Flexibility: Yoga

Strength-Building Asana Sequence for Climbers:

1) Down Dog

2) Warrior I — press the palms together and take the gaze upwards 5 breaths.

3) Release the arms behind the back, interlace the fingers, lean back, and touch the hands to the back thigh. Lower body remains in Warrior I position here. 5 breaths.

4) Keep the arms and legs as they are, just lean foward and extend the heart out over the front knee. 5 breaths.

5. Keep the legs as they are, release the arms, and then extend the arms forward as if you are reaching out to someone. 5 breaths.

6. Lean into the front leg and slowly stand up right into Warrior III. 10 breaths. Remember to keep this pose active! Extend back through the heel; extend forward through the finger tips. Keep raising that back leg and don’t let anything sag.

7. “Airplane” the arms to the side, and then “barrel roll” into Half-Moon Pose. 10 deep Ujjayi breaths. You may even try to take the bottom hand off the ground and extend that arm forward.

8. Very slowly, lower back into Extended Side-Angle Stretch. The landing here should be light and controlled. Hold Side-Angle for 10 breaths. Again, keep this pose super active. Extend forward through the top arm, and cut the back foot sharply into the mat. Imagine a line of energy extending from the back heel all the way throught he tips of the forward fingers.

9. Now here comes the fun part. 5 rounds of Extended Side-Angle Stretch into Half-Moon, and back again, holding each pose for 2 deep breaths. Remember to move between the poses with lightness and control.

10. End up in Half-Moon. “Barrel roll” back into Warrior III. Just 5 breaths this time.

11. Bring the hands to the floor and come into Standing Split. Hold for 10 breaths. Try to take both hands to the ankle so that your leg is doing all the work in holding you up.

11. From Standing Split, either press up directly into a Handstand or kick up into a Handstand. Alternatively, just come straight back into Chaturanga.

12. Vinyasa. Repeat on the other side.

(this was adapted from the Yoga for Rock Climbing Blog)

Power/Strength Exercise

One Arm Traverses and One Arm Lunges

1. Find a section of the climbing wall that would enable you to do a long traverse, on reasonably large holds.
2. Climb up onto the wall, tucking one arm behind your back
3. Traverse only using one arm and moving your feet.
4. Repeat for the other arm
5. Take a 2 minute rest, and do 2 more traverses for each arm.
6. Now find a spot where you can hang from one arm (feet on the wall too), and the lung up and grab a higher hold. This would be like a one arm dyno. Your goal is to do 12 of these in a row with each arm, take a 2 minute rest, and do 2 more sets for each arm.

Anaerobic Endurance

Steep Wall Lockoffs

1. Find a steep section of the climbing wall (preferably a bouldering area) that would allow you to put your feet on holds, and have your hands either on one large hold, or 2 holds next to each other
2. Find a hold higher up the steep wall that is at your maximum reach
3. Pull up into the holds your hands are on, and reach high with one arm to touch the hold that you chose at maximum reach. Do not grab it, just touch it and hold for 2 seconds. You other arm should be in a lock-off position
4. Lower back down, repeat immediately, for 20-50 reps
5. Do the same for the other arm, take a 3 minute rest, and do 2 more sets.

I hope you all benefited from these 3 exercises! Let me know if you have any questions. Also, check out Eric Horst’s Training for Climbing blog, where much of this was adapted from.

This site gives some great options for doing Yoga while in your office and at your desk. I’m sure you’ve seen my postings on how Yoga is essential to climbing improvement. Now there’s even more opportunities to practice it!

Yoga at Your Desk

The people that run the site and the blog are rock climbers and avid outdoor enthusiasts. The blog can be found here:

http://www.yogatoday.com/blog/

I have started doing Yoga daily and have watched my balance on the rock dramatically increase, as well as my core strength and flexibility. Go to their site, click “Watch Classes” and there is a class you can watch called Yoga for Rock Climbers. Enjoy! I know that I did! I would love to hear about the results you see from doing yoga…comment below!

I discovered a great blog on Yoga for Rock Climbers. Check it out, and happy Yoga’ing!