Love the video! Definitely going to try this routine. Could you also do a video for climbing specific tension in a square to the wall position on steep terrain, 30-45 degrees? I find I train my "core" and legs, but this doesn't transfer over very well to keeping tension, on small, steep foot holds. Thank you!!
...Perhaps "contact strength", or the capacity to acquire stable control of a hold dynamically approached, especially where that is a sloper. It seems that colloquially the campus board is what is recommended to train this, but I wonder what your thoughts are?
Just to say that I've been doing these exercises for around 6 months now and honestly, I've never thought that my hips would feel so different. Thank you!
Me too. I used to feel a clear upper limit for high feet as tightness in my hip flexors but I've noticed that's disappeared with regular hip mobility work.
Thanks Hooper! I've been doing these stretches since you released the video as a novice climber and the difference on the wall is night and day even after that short period of stretching regularly. Really hope this channel blows up soon, as a new climber looking to start strong and avoid injury, this content is gold and corrects some of the bro science that you're never quite sure whether to believe or not.
Honestly, since starting a yoga routine earlier this year, my body awareness is at it's peak. Working on my hip mobility is one of the best things that I've done for my climbing. Thanks for the beta!
This is great! I've never seen that frogger position before but glad to know that doing yoga in general is super useful for climbing. One question I have is surrounding high stepping all the time. I've been told by pretty accomplished climbers that stepping up too high ALL the time can be a bit of an energy sink compared to making a couple smaller movements at times. I used to make the biggest possible movements on a lot of climbs until someone told me to not be going for full extensions with arms or legs all the time. I assume with most things there's always a balance to be found between using lots of high steps with more conservative movements that still engage the legs and proper footwork? Thanks for the video, I've really been digging the content from this channel!
Yes! That is correct. There are certainly times when using lower feet and conserve energy. It's always a balance and every project needs to be examined for the best beta for each climber. Having this ability, though, can certainly save you and save energy if you are able to get the foot up and rock onto it!
Great video. I noticed limitations in that area before and made some progress already but I will definitely implement these in my workout. Getting a climb done in control is just so much more rewarding in my opinion then getting up there somehow.. ;)
Hey Dr Hooper. Wondering if you could talk about brachioradialis pain. Mine has been going on for nearly a year now and always comes back when climbing a couple sessions after a break. It always hurts with pronated elbow flexion (ie climbing). Supinated bicep curls don't do anything to hurt it.
Can you do an episode on stretching - short term versus long term effects? I can get benefits before a climb, but I want to know how to make long term changes to hip flexibility.
I’d love to hear some words from you about gaston move - sometime ago it triggered my shoulder injury and now I still can’t do it. But when I’ll rehab totally, I wonder how it is supposed to be done safely (or at least as safe as possible). Because for the most of the time arm is in internal rotation, which isn’t may cause some impingement there, right? Take care, have a good climb!
Thanks for these amazing videos! Quick question - I get a lot of restriction/moderate pinching pain on the lateral/posterior part of my standing left leg's hamstring when doing the active range exercise - I have (suspected) sciatica on that side, would you suggest continuing on with these exercises, or is it time I see a specialist such as yourself? :)
I started on this one year ago and I can see improvements on the wall (thanks!) But my frog stretch is barely wider then when I started. Why no visible progress?
@@HoopersBeta by a game changer I dont talk only about the performances, I also mean it changes about the pure feeling of climbing movements, satisfaction is getting so much better because it allows to apply most of the technics in a better way with a lot more efficiency.
Would you recommend this routine for stemming flexibility? I have terrible hip flexibility and my range of motion is super limited when I am at end range (i.e. stemming). I would be psyched to make corners/stemboxes easier!
damn my hip mobility. high feet in some cases (depending on the hold as well) can be very tricky for me. definitely doing there frequently from now on.
I've done the 3 stretches for about 10 days now (once per day), but they caused my right inner thigh to hurt. It got worse every day so I stopped them now. Hopefully the pain goes away
Hey Dr. Hoop, Do you have any advice for people with unstable/hypermobile hips? I still think I could benefit from increased mobility, if it can be done safely. But when I try the exercise in part 2, I get mild pain in the hip of the leg I’m standing on - like the surrounding muscles are working really hard to keep my hip in position. Sometimes, on the wall, it'll even feel like my hip pops out of its socket partially. I have hypermobility issues in a lot of my joints (esp. wrists, fingers, and hips), but I’m trying to save my questions until they’re relevant to the video at hand. I don’t know if hypermobility is a common enough issue to justify it’s own video, but, if it is, that would be amazingly helpful for me. Thanks!
