Rock Climbing: Where there's a wall, there's a way

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > The Great Outdoors > Rock Climbing: Where there's a wall, there's a way

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interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

interrodactyl fucked around with this message at 03:10 on Jun 1, 2019

# ¿ Sep 16, 2017 16:12

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# ¿ Apr 24, 2024 12:13

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

Quandary posted:

Woah really? I know gym scoring is goofy, but at my gym I can climb v3/4 pretty regularly but only get like 10a/b on lead.

I boulder way harder than I lead. It's a slightly different set of skills - you might be able to do all the V4 moves individually on a boulder, but after 20ft of V3 climbing, doing a last set of V4 moves is much tougher.

# ¿ Nov 28, 2017 04:47

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

The Petzl Corax and the BD Momentum are great beginner harnesses, assuming you don't need to carry a huge rack outside.

# ¿ Dec 28, 2017 17:42

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

TVsVeryOwn posted:

So I'm taking my first trip to a climbing gym tomorrow. Assuming I like it, what kind of cross training should I be doing? Are there particularly good lifts to do? I know nothing of fitness and am a potato.

The best way to improve at climbing when you start is to climb more. If you need to work on general fitness, consider some bodyweight routines or light lifting, but the most important thing when you start is to spend as much time on the wall as possible. There's no climbing specific training you should need to do for at least a year, unless you improve freakishly quickly.

# ¿ Jan 12, 2018 16:39

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

TVsVeryOwn posted:

Thread, I'm discouraged. My intro class was full of kids from the other campus of my college where they have free access to a bouldering gym. By the time I left (after about 90 minutes) I still needed help with my knot and barely felt like could belay with a Grigri. I don't know why I thought this was going to be easy, but I did.
I think I'm just going to look at getting fit for the next several months (I'm carrying around a pretty big spare tire) and try to jump back in when I'm on the other campus with the free gym in the fall.

You're not going to get any better sooner by not climbing. It's not a race against other people - one nice thing about climbing is that it's very individual, and you'll find a lot of satisfaction in progressing. Stick with it; I promise it'll be worth it.

# ¿ Jan 13, 2018 22:03

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

ManMythLegend posted:

So when is the right time to start finger training?

I know the common wisdom is that early on it's probably better to focus on other areas and build form. I've only been climbing seriously since October, which isn't that long, but I feel that it's starting to impact my ability to progress as the problems are starting to have really awkward pinches and thin crimps.

Try harder and climb more to improve your technique. Your fingers are probably strong enough to send everything you're trying unless you're consistently trying V5/V6, but teaching your body how to climb more efficiently will get you way farther.

That's not to say that hang boarding won't help, but I see a lot of newer climbers thinking that grip strength is the main thing holding them back. Unless you are a freakishly talented climber, it is not the best thing for you to work on.

Get more time on the wall, and keep trying hard stuff as well as climbing easier stuff gracefully. You'll see your body position and footwork improve a ton and it'll be reflected in your climbing ability.

I know a girl who can climb most V5s and she can barely do a single pullup, and doesn't hangboard at all. It's not a problem with your fingers.

When you start to see a real plateau where weeks go by without any visible improvement, then come back to finger training. Until then, climbing as much as possible in as many styles as possible is your best bet.

# ¿ Jan 20, 2018 00:41

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

Footnote: The other thing about finger training is that your tendons can only grow stronger so quickly, and trying to pack too much load on them is a recipe for pulley injuries. Way more dangerous if you've just started climbing recently, and then you're out of commission for months! Don't do that to yourself.

# ¿ Jan 20, 2018 00:56

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

If you can do 5 pistol squats, your legs are strong enough for climbing and it's likely not the limiting factor. And coincidentally, you have to do similar movements a lot in climbing!

# ¿ Mar 10, 2018 03:50

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

Tactical Lesbian posted:

An easy bet right there -- you're absolutely right.

So as a newbie, under 1 month of climbing, is there anything wrong with just climbing like every day? Like 30-60 minutes over lunch time, and ~3 hours a day on weekends? Am I going too hard right out of the gate?

Training makes you weak. You get stronger when you rest.

Also, you're definitely going to blow a pulley tendon, and then you'll be out of the game for months. I'd suggest 2x a week for the first 2-3 months, and see how your body feels. Ramp up to 3x after that.

# ¿ Apr 16, 2018 18:32

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

jet_dee posted:

12 months of indoor bouldering weekly, and three weeks of 3x/week. Woo!

I kinda wish I was climbing better than v2-v3 by now but I think I had (and still have) weaknesses around upper body strength, core strength, flexibility and of course, fear of slipping/falling.

