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Kettlebell A+A for beginners

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It has been about 7 hours since finishing my morning session so decided to try a GTG "set" of swings just sus out how I feel in relation to Al's list of recovery qualities. I can tell from a few big muscle groups that 20 seconds is indeed a bit too long. Going to go w/ the 10 second time for the intense intervals just to be on the safe side as I do tend to get greedy in training.
 
Climbing training is very specific, and your friend should be spending the majority of her time climbing if she wants to be good at the sport. Because of the targeted stress to the finger flexors you have to be careful balancing any supplemental training loads to avoid elbow issues. I find the S&S protocol (3 times a week)done in a EMOM fashion to keep the heard rate in the aerobic zone to be a great supplement to climbing for me. I think the program you have linked would be far too much volume for a climber unless done as conditioning only with a very light bell. If conditioning is a key factor then rucking or running is going to have a greater carryover to mountaineering, and is going to keep the stress to the elbows minimized. Unless you are training for speed climbing big walls, upper body conditioning is really not going to have much effect on climbing performance in my experience. It is better to focus supplemental training on brief sessions focused on strength and gain your conditioning from other non-specific methods.
 
Agree. Very specific. 'Rock Climbing' itself is very specific. Does she sport climb, trad climb, Boulder? While they share many of the same elements, they also differ widely. Rock Climbing is highly technique sensitive as well. Unless she is pushing really high grades, supplemental training will not be as much benefit as just actually climbing, and working on movement and technique. Mountaineering on the other hand (as I define it) is all about walking uphill with a pack on. So absolutely rucking and/or running are the best prescription here. Now if she is an Alpinist she will need high elements of both, a high pain tolerance and a bad memory. But then again if she was an Alpinist she probably wouldn't be seeking help... :)
 
Thinking more about this, and with the recent responses, I am really curious to see how A+A snatches would support a climbers goals. Trouble is, the user needs to first practice 1-h swings to a point close to mastery, while introducing snatches. Then, the fun of building volume with heavy snatches begins...

So to ask: is A+A or S&S, or whatever basic swing program a good idea for "insert athlete here" to use to support their goals; I have to think: to get to the programs that might better support these goals, you do have to start practicing the initial drills at some point.
 
@Climbnkev My wife is a climber, mostly top rope indoors for the past 1.5 years. She's interested in S&S a few times a week for goals, but I was thinking that Getups should have a direct carry over to bouldering because the "Keep everything solid and move" felt very similar to me the few times I've bouldered. Has this been your experience? I've noticed a couple other climbers hanging around the boards, is there any thread or threads where you all keep up with each other?

Thanks!

(More details incase it's is relevant: She does bouldering for training as well and occasionally climbs outdoors. Her indoor project level is currently 11C.)
 
TGU's certainly aren't going to hurt her climbing any. Of all KB work it's probably the most applicable for the type of climbing she does. But in my experience (43 years as a reasonably serious climber) the S.A.I.D. principle is pretty relevant to climbing. Technique, especially footwork is really the key to success. The only supplemental training I would ever consider for this type of climbing is grip work.

I do S&S 5 or 6 days a week; I wish I could say that it's improved my rock climbing but alas I cannot. It's helped my overall fitness however; and done wonders for armor plating my shoulders. (climbing can be notoriously hard on the shoulders, esp. on roofs and overhanging stuff) I did notice once I started incorporating OS Resets my top bouldering grades became more consistent.

By the way 11c is a pretty respectable grade, especially on lead.
 
Travis,
I think TGU's are excellent "cross training" for climbing. Mostly as Offwidth has indicated for shoulder strengthening/ stabilizing. They are also excellent for maintaining focus and flow, two things that are vital for climbing. With your wife's short time climbing though I would say that her primary focus should be on climbing and bouldering. For the first 16 years of climbing I was able to continue progressing just through bouldering and climbing. By changing focus to different aspects of the sport you can continue to progress even when you start hitting your physical limits. I started supplemental training about 18 months ago when I started feeling the effects of inertia...more commitments and less climbing time. Maybe it was just getting older...now 44 years old and 22 years as a climber I am sport climbing and bouldering pretty much as hard as I ever have. I don't know that I can say that kettlebell training alone is responsible but it sure isn't hurting. I'm able to get a pretty full body workout in 20 minutes leaving me time for fingerboard and flexibility training, all while not taking too much energy away from my climbing. I recommend S&S to all climbers who are looking for additional full body strength. Just make sure to keep 75% of your training time climbing specific, there is no substitute for movement training.
 
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Al Ciampa,
I think that heavy snatches are great cross training for climbing. I only have a few months of practice with them but look forward to training with them more in the future. I do find though that when doing A+A training that I get a lot fewer snatches in a given amount of time than swings (usually 5 per min with a 20kg). I guess I question if a similar length session would have the same effectiveness? Is 10x5 Snatches equivalent to 10x10 1HS with a 24kg bell in terms of strength building?
 
Climbnkev said:
Al Ciampa,
I think that heavy snatches are great cross training for climbing. I only have a few months of practice with them but look forward to training with them more in the future. I do find though that when doing A+A training that I get a lot fewer snatches in a given amount of time than swings (usually 5 per min with a 20kg). I guess I question if a similar length session would have the same effectiveness? Is 10x5 Snatches equivalent to 10x10 1HS with a 24kg bell in terms of strength building?
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@Climbnkev I don't have a direct and definitive answer for you, but I do have trial results and a common sense remark to your comparison: the swing travels about half the distance of the snatch. 10x10 swings, completed in whatever duration still lack the grip, shoulder and hip/leg stimulus of 10x5 snatches.

Its been said around here that the snatch is a swing that is caught overhead. Perhaps one of the greatest understatements of our little world.
 
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