This all started off as a joke one day while climbing at Stoneworks. I was talking with Tristan and Jordan about things that they do to stay in shape. Both of them are great climbers, but a little bit different when it comes to climbing. Jordan is more like me, where he put's in a lot of time and effort into training at the gym. Tristan on the other hand only does a few exercises every now and again. Or so I thought! I asked him how he kept in such amazing shape without even trying! So he told me all of his little secrets, and now I'm telling the whole world!!
First however I'm going to tell you that all of this was just us messing around trying to find things to do instead of working out! Yes, yes, we're lazy climbers, but we need ways to stay in shape and have fun right??? So here are a few ways to stay in shape and have fun while doing it!!!!!!
#1 THE TRICKY TRISTAN PLANK
Step one: find yourself a good place to do a plank!!
Step two: get your smartphone!!
Step three: Open your favorite game on said smartphone!! (The Tricky Tristan is best done with FLAPPY BIRD OR CYTUS)
Step four: Play your game in plank position until your arms, or abs give out!!!!
The Tricky Tristan modeled perfectly by Jordan Campbell
#2 THE CLEANSING CRUNCH
The Cleansing Crunch is an excellent way to stay fit with a time restricting schedule. Now the cleansing crunch can be hard to do, mostly because it happens in the morning when you wake up, and right before you go to bed. But it's three minutes of Ab burning pleasure!!!
Materials:
•Toothbrush
•Toothpaste
•A clear head/determination to do this in the morning.
•Stopwatch/timer
Step One: Set your timer for three minutes. ( or more if you're an awesome morning person!!)
Step Two: Set up your toothbrush for maximum brush-ability!!!
Step Three: Get in crunch position!!!
Step Four: Do as many crunches in three minutes WHILE brushing your teeth! (Flex your abs at the top of each crunch for added pump)
BEWARE: Tristan also came up with this one, so blame him if you choke on your toothpaste!! Also he's crazy so maybe he like's it??
Cleansing that crunch!
#3 THE TWO FOR TWO
The Two For Two is an odd one, and you need a pull up bar or a hangboard. The TFT can work in any room in the house, but for the name to work, it should be in the bathroom (but like a said it works in any room). Basically, mount your pull-up bar or hang board in a room. Then every time you enter the room you do 2 pull-ups, or lock of for any amount of time. Also do it when you leave the room. This is a great one and takes very little time (and if you move around a lot in your house/apartment/room/van/tent/box) and you'll do a ton of pull-ups!
TFT all up in my room!
#4 CROUCHING DOG-BONE, HIDDEN CLIPPY-THING
This one is not for fitness, but it is one of the more important things. Every time I climb, I notice the people clip very, very, very slowly. Now this is fine if you're just starting to climb. But if you're looking to red-point on a new level, the difference of a few seconds can change the whole climb. This often overlooked skill is amazing and will help you climb more efficiently, and better. So first you must learn your clips!!
#1 Middle Finger Clip
#2 Pinch Clip
#3 The Hamfist
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| I don't like to hamfist, but I do know some people who swear by it! For me I've just never needed to do it!!!! |
Ok so now you know how to clip, go hang a quickdraw somewhere in your house that you spend a lot of time in (bedroom, living room, bathroom??? etc.) And everyday clip it 50 times. Or as many as you have time to do. Don't forget to switch-up your clips, alternating the kind of clip, and which hand you use. If you notice you're bad at one of them , focus on that one and become a god at clipping. Soon you'll be on your way to sending 5.15b and leaving Ondra to fumble with his quickdraws'.
THE SERIOUS WORKOUT
Now this is the point in the blog where I turn to serious training methods that I do in the gym to (try) to get better. It's a bunch of different workouts compiled from a bunch of different climbers. For me I always train Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. So here is what my workout looks like:
Monday
Warm up: Jumping Jacks, and LIGHT stretching. Then I traverse on the wall for about 10 minutes. (Stoneworks has a great traverse with over 200 moves, so I always get on that to stay consistent, and always do it with features for feet). I'm always focusing on keeping my breathing consistent, and focusing on keeping absolutely quite feet.
Free-Session: After traversing I stretch out and let my arms rest. Everyday I climb I make room in my workout schedule to have fun and climb projects/new route's. Without this I would be completely miserable because I HATE working out!!! So remember always have fun, and nothing should get in the way of that, even working out.
Workout A: On Monday, the workout is all about endurance, so I head over to the auto-belay and get on the 3rd hardest route. I normally do this anywhere from 5 times to 8 times, and try to build a good pump going. Normally this means repeatedly doing 5.11 moves without getting off (I like to choose a route that I can do, but is not easy for me). Normally towards the last few laps I start to fall on the crux, once this starts to happen, I get on the next easiest route, usually down to consistent 5.10 moves, again as I start to fail on this, I move down to the next easiest, now 5.9. This is where I normally end this segment because the pump is strong. Unclip from the Auto-belay (if you can hahaha!) and go to an area with enough room to do an ab workout (preferably with a hangboard nearby or a pull-up bar). Go immediately from auto-belay and do 10 pull-ups on the jug holds on a hangboard, on the last one hold a full lock-off for as long as possible and slowly lower down.
