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gritgirl
Feb 6, 2005, 7:43 PM
Post #26 of 35
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Registered: Jul 2, 2004
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I do chin-ups and pull-ups (palms facing away and palms facing you). I know lots of people have said that it doesn't make much difference to their climbing, but I really think it has helped me. I also use a hangboard at home almost every day and I've noticed a real change in my strength level. Most people who've replied seem to be trad or sport climbers but I'm a boulderer so that might make a difference too!
I guess it just depends on how and what you climb. I am sure there are other women who climb twice as hard as me and can't do chin/pull ups but I feel like it has made me stronger (and also makes me proud that I was able to accomplish it after trying so hard).
I agree with the comment that your weight probably makes a big difference in your ability to do them. I weigh about 118 and I've gotten to the point where I am adding weight on a belt (only five lbs) to try to get a little better workout. So, I guess the moral of the story is that pull/chin ups are obviously not the best or only way to train for climbing but if you feel inclined to do them, just keep trying, don't give up and give yourself a little pat on the back when you accomplish even one, cause it's a start.
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gritgirl
Feb 6, 2005, 7:43 PM
Post #27 of 35
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Registered: Jul 2, 2004
Posts: 46
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I do chin-ups and pull-ups (palms facing away and palms facing you). I know lots of people have said that it doesn't make much difference to their climbing, but I really think it has helped me. I also use a hangboard at home almost every day and I've noticed a real change in my strength level. Most people who've replied seem to be trad or sport climbers but I'm a boulderer so that might make a difference too!
I guess it just depends on how and what you climb. I am sure there are other women who climb twice as hard as me and can't do chin/pull ups but I feel like it has made me stronger (and also makes me proud that I was able to accomplish it after trying so hard).
I agree with the comment that your weight probably makes a big difference in your ability to do them. I weigh about 118 and I've gotten to the point where I am adding weight on a belt (only five lbs) to try to get a little better workout. So, I guess the moral of the story is that pull/chin ups are obviously not the best or only way to train for climbing but if you feel inclined to do them, just keep trying, don't give up and give yourself a little pat on the back when you accomplish even one, cause it's a start.
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maculated
Feb 6, 2005, 7:58 PM
Post #28 of 35
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Registered: Dec 23, 2001
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You'll probably blast me out of the water on this - but I seriously think that not being able to do a pull up is both mental and physical. Remember those physical fitness tests in PE when you were a wee lassie? I would absolute fail them.
Now, I'm built must the same way I was then. I am a strong woman - like, weight training strong . . . but i couldn't do a pull up until I started climbing and decided to set my mind to doing so.
I found that it wasn't strength that was the problem, it was the muscle pattern. There's a space when you're muscles seem to have to transition to complete the full pull-up that I would literally jerk and come to a stop at. After a while I pushed through it and I was able to train my muscles to work with me.
But you know, I"m weird. I have this pull up bar in my room and I do one every time I go in and out, but I still get slammed whenever I try to do the roof crux on Darth Vader's Revenge. Four years running. I don't know why.
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justafurnaceman
Feb 6, 2005, 9:17 PM
Post #29 of 35
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Registered: Jan 13, 2005
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Any training for the shoulders, arms, core muscles (abs), back muscles even though not considered "climbing muscles" DO help in keeping your body balanced and help prevent injuries.
The best way I have found is buying a training board from Metulious and hand it over the door way. Even if you just hang from it every dayand just TRY to do a pull up you'll get stronger. Someone mentioned doing reversed pull ups too. Get some dumbells and work on your shoulder muscles. Even if you just start out with soup cans they'll help out your lats and protect your rotor cuff. Men's Health and Fitness had a great routine that I adapted to help me train during the winter when I couldn't climb.
I feel that strength and technique make up a climber. I'm fairly new to climbing but I could out climb a friend who had been doing it longer just because I could power through some of the places that he didn't have the endurance or strength for. But get over to the more technical wall and I had the harder time.
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climberterp
Feb 7, 2005, 12:55 AM
Post #30 of 35
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Registered: Jun 16, 2003
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In reply to: You'll probably blast me out of the water on this - but I seriously think that not being able to do a pull up is both mental and physical. I found that it wasn't strength that was the problem, it was the muscle pattern.
I think you're absolutely right on this. A big part of any physical movement is the 'muscle memory', you have to build that just as much as you have to build the actual strength. It's the whole 'you can't forget how to ride a bike' thing. Even if you hadn't been on a bike for 20 years you would still be able to get on it and pedal around a bit because of your muscle memory even if you couldn't do a 20 mile ride. Same with pullups. Even after not doing them (or any other upper body strength activity) for about 5 years I could still do a couple because my muscles remembered the movements. But if your body has never done pullups you have to start from scratch; it just takes more time.
