Intro to Strength Training

[@driver9852]

Important to note that the bench press does not directly or significantly work your biceps ( there may be some activation for stabilisation). For compound movements that do involve your biceps, consider pull ups, or barbell rows. I would probably look elsewhere for weight training tips for a bit more of a detailed starting point, possibly covering more movements: Horizontal push Horizontal pull Vertical push Vertical pull Leg press Hip hinge

[@blizzmademegod]

Important to note that proper form for the bench press does not have the bar moving straight up and down. The bar should be more aligned with your chest at the bottom and more aligned with your shoulders at the top.

[@balbibou]

like a pushup

[@guilhermesoares7857]

I would advice searching more about these setups, Alan Thrall at 6:20 is a great place to start ! Examples: shoulder blades should be retracted and depressed in the bench press, you should learn about the valsava maneuver for these lifts ( especially usefull in the squat ). Amazing introductory video, loved the cycle example.

[@movementforclimbers]

Oh man, I just sat through 13 minutes of Eugene Teo telling me not to emphasize scapular retraction and depression for the bench press. But yes, there are so many different technical cues depending on what goals you have. Will look up the valsava maneuver. Thanks for the advice!

[@tulkasastaldo4114]

@@movementforclimbers Yeah, benching can, arguably more so than any other lift (except for the squat maybe), look really different depending on what exactly your goal is. Bodybuilders will often assume a more flat position on the bench with less of an arch, since this is more conducive to hypertrophy (it can however also put more strain on your shoulder joints when you go heavier). Wider grip emphasizes the chest more whereas a closer grip will force you to generate more power through the triceps. A more arched position with the shoulderblades retracted puts you in a safer and more stable position if your goal is to really train purely for strength in the 1-5 rep range. For bodybuilding it's fine to not have the bar touch the chest (even though a SLIGHT bounce off the chest on the last few reps can help to really go close to muscular failure). In powerlifting however the bar is required to touch the chest, followed by a brief pause there before pressing it back up, for the rep to actually count. Lifting, as simple as it often looks, is surprisingly intricate and a lot of it depends on your specific personal goals and the inherent characteristics of your body (stance and grip widths, leverages, external rotation of the feet and hips on the squat and deadlift, training for hypertrophy vs strength vs endurance, etc..). As someone coming more from the weightlifting/calisthenics side of things and who's only now getting into climbing it's interesting to see the perspective of someone who took the opposite approach.

[@Adam-wz5ps]

I've been weight lifting for past two months and must say it does wonders for climbing, especially bouldering. I do 2 full body workouts and 2 bouldering sessions a week.

[@brianngohofficial]

Thanks for the vid took good notes and can't wait to begin my weight lifting journey. I also subscribed looking forward to future content.

[@nyferox5637]

How often do you lift compared to going climbing? One problem I've had is that after a day of climbing, it's difficult to do well at the gym because my arms are still tired from the previous day.

[@bettsb2384]

Push days like bench and shoulder press are good when back and biceps are a little tired also helps mitigate imbalances between a tight back and relaxed chest therefore it helps your posture

[@anthonyleong2613]

Great question, and one I'm wondering myself. I normally go climbing 3 times a week, MWF. How would you suggest fitting the weight training into my schedule? Thanks for the great video!

[@movementforclimbers]

I only have 2 lifting sessions a week - one for upper body (bench), and one for lower body (squat and deadlift). It doesn't seem like a lot, but I've been making decent gains in each lift. Totally feel you on the post-climbing fatigue. It's hard to get motivated to try hard with weights after trying hard with climbing, but hey somebody's gotta carry the boats and the logs.

[@ttunali]

@@movementforclimbers 👍🏼 How about Pull Ups? If you would add this to the routine, would you add it to upper body day, right after bench press?

[@Scott-vd2le]

@@movementforclimbers But you still do handstand/movement practice in the same week? How do you plan them?