Workout B: After the pull-ups, I do 50 crunches at a medium pace, then roll immediately into a plank for 45 seconds. After that I do 40 side crunches, 20 on the left, and 20 on the right. Then 50 more crunches, followed immediately by a 6 inch leg lift for 30 seconds. I now have 8 minutes of rest time, to talk with people, stretch, and most importantly drink water. Focus on trying to get maximum rest by stretching and de-pumping your arms.
Workout C: After my rest, I hook back up to the auto-belay. This time I start on the easiest route, but instead of max laps, I focus on footwork. On every hold, do a lock-off and hold for 5 seconds, and do this for every hold. If you lock-off your left arm, reach as high as possible with your right hand. Don't put your right hand on the next hold, just hover. And keep doing that up the wall. When you've completed the easiest route, move to the next hardest one and do the same thing. Do this until you can't hold your lock-off. Unclip from the Auto-belay and go back to your area to do an ab workout and pull-ups. Go immediately from auto-belay and do 10 pull-ups on the jug holds on a hangboard, on the last one hold a full lock-off for as long as possible and slowly lower down.
Workout B: After the pull-ups, I do 50 crunches at a medium pace, then roll immediately into a plank for 45 seconds. After that I do 40 side crunches, 20 on the left, and 20 on the right. Then 50 more crunches, followed immediately by a 6 inch leg lift for 30 seconds. I now have 8 minutes of rest time, to talk with people, stretch, and most importantly drink water. Focus on trying to get maximum rest by stretching and de-pumping your arms.
After this my workout is done. I normally don't go home, I just hang out with friends in the gym and lightly climb. When I get home I like to massage my arms and eat a heft man meal.
Wednesday
Warm up: Jumping Jacks, and LIGHT stretching. Then I traverse on the wall for about 10 minutes. (Stoneworks has a great traverse with over 200 moves, so I always get on that to stay consistent, and always do it with features for feet). I'm always focusing on keeping my breathing consistent, and focusing on keeping absolutely quite feet.
Free-Session: After traversing I stretch out and let my arms rest. Everyday I climb I make room in my workout schedule to have fun and climb projects/new route's.
Workout A: On Wednesdays, I like to focus on bouldering/power-endurance. The workout is a simple 5X5. I find 5 routes that I can do, but are difficult for me. I like to choose route's that will help me with outdoor climbing (recently it's been overhanging but decent hold for New River Gorge style climbing). So the 5X5 looks like this, you do your first climb 5 time's, never stopping, try not to do a top-out or if it is a top-out, jump off. Then immediately move to the second climb, again same concept, never stop moving for all route's. So basically you're climbing 25 moderate climbs. For me I stick to V4-V5. This builds an amazing pump, and try not to do laps on anything with tweaky moves, and always keep a good rhythm and good footwork.
Workout B: Take a 2 minute break and head over to the hangboard station. I do a simple hangboard workout with 15lbs. I pick 6 holds that I'm not great at, and do a 7 second hang, 3 second rest. And do that 7 times for one hold. Rest for 1 minute, then repeat the same thing on the next hold. I like to focus on crimps, slopers, and pockets, as these are the holds that I always need work on. Remember basic hangboard safety such as slightly bend elbows, and an open hand grip.
Workout C: After the hangboard I do 50 crunches at a medium pace, then roll immediately into a plank for 45 seconds. After that I do 40 side crunches, 20 on the left, and 20 on the right. Then 50 more crunches, followed immediately by a 6 inch leg lift for 30 seconds. I now have 8 minutes of rest time, to talk with people, stretch, and most importantly drink water. Focus on trying to get maximum rest by stretching and de-pumping your arms.
Workout A: Again go back and do 5X5. I like to choose new routes then the set from before. Remember to never stop moving for all route's. So you're climbing 25 moderate climbs. For me I stick to V4-V5. This builds an amazing pump, and try not to do laps on anything with tweaky moves, and always keep a good rhythm and good footwork.
Workout D: This last simple one is a good way to get one arm lock strength on vertical routes. Start in pull up position on rings or free hanging holds. Pull up with both hands slowly and rotate into a one arm lock-off. I like to have another hold for my other hand to go to but is not necessary. I don't like to drop back down into pull up position because it feels like a great way to wreck your elbows so drop back down and repeat with other arm. You're just working on your ability move throughout a lock-off. Do 5-8 on each side.
Step one of the lock-off
Step two of lock off ( try to do as statically as possible)
Lock-off from the other side (you can do chin-up lock-off, or pull-up lock-off, like the one Jordan is doing in the photo).
Now the workout is done for the day and I once again become a lazy dormant climber, scamper around, eat some food, and dig up some nuts, maybe a cam or two?
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| Found a Cam…what an odd creature. |
Friday
Friday I will always hold dear to my heart. The end of a hard week is always a good time to enjoy yourself.
Warm up: Jumping Jacks, and LIGHT stretching. Then I traverse on the wall for about 10 minutes. (Stoneworks has a great traverse with over 200 moves, so I always get on that to stay consistent, and always do it with features for feet). I'm always focusing on keeping my breathing consistent, and focusing on keeping absolutely quite feet.
Workout A: This is the best workout of all. No workout. That's right. Go to a new gym, climb projects, do whatever you want. If you're going climbing for the weekend, take the day of, just remember…cycle start again on Monday….dreaded Monday. Have a great weekend!
