3 months since I have teamed up with Lattice Training, a world renowned organisation that have teamed up with world class climbers such as (but not limited to): Alex Honnold, Aidan Roberts, Will Bosi etc. and I have been able to see great gains in my climbing strengths.
In this post, I want to highlight one specific strength that I really had a target for and that was, finger strength; I envisioned that after 3 months of hard training I can hang off 200% of my weight off 20mm and also require no assistance when hanging off a single arm off 20mm as well.
A lot of my training involved a lot of weighted hangs and also training my fingers on holds that are even smaller than 20mm; notably on 13mm and even 10mm which are dimensions that I do not commonly train on let alone hang off them with additional weight. However, that being said I quickly adapted to my training as planned and really saw a good increase in this area of my skillset as you will see below. I did an assessment before starting my first 3 month training block and I was re-assessed at the 3 month mark.
A quick note about the specific tests for this aspect of my training assessment
max hang:
Hanging off both arms with a half crimp position off 20mm (2cm) hold on a hangboard (pic 2) for 7 seconds
one arm hang:
Hanging off one arm with half crimp position off a 20mm hold for 5 seconds; assistance was needed for when I did my testing before beginning my training mesocycles with Lattice
Before (weight: 69kg):
max hang: 189% Body Weight (+61kg)
one arm hang: 5kg assistance needed on both left and right arm
After 3 months full time training (weight 68kg):
max hang: 200% Body Weight (+68kg)
one arm hang: no assistance needed on both left and right arm
I managed to hit both targets that I set myself of 200% Body Weight hang off 20mm holds and requiring no assistance when hanging off a single arm on 20mm. This is not only better than over 99% of climbers that climb at my bouldering and sport climbing grade but also almost on par with a lot of professional climbers out there. This is extremely encouraging.
Quick thanks to Lattice Training and my coach specifically from there, Aiden Dunne for helping me achieve this.
Appendix of pictures:
1 - screenshot from assessment done at the 3 month mark
2 - a hangboard setup, training apparatus for finger strength training
3 - close up of my fingers in a 20mm to show how "small" the hold is
4 - still from my initial assessment when I needed 5kg pulley assistance to hang off one arm off 20mm
That's all folks,
I might go over other aspects of improvement that I saw in my climbing. But for now this is it. Am I going to continue training with Lattice training? Yes. I have a big trip to japan coming up in 3 months time and I am aiming to ascend a few notable difficult bouldering routes, I have 5 weeks and unlimited psyche for this. So, until then I will work dilligently with my coach to make this trip a success.
Maybe Ill post a little about the routes I had in mind.
my time is now.