I also started incorporating some training on the campus board set up, a bit like this:
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/785455991233885425/

but only with my feet on rungs supporting my body weight - and sometimes I practice dead-hanging or doing pull-ups using the round wooden holds.

Is it too soon to be doing this sort of training, and should I just be patient?

I also do some campusing on v0-v1 boulder routes, to finish off a training session. I couldn't seem to find any information on Google as to whether this is a quick route to injury - what are other climbers' experiences with this?

You're better off limit bouldering and trying hard on moves that are just out of your reach. Maybe do some hang boarding if you want to incorporate some off the wall training.

# ¿ Jun 18, 2018 21:04

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

I think we can all agree that sport climbing is neither.

# ¿ Oct 12, 2018 00:11

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

Ubiquitus posted:

If you're struggling with crimps, hangboarding may be useful . . .remember to remove weight using your harness and go slowly.

For dynamic movement try campus boarding, using the rungs that are about the finger width of the holds you plan on grabbing.

If your gym has a systems wall, try to find holds/movement lengths similar to the types of movements you are having trouble with.

Do NOT go campus boarding to do a 10a, you will very likely injure yourself.

If you feel like finger strength and and power are your problems, try doing some bouldering. It's the best way to get better at doing hard moves. To do a 10a, try to focus on V2 - V3 level problems. Even if you can't do all the moves, trying hard on them will help a ton.

# ¿ Oct 17, 2018 15:06

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

I train heavy and send light. If you're not at an unhealthy BMI then you're probably fine. It's more important to build strong tendons and muscles than worrying about weight.

# ¿ Nov 7, 2018 07:38

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

Verviticus posted:

i havent, A: because i dont have access and B: im pretty sure at some point my fingers would just rip off. i wonder if the gym has one lying around..

Do not do this. Your fingers are undergoing enough stress and getting stronger; do not destroy all of your tendons and your knees.

# ¿ Nov 8, 2018 05:26

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

Ubiquitus posted:

How do you come to the conclusion that being lighter is worse for training?

You should train at the weight you plan on climbing, otherwise you have to get readjusted to your new level of strength constantly. The fact that weight can be added via things like training vests, and I have no idea where you're going with that.

Just because you're hungry doesn't mean your brain turns to mush when climbing

It is very difficult to build strength while you're cutting weight. No comment on the brain stuff.

I'm almost always 5-7lbs heavier while I'm training compared to when I'm on a climbing trip.

# ¿ Nov 8, 2018 19:11

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

AriTheDog posted:

Anyone have any Tahoe bouldering spots? Going to be up there for the next several days. Somewhere I could bring a kid and mess around without being on a cliff would be ideal, if such a spot exists.

How hard?

# ¿ Nov 17, 2018 17:25

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

AriTheDog posted:

Oops. Let's say V5 and below, maybe making some bad attempts at V6.

I'd stick to south lake Tahoe then; just be warned that the guidebooks are a little out of date. Be careful and see how the air quality is going to be since California is on fire like no one's business right now.

My favorite V6 there is Family Pack of Wild Dogs, which fits right in with your username! It's a great one to project.

# ¿ Nov 17, 2018 19:05

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

gamera009 posted:

Too bad you guys don’t climb closer to Boulder. But if you want to hit the canyon, I’m happy to guide.

I'm headed to Boulder in March to do some bouldering. How likely is it to snow, and even if it does, how much will that affect bouldering options?

# ¿ Nov 20, 2018 09:18

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

You should not have wrist pain and that is very abnormal.

# ¿ Dec 1, 2018 17:26

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

SavageBastard posted:

Last year, after months on the couch, I started getting into the gym a ton and climbing regularly. By summer I was climbing 5.11 (outdoor) sport routes consistently and making fair attempts at 5.12's on 90 degree humid days. I couldn't wait for the temps to drop so I could start real projects. Unfortunately, just before the weather turned, I came down with a brutal case of medial epicondylitis and possibly chronic compartment syndrome in my forearms (never got it formally checked out). I retrospect, the signs were there and I just chalked it up to training pains. I promptly took a week off hoping it would resolve, which then turned into 2 weeks and now over 4 months. I think I'm ready to start easing back into the gym and I bought some elastic bands to start working on my forearm extensor muscles and whatnot in hopes of staving off a repeat. I'm getting kind of old (40's) so obviously I'm at greater risk for this kind of thing.

Does anyone have any experience with climbing hard but staving these injuries off? I've obviously looked into a variety of advice resources available on the web but I'd love to hear people's tales and suggestions.

Thanks.

Are you doing antagonist exercises regularly? I find that to make a huge difference.

# ¿ Dec 31, 2018 06:30

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

SavageBastard posted:

What specifically do you find most helpful?

