UKC

In the spirit of 'work your weaknesses' and 'I want to buy myself another chrimbo pressie' I'd like to boost the specific muscles for open handed climbing, slopers and chunky pinches. These are the holds that I look at with dread where as I seem to cope reasonably on little crimpy things. Also I want to go easy on my fingers.

I was thinking of the Metolius Portable Power Grips: http://www.v12outdoor.com/shopimages/products/normal/metolius-portable-powe...
Or Lapis Rolly Balls:
http://www.betaclimbingdesigns.com/assets/products-homepage-images/rollybal...

If the rolly balls then what size do people think is most useful?

I also toyed with the idea of combining them with the suspension trainer for lower grade but increased time using a more open handed grip.

I appreciate that technique is a hugely significant factor, plumb line, instigating movement from feet etc and my plan isn't to ignore one for the other - just to increase time on a weaker area.

I'm also open to any other ideas... Thanks lots in advance!

In reply to flopsicle:

I'd probably go for a fingerboard with slopers (eg. beastmaker 2000) on it as opposed to those free-hanging jobbies, and complement that with some fat pinches to either side on a board. There are a few companies selling wooden training holds if you don't fancy getting tendonitis from sanding a block down.

Some people also tie weights to blocks of wood and pick those up to develop pinch strength, but I'd always go for the fingerboard / complementary holds route if you have somewhere to mount it.

There are plenty of training plans on the web for this kind of set-up, although if your new to fingerboarding I'd start by taking some weight off, and take it easy. Make sure you get plenty of mileage in as well to keep the technique honed.

In reply to flopsicle:

Not sure about those Metolius wooden slopers although it's kind of hard to tell the actual 3D shape from that image. StoneSmith do decent suspension balls as an alternative to the Lapis ones:

http://stonesmithholds.com/product/suspension-training-balls-2/

Best size would presumably depend on your hand size

In reply to flopsicle:

If you're so inclined you could make a wooden pinch yourself that you could connect weights to and lift them (in a sort of side bend fashion). Repeaters or max hangs. Cheap (If you have the tools) - and effective. . . . and quite nice to do a climbing exercise that doesn't use your shoulders and elbows in the same position as hangs.

In reply to flopsicle:

Hi Flopsicle, I've achieved progression by using a hang board, specifically Beastmaker. I'd recommend a 1000 if you're just starting out this kind of training and really undertake a gentle intro to the board. It can be a bit dispiriting at first, starting on the lowest training rung on the accompanying app, but if you stick with it you'll get awesome strength.
Don't put it out in the garage where you won't really want to go, place it somewhere you'll want to train, like over a doorway with a good view of the telly. Get a good box set or Netflix, and get training! When you do get out, or go to the wall, try to concentrate on climbing open-handed.

Good luck!

Thanks for the input. I picked a hanging/portable solution as my plaster work is almost as horrendous as my procrastination! After much putting off I now have a swing set outdoors which my suspension trainer goes from and a pull up bar indoors (can also stick suspension trainer in a door jam). I like being able to train outside in summer very much.

Setting up a fingerboard without half my house falling down is questionable and my doorways don't incline themselves to the frame set ups - my pull up bar on fits on the toilet door.

I guess what I'm saying is that some of my thinking is geared towards straight appeal and instant use before I lalala myself off the idea.

Stone smith balls look good too!

In reply to Pewtle:


I disagree - blocks of wood all the way. The problem with mounting pinch holds around a fingerboard is that if you aren't careful you basically train your compression muscles by squeezing your palms together rather than training your ability to pull hard on pinches with thumb engagement. You can't cheat lifting blocks of wood.

Pinches are also quite width specific.

In reply to AJM:



The set up would have to be carefully considered to take this into account. Personally I prefer training in body positions that broadly mirror those I'll be climbing on, as I need all the help I can get to get used to keeping my core fully engaged etc, but I'm definitely not an expert, so happy to be proved wrong

Although thinking about it you would probably get some antagonist benefits as well from lifting blocks that would be beneficial for injury prevention.

For the OP, Eva Lopez has done an interesting blog around it: http://en-eva-lopez.blogspot.com/2013/02/training-pinch-strength-for-climbi...

In reply to Pewtle:

I would see anything that allows you to squeeze from the shoulders (which a lot of her photos seemed to show) as being non-specific to all those times when you are actually doing a move off a pinch (and therefore only have one hand on whilst the other moves, limiting the inwards squeeze you could apply). They look like they'd be more relevant for fridge hugging moves. But who knows.

In reply to AJM:

Fair point - hadn't considered that.

In reply to AJM:

I'm a convert to the hanging a weight from a piece of wood and lifting it method, but otoh when you have one hand on a pinch in real life, the situations when it's directly in front of you and you absolutely have to pull directly outwards on it aren't really that common. Surely you would normally be trying to get your weight to the side and lay away on it as much as possible?

In reply to AlanLittle:

Yes, of course, but the OP was quite focused on physical training suggestions (getting strong at pinching things) rather than technique suggestions (how to pretend a pinch isn't actually a pinch, in general), so my response is in line with that.

But even so, if you're climbing a single tufa pipe then you may well find yourself going from pinch to pinch at some point and having to come across the front of it almost as you spin side to side, so even with good technique you can't always avoid it.

In reply to AJM:

I think the discussion is really interesting, although some of it over my head! (I even gave my fridge a hug).

Technique is going to be the way forward but where I'm going to support it with strength training I want to target weaknesses. When I see little crimps I rub my hands with glee. Slopers and chunky pinches make me pull the lemon face!

In reply to AJM:


True. I have a boulder project at the moment where the crux is crossing from one side of a horrible wide slopy pinch to the other. My trusty piece of 2"x3", sling and kettlebell will bring me victory. Eventually.

In reply to flopsicle:



See if you can start open handing some of the crimps....

In reply to flopsicle:

Nothing wrong with training specifically for slopers but I would also add there's a good bit of technique involved as well as strength. Body position and body tension are two things that help a lot and won't be trained just doing hangs and pull ups on sloping holds. So as you get stronger try to do as much climbing on slopers too to maximize the gains. You might also consider doing some core training to help improve body tension.

In reply to flopsicle:

It may be your open handed strength is the issue. In that case it may be best trained by using relatively squarecut holds on a fingerboard, but held open handed. I train open handed on my beastmaker 1000 but rarely on the slopers, as I find them tough on the skin and very humidity dependant. I see many wads (which I am not) deadhanging openhanded but again, rarely on the slopers.

Actually I have the opposite issue. Recently I've been working on crimps with up to 20kg taken off with a pulley (BM1k again), and am starting to see gains in crimp strength at last.

In reply to flopsicle:

All I can say is:

Rock Prodigy Training Center
Pulleys

I imported a RPTC from the USA as everywhere in Europe was out of stock at the time. I've been using it fairly regularly and my pinch strength has improved no end, same for slopey open handed stuff.

Lastly, you really do just have to climb more routes with slopers and pinches. Fancy gadgets won't help if you aren't learning how to do 'the moves' on the routes. Bouldering is good because it's easy to go find a problem with slopey/pinchy holds and get on it, rinse and repeat.