I started doing calisthenics to complement my bouldering- and ended up doing mostly calisthenics and some bouldering on the side. So caution! Doing calisthenics is highly addictive!
I do think that those exercises are only for advanced climbers, though. I have a friend who climbs for about a year. He can do several muscle ups, front levers etc. His climbing is not so good and he's much weaker than me (when it comes to climbing ofc) even though I can't do any of those moves and I only climb a few months longer than him. Why? Because he uses his strength to solve any problem on the climbing wall, while I learned to focus on technique. Having said that I also started with handstand training etc. lately and it helped me a lot aswell. Body strength is not a replacement for technique, though. Just saying this so a beginner doesn't see this and decides to focus on strength instead of his climbing skill.
A lot of people say this, and while it's true that strength is no replacement for technique it does allow you to climb a larger variety of routes. Especially while bouldering, i personally was very strong when i started climbing much like your friend but staying mindful of technique allowed me to progress much further than most of the people i started with. Climbing 7a after only a year with my limiting factor being my finger strength not my technique or strength. It's hard to stay mindful of technique when climbing with strength, but the same goes both ways. I know so many boulderers who try to compensate for their lack of strength with better technique. Whatever your starting point is being realistic with your shortcomings and working on them will always allow you to progress.
Yeah true Molo. A lot of people aren't reflective enough in the beginner stages (or in general), though. Good on you that you have been. 7a after a year is crazy. :) I always try to tell my friend to focus on perfect repeats and similar exercises. He doesn't really care. Xabi I started additional training to my climbing after about a year. But I don't think I am the right person to give you advice on this, since I am not a strong climber. It's like asking a broke person for financial advice. Anyway, since you asked: In my case my shoulders wouldn't allow any additional workouts for the first one year-ish, so I started doing a lot of antagonist exercises first to strengthen my shoulders, then I carefully looked how far I can go without injuring myself. Nowadays I workout almost every day without injuries, but it took a lot of experimenting to get to know how my body reacts to certain stimuli. I think that's a highly personal thing. Some people can do additional exercises right of the bat - I couldn't because I'd get shoulder impingement immediately. So my biggest advice: Really listen to your body. Stop when it hurts. How I started? I did the approach of Danyeong Conditioning when it comes to handstands (he has a video called something like "Learn handstand from a pro gymnast") and a lot of other movements. Plus Yoga. Yoga is absolutely amazing for climbing.
Same for me. I used to gym-train for a few years and last year I started climbing. I had bicep, shoulder and back strenght from pull ups and weights, and I gained forearm size and strenght pretty fast since I started climbing. The downside is I weight 80-81 kgs, which is a bit too much for someone who climbs (I am 1,85 m), and my finger strenght is waaay behind everything else. The easiest problems for me are pure strenght ones, but as soon as I need go grab a pinch and hold all my weight there, I fail. Also due to weight, as soon as I try overhands and climb for a while, my fingers get fucked up very fast and sometimes I have to quit sooner than I'd like to. I think finger strenght and endurance is something that just comes with years (and training, obviously). If you see the hands of long time climbers their fingers are usually thick and wide, and that's something that has to take time.
I've been doing calisthenics for 1 year now, I can one arm pull up, front lever, straddle planche, and one arm handstand. I am thinking of starting climbing soon. My body strength will help me but I need to learn a lot of technique.
actually my climbing impacted my calisthenics a bit. i wasn’t very controlled when it came to body weight exercises but then i developed a controlled style in climbing and now i can do more difficult calisthenics exercises like muscle ups and one arm pull ups. i’ve always seemed to be struggling with handstands tho. do you mind making a video on how you got your handstand?
I trained calisthenics before rockclimbing, i can do 10 muscle ups. i just started rockclimbing (3 times so far), it is very hard but i managed to do an easy v5, i hvnt done a v3 or v4 yet tho.
Hi Mani! Nice video. Try to loosen your head alongside your arms, to reduce neck injuries and get a more straight form; it should help you to keep the handstand for longer time.
