Strength / Weight Training

Best is to book an hour session with a decent personal trainer, would cost you £50 or so and it will be worth it. The challenge is to find one who actually knows how to use a kettlebell....I have seen so many of them teaching it wrong. Where are you based?

Date night just got weird.

I know. I'm in Sydenham and I was hoping there's something at crystal palace.

Same with weights.

It's for the days when the rack is busy. Because from what I see a swing done properly is helpful for squat and deadlift. The things I like the look of are get ups and renegade rows done properly.

You can have all the bits on paper and write it on your advertising.....

Can't agree more with that.

There's crystal palace weightlifting. But I think that's youth orientated.

There's metroflex, but that looks big guys liftibg big weights taking pics for the grams.

It is possible to replicate StrongLifts using a pen, paper and a timer (phone). There are pre-printed books available too. I have one (£5 on eBay) which works for me when I am not using the StrongLifts App.

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I have a google Drive spreadsheet.

I don't need to super customise it. I only do "normal" exercises. It's just that the order or whatever might change. I was in the gym near me last night and it was busy as, even at 11pm! How the fuck am I supposed to do my sets with 20 fuckers sharing one squat rack?

Is that on Android? It's not coming up in search.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK-L2P56zjU

Way too fucking complicated for my brain. Just find a barbell and do massive deads.

This guys videos are pretty clear and well explained imo:

Swings:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMqcv_O7ppI

Get ups:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaR73EfaM4k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6HXtrq2woY

The get ups take a little while to get the hang of, but once you do its pretty straightforward

I have it on an iPhone. Not too sure about Android.

Metro Flex in lower Sydenham?! Looks very user friendly. Make sure youre in your best spandex.

I'm not beefy enough.

I have been taught the getups a few years ago, one of those that I need coaching on.

I've put on a few kilos since the summer when I started doing more weights/cross training. The idea was to get stronger for climbing but I think I've tipped over to the wrong side of the strength/weight ratio (specifically for climbing).

6ft 2, 76kg but want to get back to 71-70kg which is easier on the fingers.
Is it possible to maintain strength and loose mass or is that breaking the laws of physics?

Most of the new weight seems to be in the legs (thighs, hams).
Thinking of doing 3 days a week of running/cardio and lowering deadlift and bench weight but increasing reps. Does that make sense?

I'm sure there was a recent study that showed you can add lean muscle mass while being calorie restricted so I don't see why not.

Stop doing gym work and do more climbing then the muscles you don't use for climbing won't be getting any bigger. Specificity. Or climb with your legs. Simples. :)

6ft 2, 76kg but want to get back to 71-70kg which is easier on the fingers.

That's still a relatively light height/weight ratio to me...although, I would expect climbers to be very lean indeed.

Is it possible to maintain strength and loose mass or is that breaking the laws of physics?

Completely possible to be lean and strong. The kind of strength you need for climbing is not strongman kind of strength, you need to work on endurance and power/explosion I would say. So lower weight, higher reps (15 reps plus) is definitely the right thing to do. You will get your muscle used to endurance and it will also keep you very lean. Add explosive movements to your program too (box jumps for example). You could also start playing with tempo in your reps. For example if you squats you do 3 secs down, 1 sec pause at the bottom and explosive on the way up, 1 sec pause at the top and repeat....I think you get the idea.

I would keep it to free weight (db, kb tc), resistance bands and body weight too to work on your coordination and balance (much needed for climbing). it will also make sure that you work the synergist muscles. As @hippy suggested if you do machine work it might create some imbalance which ultimately might not be so good for what you are trying to achieve.

And btw, bench is not highly relevant to climbing, you better do shit lots of pull ups instead :) Key areas would be flexibility and power in legs, endurance/strength in back, shoulder, arms and grips.

Thanks for the tips. I'll probably ditch the deadlifts then and increase the reps with free weights and kettlebells. Will start mixing-in explosive stuff as well.

Speaking of explosive exercises, I've previously had good results from running a bit (5k) with occasional sprints in there. A bit more cardio won't hurt.

Yeah, I do bench more out of vanity :)

More practically, I already do loads of hangs, pull-ups, shrugs, vertical presses etc for shoulders.

Maybe some yoga is in order... Being tall is as much as a hinderance as much as it is an advantage when things get cramped.

I would not ditch the deadlift, deadlift is very very good to strengthen you core, glutes, harmstrings, lower back and upper back so everything you need for climbing. It makes it all work under tension too so it's excellent. Use tempo to make it more relevant to climbing. You can use clean grips too (pronated/closed grips on both hands) to work on your grips.

It's good to keep a bit of bench to balance it out anyway (you don't want a very strong back and a weak chest). Do flies, inclined bench all of that crap.

Thanks, that gives me an idea of what to focus on.

Who wants link to a comprehensive video on foam roller exercises?