Push ups, dips, reverse wrist curls, and shoulder presses. I do them on my off days.

# ¿ Dec 31, 2018 17:51

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

Mokelumne Trekka posted:

Any Sac or Bay Area goons know the top climbing spots around? I've been to "turtle rock" and the Ring Mountain area, also an underwhelming bouldering spot in Vacaville, but I'm not an expert as I usually go the mountains

Honestly baffled how an injury like that happens at the gym. Were they not roped in properly or was it a fall on the boulder wall, etc?

Castle Rock in Los Gatos, Indian Rock / Mortar Rock / Great Stoneface in Berkeley, or go out to Tahoe.

Best rope climbing is Gold Wall / Table Mountain, unless you want to go out to Tahoe.

# ¿ Mar 2, 2019 17:40

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

Mokelumne Trekka posted:

which is apparently private property and climbing websites advise to "be quiet" out there lol

this reminds me of the documentary Valley Uprising, about the rebellious origins of this sport

Yeah, the real answer is to go out to Yosemite, Bishop, or JTree. They're all close enough for weekend trips!

# ¿ Mar 3, 2019 17:48

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

Alright goons, I'm going to be in Denver for some shenanigans and it's time to ask if y'all think ElDo is going to be decent for bouldering. If not, any other promising locations? And any particularly fun problems up to ~V7?

# ¿ Mar 6, 2019 00:04

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

spwrozek posted:

When? It snowed 4-8" this past weekend.

ShaneB posted:

If you wanna guest pass at the Englewood earth Treks get at me.

gamera009 posted:

Depends on the boulder. The water rock and the hogsback are in the sun constantly, so not too bad in that front. Spwrozek is right that it snowed recently, but if temps stay around 40, it’s probably fine. Certain bits of Flagstaff might also be fine.

3/20. And yeah the backup plan is to check out a gym, so thanks for the offer. I'll see how it is as the date gets closer, and if anyone wants to come through, the more the merrier.

# ¿ Mar 6, 2019 16:48

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

If you've only been climbing for a month your tendon strength likely isn't developed enough, even if your muscles can strength.

I would recommend against hangboarding - there's no real way to rapidly increase your tendon strength, and it's better to just spend more time climbing. As you improve your footwork and technique, you will find that it makes a much bigger difference than hangboarding.

# ¿ Apr 5, 2019 19:39

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

Sab669 posted:

I suppose it varies from goon to goon, but how long would you guys recommend a new climber (and a not super active person in general) wait for 'rest days'? Like I said I went 4 times in 6 days last week (last time was Friday).

2 hard sessions or 3 moderate sessions a week. 4 times in a week as a new climber is a sure way to destroy your body.

And remember, training makes you weak. Resting makes you stronger.

# ¿ Apr 24, 2019 03:14

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

Verviticus posted:

does anyone have any recommendations for bouldering shoes that are similar to miuras but are available in larger sizes? i’m a 46 which means 95% of shoes don’t fit

If you want to stay in la sportivas, have you tried skwamas and solutions?

Alternatively, tighter shoes make you boulder harder!

# ¿ May 2, 2019 01:24

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

Are you Shaq?

# ¿ May 2, 2019 02:10

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

ShaneB posted:

I can't tell you how much this frustrates me.

Wait until you hear about all the kids climbing v10 in a year now.

# ¿ May 12, 2019 17:40

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

Climbing is a lifetime sport if you're careful and treat your body right.

# ¿ May 14, 2019 05:18

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

Golluk posted:

Thanks for the advice on shoes. The other thing I'm looking to pick up is a harness. Seems like a much smaller selection of these, with nothing really standing out as far as numbers of reviews/rating.

Though seems to be mostly positive from the 3 reviews on this:
https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5046-720/Zack-Harness

Of course I'm willing to spend more on something that prevents me falling 20 feet.

You can't go wrong with a Black Diamond Momentum or a Petzl Corax as a starter harness.

# ¿ May 17, 2019 17:52

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

Sab669 posted:

I'm now at this awkward point where I can easily do every single V2 at the gym, but I can't complete a single V3. There's one where I get half way up and then have no idea wtf to do, 1 I can get a little bit up but don't think I have the raw strength to do it yet, and then a few others that are more of a flexibility issue than anything. I guess just keep on throwing myself against it / practicing climbing up & down on the V2's? Anything else I can do?

Try hard stuff and try hard on the hard stuff. Also, watch better climbers and try to copy their beta. If you don't understand what they did differently, ask and pay attention to micro adjustments or differences - where they place their feet on holds, how they adjust their hips, etc. Film yourself climbing and watch it back on your hard projects to look for areas of improvement. If you send a problem but it was super hard, do it again until you can get it more smoothly. Pull on some 4s or even 5s if they look cool. The goal is not to send; it's to improve at climbing.

