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ponyryan
Apr 26, 2002, 10:14 PM
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Hi,
I'd imagine this topic has been brought up several times before, but I'm bringing it up again.
I've been climbing for a while now and am looking to increase the rate of growth of my ability. I was wondering when a person can safely (if ever) add weights to himself to overload your muscles (progressive overload). I'd imagine this could be harmful, but is there a point where your arms are strong enough to withstand extra weight. How long into climbing does this take? I don't wanna damage my tendons by doing something stupid, but I want to improve. So, send me any information about this topic you guys have in your heads or know of on paper or on the net. Thanks.
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tim
Apr 26, 2002, 10:26 PM
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Beats the crap out of me whether it's safe or not, but once I could do about 15 pullups in a row in high school, I started adding weight plates to one of the belt-with-chain contraptions and performing dips and pullups with added pounds. It has made my arms and grip and shoulders a hell of a lot more powerful, and at least when I was doing 70-90lbs. extra for 6-8 reps, I fancied myself pretty 'buff'.
A couple of unrelated shoulder injuries later (one blunt trauma separation on my bike, one rotator cuff injury from climbing too hard without warming up), I still haven't trashed my elbows or other ligaments that see heavy stress in those motions. So if you can handle the weights for multiple reps (say 6-12) I say go for it. If something starts to hurt or burn or feel sharp, then stop.
I like manteling and pulling down hard, so I've kept doing it. I'm back up to about 45-50 pounds on both movements, which makes me happy cause I only recovered from my last shoulder injury (the bike crash) 3 months ago. I think working back up to using 'real' weights slowly and judiciously probably helped me recover faster.
YMMV
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qacwac
Apr 26, 2002, 10:56 PM
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It's a pretty common practice in about all sports. It's safe as long as you don't over do it. Just start very light weight and work you way up.
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bradhill
Apr 26, 2002, 11:30 PM
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I train often with a 30-40lb pack on in the climbing gym. This is different from adding weights for a specific exercise like pull-ups. Adding weight when you're actually climbing is great because it doesn't just improve your strength. It forces you to improve your technique immediately- to use your legs more, to keep closer to the rock, to reduce arm extension when not necessary, use locks and manteling, etc. I think it's the most effective part of my climbing training.
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sonofspork
Apr 27, 2002, 1:25 AM
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If you do indoor climbing, use ankle weights and strap them either to your ankles or your wrists. I have read in a few places that this is a recomended training strategy, and although i have not used them, a few people at my gym have, and they say it has helped.
-sONofSpORk
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jt512
Apr 27, 2002, 6:04 PM
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I disagree about the ankle weights. They put too much stress on the knees. Adding weight to the waist with a diver's belt is ideal.
-Jay
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crux_clipper
Apr 28, 2002, 8:02 AM
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One thing too keep in mind, adding too much weight straight off will cause an injury. Add weight untill you strugle to pull off a move, and when you can static the move (or whole climb) add some more. NEVER ADD TOO MUCH WEIGHT AT ONCE!! I can't stress that enough.
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duskerhu
Apr 28, 2002, 8:30 AM
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I would say add weight gradually and make sure you're taking enough rest time between workouts. Meaning, when you work a group/groups of muscles to failure, you're going to need to rest them for at least 48-72 hours.
You may want to spend a few bucks and buy a couple books that deal specifically with this subject...
#1. FLASH TRAINING by Eric Horst (part of the Falcon "How To Rock Climb Series")
#2. PERFORMANCE ROCK CLIMBING by Dale Goddard and Udo Neumann
Both of these books have a lot of fantastic info for both novice and expert climbers. Have a look
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rockjunkie
Apr 28, 2002, 5:17 PM
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I once worked with a guy who had some sort of leg injury and in order to get his leg strength back, the doc gave him some ankle weights to wear all the time. At work, during the day, exercising- ALL the time. I suppose if you did this with wrist and ankle weights to build general strength it would work but I'm not a doctor.
Peace and good luck
~tommy
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kaptk
Apr 29, 2002, 3:13 AM
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I know people who have worn a weight belt while climbing on a climbing wall in order to similate the weight they would be carrying on a trad lead. As long as you only add small amounts of weight at a time, I don't think you should have any problems.
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climber_trev
May 5, 2002, 10:51 AM
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Yes this is a reasonably common practice although i have not tryed it.
PS - make sure you don't drop the weights on the belayer! ... they could be quiet distraught with a weight landing a meter away leaving a nice crater ... thats the good outcome, it could hit them and ... well i'll let you guess some possible senarios)
climber_trev
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tim
May 5, 2002, 2:54 PM
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If you're going to climb weighted on a wall, use a pack full of water (bottles or bladders). It's the closest thing to an alpine load, and it won't kill anyone if you somehow manage to slip out of the waistbelt, sternum strap, and arm loops.
For extra authenticity, stick your fingers in a freezer and wear a bunch of crap that hangs up on every other hold, racked around your shoulders. Woohoo! Now not only are you training hard, but you're realistically simulating one of them real alpine climbs!
[ This Message was edited by: jabbeaux on 2002-05-05 07:55 ]
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iclimbtoo
May 5, 2002, 5:07 PM
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At the wall I work at, we train by wearing climbing packs with our gear in up the wall. Probably 45lbs or so. However, we worked up to that. Also, I would suggest ONLY WEIGHT TRAIN ON TOPROPE!!!!! I won't even get into the things that could go wrong while doing that on lead. Jabbeaux (yet again), made another good point about climbing with a water "bladder" for weight rather than actual weights in a backpack. I would have to say though that after doing it for a couple of years, if you're using a backpacking or climbing pack to haul the weights with, it's pretty safe. They're made for carrying heavy loads.
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