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TRAINING THE WOUNDED
Warm up: 3 Rounds
Run 400m with hill
50x Sit ups
Training:
(1) 100x 1-Arm Bench Press
100x 1-Arm Swing
100x 1-Arm KB Clean & Press
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Warm up: 3 Rounds
Run 400m w/hill
50x Squats
Training:
10 Rounds
10x Lunges each leg holding 8kg kettlebell
10x GHD Situps
10x Box jumps
10x Back Extensions
Comments:
You coach for anytime at all and you're going to get wounded people in the gym. "Wounded" in this context is
different than new athletes who come into training thinking they are "wounded."
It's really common to get new athletes who arrive with a list of ailments or movement restrictions - lower back issues
are the most common, but also common are knee and shoulder issues. Many times these issues are perpetrated by overprotective
doctors and physical therapists. I generally listen to these new athletes' concerns, throw them right into the session, load
them very light, and over a few weeks, see their issues melt away.
I define a "wounded athlete" as one of my veteran athletes who suffers an injury. These athletes want to and
need to continue training, and I'll work with them to modify exercise selections or design sessions around their injuries.
I believe that continuing to train when wounded is important mentally for the athlete, and speeds their ultimate recovery.
A couple of weeks ago, one of my vets, Hayden, separated her shoulder muscling up a move on the Exum Ridge of the Grand
Teton. She took a week totally off, then got back into the gym and I designed sessions around her injury.
One bad arm leave a lot left to train: legs, cardio, good arm, core. And a coach who can't design a program or training
session with this limitation isn't a good coach. The sessions listed above are two I prescribed for Hayden recently.
I'm hesitant to take a new athlete with a true injury on. The reason is time. Hayden, being a vet, can perform a modified
session with minimal supervision - allowing me to give most of my attention to the athletes performing the main training session
prescribed that day. A new athlete, on the other hand - esp. an injured one - needs much more attention, and this would detract
from the coaching I'm giving to my uninjured athletes.
Further, designing sessions around injuries takes some special thought and consideration on my part, and veteran athletes
have proven already they are worth the effort.
I get plenty of tourists and wanna be's through my doors who say they want to work hard, but really don't. And after a
few sessions, quit attending. Like any good teacher or coach, I invest a lot in my athletes individually, whether they realize
it or not, and I'm about the to the end of my patience with posers.
E-MAIL QUESTION:
Rob,
I've been climbing for close to 20 years with an up and down performance. My work and past injuries flaring up had kept
me back for a number of years. I had a break through last year however which currently led me to find your website.
I work about 9 months of every 14 over seas in Iraq or some such place. Then get 4-6 months off before the next trip.
I've worked very hard over the years to attain a fitness during the deployments which enables me to not only get back to where
I was performance wise in the mountains, but improve! All this while trying to stave off old injury flair ups. Last year I
built a training regimen based on aspects of Cross-fit, Core-Performance, Mark Twight's writing and Gym Jones info, and other
minor sources to include a healthy dose of personal experience (ie. opinionated bias).What I came up with was a not so focused
cycle of long workouts similar to yours involving full body integration for as much of the movement as possible, lots of core
work with kettle-bells and bricks, and a small bit of running and tire flipping. One of the greatest benefits of the regimen
was that all the old injuries nearly completely dropped off the board. No shoulder, back, hip, neck issues all winter (save
for one crash into a boulder while skiing (not the trainings fault, but I did recover allot quicker than in the past))
Last years program set me up for great improvements on the rock and ice this winter. I was climbing a full -3 number
grades beyond my standard before I left and was able to achieve ice climbing goals which were intended to be long term winter
of 2010 objectives.
All this said, I'm am looking to refine and improve the regimen this year. I'm interested in the phasing and cycling
of the workouts you engineer. I've got 6 more months left here which means plenty of time to train. Last year I noticed that
some of my cycles/ phases of similar work loads to the previous only produce marginal improvements or even a loss in aspects
of specific muscle recruitment strength or speed (my grip strength or running speed would drop). I'm plenty aware of plateau's
in training and performance but feel I could reduce these with an organized approach verses my trial and error methods.
A lot of words to ask if you have any guidance or articles which might guide me towards my objectives. By the way, my
objectives lie towards knocking out longer alpine routes in the 5.10-5.11 rock and WI4-WI5 realm or mixed routes leading up
towards those. I have a decent weight gym and an area I can run this time so I want to make effective use of them.