Hi Mani, first of all thanks for your cool inspiring series! I started calisthenics as a side and a couple of months went over to mostly kettlebell excercises (only the swing and the turkish get up) and found my general strength, core, pulling ability to grow even faster than with cals before. You have similar advantages that you just need one or two (different) bells and some green grass/ space in your room/.. and you can easily get to more meaningful resistance than with Therabands. As usual youtube as more than enough good tutorials... ("Strong first kettlebell swing"). Cheers, Phil
My climbing actually got better when I stopped doing calisthenics and only climbed. But, I am on a lower level and of course you need more antagonist training on higher levels in climbing. Agree that this is fun training! Another killer for body tension is the ab-wheel and doing full extensions standing on your toes. Thanks for the great content Mani 🙏
I used this video for starting, helped my quite a lot. In general, when it comes to calisthenics I made a lot of good experiences with this channel: /watch?v=ctunmnwbbSI
I did the opposite of what you did. started with calisthenics, then got into rock climbing. i noticed that although I lack finger strenght and tecnique, I have much more pulling and pushing power than those who started climbing with me but didn't train with calisthenics
I just started on calisthenics and am a beginner at it. I do less than ideal tucked planche holds and L sits and find that my shoulders got stronger too. The stronger and more compact shoulders can prevent barn dooring during climbing as they are so strong and can stabilize their own positions instead of rotating out barndoor style.
I never thought people actually trained with a theraband for shoulder strength. Yes, there are one or two exercises where the band can offer enough resistance, but it will fall short on many other shoulder exercises. I feel for calisthenics you need a lot of flexibility too. The L-sit you're doing is impossible for me because I can't bend like that yet. Working on flexibility together with these exercises could probably yield a lot of progress.
In fairness I think therabands are getting an unfair rep here... they aren't designed to be primary strength training tools in the first place, rather mainly intended for rehab or for isolating small stabilising muscles etc. I've found them really helpful to keep my rotator cuff muscle memory 'awake' and activating well as supplementary isolation exercises to higher resistance stuff like Mani is suggesting! :)
Gutes Video! Endlich jemamd der das anspricht! Die Ausgleichs Übungen sollten genau so hart und intensiv sein wie zb 1 armiges blockieren mit 25kg zusatz Gewicht. Da bringt ein Ausgleichs Training mit einem Tera Band, meiner Meinung überhaupt nichts. Ich kenn die Übungen und mach die in Phasen immer wieder mal. Respekt für die Klasse Leistung im handstand und lsit ! Ich weiß wie schwer das ist. LG Tom
Im not really good in hang out climbing cause I don´t practice much of it, so I can´t tell how calisthenics how might improve that style of climbing use a lot in boulder troubles and sport hard routes, but I practice a lot o big wall and thin plate, the first I noticed was a huge improvement in resistance, and when it comes the time to rest hanging, I found myself so comfortable that I can now stay in the wall for a long time. I also noticed, while my training partners get injuries during some session, I was more healthy and having less body stress than them, i think is specially because now i feel i can´t send the stress to my bag´s big muscles instead of put the stress in the arms and lower arms.
Calisthneics saved my life for sure. from being injured in my kneed it was my way of getting out of my handicap and using my buddy. it helped my overall in many aspect of my life. i will make a you tube channel with vanlife and calisthenics. check some of my videos out if you want
Hey Mani I've been thinking about beginning calisthenics but I don't know where to start. When you first began 6 months ago how did you structure your plan ?
Just a quick top about your handstand. You are Holding ist at the Moment with a lot of Body strenght. That is not neccessary. You shoulpleourhead between your arms. Focus at a Point in Behind your hands. You should Open up your shoulder a Bit more as well as straighten your back and bend your hip a little . At the Moment your Body from the shoulders upward is in the shape of a banana and you compemsate that with your arms beeing not straight upwards but a little tilted(i hope you know what I mean). Well you should straighten up your handstand a little. You will have an easier time staying up. A good was to practice is making a Handstand with your belly facing the wall. Then To move as close as possible to the wall.