[@joshsactiveadventures5611]

Strength training is for everyone! It has helped me a lot with all my activities. Both barbell and bodyweight training.

[@FlashEscalade]

I will use this video to start lifting. Thank you. PDM

[@donovandownes5064]

sory, but how exactly does the bench press hit your biceps??

[@Djarnor]

what a wonderful video to introduce people to weight lifting

[@mehitsanthony]

not lowering to your chest is an easy way to strain or tear your pec. if you only train your ROM to several inches above your chest (without a block to physically limit ROM), whenever you fail on a rep and have to take the ROM all the way down to your chest (even with a spotter), your chest muscles will be too tight in the bottom ROM and can easily strain

[@10daxing]

Apologies if I missed this, but how many times per week are you training?

[@movementforclimbers]

Just twice a week, once for the upper body and once for the lower body.

[@apurbabiswas7218]

Just what I was looking for. Thanks

[@Boristos]

Great video with very useful information! Thanks!

[@siccodewilt1]

Great video as always! :)

[@GrantCulham]

It's good to be enouraging climbers to do more "off the wall" strength training, but... maybe direct them to someone who focuses on teaching these movements correctly. Things I feel were missed were how to brace, and the rest of a proper set up, not just the hand position. And "lifting weights" is not weightlifting, that term specifically means snatch & clean and jerk.

[@La0bouchere]

Yeah the form on the bench and deadlift is pretty questionable. Keeping a flat back and not doing full range of motion are both pretty bad ideas for injury prevention. Having an arch helps prioritize the larger muscles of the chest, and full ROM is best for developing resistance to injuries since strength is joint range specific. Would be best to lower the weight instead of limiting ROM. Feels like the video was made by someone who lifts a bit instead of someone well informed enough to make an instructional video about it.

[@kevjumbaz]

for frequency, how do you balance it between climbs and the weight room? 135 climb 246 weights 7 rest?

[@williamwalker4494]

Where can i get a t shirt?

[@leftcoastbeard]

Are there similar/equivalent exercises that can be done if you don't have access to a bar? Eg. with Dumbbells/Kettlebells?

[@yorgokennos3392]

You might have researched this but in any case. Dumbell chest press is a good alternative to bench press. You can do goblet squats instead of barbell squat and kettlebells are great for deadlifts. I’d recommend trying some one legged deadlifts with a kettlebell too, adds a balance component which might be beneficial in climbing

[@flori-bloom]

So glad to see you're back. I've always resonated with your style of teaching. Would you recommend bench press to women too? (From a strength and longevity perspective). From appearance standpoint, once my chest muscles started "creeping in", the breasts construct end up being push lower, creating a weird chest look.

[@minimooster7258]

I've seen no reason women shouldn't bench, like your pecs will improve but personally doing body weight exercises hasn't changed how my breasts sit on my chest

[@weeewooo765]

How many days per week do we do this based on the mesocycle?

[@jonahmaddox1038]

Great tips

[@mips319]

I really like your videos! Thank you for the great advice regarding climbing, I just watched your video on climbing progression for V5 and I think start doing strength workouts again will help me! So this video was great! I just have a question, you mentioned the 6 week cycle for your training, but for women, our periods and hormones affect our strength in every stage of the way. For example, for me those 6 weeks would be kind of impossible since during my 4th week (assuming I start the strength training during my 1 week of my monthly period) I feel extremely tired and weak, however I’m sure a good idea for another video would be to invite someone who could explain their cycles or in general climbing training in every stage of the month for women😊 thanks again, I really like your Chanel!

[@exorcistiris]

Meditative😌

[@letsbefrank6832]

I think the deadlift form could be worked on. I just fixed the same problem in my form which is the butt raising first when you start the lift. The position of your arms in the starting position will fix this issue.

