X-Git-Url: https://code.kerkeslager.com/?p=wiki-pages;a=blobdiff_plain;f=hangboarding.md;fp=hangboarding.md;h=bbd3d0cf8b87c42166f8868d5fd6aa131461d013;hp=0000000000000000000000000000000000000000;hb=b5446eb910c2ed624ae47ad3f3cc3867b6b79e38;hpb=72e0aac0a5c6870cb45ee69f01f487dd75bd8591 diff --git a/hangboarding.md b/hangboarding.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bbd3d0c --- /dev/null +++ b/hangboarding.md @@ -0,0 +1,101 @@ +# Density hangs +Density hangs are primarily a beginner routine. Beginners can start on a large hold, +one they can hold comfortably (but not a jug), and hang as long as they can. +Once you can hang for 60 seconds, you can progress to a smaller hold. + +# Effort pulls +Using one hand on a 20mm edge, pull down for 10 seconds. Using one hand will +preclude the possibility of lifting off the ground for most people, but +if you can lift your body in this way, add weight until that's no longer +possible. The idea is to let your body and feel regulate effort. This is good +for rehab and/or prehab of finger injuries, and can be done more frequently +than other routines. + +# Repeaters +Repeaters are focused on endurance by doing multiple hangs in quick succession. +Using a 7-on, 3-off timing for 7 reps is common. + +I don't like adding weight to repeaters, for a few reasons: + +1. With density hangs or max hangs, if you mess up a hang, you can just + rest a bit and try for time or weight again. However, because timing + is more important for repeaters, this doesn't work for repeaters. + Faffing about with adding weights increases the chances of having some + swaying, mis-timing, or just bad setup that messes up a hang. +2. Hanging on different holds has benefits for repeaters because volume + is high for repeaters. This high volume lends itself to repetitive + stress injuries, so varying the holds helps with this. + +To keep things simple, I find it easiest to follow a guided routine: +the Beastmaker app works well for this. It's not perfect, but none of the +problems really make it hard to use. + +I prefer to do repeaters after a session: this can make my measurment of +progress less accurate, but it doesn't detract from the endurance benefits. + +# Max hangs +Max hangs simply hanging with as much added weight as possible, to 3-5 +hangs, each 5-10 seconds long. Longer rests are ideal here: 5 minutes +is a very reasonable minimum. A 20mm edge is fairly standard. + +I primarily train half crimp and three finger drag. Half crimp translates +well to full crimp and avoids some of the injury potential of full crimp. +But half crimp translates poorly to three finger drag for me. + +I find it's not a bad idea to do these before a climbing session. It's +unusual for a climbing session to work my hands as much as the max hangs, +so it doesn't often interfere with my climbing, and usually leaves me +well-warmed up. I can hangboard after max climbing if the max climbing +was on slopers, since these barely work my fingers. + +I don't like training primarily on edges less than 20mm, because the hangs +become more condition dependent. It's worth training smaller edges occasionally +to ensure that the strength gained from heavier hangs on larger holds does +translate to the smaller holds, but in general I find that this doesn't have +to be done often for the strength to translate. + +# Injury potential +What follows is a rant. + +There's no evidence whatsoever that hangboarding has a higher potential +for injury than climbing itself. Hangboarding is far more controlled than climbing. + +Yes, you can hangboard with poor form and get injured: it's much easier to climb +with poor form and get injured because climbing form is far more complex and +hard to assess, and involves a lot more ballistic and harder-to-control movements. + +Yes, you can hangboard too much or too hard and get injured: it's much +easier to climb too much or too hard and get injured because you can't easily +put numbers on how hard you're climbing (no, grades don't help with this). + +There's a strong argument that beginners shouldn't hangboard, but that has +nothing to do with injury. The fact is that beginners will likely see the +fastest gains in climbing ability from climbing, and learning climbing +movement. + +However, there are a lot of cases where climbing isn't an option, and hangboarding +is an option. I have a hangboard in my home: I can hangboard at home but +I can't climb at home. Similarly, early in my climbing career, I injured my +ankle, and was unable to climb, but I was able to hangboard. In such situations, +hangboarding may make it possible to continue to progress your climbing +when it's not actually possible to climb. + +And further, the adaptations caused by static loads such as hangboarding actually +*prevent* injury. Hangboarding is literally one of the most effective ways to +rehabilitate an injured finger. + +I get hate for this opinion, and invariably that hatemail is a litany +of anecdotes which don't have any information about what form the people were +hangboarding with, how often, or at what intensity, which just goes to show +that people didn't read what is written above. Literally the entire point of +hangboarding is that you can measure it to ensure progress and avoid injurty, so +if you aren't measuring it, then yes, you should not be hangboarding. + +There's one special case of the above, which is the person who *did* measure +and then ignored the measurements, went too hard, and got injured. This should +not be seen as a refutation of the idea that the entire point of hangboarding +is that you can measure it to ensure progress *and avoid injury*. If you've +done nothing to avoid the avoidable, that doesn't change the fact that it was +avoidable. + +End of rant.