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fern
Feb 7, 2005, 1:17 AM
Post #31 of 35
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Registered: Dec 29, 2002
Posts: 60
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yeah I think there is a much more dramatic difference between being able to do zero pullups and doing 1 pullup than there is between doing 1 pullup and doing 10. And contrary to what some people seem insistent on, I do think you can translate strength gains from pullups into your climbing performance. I think that you can translate strength gains from any resistance exercise into climbing performance if you develop the right techniques - and those techniques are probably going to be quite individualistic and not necessarily something someone else can teach you or explain to you. You need to think outside the box. My definition of technique (acknowledging that some people may have other definitions) is making the most efficient use of all my strengths. So I figure the more strength I have, the more technique is available to me.
As for bodyweight having a role in whether or not you can do a pullup, well yeah it does ... BUT just 'cause you might weigh more than average doesn't mean it's a lost cause. At my heaviest I weighed over 170lbs (at 5'2") and I still was able to do a few pullups after only a month or so of training.
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pebbleman
Feb 7, 2005, 8:17 PM
Post #32 of 35
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Registered: Apr 1, 2004
Posts: 80
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Four pullups is good, what is important is if you can do them on a set of holds, a bar is less relevant. So, get a finger board, mount it on a thick wooden board and hang it above a door. Place a screw-in eye in the bottom edge of the wooden board so the eyes point down, about 3 feet across. You will then need 3/8" or 1/2" rubber shock cord (bungee cord material), tie a big piece (8') each end in each of the screwed in eyes. Grit your teeth and do your 4 pullups, NOW step into the loop of bungee cord, this will reduce your "weight" so you can keep cranking them off, add extra strands of shock cord as needed and don't cut the stuff until you get it all adjusted to how you want it. Work the narrow and wide sets of holds on the boards, stagger your grip and so on. 3-4X a week and you'll be stronger in 6 weeks. Crank some tunes and have at it! (I like the Metolius boards, they have one for about $50 that looks killer.)
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pebbleman
Feb 7, 2005, 8:20 PM
Post #33 of 35
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Registered: Apr 1, 2004
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Four pullups is good, what is important is if you can do them on a set of holds, a bar is less relevant. So, get a finger board, mount it on a thick wooden board and hang it above a door. Place a screw-in eye in the bottom edge of the wooden board so the eyes point down, about 3 feet across. You will then need 3/8" or 1/2" rubber shock cord (bungee cord material), tie a big piece (8') each end in each of the screwed in eyes. Grit your teeth and do your 4 pullups, NOW step into the loop of bungee cord, this will reduce your "weight" so you can keep cranking them off, add extra strands of shock cord as needed and don't cut the stuff until you get it all adjusted to how you want it. Work the narrow and wide sets of holds on the boards, stagger your grip and so on. 3-4X a week and you'll be stronger in 6 weeks. Crank some tunes and have at it! (I like the Metolius boards, they have one for about $50 that looks killer.)
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iamthewallress
Feb 7, 2005, 9:00 PM
Post #34 of 35
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Registered: Jan 2, 2003
Posts: 2463
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ecocliffchick...I just saw your question, so sorry for the delayed response.
Here's one thing that I do to train pull up strength in a way that seems very relevant to the way I use my muscles for climbing. It is 100% ripped off from my boyfriends training regime and, in fact, not practiced nearly often enough by me, but here goes anyway...
There is a vertical retaining wall in Berkeley that's a couple hundred feet long and has little crimpy stones along it. At the end of the retaining wall is a ~25 foot handsized concrete expansion crack and then a 5 foot tall concrete retaining wall. We either traverse down the wall or climb up an down the expansion crack (in my boyfriend's case, he'll do some laps on the crack) and then with the relevant pre-fatiquing going on, grab the retaining wall (which has a 90 degree smooth top, like slopey hold/ mantle shelf, crouch up and smear the feet on the wall like you might if you were going to pull up to grab another hold, and either do as many of these modified pull ups as suits your abilities/training plan or try to pull up and lock off for a period of time.
Granted this is specific to our practice area, but you could modify this to work in a gym.
Also, kind of like what Kristen was saying, when I was first learning how to do pull ups and found them more entertaining than I do now, I used to always grab the door jams on the way in and out of rooms and crank one off. I broke my mom's door jam doing this, though. She wasn't that impressed. I think I gained some strength just by doing these pull-ups here adn there.
When I'm stuck in a hotel room when I'm traveling for work and lacking options, I do sit ups, push ups, and door jam pull ups (assisted with a chair if I'm worried about breaking the door jam).
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ecocliffchick
Feb 8, 2005, 4:49 PM
Post #35 of 35
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Registered: Jun 4, 2002
Posts: 613
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Thanks everyone for all the ideas. I'm going to try to mount my hangboard this afternoon - perhaps add a couple of footholds to the inside of the door frame and add the bungee cords for 'assisted' pull-ups.
The next factor, however, will be getting motivated to use the damn thing. It's hard to want to work your weaknesses. It's much easier to just do the things I'm good at and blame my failures on my weakness!
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