|
|
|
|
naw
Feb 19, 2007, 1:17 PM
Post #1 of 8
(1570 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Sep 13, 2004
Posts: 192
|
I've been climbing for a few years and bouldering exclusively for about a year now. When I first started bouldering I had a couple of different finger injuries in the ring finger A4 pulley on both hands, and as a result I've modified my climbing to be almost exclusively open hand. I pretty much never crimp anything and in both training and practice pull on everything with an open grip.
However, lately I've been having trouble moving into the next grade of difficulty (just as a reference, I've been doing V4 pretty easily in the southeast but can't seem to get a V5) and I feel like the problem is that I can't crimp on smaller holds. Most of the harder problems I've tried just had holds on them that I couldn't move off of open handed, but if I try to crimp them it just doesn't feel probable. I feel like I have a mental block to crimping and it just doesn't feel right.
I'd like to try to train my crimp strength a little to make me more comfortable but I have a hard time finding a safe way to do that. I have a hangboard at home (the metolius pure force) but the grips on it aren't very wide and seem to lend themselves more to open hand grips (maybe because it feels weird to crimp with your hands right next to each other?). Should I try to crimp on the smallest rail with one hand and maybe use a jug or pocket with the other hand and just switch it up? Also, since I seem to have trouble moving off of these smaller holds outdoors, should I try to do some pullups on the smaller holds, or just stick with deadhangs like I'm doing now? I use a training system similar to rock prodigy's and I feel like it's making my open hand endurance better but not really increasing my power on small holds. I'm a bigger climber (6'3" 180 pounds) so I really feel like increasing my contact strength is the way to push into the next grades. Most all of my hardest sends are on vertical to slightly overhanging problems where I can compensate for my weight with technique...on really overhanging problems I struggle to send at the same level.
Sorry for the barrage of questions, but I'm going to hueco in 6 weeks and really want to train for the overhanging crimpy lines there since most of the climbing I do in the southeast is vertical/slightly overhanging open hand stuff. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
nate
(This post was edited by naw on Feb 19, 2007, 2:28 PM)
|
|
|
|
|
themadmilkman
Feb 19, 2007, 2:01 PM
Post #2 of 8
(1555 views)
Shortcut
Registered: May 21, 2006
Posts: 510
|
naw wrote: Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Buy a keyboard with a working 'Enter' button.
|
|
|
|
|
naw
Feb 19, 2007, 2:29 PM
Post #3 of 8
(1535 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Sep 13, 2004
Posts: 192
|
In reply to: Buy a keyboard with a working 'Enter' button.
Thanks for the helpful response; you'll be happy to see that I've taken your suggestion. Any more?
|
|
|
|
|
sidepull
Feb 19, 2007, 11:13 PM
Post #4 of 8
(1446 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Sep 11, 2001
Posts: 2335
|
naw -
first, I'd recommend realizing that gaining/training crimp strength is going to psychologically difficult for you. i think, having previously injured your hands, it's going to be hard for you know how hard to push and when to let off. so, just be ready to really test your patience and realize that "slow is fast" is probably a good rule for gaining crimp strength.
second, along with the "slow is fast" you need to develop a training scheme that allows you to gradually build up. perhaps the most precise way of doing this is to put a scale below your hangboard and then see how much weight you feel comfortable taking off while you crimp with one hand. in other words, stand on a scale (and note your weight X) and then crimp your board and see how much you weigh (Y). Now, X-Y equals your maximum crimp strength (A). So, what you do is build a scheme where you use less than your max. I'd suggest reading in Perfomance Rockclimbing, if memory serves, they suggest that %30 (.3xA) of your max can be good for a foundation phase of training. You simply make sure that you don't go over X - [(.3)x(A)] on the scale when you're crimping.
third, make sure you have sufficient rest. Don't hangboard more than 3 times per week. If you feel any intense soreness or "tweakage" then stop immediately - go stretch or do something else that isn't finger intensive.
fourth, have really low expectations for your hueco trip. tendons take a long time to strengthen (see Rockprodigy's article on training), so it will take years for you to really feel like you can crimp hard. trying to rush the process just so that you can bear down on a hueco crimper is a short cut to injury not sending.
good luck - and read lots about training (so that you can catch my errors).
|
|
|
|
|
randomjive
Feb 19, 2007, 11:34 PM
Post #5 of 8
(1427 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 17, 2006
Posts: 6
|
In reply to: I'm a bigger climber (6'3" 180 pounds)
|
|
|
|
|
browntown
Feb 20, 2007, 4:41 AM
Post #6 of 8
(1379 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Feb 18, 2007
Posts: 55
|
Ha, no kidding. I'm 5'10, 175lb. You're a bean pole!
|
|
|
|
|
themadmilkman
Feb 20, 2007, 5:43 AM
Post #7 of 8
(1354 views)
Shortcut
Registered: May 21, 2006
Posts: 510
|
randomjive wrote: In reply to: I'm a bigger climber (6'3" 180 pounds) hehe, sorry, I don't have any suggestions, but I laughed a little when you said you were a bigger climber, I'm 6' and 200lbs.
Ya, I wish I was 180 again... I miss those days.
|
|
|
|
|
bajcsi
Mar 8, 2007, 7:43 PM
Post #8 of 8
(922 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Oct 4, 2005
Posts: 14
|
themadmilkman wrote: randomjive wrote: In reply to: I'm a bigger climber (6'3" 180 pounds) hehe, sorry, I don't have any suggestions, but I laughed a little when you said you were a bigger climber, I'm 6' and 200lbs. Ya, I wish I was 180 again... I miss those days.
Heh, you're telling me. I'm 5'11 and 225. I still have a 34 inch waste, so I'm not certain I'm fat, but still. I would love to be climbing with the strength I have at say, 190. That would be sweet.
Now onto finger injuries and training for crimp strength. I certainly don't have any expert opinions or knowledge, just practical experience. Back in 2001 I ripped the colateral ligament in my left middle finger/middle joint. Very painful, unstable and took years to heal. It was about a year before I could play guitar for more than 10 - 15 minutes, which is hard being that I was a classical guitar major in college . 
I've found two things:
1) It's helpful, if you want to protect the only set of hands you have, to take your time. Don't push them too hard to do again what you probably injured them doing. I did my ligament because I tried to push myself too much on too crimpy stuff while being a "bigger climber". Climbing 6 days a week, 3 - 5 hours a day either.
2) I have found that open strength translates to crimp strength alot better than crimp strength translates to crimp strength. Crimping is also far worse on your hands and connective tissue than open.
I would suggest training hard at whatever level you want, but try not to over do crimp training. I suspect your hands will get naturally stronger and you will learn to trust them if take it easy and don't force it. Certainly, work your hard crimpy projects, but at the same time in turns of training work pinches, slopers, etc that require really good contact strength. The crimping will follow and your hands will be happier I think.
Of course, this is just my view as a "bigger climber" who has hand injuries. You climb stronger than me (hard 10 outside, hard 11 inside) but I think the principle is the same.
Bajcsi
(This post was edited by bajcsi on Mar 8, 2007, 7:45 PM)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
