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"ORANGE RAIN" (Rock Gym training)
Warm up: 3 pull ups every 15 seconds for 10 rounds
Training:
(1) 10 Laps carrying 35# back pack, up and down climb. 30 hand movements per lap, 300 hand movements total
(2) Bouldering Competition: One V1 overhanging problem and one V0 problem.
Each team has three climbers. Team which completes a team total of 20 bouldering problems wins. Losers do 15x burpees.
*******
"BUSTIN' NEIL"
Objective: Metabolic Conditioning
Warm up: 5 Rounds
Row 250m
10x push ups
Training:
(1) Tabata Thruster @ 45 Pounds
(2) 3 Rounds
8x Dead Lift @ 135#
Row 500m, each round faster than the last
Rest 3 min.
(3) 30/30 Jingle Jangle
30 sec work, 30 sec rest. A jingle jangle is a sprint back and forth between 2 cones placed 5 yards apart. Touch the
ground at each cone.
(4) Tabata Kettelbell Swing @ 16kg kettlebell
Comments:
I had six athlete at the rock gym session today, including four women who have attended several of the sessions. Our rock
gym sessions are focused on strength and endurance. This isn't technique training.
Today, Tina, Kim, Connie and Mattie were all doing 30 hand move, up and down climbing laps on the wall carrying a 35#
pack - same as the two men, Scott and Tom.
These routes they are climbing aren't difficult - 5.7s and 5.8s, with not quite jug holds, but close to them. I chose
moderate routes with good holds to protect finger tendons. My goal was to work these athletes so much, their grip failed
by the end of the 10 laps.
What is significant is how well the women performed, carrying the same load as the men. It got me wondering about the
relative grip strength of men and women and how they compare. In the gym, my male athetes have much greater relative strength
- as to be expected.
But there in the rock gym, the women were hanging strong. A quick google search found only one study, which debated my
observations. In that study, women with elite grip strength - judo and handball athletes - had grip strength which was just
50% of the averages man's.
This certainly isn't was my eyes were showing me, and in my own experience, these women all smoke my climbing "strength."
It makes me wonder about the differences between elite female and male rock climbers. I wonder if the relative grip strength
of the women rival the mans' grip strength. And if the difference in climbing ability is the greater pulling and and core
strength.
I do know that one of the most elite ice climbers in the world is a woman.
"Bustin' Neil" above is a quick expiriment I conduced at Neil's expense. We put a heart rate monitor on him
and found that his heart rate was highest (above 190) during the Tabata thrusters. During the IWT row he reached into the
170s, and for both the jingle jangles intervals and the Tabata swing, we got him above 180. On the swing I started him out
with a 12kg bell, until the 3rd round, when I bumped it up to 16kg. Before moving up, his heart rate was in the 170s. The
heavier bell immediately took it above 180.
More e-mail questions and comments ....
FROM PAUL IN OHIO:
Hey Rob, thought I would share the workout we did yesterday, killer
"crusty crotch"
1000m row warm up
(1) work up to max back squat
(2) 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
225# back squat
pulllups
box jumps
135# push press
AND FROM ZACH:
From yesterday's training log: "Try the barbell complex with 135#. (Then report back, 'cause I'm scared to.)"
Rob,
I love your site and what you're doing with it. It's helping me better myself. The above quote looked like too much
of a challenge for me to pass up. I'll do it tomorrow, provided I know what the barbell complex is, because I've forgotten
and was unable to find it posted on the site. I'll report back, after hopefully having done it with over 135#. I won't be
liking myself too much, and I'll be liking you less.
Regards,
Zack Quigley
P.S. I'd heard horrible things about Curtis P's, and I'd heard equally heard horrible things about Airdyne riding. At
2 AM, coming off a late night shift, I went to the gym, which is in a bad part of town and luckily open 24/7. I decided to
make things rough on myself. I did 5 Curtis P's, then rode 25 calories on the Airdyne as fast as I could, 3 times no rest.
It took all of maybe 10-15 minutes and was absolutely glorious. Thank you.
ANSWER/COMMENT:
Here is the barbell complex:
1x barbell complex = 6 reps of each:
dead lift
bent over row
hang power clean
front squat
push press
back squat
push up
attack the barbell - and keep it in your hands until the back squats are done.
- Rob
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| Connie, down climbing with 35#. |
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| Mattie = quiet intensity. |
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| Tom is training to climb El Cap in a day, next year. |
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