Climbing places a huge demand on the shoulders, so it is not surprising that climbers often complain of pain or pick up injuries. One of the best ways to prevent this is by strengthening the shoulder so it can cope with the demands of our sport. Ollie takes us through 3 of his go-to strength and conditioning exercise he will use with the climbers he coaches as well as in his own training.
Today I’m going to show you one of my Favorite shoulder workouts I’ve used This for years with clients it’s helped Competition athletes avoid injury this Helps outdoor climbers perform and it’s Helped me personally climb at my best [Music] So the start of the workout is going to Be using three different exercises we’re Going to create a little circuit and It’s going to get the shoulders nice and Warm and really recruited for the Heavier exercises used later on now We’re only going to do two sets of each Of these in order and doing a following Set all the way through so once through And then once again through around 10 Reps of each and it’s going to be a nice Light intensity so the first exercise Will be the scat push-up this is a Really good exercise just to get your Body loaded and moving through a nice Range of motion for the shoulders I find This a really really nice workout to do At the Crag as well but as part of this Circuit it’s a really good place to Start the key to the scat push-up is Doing the biggest range possible so if You find it quite intense to do this Movement on your feet in a normal Pressure position you can do it on your Knees as well the next exercise is doing Face pools you can do this with using TRX or using a theraband like I’m
Showing you here it’s a really really Good workout to get the top part of the Shoulder and the upper traps working Doing it nice and slow and try and keep Resistance throughout the whole range of Motion this can be a little bit Challenging if the theraband is too Strong so make sure you go for something Nice and light and once again like the Scat push-ups focus on a nice good range Of motion and getting the shoulders Moving smoothly throughout the entire Range for the full set the last exercise Is something some of you might find Quite challenging depending on your Range of motion in the shoulders so Prone military press is going to involve Keeping your hands off the ground lying Face down and doing a shoulder press Style movement holding either no weights Or very very lightweights this is quite Hard particularly for us climbers that Tend to have slightly rounded shoulders If you really really struggle to do this And it can feel quite intense you can Lie on some pillows or on a bench and do The same motion once again we’re keeping The intensity nice and light and just Trying to get you working through a Really good range and doing 10 Repetitions so quite a lot to get the Shoulders nice and warm once we’ve gone Through all of these exercises 10 reps Of each we’re going to do it once again
And generally the rest in this time is Not that important to be honest it’s Something you can do based on how you’re Feeling and are you ready for the next Exercise so what I might end up doing is 10 reps of the scat push-ups resting Around 30 60 seconds before moving on to The face pulls after that if I’m feeling Like my shoulders are actually getting a Little bit fatigued I can rest around 60 Seconds to two minutes depending on how I feel before going on to the next Exercise as you get more used to these Movements you can kind of Rapid Fire go Through them because this part of the Circuit is all about warming up so the Next part of this workout is the heavy Lifting element we’re also going to be Using 3x exercises and we’re going to be Focusing on maximum intensity and form So these three exercises are relatively Simple movements but there’s a couple of Key points to take into consideration so Really look at the form and the Movements in the video to make sure You’re doing it properly it’s quite easy To get these wrong because they’re such Small movements so if you’re unsure try And get a friend or someone at the wall To check your form and see how it Compares so the first exercise is the Arnold press it’s kind of like a Shoulder press movement and you can do It either sitting or standing and it
Just involves a slightly different Movement of the hands and the arms at The front of the body this exercise is More of a pushing movement rather than The climbing style pulling movements That you often do on the wall however It’s a really really good exercise to Make sure that you’re building a lot of Strength throughout the entire Muscularity around the shoulders and the Building strength to support those Pulling movements as well I found it Really really useful for a lot of Climbers so if you feel like you’re Shoulders could be healthier or they Could be stronger give this movement a Go and I really recommend it becoming Part of your training routine so the Arnold press involves bringing the hands To the front of the body with the Palms Facing you then you’re going to move the Arms outwards towards the side of the Body and as you do that press upwards to Above your head in a shoulder pressed Position you’re doing this with two Dumbbells or you can use really nice Light weights and you’re trying to focus On nice smooth movements all the way up You’re going to reverse that movement on The way back down trying to once again Focus on a nice smooth movement with the Hands and the arms so if you see anyone Else doing this Arnold press and you can See loads of videos of this on YouTube