# ¿ May 22, 2019 16:26

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

You do get rid of lead head by climbing ropes and falling though. Also depending on when you go to the gym, ARCing or 4x4s are really impractical depending on how crowded your gym is.

# ¿ Jun 26, 2019 20:54

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

Sab669 posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDIV81zVLGQ

After watching myself, I think I just need to get my legs up higher and then bump to the left and top out, but... I'd love some beta/feedback. I've been able to get to this point for like 2 weeks now and I just can't figure it out

e; also if it's not apparent in the video,

it's super overhung

Higher left foot, drop knee, bump looks like the sequence

# ¿ Aug 30, 2019 05:02

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

enraged_camel posted:

I personally avoid running-start problems. I know some people like them but IMO they are gimmicky bullshit you will basically never do on actual rock; they don’t teach you good technique and the risk of injury when doing them is much higher.

There's a V3 in Joshua Tree, where the only way to reach the start holds correctly is to do a running jump off a nearby rock going straight at it.

So those kinds of problems do exist! I don't recommend them.

# ¿ Sep 12, 2019 22:13

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

On Terra Firma posted:

Quick nutrition question. I've been using rock climbing in addition to lifting weights 3 days a week (so basically one day of climbing then one of lifting) and I feel like I'm just dragging in my recovery between sessions. I know I need to up my calorie intake in order to compensate for the additional activity but I wasn't sure if there was a better way of doing that. I'm concerned that if I'm eating too much I'm going to wipe out whatever good I'm doing and if I'm eating too little I'm going to injure myself from not being able to properly recover.

I'm 6"2, 205 lbs, and I had my body fat measured around 12-13% for reference.

Any good pre-climbing snacks/meals someone would recommend? Usually drinking a protein shake after with some strawberries or bananas.

You need to take actual rest days, or else you're going to get injured.

Training makes you weak. Resting makes you strong.

# ¿ Sep 27, 2019 22:40

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

Slimy Hog posted:

I both don't know anyone who climbs and have a bit of social anxiety so, although I would love to eventually get into outdoor sport, I don't see myself doing so any time soon.

Sport climbing is for suckers like Adam Ondra. Go bouldering instead.

# ¿ Oct 9, 2019 00:15

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

Kasumeat posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om8LQV4d23g
I didn't get a detailed view of this one, but it's about 20% overhung. The hold I'm going for is worse than it looks, I can't stick it going dynamically. It's a more positive the father left you are on it, but getting farther left is both higher and more lateral than where I'm touching it. The hold I'm going from is also not great, it's a slopey pinch. I really need to pinch it hard to stay on it as my centre of gravity rises. The left foothold I go from is slopey and low texture, if I use any momentum to push off of it my foot pops. The only thing I can really think of is trying to place my left foot down with a little more external rotation in order to get my hips closer to the wall thus making the handhold easier to hold onto as I stand, but that would make the poor foot even worse. Might be worth it though. I've seen very tall climbers use the holds below and right of me for feet, but I don't have the reach for them to be useful.

I watched this before reading the rest of your post and have the same read as you.

It doesn't look like you trust your left foot on that, and your hips aren't making it far enough so that your center of gravity can be over your foot - that can help you stabilize so the next move isn't as desperate. Can you put your foot straight on and focus on really shifting your weight over to the left?

It also doesn't look like you're fully engaging your shoulders - it's a weird thing to do in a wide stance pinch like that but it helps a ton with stability.

Things that help me on moves like that:
- Experimenting with how aggressively to flag my right leg
- Stay as low as possible when moving to the side, and then go upward so it's two separate motions. I think of it like being an arcade crane machine that has to move on the two axes separately.
- Cimb up to the finish position of this move and work backwards from there to visualize how to get into that position

# ¿ Dec 25, 2019 05:23

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# ¿ Apr 24, 2024 12:13

interrodactyl: Nov 8, 2011; you have no dignity

Partial Octopus posted:

How do you guys fit workouts into your schedule? I can't really figure it out. Currently I climb and then do my workouts after climbing, but I'm often too exhausted to push myself hard or get a real solid workout in. If I workout on my off-days I'm normally too sore to climb the next day.

Climbing is primarily a skill based sport, so a supplemental workout of that difficulty is just making your time on the wall less focused and efficient.

Drop it or do something lighter. I only do a core workout and antagonist exercises 2x/week and nothing else to supplement.

# ¿ Jan 9, 2020 18:42

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > The Great Outdoors > Rock Climbing: Where there's a wall, there's a way

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