youtube.com/watch?v=Dh_l-L2oC1…

[thefifthseason@venera.social]

youtube.com/watch?v=Dh_l-L2oC1…

Fingerboard Row Pyramids drill description:
Choose a pair of comfortable holds to train
Perform Fingerboard Rows with supported feet in a Pyramid fashion: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Shake out between row series but don’t dismount the fingerboard
Beginners: start with 10-8-7 and do 1 set/session
Advanced: start going up the Pyramid again: 1-2-3-4… and do up to 5 sets/session with 15-minute rests between sets

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Anyone tried this protocol and have made experience about it?
Seem like a good solution to an annoying problem. Getting pumped on crimps is acceptable and expected, it just happen, but all those half-jugs and half-finger grip or pinch holds that seem okay'ish often surprises with how fast they make you feel pumped. I'm gonna try this for a month to see what impact it can have on bouldering/climbing, hopefully it will reduce this aspect that often limit progress.

#climbing #bouldering

[jcmchammy@mountains.social]

@thefifthseason Whatever fingerboarding protocol you use, remember to train the grip position you're interested in strengthening; iirc, gains only happen in approx 15-20 degrees variation from the grip angle you choose - i.e. training in half crimp does not have major gains for slopers, 3-finger drag, or open hand (or pinch for that matter - thumb strength is a whole other thing)

[devnull]

@jcmchammy@mountains.social @thefifthseason@venera.social you guys are naming all the stuff I absolutely suck at

Slopers and pinches especially kick my butt on a regular basis.

proceeds to blame tendonitis as usual

[jcmchammy@mountains.social]

@devnull @thefifthseason So I think I've said it here before, but I'll impart my (second hand from one of the best coaches I know) wisdom on slopers:
"You don't hold on to slopers with your hands; you hold on with the middle of your back."
Still possibly the silliest sentence (top 5 at least) that's been said to me that turned out to be true...

[thefifthseason@venera.social]

JCMcHammy - sound advice you got. I boulder for fun and I feel my level (v4-v6) doesn't warrant fingerboard training (yet), I'm more interested in improving general capacity and skill before advancing to specific fingertraining. I'm much better on slabs and than overhang, so one step at a time

devnull - yeah slopers can be challenging. One tip I got was to close the fingers together, even squeeze the thumb on the index finger, as that give a stronger grip on a sloper. I used to spread my fingers to maximize surface hold on the slopers but that made the hold weaker so I slipped off frequently. But as JCMcHammy says, be precise with your body position and using the back muscles to hold on to a sloper is a better tip, you won't burn out your arms/wrist so much.

[badgardener@mountains.social]

@jcmchammy @devnull @thefifthseason

This. Except I'd go further and say it's in your heels: if they're behind you, you're peeling off the hold.

(Which is probably to do with your core)

[jcmchammy@mountains.social]

@Badgardener @devnull @thefifthseason 100% ... But that's *any* hold; if you imagine a line between your contact point and centre of gravity, your weight (ignoring all other forces you're applying) is pulling/pushing along that line. If your CoG is futher out from the wall than the hold you're pulling on, you're at least in some way pulling *out*. If the hold doesn't have an edge like a sloper, it's harder to maintain friction in that direction.
I was specifically talking about the "applying friction" componant of slopers and it actually feels kinda weird when you first try it. (Now I sound like a clickbait article: "Hold onto slopers with this one weird trick"

[jcmchammy@mountains.social]

@Badgardener @devnull @thefifthseason So if you really suck at slopers and want to have a go try this:
Pull your shoulders up by your ears
Now roll them back and down as hard as you can manage.
Can you feel that muscle group engaged in the middle of your shoulders somewhere low between your scapulae?
Focus on that feeling for a mo.
Now completely relax your shoulders and, focussing on that feeling, try and engage just that muscle group without tensing the rest of your shoulders... Generally takes a bit of practice, but it *will* work eventually.
Once you got it, find a suitable, sucky sloper and hang off it, feeling as insecure as you usually do.
Tense that muscle group; if you're doing it right, your grip in the same position should suddenly feel a bit more secure.

Bonus short method of testing; Have a friend poke between your shoulderblades in that spot when you're hanging on a sloper - it should engage the right muscles whether you can find them or not.

/clickbait article over

[badgardener@mountains.social]

@jcmchammy @devnull @thefifthseason

When I was 18, a climbing accident put me on crutches for a year. I was daftly strong - one-armed pull-up strong - but my climbing didn’t improve at all (in large part probably because I was mostly on trad, but continental bolt clipping wasn’t getting any easier, either).

Then in my early 20s I took up gymnastics for a couple of years, and that caused me to make progress. I worked out that a stronger core, particularly through abdominals and lower pecs, was much more applicable to climbing than big biceps. I recognise what you’re saying about shoulders certainly, and for me there’s a degree of front-lever which goes along with it, particularly on moving up through the sloper.