[jakedev]

First, thank you for taking the time to write your amazing books and sharing you knowledge. They have been life changing for me.

I’ve gotten somewhat proficient at creating my own programs and routines using your principles but my struggle is usually with doing too much.

Question: Would it make sense to keep up a maintenance Max Strength routine (at half duration) every 2 weeks through a rock climbing training program and subsequently through rock season? Or if I’m doing a full 3-4 month program and actually climbing 2x a week will that suffice to train grip and lock off strength (although not with an axe)?

Topic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on February 13, 2020 at 10:11 am #38124

I suspect that rock climbing will be enough to maintain ice climbing strength.

[jakedev]

jakedev on February 18, 2020 at 11:24 am #38365

Thanks bud.

[Steve House]

Steve House on February 18, 2020 at 12:18 pm #38370

@jakedev My personal experience is that my core and shoulder strength goes down during rock season. This could be due to the type of rock climbing I like, generally what people refer to now as slab climbing. When I rock climb I’m mostly on my feet and the moves are small. When I’m mixed climbing I tend to use more core (boots/crampons are heavier than rock shoes) and more big-move shoulder strength (and lock-off). It takes me longer to locate good holds dry-tooling than it does rock climbing, probably due to the sensation of fingertips.

So, what I’ve done is run through a max-strength workout every 10 days or so through the off-season. I found this has provided massive benefits because I didn’t have to start at such a low level when September rolls around. Rather I picked up pretty close to where I had been strength-wise at the end of the winter season. This made my year-on-year gains much greater.

The one area I didn’t address is grip as it’s specific to holding onto tools. I think the rock climbing gripping translates after about 2 weeks. I think it’s the same muscles, just different ways of activating them.

[jakedev]

jakedev on February 24, 2020 at 12:01 pm #38699

Thanks Steve.

So just to clarify 1 round of my Max Strength Session during the program is:

– 1 Arm Hangs 4x per side (8s = 1x)
– Step Ups 4x per side
– 1 Arm Locks Offs 4x per side
– 1 Foot Calf Raises 4x per side.

Weighted to give 95% effort as described in your book.

I am going to be hiking and running a good amount so maybe the step ups aren’t necessary during the summer. I do a separate core session every week (toes to bars, planks, compression work).

So I can change it to just:

– 1 Arm Locks Offs 4x per side
* Shoulder Lock off Strength that you mention
– 1 Foot Calf Raises 4x per side.
* I think ice puts a lot more work on calfs than rock so will keep this. I’ve ID’d my calves as a weakness and do a separate calf endurance after Tread wall ARCing.

Thanks again guys.