I started doing similar exercises. The main thing I struggle with at the L-sit to handstand is, that I have to bend my arms. I improved a lot in this department. Now I can do them with my arms at about 90 degrees angle. But do you have any tips on how to get it done with straight arms? Help much appreciated. Nice vid btw
Do them backwards, go from a handstand to an L-sit and execute the motion very slow and controlled and you will get it in no time. There are also other straight arm exercises you can preform like planche leans, or wall walks. Good luck
I find it even harder backwards. You bend your arms, which simply means that you'd like to use your triceps instead of your delts. Focus on keeping the arms straight, that's all there is to it, wait until the delts are strong enough and there you go.
Other than mantels in climbing and perhaps chimney routes I can't see much cross over to climbing. Still a good thing to do though absolutely. Nice one mani
I am often stronger in shouldery boulders than other climbers because i am doing much stuff on the rings , but i injured my elbow while doing straight arm ring flys due to too much stress and pressure on the joint,#DropTheEgo, it still hurts a bit after 1.5 months ;( . I do train on the parallettes just once a week doing the tuck planche because i don't wanna lose the tuck planche i don't find the time doing it more often also because the ring stuff needs the same muscles for example the back lever.
serious question, and I would really appreaciate an answer, why are you so skinny with all the training you do? Is it your body type or a choice with eating?
I started doing calisthenics to complement my bouldering- and ended up doing mostly calisthenics and some bouldering on the side. So caution! Doing calisthenics is highly addictive!
I can confirm that lol
I do think that those exercises are only for advanced climbers, though. I have a friend who climbs for about a year. He can do several muscle ups, front levers etc. His climbing is not so good and he's much weaker than me (when it comes to climbing ofc) even though I can't do any of those moves and I only climb a few months longer than him. Why? Because he uses his strength to solve any problem on the climbing wall, while I learned to focus on technique. Having said that I also started with handstand training etc. lately and it helped me a lot aswell. Body strength is not a replacement for technique, though. Just saying this so a beginner doesn't see this and decides to focus on strength instead of his climbing skill.
Alex hey man, how did you start or what would you recommend when starting handstand training??
A lot of people say this, and while it's true that strength is no replacement for technique it does allow you to climb a larger variety of routes. Especially while bouldering, i personally was very strong when i started climbing much like your friend but staying mindful of technique allowed me to progress much further than most of the people i started with. Climbing 7a after only a year with my limiting factor being my finger strength not my technique or strength.
It's hard to stay mindful of technique when climbing with strength, but the same goes both ways. I know so many boulderers who try to compensate for their lack of strength with better technique. Whatever your starting point is being realistic with your shortcomings and working on them will always allow you to progress.
Yeah true Molo. A lot of people aren't reflective enough in the beginner stages (or in general), though. Good on you that you have been. 7a after a year is crazy. :) I always try to tell my friend to focus on perfect repeats and similar exercises. He doesn't really care.
Xabi I started additional training to my climbing after about a year. But I don't think I am the right person to give you advice on this, since I am not a strong climber. It's like asking a broke person for financial advice. Anyway, since you asked: In my case my shoulders wouldn't allow any additional workouts for the first one year-ish, so I started doing a lot of antagonist exercises first to strengthen my shoulders, then I carefully looked how far I can go without injuring myself. Nowadays I workout almost every day without injuries, but it took a lot of experimenting to get to know how my body reacts to certain stimuli. I think that's a highly personal thing. Some people can do additional exercises right of the bat - I couldn't because I'd get shoulder impingement immediately. So my biggest advice: Really listen to your body. Stop when it hurts.
How I started? I did the approach of Danyeong Conditioning when it comes to handstands (he has a video called something like "Learn handstand from a pro gymnast") and a lot of other movements. Plus Yoga. Yoga is absolutely amazing for climbing.