For an oversimplified way to check your mobility / see if you are hypermobile, look up the Beighton Hypermobility Score. *be gentle, don't be overly aggressive, and perform at your own risk* :) When it comes to your mobility concern. Progressive strength training of the hips and core is really important. Start with easier / more simple exercises, and progressively move into more challenging exercise (whether that in respect to resistance, or range of motion). I love side steps with band at toes for a simple yet really effect hip exercise. And Palof press with walk out for the core. *again, perform at your own risk*. There are of course many other examples but these are some great ones.
@@HoopersBeta Thanks! I’ve been diagnosed as hypermobile, so there’s no doubt there. I already do the first exercise several times per week (as prescribed by the pelvic PT I previously saw), but I had not heard of the second. I will check that out.
Hey dude, thanks for the information, it's awesome. Would it be dangerous to do the stretches every day, and twice a day on climbing days? I see the recommendation is 3-6x a week so I am wondering if rest days are necessary with something like this. Cheers!
I never knew the Garlands Pose had an actual name for it. I do that squat pose about 50 times a day, every day, as it is my dog petting position lol :)
Don’t sleep on this stuff, I forced myself into awkward positions despite not really having the hip mobility to be in those position and it surely contributed to meniscus tear
It became so hard starting from Frogger Stretch. I am capable of doing high feet on overhangs but not on slabs. Hopefully these exercises can help me with slabs.
Excellent video as always!!! On a side note, your voice sounds similar to David Spade...are you sure you aren't a professional nutritionist comedian climber? lol
why would you say no to more mobility. The better it is the more positions in which you would be able to bring your hips closer to the wall, or reach a step thats high up or far to the side etc
Great video ! Thanks a lot I really dont have the range of motion on my ankle to perform a deep squat, like, not even close... Any advice ? Just deep squat with aid ? I think my climbingwould generally benefit from better ankle mobility (lowering the ankle to get more friction is an advice I've often heard, but cant really follow because of that).
Passive putting weight-in stretch... I also have that problem and I do it 3-4 times a week for more range of motion. (I sit one leg samurai style and the other one deep squat and I put my weight on squatting leg pushing with my hands 60 to 120 seconds x3) x4 a week
Whats the end goal of the frogger stretch? Will our hips/butt eventually touch the ground in that position if we’re flexible enough? If that is so, im light years behind😅
good video except for the stretching.. studies show that static stretching before workouts can actually be very harmful for you, you should instead recommend to people some dynamic stretching, which has been scientifically proven to be better than static stretching, static stretching should only be done AFTER a workout, not before
Hi, Firstly, thanks for the amazing video, as always. I have a question regarding hip mobility. I would regard myself rather flexible (no issues with either of the stretching exercises, almost no difference between active and end range exercises...), yet seeing for example Ondra's hip mobility is something else (his ability to open up in the froggers position on the whole to 180 degrees is oustanding see: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-wwvwGG6AGdw.html). Even if I stretch myself on a daily basis, exercise my muscles often, I don't think I would be able to open up my hips to the extent Ondra is able to. The question is whether there a limit to how mobile your joints can be?
Hello! Yes, there certainly can be. It may be a joint, capsular, OR muscle limitation. The main one of those that you cannot change would be the joint (for example, someone with a CAM or PINCER lesion of the hip would have more limitations and pain with their range of motion)
I'm not sure these beginning stretches are adequate, if your fairly muscular and inflexible its hard to get a good stretch with these without additional weights. Particularly getting hips wide enough in the initial position for the following bodyweight load to really assist
I couldn't disagree with this video more. For 99% of climbers on 99% of routes (especially on real rock) keeping the feet low, and making lots of foot movements for each hand movement will produce huge gains. This has worked well for me, even though I have excellent hip flexibility when I need it. When I watch someone at the wall making unnecessary high foot movements, I see it as a sign of bad technique. Yes it's great to be able to do wild moves with your feet high, and it's a great technique to be able to pull out of the bag when you need to. But small, multiple foot movements should be the go-to technique. I blame indoor walls for this. In order to make routes harder, setters deliberately try to disrupt your footwork, by putting footholds in awkward places. On real rock, you can find a foothold, even if it's tiny, just where you need it 70% of the time.
