upper body physical strength plato.

[OlegV]

I know, I am an old man Anybody knows how to deal with the upper body strength plato? Start eating protein shakes, cut cardio , double your time in gym?

[gary_hehn]

Unless you are wanting to get philosophical about this, I'm thinking you mean plateau. You gotta know there are unlimited resources/sources for suggestions out there! I really am no elitist, but my suggestion would be chin ups (frenchies for endurance), rope climbs, and Eric Horst's book Training for Climbing has some great ideas and exercises. I still feel rather lame myself, but I have experienced improvement from said suggestions, especially in feeling more comfortable about not blowing my fingers out while climbing (see Eric's book and the HIT workout for this). What ever you do, ease into it to avoid injury.

 

That's my put. Others out there, I'm sure, can do better than this and I would be interested in getting their suggestions as well.

[tomtom]

Climb lots.

[gary_hehn]

Agreed. Although, Eric Horst claims that it is difficult to increase your absolute grip strength even by climbing a lot. His explanation is that you need repetition using the same grip and it seems to make sense. I guess the verdict is still out on that one.

[archenemy]

Agreed. Although, Eric Horst claims that it is difficult to increase your absolute grip strength even by climbing a lot. His explanation is that you need repetition using the same grip and it seems to make sense. I guess the verdict is still out on that one.

 

Lifting weights is perfect for this. If you switch your grip between regular grip and "monkey" grip, you will impact your strength measurably. Use a reg. grip on everything you lift/push overhead, and monkey grip whatever you pull toward you. Because a great deal of your hand strength is affected by tendon strength, you will have to be consistent with this development and patient. The muscles in your hands will develop within months, but tendons take about a year or more to really, really get strong.

[billcoe]

Heading out with Nolse a couple of times should help you out.

[John Frieh]

OlegV: you need to be more specific on what you want to develop here... shoulders? pecs? triceps? biceps? Your "upper body" is very vague...

 

Secondly: what about this plateau? where are you at... i.e. I can't break the 250 bench... or I can't do more than 50 pull ups... etc. Again: specifics…

 

If you list where you are at, where you want to be and how (if possible) it relates to climbing... answering these questions and perhaps some people can offer some insight.

 

And keep in mind there is a good chance more strength isn't the answer... I use to struggle with 5.8 about the same time I could bench press 300 lbs. These days I can't bench press anywhere near that but I can climb a lot harder than 5.8. What am I trying to say? Sometimes focusing on your footwork instead of your grip strength is the answer.

 

And letting Bill pick where you climb weekly will only help.