“In terms of the physical aspect of climbing, the key to breaking new ground is tricking your body with a new exercise and novel regimen that imparts a training stimulus the body is not accustomed to.” -Eric Hörst
This article from nicros.com, written by Eric Hörst, is about long-duration isometrics and includes how to use this technique to train for climbing. It’s a training technique that has been proven to help shock the muscles in ways they aren’t used to in order to overcome plateaus.
Isometrics are when the muscles contract without actually moving anywhere (aka static contractions). In climbing, this happens all the time: when you hold a grip for two seconds before doing the next hard move or do a lock-off move.
Long-duration isometric exercises involve holding a strenuous position that you want to strengthen, for 30 seconds or more. When climbing you may not actually hold a position for said 30 seconds, but in training it can be a good way to make gains.
As Eric says:
“In LDI grip training you want to target the open hand, pinch, and half crimp positions, while in lock-off training it would be wise to train both on a vertical plane and in steep-wall position (which fires the back and shoulder muscles a little differently).”
He then shares 4 long-duration isometric exercises he recommends. They include hanging lock-offs, steep-wall twist-locks, straight-arm fingerboard hangs, and dumbbell wrist curls.
He explains how to do each of these exercises and suggests the way he would fit them into a training regiment.
Give them a try!
CLICK HERE: Training with Long-Duration Isometrics
(photo courtesy of nicros.com)