I'm really happy about myself on that aspect. My wife is jealous of my open hips and like Margot Hayes I can put my heelhook above my head for some weird rest positions on routes.
These excercises are just what I need. Thanks! As always, I also like how you present them. One question - should I worry if my hips crack when doing the excercise in front of the wall, or is that just a sign of low mobility?
If it's painfree and that reduces after working on your mobility then that's fine but if it creates pain then you'll want to get it further evaluated (or just keep working on your mobility and see if it reduces over time :))
Thanks for the great video! I have a question about mobility and high feet: I can easily get my feet up high when hold are to the side, but when a hold is in front of me, I have much less mobility. Are there exercises specifically for high feet mobility, but not in frog-like positions, but rather in positions where your foot is in front of you? Thanks!
With excess bone on the femur heads and labrum tears, most of this is painful, but i naturally i don't have much trouble with high feet too bad. It's even worse abducting that shit hurts. So when possible, i climb with closed hips, with one side of the hips close to the wall
I’m climbing 6a and I’ve just realised just how shocking my hip and leg mobility is. I can’t even get my butt to touch my heels in child’s pose, regardless of where my torso is. With most fitness being cardio focussed in the past, stretching is about injury prevention and reducing aches but never truly essential to performance, so skipped stretching…for literally my whole life. Then building a bunch of strength without ever focussing on mobility means I’m even stiffer than I would be naturally. Sooo yeah, at least now I’m climbing I have a better motivation to stretch so I hope I see some improvement.
Oh dang yeah it definitely sounds like some stretching would be beneficial for you and your climbing! Just be patient, it can take some time to improve upon :)
@@HoopersBeta I think those people who really enjoy stretching and find it calming / endorphin boosting whatever, I don’t think they realise how lucky they are because I find it a real chore to do - but if I see some progress with leg and hip mobility on the wall then that’s good. Don’t even ask me about my shoulders ugh.
These exercise recommendations are super helpful! Plus the fact that it's also accesible on your website in text format is a biiiiiig plus! Thanks so much!
First off, love your videos! While I very much agree with everything you're saying, I wouldn't say the first example you gave was accurate. The 'Poor Technique' example (@1:28) I would argue is actually way more efficient depending on the type of climbing you're doing. Making smaller, easier, movements might be the key to unlocking a certain type of climbing. Making bigger moves isn't always the right way. While the Improved Technique method gets you up the wall faster, you're straining both your arms and your legs a whole lot more. I think a better example would have been something like having to cut feet to place a high foot/heel versus being able to keep your lower foot on, while place a high foot/heel
Thanks, glad you like the videos! And I agree with what you're saying to some extent, but here's the thing -- it's impossible to show perfect, simplified examples of complex techniques. There will always be a flaw in the presentation you can point out because of such and such situation or limitation or whatever. Even the example you propose could easily have holes poked in it. The point is never to create the most perfect example that can be applied practically in every situation because that's literally impossible with climbing. Instead, we have to create an easy-to-understand generalization illustrated in physical reality that is also interesting to look at.
@@HoopersBeta As a software developer, I very much understand the inability to always give 'perfect' examples, but there is a difference between a good example and a correct one. Sometimes in software, giving an example is harder than just telling someone, 'here's how you should do it', but the example is maybe even more important than the actual concept. Most people learn by example and they continually re-adjust their knowledge based on all those examples they've seen, especially as a beginner. So what they're visually seeing is also important to engraining the concept into their practice. Anyways, we could debate this all day and it would be an interesting one at that! But here's to amazing free content you're supplying and keep doing what you're doing!
I would likely try a standing side split, or even a single leg adductor stretch on an elevated surface and work through hip ER and IR to make it more functional.
Definitely not underrated when you're a petite climber though ! I've been struggling with my hip mobility so thank you for those exercises that I'm gonna do religiously. Great video, super clear explanations, thank you so much.
There's a 6c(ish) boulder problem at my gym where i would need like 3 cm more hip mobility to send it. I can do every other move but it has this close-to-front-split move up high which I just can't make. Even though I pretty flexible. I hope the problem is still up...
I know it's already been said in a few forms but: Hooper's Beta is low key thee best RU-vid channel for climbers! I took me a lil while to realize but now I'm totally hooked on this channel! Such high-level information and several levels above any other instructional/informational climbing channels
Can’t wait to try this out! Will this also help with “snapping hip”? It’s never been painful, but I’m worried it’s going to turn in to a problem down the line. If not, what can I do to fix it/prevent further damage?
