Bogley

[cookiecutter]

I'm wanting something to help build my overall upper body strength and want to spend the least money as possible. Rock Rings are the cheapest of the two, but would I be sacrificing a lot of training potential if I went that route?

I'm new to climbing, just wanting a tool to help me get going

thanks!

cookiecutter

[Brian in SLC]

cookiecutter wrote: I'm wanting something to help build my overall upper body strength and want to spend the least money as possible. Rock Rings are the cheapest of the two, but would I be sacrificing a lot of training potential if I went that route?

Maybe. I go to the climbing gym, but, I don't "train" much. Have a hangboard though, and, have done a bit on it over the years (mostly collects dust, though).

Read some of this:

http://www.rockclimbing.com/Articles/Training_and_Technique/The_Making_of_a_Rockprodigy__258.html

Mike was a local SLC area feller and he's a workout-a-holic. Given what he's researched, written about, and applied to outdoor climbing, his stuff is worth a look. Kinda starts with a hangboard.

If you really get into it, or, even if you don't, then I'd recommend one of the newer training books for climbing. Or, browse through a couple of the training forums (rockclimbing.com or mountainproject both have forums dedicated to training).

Good luck,

-Brian in SLC

[Deathcricket]

I just ran across this today so haven't had time to let you know if they work. But they are dirt cheap and even though MMA use them to train their hands. I think it might actually work for rock climbing. I'm going to try these out myself but thought I would share since our goals seem to match. You'll spend next to nothing with these.
:five:
http://www.rosstraining.com/articles/trainingthehands.html

Quote: Wrist Roller – Hang a weight from a rope and roll the weight up and down. Work the hands forward and backward. This movement is one of the best forearm strengtheners available. You can attach the rope to a dumbbell handle or any wooden dolly (even a broom handle). Choose a thick handle for an even greater challenge.

Rice Grip – Fill a bucket with rice and practice grabbing and twisting the rice in your hand. Forcefully grab the rice with each repetition. You can add a clockwise or counterclockwise twist to the movement to work the wrists.

Knuckle Pushups – Perform pushups from the knuckles. This movement is excellent for wrist stability.

Fingertip Pushups – A personal favorite movement of mine is the fingertip pushup. This movement is excellent for the hands.

Towel Pull-up – Hang two towels (or a rope) over a pull-up bar. Grab each side of the towel with one hand and pull yourself up to the bar. This exercise is deceivingly difficult. It will blast the forearms.

Door Grab – Stand directly in front of an open door. Grab it with one hand. Lean the body backwards toward the floor to generate resistance. Hold the door tightly to develop pinch grip strength.

As your strength improves, you can “sit back” until the thighs become parallel to the floor (as illustrated). Work both hands evenly.

When this becomes easy, you can hold a dumbbell in your non-working hand to increase the difficulty. You can also remove one or two fingers from the door grip. For example, you can work with simply your thumb and index finger.

The exercises above do not take long to perform. You can always find time for a few minutes of hand training. I recommend 2 to 4 sessions per week. One effective option is to perform several movements as a circuit. These circuits are an excellent conclusion to a strength training workout. You can perform 1 to 3 complete circuits.

* Towel Pull-ups
* Knuckle Pushups
* Fingertip Pushups
* Wrist roller
* Rice grip (each hand)

Perform one “quality set” for each exercise. Do not push yourself to failure or it will be impossible to finish the circuit. I recommend working to approximately 80% of your 1-set maximum. For example, if you can perform 50 knuckle pushups, stop at 40 reps.

You can also include 2 to 3 days of sledgehammer and/or sandbag lifting.

I also recommend regular practice with the door grabbing movement. You can perform this movement sporadically throughout the day. A few minutes of practice will lead to considerable improvements in pinch grip strength (pinching together weight plates is another option).

Learn from my mistakes. Make time for hand training.

Then for just core strength I'm going to make a set of these wheels of his. Let me know if any of these work for ya. I'm hoping it will improve my climbing skills. My main problem seems fatigue in my forearms and finger strength.

[Deeps]

I know a lot of MMA fighters (long story, another life) and the hand work they do is incredibly simple. I'm going to see a bunch of them tonight at the Ultimate Combat Training Center – I'll ask what else they do.

[Deathcricket]

Deeps wrote: I know a lot of MMA fighters (long story, another life) and the hand work they do is incredibly simple. I'm going to see a bunch of them tonight at the Ultimate Combat Training Center – I'll ask what else they do.

Please do! I'll be watching this thread with interest. I recently got into rock climbing and love it. I can do 5.9's pretty easy and the occaisonal 5.10 if I'm not to tired. But the really cool ones all seem to be in the 5.11 range and beyond me right now.

[cookiecutter]

Quote: I just ran across this today so haven't had time to let you know if they work. But they are dirt cheap and even though MMA use them to train their hands. I think it might actually work for rock climbing. I'm going to try these out myself but thought I would share since our goals seem to match. You'll spend next to nothing with these.

http://www.rosstraining.com/articles/trainingthehands.html


Hey that is some good stuff! Thanks for sharing it, that'll sure save me a bunch of money. I just need to figure out a way to set up a pull up bar without putting one on the door.

Thanks for the help!

[Deeps]

Alright, I checked in with the MMA fighters at the UCTC between bouts tonight. Here is what they had to say tonight:

1. Fill two bags with sand and duct tape the tops. Carry them around with elbows at 90 degrees, hands perpendicular to the floor. Add more sand when you can. Do this until you can't.

2. Jump up onto a pull up bar and dead hang for 5, then 10, then 15. Use a monkey grip (both thumbs with fingers instead of wrapping around the bar.

3. The finger pushups were mentioned.

4. Walking. On. Hands. They laughed, but they weren't kidding.

One of them said he climbed in the past, and that all of this would be good for forearms and hand/fingers.

[cookiecutter]

Just picked up a pass to the local gym. Climbed for 3 1/2 hours, I am officially spent. Definitely time for me to start a little strength training

[Deathcricket]

Nice Deeps! All very good suggestions. Woohoo!

Just wanted to update you guys also. I made this last weekend and it seems to work decent. Cost less than $5. 2 studs each cut to 4 feet and then achored to ceiling beams with decks screws. Then used remaining pieces to do the cross beams. I put the rope so I could climb up and grab it, but if you have a normal 8 foot ceiling I imagine you could just jump up and grab it.

I just hang on em for as long as I can. That's usually about 40 seconds. Then rest a min and grab them again. Since they are in the garage I see them pretty often and try to hang on them any time I'm taking out the garbage or going out to look at the garden, etc. So far they have been getting good use.
:2thumbs: