Part 2 in a series on working the weaknesses in your climbing performance.
This month looks at some specific methods for doing something about those weak fingers and the next two will help you build up those feeble arms!
With any luck, those who read last month's column will be straining at the leash to bring the gaps in their climbing performance up to scratch. Having made a successful diagnosis of your weaknesses, the next step is to determine your approach in training them away. In some cases this will simply be a case of prioritising the types of climbing which you aren't so good at and making a conscious effort to improve them; yet in others, some more drastic measures may need to be employed. This issue will examine imbalances in climbing strength as an area of weakness and discuss the undisputed worth of Isolation training in doing something about them.
As last issue showed, some climbers have disproportionately weak arms or fingers whilst others find that their arms or fingers, whilst being awesomely strong in some positions, are feebly weak in others. So why do these situations come about? The most obvious reason for a strength imbalance between fingers and arms is because an individual only ever climbs on either very steep rock which emphasises the arms, or less steep rock which only taxes the fingers. However a more subtle yet perhaps a more likely explanation is the effect of individual body types and builds. It tends to be the case that those with a heavy, stocky build, with short, thick bones (ie: endomorphs) are the climbers who lack finger strength. These climbers find it easy to develop the upperbody musculature for pulling up, yet their relatively high body mass makes it that much harder for them to hold on with their fingers. Conversely, climbers with a slim build with long, thin bones (ie: ectomorphs) tend to have strong fingers relative to their body mass, but they lack the upperbody musculature for pulling up. If you find yourself falling into one or the other of these two extreme categories then it may well be the case that you will benefit from isolation training to help to bring either your arms or your fingers up to scratch.
Weak links in the chain of climbing muscles are usually self perpetuating because, whenever possible, the stronger muscles always attempt to compensate for them. Hence if left unchecked, your stronger muscles will continue to get stronger whilst the weaker muscles becomes further and further out of synch'. If you allow this to continue, you will reach the stage where it is impossible to rectify the situation purely by continuing to climb on a random basis. Isolation training methods enable us to target the weak muscles and train them to the exclusion of all other muscles, they are also a highly effective tool for gaining specific aspects of strength for a particular project or type of crag. However, isolation exercises require minimum levels of skill and neuromuscular coordination compared to climbing itself and thus, it can be hard to convert strength gains made purely from isolation training back into climbing terms. Isolation training should be used only as a system shocking device and as a supplement rather than a substitute to climbing itself.
These divide simply into two types: those which isolate the fingers and those which isolate the arms and upperbody. The basic isometric (static) exercise for the fingers is deadhanging, and for the arms and upperbody there is a multitude of both dynamic and isometric exercises which range from basic weight training, to more specialised methods such as Bachar ladders and the new form of French style bar training. The remainder of this article will look at finger isolation training and the next two issues will be devoted to arm isolation training.
DEADHANGING
As it's name might suggest, a deadhang is simply a straight armed isometric finger hang performed on a specific hold for a specific time duration. It is the only known isolation exercise for the fingers. Once deemed as over-stressful and dangerous, deadhanging is now well understood and hence can be incorporated safely and effectively into a finger strength training program. The principle mistake made in the past was the use of 2-armed deadhanging for endurance training which, today, is strongly condemned, unless the 'alternating method' is used - (see below). Lengthy contraction times will place repetitive strain on the finger joints, ultimately damaging their synovial capsules and possibly leading on to chronic injury. Furthermore deadhanging for endurance is non-specific as it is rare in climbing that you will ever want to stay on a hold for more than 20 or 30 seconds, at least not without footholds! It makes sense, when deadhanging, to mimic the common finger contraction pattern in climbing as accurately as possible which explains the importance of performing shorter, more intense, intermittent hangs. This will ensure maximum specificity to climbing and that the fingers are released before they are over-strained.
Where to deadhang
Although specialised deadhanging boards can be constructed with size-callibrated removable holds, a versatile fingerboard or the wall or crag can be equally effective, provided there is sufficient clearance for the body and a suitable selection of holds. Wooden holds are favourable as they are kindest on the skin and their comparatively low friction coefficient means that full strength needs to be recruited.
Hanging durations
The recommended guideline for pure strength work is between 3 and 15 seconds, with 6-8 seconds representing the optimum for mid-range gains.
One arm or two?
If you are new to deadhanging it will be a virtual necessity to perform exercises with two-arms. However, as you progress and get stronger you will start to find that you will be tempted to use holds which are dangerously small, painful and 'conditions' dependent: ie: you will probably either strain yourself or 'grease-off' before you can actually test or train your strength. Now is the time to switch to 1-arm work where you can use a larger hold which will offer better support for the all-important first-finger joints, as well as being less dependent on temperature and humidity conditions. The only time when 2-arm work is worthwhile for stronger climbers is for experimenting with different finger combinations.
Varying the overload
To vary the resistance of training for deadhanging, you have the options of varying the hold size or the eccentric loading (ie: your body weight under gravity). For less resistance you can use a bungee stirrup or alternatively, a small handhold can be positioned at waist height to allow marginal assistance from the free hand or a poor foothold can be used with one foot. The safest way to increase resistance, rather than using a smaller hold is simply to carry a weight in your free hand which can be made ever larger as you become stronger. One-arm weighted hangs are the ultimate stage of your progressive overload cycle for deadhanging and it will inevitably take years of effort and patience to reach it; don't rush or the results will be injury.
Specificity tips
Vary your grip!
Deadhanging should be used to train the full range of finger isometric angles although most climbers tend to favor either a full-crimped or a half-crimped position, simply because they find this to be the easiest and most obvious way to hang on edges. However, open-handed work is equally important for developing strength for pockets and for improving strength when taking a hold at full reach. It is far safer to perform open-handed deadhangs on edges as opposed to pocket holds which can exert nasty leverages. This type of deadhang requires particular care; the first time you attempt openhanded work it invariably feels 'tweaky' and unnatural and this is as much to do with a lack of neuromuscular familiarity as lack of pure strength. Remember to take it gradually and be progressive.
Alternating hangs
For an intensive and highly specific training affect, climbers who have gained the strength to do 1-arm work may find it worthwhile alternating continuously between arms (without touching the ground) in order to create a form of deadhanging 'super-set'. Hence the rest for the free arm is simply dictated by the time spent hanging from the working arm. Ideally, for pure strength training, you would aim to work each arm 2-3 times for approximately 6-12 seconds before swapping over. It may also be well worth experimenting with this type of alternate deadhanging for anaerobic-endurance.
Rest and sets
Rest between deadhanging sets should be sufficient to enable you to make quality attempts. For the 'alternate arm' work, this would probably mean at least 5-8 mins between sets, and for the single contractions, 3-6 minutes. If anything, do less rather than more as it is always best to ''stop when you're strong'' rather than allowing your performance to drop to a hopeless level.
Session structure
There are two simple structures which you can use to ensure maximum productivity of your sessions:
1) Intensity Pyramid structure
The most effective way to ensure an appropriate progression of intensity throughout a deadhanging session is simply to start off with your 1-rep maximum work on the smallest hold and then to increase the hold size and hanging times as the session progresses. That way you will be doing the pure strength work when you are fresh and the longer but less intense hangs when you are more fatigued.
2) Intensity cycle
An alternative to the above approach is simply to take one hold which you can hang for 4-5 seconds and work with this same hold over a number of sessions until you can hang it for 15 seconds. Once you have managed this then start again with a new hold that you can only hang for 4-5 seconds, and so on. This way the range of hanging intensities are trained on a cyclical basis over time between sessions rather than within sessions. The advantage of this method is purely that it is much easier to structure as it involves less initial experimentation.
'Train not strain'
Although deadhanging is ideal for working weak fingers, it is by no means recommended to complete beginners. Deadhanging is intensive by definition and it is important to increase the training overload gradually and in such a way that places desirable training stresses on the fingers rather than damaging strains. Unfortunately there is a worryingly fine line between these two stages. Use holds which support the first finger joints and ensure that you warm up thoroughly. Remember that deadhanging should only be used as a supplementary exercise to climbing - so don't get carried away! Fingery boulder problems on a steep surface will still be your main tool for getting steely digits.