There’s a lot of different methods of When you twist the arms outwards and how Far outwards you bring them before going Upwards into the shoulder press position As climbers what I’ve often found quite Useful is to bring the arms all the way Outwards first and then go into that Shoulder press before reversing back Down it’s just a little tweak in form Which I find really really useful just To get the rotating off working a little Bit more and opening the chest up before Doing the pressing motion the second Exercise which is loaded is trap Shoulder shrugs and these are Particularly leaning shoulder shrugs now I must admit I’m a little bit biased on This because this really helped out with My neck issues which I’d had gained from Climbing and beeling a few years ago This is a movement which every time that I come back to it seems to make really Positive gains for me and the client That I’ve used it with So a leaning trap shoulder shrug is Effectively how it sounds you’re going To be holding a dumbbell in one hand You’re going to hold on to an object This can be seated or standing I’d Recommend standing and you’re going to Lean to one side as you can see in the Video what you’re then going to do is Allow the dumbbell to reach as far down To the floor as possible keeping a nice
Straight arm and then lift up the Shoulder and try and touch your shoulder To your ear without moving your head Now during this position it’s really Really crucial to keep the rest of your Body and your hedge nice and still and Do the movement from the shoulder itself Now once again a little tweak for me That I found really really useful for Climbers is once you’re at that top of That range and you’ve got your shoulder As high as possible is try and bring Your shoulders back as far as possible Once again keeping a nice straight arm And the rest of your body still so You’re going to lift it nice and far up And then backwards this is really going To switch on the muscles that I find Really useful to support those that are Used in climbing so one of the mistakes That you see on this movement is when You try to go too heavy with weights and You’ve not got the training and movement Base sorted is that a lot of people Don’t get the nice range and the Shoulder high enough and they start to Roll the shoulder forward so rolling the Shoulder forward is something you want To avoid if you’re trying to train in This particular way So try and focus on the form first and Then build up the weights nice and Slowly you can get some pretty high Weights during this exercise if you’re
Well trained but once again focus on the Form and the range first the last Exercise is external rotations now There’s two options for this and I’m Going to give you kind of an indication On how to do both First option is seated so that’s going To be in a seated position and you’re Going to have the dumbbell in one hand And you’re going to focus on doing a Shoulder rotation allowing the dumbbell To go from towards the floor to the Ceiling with the elbow resting on the Knee as you can see here however another Way of doing it is actually in a lying Position with your arm on a bench now For me personally I have quite a good Range of motion in the top part of my Shoulder so that external rotation So I actually find not much difference Between the lying position and the Seated position For those of you that really struggle With having a top range if you’re quite Stiff in that range the lying position Can actually be a really useful Alternative to make sure you’re building Strength at the top end of that movement Pattern for these three exercises we’re Going to do three sets of six reps the Rest between these sets can be dictated On how you’re feeling I’d recommend Resting for at least two minutes between Sets particularly on the same arm if
You’re doing the external rotations or The shoulder shrugs on each arm you can Rest probably a minute before moving on To the alternate arm I still recommend Having a short rest period between arms Just to make sure that you’re Neurologically feeling recovered and You’re not just moving from one arm to The other too quickly so to finish this Workout we’ve got one simple loaded Stretch that I really really recommend Doing I actually think this is an Absolutely brilliant movement and it’s Something that I use quite a lot of in My own training and even on rest days or Before going to the crack just to make Sure that I’m not getting too tight in The front of my body It’s kind of a shoulder press movement Lying on your back but the key is that You’re either on a bench or on a raised Platform at home I’ve done this on a Long foam roller or even just lying on Loads of cushions What you’re going to do is do a shoulder Press movement so your elbows as far Down as possible towards your side and Then straighten the arms out and bring Them far above your head until they’re Touching with straight arms above the Head Doing this holding some small weights Really opens your chest out and you can Resist the weights going too far down
Just to strengthen in that position Like active Mobility by doing some sort Of loaded element of the movement it can Really increase the range and open up Your chest and your lats as well at that Top end of the range here we go and see How it feels because I personally think This is brilliant so there is my nice Simple shoulder workout you can do Elements of this to warm up those first Three exercises just for climbing you Can do all of it together for a really Good workout or you could even just do The stretching part at the end at any Point in the day just to make sure that Your chest is opening up for any of you That will work at an office I’d Recommend adding that into your normal Day I hope you enjoy it and if you want To see any more make sure to like And Subscribe and we’ll see you very soon [Music]