Same for me. I used to gym-train for a few years and last year I started climbing. I had bicep, shoulder and back strenght from pull ups and weights, and I gained forearm size and strenght pretty fast since I started climbing. The downside is I weight 80-81 kgs, which is a bit too much for someone who climbs (I am 1,85 m), and my finger strenght is waaay behind everything else. The easiest problems for me are pure strenght ones, but as soon as I need go grab a pinch and hold all my weight there, I fail.
Also due to weight, as soon as I try overhands and climb for a while, my fingers get fucked up very fast and sometimes I have to quit sooner than I'd like to.
I think finger strenght and endurance is something that just comes with years (and training, obviously). If you see the hands of long time climbers their fingers are usually thick and wide, and that's something that has to take time.
When i take strong non climbers climbing, the main issue is grip strength...
I've been doing calisthenics for 1 year now, I can one arm pull up, front lever, straddle planche, and one arm handstand. I am thinking of starting climbing soon. My body strength will help me but I need to learn a lot of technique.
Did you start?
actually my climbing impacted my calisthenics a bit. i wasn’t very controlled when it came to body weight exercises but then i developed a controlled style in climbing and now i can do more difficult calisthenics exercises like muscle ups and one arm pull ups. i’ve always seemed to be struggling with handstands tho. do you mind making a video on how you got your handstand?
I trained calisthenics before rockclimbing, i can do 10 muscle ups. i just started rockclimbing (3 times so far), it is very hard but i managed to do an easy v5, i hvnt done a v3 or v4 yet tho.
Hi Mani! Nice video.
Try to loosen your head alongside your arms, to reduce neck injuries and get a more straight form; it should help you to keep the handstand for longer time.
From a different perspective, climbing improved my handstands and transitioning between positions a lot.
Hi Mani, first of all thanks for your cool inspiring series! I started calisthenics as a side and a couple of months went over to mostly kettlebell excercises (only the swing and the turkish get up) and found my general strength, core, pulling ability to grow even faster than with cals before. You have similar advantages that you just need one or two (different) bells and some green grass/ space in your room/.. and you can easily get to more meaningful resistance than with Therabands. As usual youtube as more than enough good tutorials... ("Strong first kettlebell swing"). Cheers,
Phil
My climbing actually got better when I stopped doing calisthenics and only climbed. But, I am on a lower level and of course you need more antagonist training on higher levels in climbing. Agree that this is fun training! Another killer for body tension is the ab-wheel and doing full extensions standing on your toes. Thanks for the great content Mani 🙏
Awesome idea 👌🏼👍🏼 love this video
Hey mani! could you do a video about how you started the handstand training or some recommendations??
I used this video for starting, helped my quite a lot. In general, when it comes to calisthenics I made a lot of good experiences with this channel: /watch?v=ctunmnwbbSI
ua-cam.com/video/d-d5kuSFBMk/v-deo.html
I did the opposite of what you did. started with calisthenics, then got into rock climbing. i noticed that although I lack finger strenght and tecnique, I have much more pulling and pushing power than those who started climbing with me but didn't train with calisthenics
I just started on calisthenics and am a beginner at it. I do less than ideal tucked planche holds and L sits and find that my shoulders got stronger too. The stronger and more compact shoulders can prevent barn dooring during climbing as they are so strong and can stabilize their own positions instead of rotating out barndoor style.
Great video Mani, super discipline. Cheers !
don't forget to do external rotation exercises for the shoulders to avoid rotator cuff injuries ( and to work the rear delts too ofc)
Mani, the best way to straighten that planche out is by moving your shoulders forward a bit more!
I never thought people actually trained with a theraband for shoulder strength. Yes, there are one or two exercises where the band can offer enough resistance, but it will fall short on many other shoulder exercises.
I feel for calisthenics you need a lot of flexibility too. The L-sit you're doing is impossible for me because I can't bend like that yet. Working on flexibility together with these exercises could probably yield a lot of progress.
