I am a 51 year old climber of over 30 years. I never trained in my 20’s. From just climbing I got pretty good at climbing but by age 28 I slowly developed injuries that put me on the DL during ages 29-30 when I should have been peaking. You kids these days should thank your lucky stars to have this awesome FREE info so easily available. I wish I knew this stuff in 1996! I’m trying to climb “hard” again and I’m thankful for this info. It is definitely helping an old injury prone climber get back into shape.
Snap! I recently saw a video on RU-vid by a new climber that was about how quickly he could climb 6c. He managed to do it after something like 51 hours of climbing. But was climbing about 4 times a week pretty quickly straight out of the gate! I wanted to peel back the layers. You’ve climbed one ‘6c’ route on an indoor route. 1. That you dogged your way up on a taught top rope. The kid was already getting tendon issues. But wisdom comes with age and sometimes you just can’t tell people. I wish I could have pointed him in the direction of this video. Thanks #OP. A very valuable resource.
Here is the Training written down: (repeat 2-3 times) Circuit 1: ex 1: No Money 15 reps (Shoulder rotation outwards on the height of solaplexus) ex 2: Planck shoulder taps 20 reps ex 3: Nordic Hamstring Curls 10 reps (leaning forward with your legs fixated) ex 4: Eccentric finger rolls 12 reps (repeat 2-3 times) Circuit 2: ex 1: Standing W's 12 reps (shoulder rotation outwards face height) ex 2: Side Planck 30 - 60 sec per side ex 3: Stiff leg rdl 10 reps ex 4: reverse curl 12 reps (repeat 2-3 times) Circuit 3: ex 1: Face pulls 10 reps (pull slightly above head) ex 2: Hollow rocks 10+ reps ex 3: sumo squats 10 reps ex 4: Recruitment Pulls 5 reps per hand
After more than a year of doing this mostly once a week, with a few lapses, I can say that this routine is excellent and I recommend it to my climber friends. Now my shoulders don't care about awkward moves, my fingers don't hurt (I do more finger rolls than in the video), and my hips don't snap painfully. I would, however, love an update to this video for alternative exercises, because variety.
As a Physiotherapist I think you have shown three excellent circuits that are quick and easy to get into. Reminds me a lot of Bruce Lee's PHA training circuits which are incredible as well. Thank you for a job well done!
Super helpful, and a good mellow way to improve your climbing on rest days! I've been trying to design a slightly more intense injury prevention protocol specific to *climbing on a steep basement woodie* (as that's all I do these pandemic days), mostly based on your videos. A while ago I was getting some bicep pain, and I was able to fix it with a combination of rest and your supplemental exercises. I think my issue was "bicep tendinopathy", but I'm not sure, so I tried to do some exercises for treating "climbers elbow" and "lateral epicondylalgia" as well. My main exercises that weren't already featured in this video are: Arm strength: - Bicep eccentrics (thumb up, elbow down, high weight) - Bicep eccentrics (palm up, elbow up, low weight) - Eccentric reverse curls (thumb under bar) - Reverse grip preacher curls Forearm antagonists: - Reverse wrist curls - Reverse wrist eccentrics - Open-hand pinch block repeaters Miscellaneous: - rings pushups - wide arm pushups - Eccentric wrist-to-fingers - forearm flexor and extensor stretches Any thoughts on this exercise protocol? Is it even necessary? It's possible that a lot of climbers are like me and need a protocol or steep board climbing and burley stuff. I'd love a video on this if possible!
One thing I kinda miss is some preventive work against medial epicondylitis. According to Steven Low Pronator Teres work seems to be better in remedying the elbow pain (although yuor finger and hand curls are good, too). For me, indeed pronator teres was more of an issue there and high volume light intensity really did good here.
I've been doing a lot of face pulls for a few years now, mostly because of Jason Hooper. However, I failed to understand that I was missing the balancing antagonist exercises to work the serratus anterior and I got a winged scapula that has created some shoulder and elbow problems. So, nothing against the face pulls, I just think they need to be supplemented with scapular protraction exercises to keep those shoulders balanced out!! Lesson learned the hard way from me to you.
Man this is amazing, wish i had gotten on this train sooner. Thank you for explaining how to keep us healthy on the wall i needed someone to break this down for me.
I got to this channel Radom (I think because I saw Eric video). But I must say the time was perfect (one of my fingers is still recovering after a full crimp and the videos really help me to recover). Thank you!
