I'm flabbergasted that training your arms like a chad actually yielded big, immediate improvements on the wall.
We always talk about focusing on technique rather than muscling through problems, and I've found that to be true and important for me as well personally. I'd also add that my personal low hanging fruit for improvement are definitely mobility through the hips and ankles, and of course technique. I did not consider additional strength to be very important for my climbing progression at this time.
So color me shocked to find that adding some dedicated arm training (biceps, triceps, forearms) in pursuit of some fun but unrelated calisthenics goals (i.e. progressing towards a one-arm pull up and such) these last two of months yielded big results on the climbing wall.
Although it definitely feels like I can pull harder, I suspect the resultant wrist strength and stability improvements are what's helping the most. Followed maybe by the ability to generate more compression through the upper body on some problems.
Would love to hear other people's thoughts on this. Is the arm day actually underrated somehow for some climbers?
The excercises themselves are:
- 2 sets of bicep curls. One being the classic concentration curl and the other being the hammer curl variant.
- 2 sets for triceps. Use your favorite position / variant.
- Wrist curls and extension with relatively light weight. No need to overdo.
- Wrist curls in the radial and ulnar plane. Think the muscles that move your wrists to each side.