Thanks for posting all your hard work on the web for all of us,
Tony
ANSWER/COMMENTS
Tony -
Here's some things you might want to consider:
Gym training can only complement your sport-specific training and climbing practice (technical skills development). So
there's a point of diminishing returns on gym training's transferability to your climbing.
Take our strength standards, for example: 2x bodyweight dead lift for men, 1.5x bench press for men, 1.5x bodyweight front
squat for men, etc. These standards are "high" for general fitness, but for the strength sports - they are just
the starting point of serious training.
They goal of gym training is to maximize a transferable foundation to sport specific training. Build a big base in the
gym, sharpen it with sport-specific training and technical practice.
The point I'm getting at is while your numbers in the gym may be plateauing, it may not matter to your climbing performance
anyway. For example, will a 2x bodyweight bench press make you a better climber? Probably not. But the extra time and attention
you'll need in the gym to get your bench press up to 2x bodyweight, will cost you in other areas of conditioning.
Please understand that although I've got some wold class mountaineering badasses training in my gym, I myself am a rote,
rookie, timid, sissy, climber. But this I have gleaned:
(1) Sport-specific climbing strength revolves first around grip and finger strength, and second around core and body tension.
In in the gym I can do a fair job of training the core, but there is nothing in a barbell gym which can train your sport-specific
grip and finger strength as well as a rock gym, systems board, hang/training board, ice axe work, etc.
(2) Technical skill will get you a long way up the rock face or ice wall. A few months ago I had a middle-aged climber
visit the gym for his first session. This guy is a 5.13 climber, and renowned as one of the best climbers in this town and
a super nice guy. But he was one of only 2 athletes I've ever had step through my doors who could not finish my initiation
workout. He was severely deconditioned. Yet he continues to climb at an elite level because of sport-specific strength and
technical skill.
(3) Just like gym training, climbing gains come fast and furious to beginners, but slow with experience. It takes longer
to go from a 1x bodyweight bench press to a 1.5 bw bench, than it does from a .5 bw bench to a 1x bw bench. I'm not sure how
the climbing grades shake out, but a similar, frustrating, principle applies to climbing.
The point is, you might be expecting too much transferability from your gym training to your climbing performance. I don't
know if it is possible, but building a system board in Iraq and training hard on it, if you don't have one already - could
pay off really well for your climbing stateside. Also, getting creative with ice axes can be super helpful. For example, Stephen
Koch does "laps" wearing crampons and ice axes on the exposed floor joists in the basement of his condo. This overhanging
work allows him to really train his grip in a sport specific way. By wearing a backpack he can progressively load his grip
and core, and by using a stop watch and intervals, he can train strength, power, strength endurance, and sport-specific energy
systems. Simple, but effective.
Considering programming and gym performance - I don't know your measure - whether it be 1RM strength goals or metcon circuit
times, but generally, getting stronger won't hurt. Programming will definitely help. Same is true for your cardio-vascular
system.
My stuff is planned and programmed - it's not random, but I don't have an article or media explaining it. It's the subject
of our seminars.
If you can't or don't want to attend one with me, I really encourage you to self-educate through reading. I just received
3 more strength and conditioning and mobility books this week and can't wait to devour them. I can tell that my stuff is not
original - I try to take the best of what is out there from much smarter and experienced coaches, and apply it to my needs.
You can do the same.
Hope this helps ....
- Rob
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| Hayden does 1-arm box jumps - harder than you think! |
One of my Jackson Athletes, Marybeth Hansen, placed third last weekend in Torrington, Wyoming in the "equestrian Triathlon"
known as Eventing. There are three days of competition, she explains. The first day is dressage where you have to ride a
pattern the same as everyone in your class and you and your horse are judged on movement etc. The second day is hardcore
cross country jumping, full gallop 20 or so jumps over rock walls brush jumps off banks into water etc. and the last day
is what you see in that photo below - Showjumping. In the picture, Marybeth is riding a young horse named "Chrome"
which she broke and trained herself. This is at least the second sport Marybeth has competed in an elite level at. She is
a former sponsored big mountain snowboarder, and long time coach for the the prestigious Jackson Hole Ski and Snowboard Club.
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| Marybeth, killin' it in Torrington! |
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| Marybeth - killin' herself in the gym! |
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