[@mehitsanthony]

he is starting his butt too low. some people with unfortunate body proportions actually need to have their back nearly parallel to the ground at the start of the deadlift for the correct leverages. as he starts the lift his butt raises to where it should be

[@movementforclimbers]

Agreed. Watching all these playbacks during the editing process made me realize that my form isn't what I thought it was. Will get to work.

[@MahiKoodaa]

@@movementforclimbers So why make a video for beginners - the most crucial target audience to not mislead or they will injure themselves - if you acknowledged that you're not as good as you thought? Don't get me wrong I love your climbing videos, but your deadlift is suboptimal, squat rules are too strict (e.g. no mention of some people's body type preferring wide vs narrow stance), and your bench press is straight up dangerous; not only are you not retracting your shoulder blades for whatever reason, but not lowering the bar to your chest WILL hurt you in the long run - when the weight gets so high that you can't stop it midway like that anymore, it will tear your muscles.

[@d7ark]

@@MahiKoodaa I think I understand where you're coming from but I think comments like this are not good. First you acknowledge this video is aimed at beginners then you say it will be dangerous with high loads, dont you think people will learn one or two things (hence no longer be beginners) before they get to the high loads? Comments like this always made me put off going into weight training. So many opinions, no single easy to fallow instruction and whenever I find something that gets my blood going there's ton of comments pointing this is wrong, that is dangerous. I'm pretty sure people are not stupid, they'll find this, use it with low loads, see if they enjoy it and what it does for them and find more info afterwards if interested. Stop nitpicking start pointing people in the right direction when they are ready. Please.

[@MahiKoodaa]

@@d7ark Heavy disagree. There are already numerous great resources for learning weightlifting, if you're nowhere near a professional on the matter why would you create yet another resource that's simply worse than the existing ones? Why should we accept a "good job teaching new people wrong things, let's hope they learn from someone better eventually" as a standard?

[@zzclimber]

is this your (man in video) voice? very curious

[@lorel747]

What do u do after the 6 week meso cycle? Start again?

[@demon5965]

yes

[@climb206]

It looks like the hips shoot up first in the deadlift because the hips aren’t fully engaged. It looks like there can be a bit more emphasis on using quads, adductors and pushing the knees out to get the hips a little closer to the bar. It’s a very slight difference trying to balance between engaging the hamstrings while keeping the hips close to the bar to reduce loading the lower back. Try working sumo deadlifts to force the knees out and balance out loading adductors, glutes, quads and hams. The muscle memory carries over to conventional deadlift. Progressing on different variations over time is a useful tool for learning how to maximize muscle recruitment. Nice to see you incorporating weight training. I’m going the other way lifting weights half my life to now mostly bouldering.

[@DoomLord315]

One thing that I was curious about that you forgot to include is how many times per week you performed these exercises.

[@siccodewilt1]

2:40 I am looking for that debate!

[@movementforclimbers]

here it is! kzbin.info/www/bejne/a32XnJeBYtukeLs

[@Fightmilk888]

As someone coming from powerlifting and new to climbing, your squat and deadlift look good, but your bench press could be significantly improved with a few changes. Learning to use more of the lats by tucking your elbows, bracing and driving from the legs will help you generate more power in the lift. Also practicing a 1 sec pause right below the chest is a great way to increase strength and ensure you ROM is consistent every time.

[@molomono9481]

Curious as to why bench is the recommended lift, rather than Dips or Overhead press. It's of course a big topic for debate, however i come from a bodybuilding/powerlifting/calisthenics background before getting into climbing, and i notice that bench does not properly develop scapular articulation so while growing large chest and triceps, the lack of stability required at the shoulder means it only trains part of the antagonist muscle group to common climbing. Dips and overhead press do a much better job developing these muscles where personally i feel like dips are superior in every way there isn't a trade off being made in strength development or muscle groups trained. Plus the press out strength and scapular engagement is a benefit in climbing and shoulder health.