In fairness I think therabands are getting an unfair rep here... they aren't designed to be primary strength training tools in the first place, rather mainly intended for rehab or for isolating small stabilising muscles etc. I've found them really helpful to keep my rotator cuff muscle memory 'awake' and activating well as supplementary isolation exercises to higher resistance stuff like Mani is suggesting! :)
Gutes Video! Endlich jemamd der das anspricht! Die Ausgleichs Übungen sollten genau so hart und intensiv sein wie zb 1 armiges blockieren mit 25kg zusatz Gewicht. Da bringt ein Ausgleichs Training mit einem Tera Band, meiner Meinung überhaupt nichts. Ich kenn die Übungen und mach die in Phasen immer wieder mal. Respekt für die Klasse Leistung im handstand und lsit ! Ich weiß wie schwer das ist. LG Tom
Im not really good in hang out climbing cause I don´t practice much of it, so I can´t tell how calisthenics how might improve that style of climbing use a lot in boulder troubles and sport hard routes, but I practice a lot o big wall and thin plate, the first I noticed was a huge improvement in resistance, and when it comes the time to rest hanging, I found myself so comfortable that I can now stay in the wall for a long time. I also noticed, while my training partners get injuries during some session, I was more healthy and having less body stress than them, i think is specially because now i feel i can´t send the stress to my bag´s big muscles instead of put the stress in the arms and lower arms.
Calisthneics saved my life for sure. from being injured in my kneed it was my way of getting out of my handicap and using my buddy. it helped my overall in many aspect of my life. i will make a you tube channel with vanlife and calisthenics. check some of my videos out if you want
As a former gymnast I can attest that these work outs helps you on the wall a ton
How old are you? And when did you start climbing?
Hey Mani I've been thinking about beginning calisthenics but I don't know where to start. When you first began 6 months ago how did you structure your plan ?
I just went on with my handstand, until I could get into that slowly. from there pretty much how it is shown in the vid.
Just a quick top about your handstand.
You are Holding ist at the Moment with a lot of Body strenght. That is not neccessary.
You shoulpleourhead between your arms. Focus at a Point in Behind your hands.
You should Open up your shoulder a Bit more as well as straighten your back and bend your hip a little .
At the Moment your Body from the shoulders upward is in the shape of a banana and you compemsate that with your arms beeing not straight upwards but a little tilted(i hope you know what I mean).
Well you should straighten up your handstand a little. You will have an easier time staying up.
A good was to practice is making a Handstand with your belly facing the wall. Then To move as close as possible to the wall.
I started doing similar exercises. The main thing I struggle with at the L-sit to handstand is, that I have to bend my arms. I improved a lot in this department. Now I can do them with my arms at about 90 degrees angle. But do you have any tips on how to get it done with straight arms? Help much appreciated. Nice vid btw
Do them backwards, go from a handstand to an L-sit and execute the motion very slow and controlled and you will get it in no time. There are also other straight arm exercises you can preform like planche leans, or wall walks. Good luck
I find it even harder backwards.
You bend your arms, which simply means that you'd like to use your triceps instead of your delts. Focus on keeping the arms straight, that's all there is to it, wait until the delts are strong enough and there you go.
Other than mantels in climbing and perhaps chimney routes I can't see much cross over to climbing.
Still a good thing to do though absolutely. Nice one mani
I am often stronger in shouldery boulders than other climbers because i am doing much stuff on the rings , but i injured my elbow while doing straight arm ring flys due to too much stress and pressure on the joint,#DropTheEgo, it still hurts a bit after 1.5 months ;( . I do train on the parallettes just once a week doing the tuck planche because i don't wanna lose the tuck planche i don't find the time doing it more often also because the ring stuff needs the same muscles for example the back lever.
Many are you doing these excercises instead of doing twice a week "gym" excercises?
Greetings from israel
At the moment I'm very low on the "gym" exercises in general, that's one cool aspect of these that you can bring them anywhere.
serious question, and I would really appreaciate an answer, why are you so skinny with all the training you do? Is it your body type or a choice with eating?
First.