At first, thank you guys so much for the incredible content! This routine has been amazing to me. One question tho .. with the eccentric finger rolls, should we progress with weight? Or just the olympic bar weight it's always fine?!
Interestingly I'm already essentially doing all of these things... including Nordic Curls and Face Pulls. I'll look into finger rolls now that I'm climbing. Hollow Rocks look pretty cool, though I'm already doing hanging leg-raises (alternating to each shoulder).
Just come across this as I was looking at improving general fitness on rest days and helping maintain good technique and avoiding a heavy injury (injury prone to most things these days). Any it's great that I can do these all at home so I don't have to go anywhere. Even during a 15 minute break during work hours.
It's 10.30 in the evening. I should NOT start a training session now. But hey, if I wake up really early tomorrow I can go to the gym and do these excercises. That's a plan! Good night and thank you!
I'm 104 years old and I just started climbing. I would get occasionally an injury here and there but it's nothing that stops me from progressing. Thanks for the tips on the exercises, they shall keep in shape for the years to come!
Hey @Hooper's Beta, awsome content, as always!! I only have one question: do you think it would be ok to do just one set of each exercise every day? In terms of total volume it is practically the same as doing it 3 sets twice a week. I found that way particularly interesting as a morning routine because it can be done in less than 20 min and i feel great afterwards.
This is a good question, I’m curious about this too. I would imagine taking 1-2 off days would still be ideal for rest. But how the benefits would stack up I’m not so sure
Doing 1 set every day is fine if you enjoy it better that way, but understand you will progress 75-80% as fast as doing 2 sets every other day. You might also consider doing 1 set a day and then 2 sets on day 6 of your week, followed by a rest day on day 7
Thank you for posting this! I do see the same problem that exists with most routines offered around the web, namely rest period. Here it's referred to as "short" rest, but what is it? Is it 15, 30, 45, 60 sec, or anything less 5 minutes? Depending on how intense you feel, you might need a little or a lot of rest, all of each can change the goal of the workout. Do you have a more tangible recommendation? Thanks again for this, I'm starting tomorrow! :)
awesome as always! :) I have a question (maybe for next q&a?). what's your thought on significant hyperextension in the dip joint when climbing and training? and is training/hangboarding with avoiding the hyperextension by dropping the weight something to take into consideration? keeping in mind aspects like the risk of injury, which might be a bit higher for people with that issue and also the problem of really "loading the fingertips" when crimping and not sagging into them.
I have a few thoughts! Mostly related to full crimping. Full crimping can still be done but may need to be done with a much safer / slower progression and the amount of extension needs to be monitored. The body is amazing at adapating to whatever we throw at it, but the more hyperextension you get, the more stress you are placing on the volar plate and potentially the A4 and A5 pulleys which could put you at a higher risk of injury. When someone has significant hyperextension of the DIP I give them that advice, but understand it is case by case. Some people can full crimp without issue with moderate hyperextension. There isn't research (that I know of) that says X degrees of hyper extension = you should / should not do Y, so I don't want to be black and white on the matter. Rather, use caution, move slowly, and listen to your body.
Do you have any experience with Powerball? Do you think doing some of that would make for a good general forearm strength compensation and help avoid injuries? Would you recomend any particular way to use it? Or do you consider it worthless? I think it's a really cheap and easy device to have and a very portable one, so it can be used almost everywhere you are. One great thing also is that you can use it while you do other things like watching TV, having a video conference, or phoning people, so you dont necessarily have to manage to substract more time from your everyday life to put into your training. I'd love to hear what are your thougths about it. Keep it up, great channel! :)
Awesome video! Super comprehensive workout. I do have a question though - wouldn't an appropriate alternative for the sumo squats be another quad-focused exercise? Seeing that there are already nordic hamstring curls and single leg RDLs for hamstrings and lower back, using the romanian deadlift in place of the sumo squat seems to be redundant. I think it would be appropriate to use another quad-dominant exercise as an alternative to sumo, like front squat/back squat or even some kind of lunge. Otherwise the quads would be neglected in this routine which could lead to imbalances or just a general lack of strength in the quads themselves. Not to mention the anabolic benefit of working the quads and glutes!
This seems really solid, any one else incorporate foot mobility stuff to offset all the binding / cramping from the shoes? I’ve always thought that was a good idea
Good question! It has to do with the angle of the shoulder (humerus/scapular to be more exact). For the 'W' exercise, the shoulder will be ~45-60 degrees abducted .The face pull will be 90 degrees abducted.