[@laughingman1221]

I feel compelled to say this: There is NO peer-reviewed evidence that any specific technique increases risk of injury. You keep saying “when done correctly”. Even if done wildly “incorrectly” (whatever that means), lifting weights has a very low risk of injury as long as training volume is managed well (poor load management is the only literature-supported predictor of injury risk). Also I want to point out that a “correct” deadlift (from an efficiency standpoint) has the hips and bar moving at the same time. A lot of the demo-ed reps have the hips shooting up before the bar breaks the floor, indicating that the hips were too low in the start position.

[@timonix2]

I don't know anyone who has been lifting weights without getting injured doing so. Not really weight lifting specific as every single person I know that does regular exercise of any form has gotten injured doing so. The most common cause from weight lifting I have seen are tendon injuries. Turns out muscles get stronger faster than tendons

[@laughingman1221]

@@timonix2 I’m not saying that lifting weights isn’t dangerous (although I would argue that the NET danger of lifting weights is less than not doing so given the positive health benefits compared to the injury incidence (2-4 injuries per 1000 participation hours on average). What I AM saying is that TECHNIQUE does not play a role in injury risk. “Poor” deadlift form does not give you better or worse odds of injury than “perfect” deadlift form (whatever that means). Lifting weights can get you injured, and the only literature-supported predictors of said injuries are poor load management and early hyper-specialization.

[@BurlyBaboon]

@@laughingman1221 👏preach👏

[@TheValinov]

i am at a point at where squating without a piece of rubber/prrotection between neck and bar crushes my spine and deadlifting without a belt would destroy the other side. i still dont see how bench press would benefit me in any way for climbing.

[@clown5911]

Never had to mantle anything? Its not quite a single arm bench press, but it is definitely a push movement.

[@BurlyBaboon]

What is the purpose speaking so authoritatively on topics you clearly don't know much about? If you know about climbing, talk about that. If you have felt the benefits of strength training, just talk about the benefits and refer to someone with more expertise. (Natasha Barnes is a great source for strength training for climbers). But the underlying authoritativeness that spanned a video containing such a large amount of flaws and misunderstandings really discredited you in my books. And also greatly contributes to some of the biggest issues in the fitness industry (which is sad since you're encouraging strength training to climbers and potentially helping a big issue in the climbing community if only you didn't feel the need to act like you know everything)

[@axelfoley133]

I would encourage anyone wanting to start weight training to lookup Mark Rippetoe and get his book, Starting Strength. There's a lot of safety guidance, helpful cues and explanations on good form.

[@hellowill]

Climbing vids are good man but that bench press is all wrong. Arc the back slightly. Hands wider. Feet under knees and push with them. Push the bar from chest towards your shoulders.

[@tom1932]

Bench Press form is not correct. Would look elsewhere for better form.

[@Elijah._.7]

While I agree that training for overall health and injury prevention is valuable, it makes no sense to me to suggest climbers SPECIFICALLY train for strength using the big 3 lifts (especially back squat and deadlift), going so far as to use a full-on block periodization as if they were powerlifters. Getting extremely strong legs is of no use to a climber, and there are plenty of other exercises and ways to train that don't require periodization, nor the technique investment to get the benefits of injury prevention and generally strong legs.

[@yorgokennos3392]

I disagree, form isn’t too complicated on these lifts and strong legs are so beneficial when using small foot holds. What alternative exercises do you suggest?

[@Elijah._.7]

@@yorgokennos3392 For lower body probably dumbbell split squats or goblet squats (easy to learn), barbell deadlifts are fine I guess but dumbbell/barbell romanian deadlifts work just as well if not better. Don't see why you couldn't just do push ups (weighted with a backpack) for antagonist training. Not to mention a climber will already be doing lots of pull ups and hangboarding anyway. Spending excessive amounts of time doing SBD + lengthy rests between sets doesn't seem like very time effective/conducive routine for a climber.

[@davidweiss8069]

Lmao millcreek