Climbing is a skill sport, but strength also plays a huge role in climbing success. As you progress up the grades in climbing, strength grows in importance. In this video, Lyti and I do a simple strength assessment, including pushups, pullups, crunches, a one-rep max hang and max duration hang. This measurement represents our baseline strength prior to starting a specific training regimen. We’ll test again after two months of training to see how we’re progressing.
Climbers need both strength and power. Power is just strength applied quickly. A power pushup is a great way to build power in your antagonistic pushing muscles. No extra weights are required and you can do it just about anywhere. This blog post covers a few different variants of a power pushup.
In the Lyti training summer series, Lyti struggles with doing regular pushups, making it hard to progress the exercise for her. One alternative exercise that works pretty well is an isometric plank. Read on for a few variations on the exercise to make it harder or easier than a regular pushup.
If hangboards feel a bit too expensive to you, or if, because of a global pandemic, you can’t find one in stock, you can easily build your own hangboard at home. This post shows you how my daughter and I built one for her college apartment.
7x3 repeaters are a great way to add strength endurance into your rock climbing training regimen. If you're into route climbing and you need to gain endurance to help maximize your send potential, then this hangboard protocol is a good choice.
