Hangboard Routines

[rocky_joe]

So I have a pretty decent routine right now on the hangboard. Looking to maximize my time in the gym (3-4x/week for 2-3hrs) and wondering if anyone has any advice as far as hang routines go?

[Kimmo]

http://www.beastmaker.co.uk/

 

 

pretty good stuff there.

[willstrickland]

It's a good tool, when used sparingly. I go through 2-4 hangboard cycles per year, always with 2 full days rest between and with NO other climbing/climbing training aside from warmup and cooldown (don't consider cardio or core work "climbing training", just stuff that stresses fingers/shoulder/back).

 

I do between 8-12 workouts in a cycle and just completed my last cycle on Sat. Gains are usually about 5lb per week on each grip and usually about 50lb for the cycle.

 

Returning to the board after a full training cycle, I have been starting with what I'd used in workout#3 from the previous cycle. SO expect to lose some pure strength as you train through power, PE, and rest phases.

 

I've found that less volume (literally the only climbing related thing I do during my hangboard phase is hangboard) is crucial for proper recovery and injury avoidance. I might go solo 5.easys or something on an off day, but nothing resembling training.

 

My workout is roughly the same, the grips and weights will change, but the bulk is this:

 

4-8 grip positions, 1 set for each grip. A set consists of 5 repetitions of 10sec hang/5 sec rest. Two minutes rest between sets. I've also done it multiple sets for each grip, gradually increasing the weight for each set, usuing 7x 7sec on/3sec off, then 6x 7/3, then 5x 7/3.

 

these days I'm back on the 1 set of 10/5. Works great, 50lb stronger over this cycle and no nagging bodyparts. I can't take any credit for this workout, it is almost verbatim from Mike Anderson's "Making of a RockProdigy" training article. Which, btw, is the best short piece on climbing training I've seen.

[Off_White]

I can't take any credit for this workout, it is almost verbatim from Mike Anderson's "Making of a RockProdigy" training article. Which, btw, is the best short piece on climbing training I've seen.

 

Thanks Will, here's a link to the relevant article.

[Kimmo]

It's a good tool, when used sparingly.

 

i think everyone responds to all types of training differently, so one's "sparing" use of a particular type of training is, for another, perhaps too much or way too little.

 

all we can do is experiment and see what works for us and keeps us siked.

[Kimmo]

and, having read the rockprodigy article, it seems to fall into the same trap as so many "how to" books, becoming more and more didactic as it progresses, making the implicit assumption that they have "figured it out" (with a few diplomatic disclaimers to the contrary thrown in for good measure!).

 

oh well, i guess that's what the military will do to ya!

[Kimmo]

"The purpose of the hangboard is to train your forearms, and body builders have long understood that the best way to train a muscle is to isolate it."

 

body builders are concerned with muscle growth, not functional strength.

 

 

"Compare it to the opposite style of climbing, the very steep, “thuggish” routes of Rifle, American Fork, and Maple Canyon. Those routes depend mostly on endurance, and very little on strength and power."

 

i wonder if he has ever climbed at af or rifle? sounds fishy....

 

 

i could go on and on, but i will say that many climbers would surely improve following this guy's advice (or a number of other climbing "teachers").

 

 

 

Edited October 22, 2009 by Kimmo

[rocky_joe]

Kimmo,

you should probably not make ridiculous claims like that military one. Pretty far-out and baseless. And about that body builder thing, the author used body builders as an illustrative point. Hangboards are not high on the list of things body builders do.

[rocky_joe]

Everyone else, thanks for the links. I've used the articles you guys gave, advice from a friend who climbs 13d, and 8a. hopefully i've got a good healthy routine worked.

 

this is what i've come up w/ to do 2-3x/week.

 

jug-pulls-5

2finger pocket-pulls-5

medium edge-pulls-5

sloper-pulls-5

jug-hang-20sec

2 finger pocket-hang-15sec

jug-negs-3-5

med edge-hang-15sec

sloper-hang-15 sec

med edge-lock offs-20sec

2 finger pocket-negs-3

small edge-hang 10 sec

jug-pulls-5

 

takes about 15 mins when done in a 3 person rotation. i may end up changing some stuff as i go along and get some feed back from my fingers.

 

 

[Kimmo]

Kimmo,

you should probably not make ridiculous claims like that military one. Pretty far-out and baseless.

 

ahh, in the military?

 

And about that body builder thing, the author used body builders as an illustrative point. Hangboards are not high on the list of things body builders do.

 

ahh, in the military?

 

his "illustrative point" is non-illustrative, because he is way off base (in theory, but perhaps not in practice).

 

 

glad you got a good workout; there are many ways to skin a cat (if yer into that kinda thing).

[rocky_joe]

not in the military. and yeah he is using an the body builder in an illustrative manner...i'll break it down for you.

 

--body builder isolate muscles to work specific muscles.

--climbers need to isolate certain muscles that are specific to climbing.

--hangboards isolate those muscles.

--climbers should use hangboards.

 

work now?

 

(before you ask, that one didn't come from my rigorous elitist military past).

[Sol]

come on you guys, really.

 

here's some more links:

 

Moon Climbing

 

Neil Gresham

 

Dave McLeod Part 1

 

Dave McLeod Part 2

 

Good article by Dave, fingerboarding on pg 4

 

 

[TimL]

Everyone else, thanks for the links. I've used the articles you guys gave, advice from a friend who climbs 13d, and 8a. hopefully i've got a good healthy routine worked.

 

this is what i've come up w/ to do 2-3x/week.

 

jug-pulls-5

2finger pocket-pulls-5

medium edge-pulls-5

sloper-pulls-5

jug-hang-20sec

2 finger pocket-hang-15sec

jug-negs-3-5

med edge-hang-15sec

sloper-hang-15 sec

med edge-lock offs-20sec

2 finger pocket-negs-3

small edge-hang 10 sec

jug-pulls-5

 

takes about 15 mins when done in a 3 person rotation. i may end up changing some stuff as i go along and get some feed back from my fingers.

 

 

Advice from a friend of mine who was climbing 8b today, 13d. "I go to the climbing gym, but nothing serious."

 

 

[Off_White]

So, as a consensus statement, can we all agree that doing something is better than doing nothing, unless you do too much, in which case doing nothing would have been better?

[Kimmo]

i cannot agree to that. sounds too much like rocky joe logic.

 

what are we talking about anyway? oh yeah, hanging by our fingers. now that sounds downright silly!

[RuMR]

Everyone else, thanks for the links. I've used the articles you guys gave, advice from a friend who climbs 13d, and 8a. hopefully i've got a good healthy routine worked.

 

this is what i've come up w/ to do 2-3x/week.

 

jug-pulls-5

2finger pocket-pulls-5

medium edge-pulls-5

sloper-pulls-5

jug-hang-20sec

2 finger pocket-hang-15sec

jug-negs-3-5

med edge-hang-15sec

sloper-hang-15 sec

med edge-lock offs-20sec

2 finger pocket-negs-3

small edge-hang 10 sec

jug-pulls-5

 

takes about 15 mins when done in a 3 person rotation. i may end up changing some stuff as i go along and get some feed back from my fingers.

 

 

Advice from a friend of mine who was climbing 8b today, 13d. "I go to the climbing gym, but nothing serious."

 

basques and spaniards don't count as they train on real stuff all the time...