I'm a woman

I'm a woman
Photos copyright Laurence Gouault
No reproduction on other media without the photographer's permission.

Saturday 14 September 2013

Dead lifting for climbing? by Stevie Haston.


Is the classic bodybuilders deadlift good for climbing? I don't really know. It's very good for all round strength, but emphasizes leg, buttock, and lower back the most. Perhaps up to a point, its useful, and then becomes a hinderance, as it will just adds on extra muscle in places a climber doesn't want. Above is a single hand pull on a ring which allows a surprising amount of weight to be used and hardly any extra  un necessary muscle bulk to be added. People think its dangerous because it uses one side of the body more but in the version above its not too hard to do safely.





With this one handed lift, you might expect the fingers to pull as above, safe, and with some carry over to climbing because it stresses the index finger, and the pinkie on the second phalange or even the first. 



It can be alotta fun, and might be useful, who knows? I am finding dead lifting of some use to getting my body moving and can feel a bit of benefit from it. But I am all ready at 2 x body weight which is probably where a climber should leave it.




The classic hand grip on a good edge has always been a winner with me, and it is what I want to concentrate on, its totally safe and at this size it's possible to use one handed.



Here we have the double overhand dead lift, the normal dead lift is done with a mixed grip. A mixed grip with one hand in the undercut position is easier because it stops the bar from rolling out, and can cause a pectoral tear or an imbalance. Any way, there you go, something to think about.