Great content! Are there any risks to performing recruitment hangs? I typically err on the side of an on the wall progressive warmup & tendon glides before any hangs. The protocol would only have finger rolls prior to recruitment. Thanks!
Because recruitment pulls are progressive loads they can be quite safe. Your body will limit the force because it is not an all or nothing principle but rather a progressive load / increase. If you're straight mad it is possible to pull too hard and past your bodies natural defenses though lol.
The angle of the arm makes the difference. W's place the humerus in a lower angle, about 45-60 degrees abducted. Face pulls are meant to be done with the humerus at 90 degrees of abduction. Good question!
Great content on this Chanel! You got my abo right away!👌 In case of 2 days Training program + one day outdoor climbing (no more days possible), would you recommend doing 4-5 of these exercises as a "warm up" routine before the actual training? By the way..your Moto "TCSR", love it! Been doing it for years now 😎
Yeah some of these can definitely be used as a warm up before climbing! Glad you love the moto! Grab one of our shirts with it blaring across the front from the store ;) lol.
Excited to start implementing this. I have an issue where my right wrist hurts when in the plank/pushup position with my hands flat on the ground bending my wrists to a 90° angle. Is it fine to do this with fists or bent at the fingers instead? Or should I push through this slight pain and hope it just gets more flexible?
Hi Dr Hooper, saw a PT recently with a diagnosis of a FCU strain, so any wrist flexion movements aggravate the injury. Any advice of rehabbing such an injury? Loving the channel and content you guys put up
Eccentric wrist flexion, manual therapy (instrument assisted, cupping, massage gun etc) to the area, avoiding exacerbation of the area, and stretching would be a solid foundation for a treatment plan. But, perhaps we should make a video specific to rehab of this muscle!
hey im trying to get back into climbing since i did surgery 1 year ago, Do you reccomend this? i was doing a ppl split until now but now that i watch your channel im starting to rethink about my workout routine any tips?
Hello there! I have another question for you haha.It's regarding training my max pull ups. So, every time I have my chin above the bar during a pull up, and I drop down my elbows sort of pop a little bit. I have recognized that climbing has caused the inside of my elbows to be inflamed and think the pain worsens when I only do a few pull ups. Do you recommend that I strengthen a part of my arm or elbows or something before I continue training pull ups? Or do you think this is fairly normal? Lmk, thanks :-)
I'm excited to implement this. I do have a question, I have some mild shoulder pain, I watched your video on proximal bicep pain which was super helpful. Can I use this routine to strengthen while I have some pain, or do I need to wait until that is healed to do this?
Some of the exercises may be a bit challenging so if they cause you any discomfort be sure to reduce weight or change the exercise. If you have no pain with any exercise during or after it should be ok.
Hi Hooper, thanks for another video. Assuming we have a bar, would it be great to do deadlift for posterior chain? Is it because of the threshold of learning the technique?
Yeah you'll notice in the vid I actually recommend doing a deadlift in place of the sumo squat if you have the equipment and experience. We will be producing a video about deadlifting soon, so we also thought it would be more appropriate to get that information out first!
Is it necessarily bad to not do any workouts like these, and just to climb? I guess by bad I mean: how high is my risk of being injured if I only climbed and didn't do anything else? Are these kinds of workouts also important for sending higher grades or breaking plateaus?
There are many factors that climbing depends on that don't necessarily get enough stimulus while climbing to promote adaptation / strength gains. Hence, where off-the-wall training comes into play. Yes, can help prevent injuries. Yes, can help with sending higher grades / breaking plateaus. Is it terrible to not do any off-the-wall training? No. But would it benefit most if not all climbers to do some? I would argue yes.
Fair observation! Generally internal rotation is not the problem / weakness whereas weakness in the external rotators is surprisingly common. This routine helps address that deficit. That won't apply to all individuals, of course, but those individuals can easily add in some internal rotation exercises as needed :)
Good stuff! But one thing, on the hollow rocks, I wouldnt advise telling someone to pull their belly button towards their spine as this causes one to come off their sacrum or tailbone and adds posterior pelvic tilt which ruins the abdominal wall chain and would be like 20% as effective as a core workout done in good form.
Hi Hooper, I'm watching this video 3 years after release. Are you still recommending these exercises now? Or has there been any changes to your stance since. Thanks!
Great Question! We were just talking about the possibility of making an updated video to this with new recommendations and new levels! Not to imply that any of these are bad, of course, we just are believers that there will always be room to improve on... all knowledge :)
