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Re: [DemolitionRed] Muscling through routes:
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j-s
Oct 20, 2012, 6:21 PM
Views: 9021
Registered: Aug 10, 2012
Posts: 7
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DemolitionRed wrote: jolery wrote: Strength is all about strength/weight. At 100 pounds with a gymnast background, your strength to weight ratio is likely badass and superior to the males you are criticizing for trying to get an equivalent strength to weight ratio. Yes, I understand what you are saying. I mean, you made a good point. A point I would like to make though is, I only have the muscle I need and that's because I don't use muscle power to do anything other than climb. Gymnastics made me supple which helps but if I had continued to do gymnastics it would of hindered my climbing because of the unwanted muscle development. I think what I'm trying to say, though I have done it in this huge round about way is, the best thing to improve climbing is climbing and spending time around other climbers who are good. Time and time again I hear guys who are fretting about their performance in the gym and rushing off to pump some iron. Going to a gym and doing resistance exercises with weights, in my opinion only trains the wrong muscles. It just adds weight onto the body that the body will probably never use for climbing.
I could not agree more.
In reply to: If you could watch everyone is this thread climb before you listened to them, the following coversations would be much different.
For my part, I am a male, I weigh around 110 pounds and am 5 foot 8.
Needless to say, at that weight, it's just skin and bones, and it's very hard for me to get muscular mass. I try to compensate by developing good technique, but honestly it is not enough and I'd like to have some more strength.
What I've discovered is that good technique can lead you far in climbing, but there comes a point where strength is necessary on harder problems or routes.
The opposite is true also : in the beginning, a climber with high strength can get quite far, but then again, at some point, technique will become essential.
When looking at those huge muscular dudes trying to solve a boulder problem with poor technique, you see that the "extra" weight they carry because of their muscles can really play against them, especially on steep walls and overhangs.
Gravity plays an important role, and the heavier you are, the more force it exerts on your body to drag it down. Thus, in my opinion, you need to have only the proper muscles developed, but not EVERY single muscle of your body (which MIGHT cause one to be heavier than necessary and be dragged down by gravity).
In other words, strategic muscle development and technique are key. If you climb long routes, focus on endurance. If you do boulder problems, focus on strength, but all in all try to be only developing the necessary muscles.
Look at Adm Ondra (or even Alex Honnold) for instance. Cannot say he's hyper muscular (in fact he is quite skinny in my opinion), but yet recently climbed 5.15c.
Chris Sharma however, seems more muscular but is also one of the very best.
It's just a matter of balancing different variables and integrate them into your climbing, no matter your physical shape or body weight.
(This post was edited by j-s on Oct 20, 2012, 6:40 PM)
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Post edited by j-s
() on Oct 20, 2012, 6:23 PM
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Post edited by j-s
() on Oct 20, 2012, 6:40 PM
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