume you are reaching with your right hand
i don't understand if :

a) you already have the next hold in your right hand, the problem is that you are fully stretched and for some reason you can't "validate" this hold and move your feet up etc..

b) you are still reaching with the right hand, you can't lock any lower with your left hand although you feel that it's theoretically possible.


everyone else understood b) and they gave you good answers...

if it is a) it might be a shoulder problem, finger problem or core&footwork problem...
"hanging shrugs" for shoulders
deadhangs for fingers
simply doing lots and lots of full-stretch movements if it's anything else...

A or B)   Tricep, pec and core strength.  If the hold you're on is good enough to do a deep lock, then it's good enough to keep pressing out, but you probably don't have the push strength.  Very common in many climbers as we pull all day, but at some point, the moves get so big we have to have power through the full range of motion which include pressing down.  Try doing some dips and pressups....

[Xan]

On occasions where I am locked off as low as is possible for me and reaching with my other hand to a hold at full stretch, I am unable to move out of this position due to (it seems to me) lack of strength in the shoulder itself.

let's assume you are reaching with your right hand
i don't understand if :

a) you already have the next hold in your right hand, the problem is that you are fully stretched and for some reason you can't "validate" this hold and move your feet up etc..

b) you are still reaching with the right hand, you can't lock any lower with your left hand although you feel that it's theoretically possible.

I think a) - I often feel so stretched out that it doesn't seem like I can move my feet up either because I cannot move my hips away from the wall.

Thanks everyone for your input Looks like I need to start working on the campus board and some tricep training (my triceps are certainly very weak, which will restrict locking off for sure!)

[erm, sam]

Perhaps the issue is you don't move your feet up enough before the move. This might make it harder to start the move, but perhaps easier to generate the next phase of momentum after you have reached the hold.
Could also be perhaps being very static vs dynamic, if you popped into the move you might have more momentum to pull through afterwards rather than statically reaching and locking..

[Drew]

Xan is a proper midget. She usually uses obscenely high footholds anyway.

[Moo]

Xan warrior princess?, that massive dyke was no midget

[Drew]

Her hair's a bit shorter these days