HANGBOARD WORKUTS 001 and 002

Hi again guys :)

So along with my Total Circuit strength and conditioning workouts and some upcoming Fitness Tests I will also be putting up some specific Climbing training material.

First up are 2 hangboard workouts that I am using at the moment. One is a pull up workout and one is an endurance workout. For both workouts it is best to keep a diary so you can see your progress as you go so you can can make adjustments to your workouts.
So with no more delay, here we go!



HANGBOARD WORKOUT 001 - The 60 Pull Up Workout


This one is aiming towards the eventual (hypothetical) goal of being able to do 60 consecutive pull ups and is really simple to do.

Lets assume you can do 3 pull ups easily enough for the case of this example BUT you can start doing this workout with 1 pull up per set to make it to 20 pull ups, or 2 to make it 40, or 5 if you are way strong... whatever... I am doing it with 3 for now.

Get your stop watch and set it for 30 second sets and at the start of each 30 seconds do your 3 pull ups then rest for the remainder of the set. Repeat this 20 times for 60 pull ups in 10 mins.

When this routine gets easy change your timer to 25 second sets, then when that is easy go to 20 seconds, then 15, then 10, etc until theoretically you will reach a point of doing 60 pull ups consecutively.

This will take time of course but it is a fantastic workout for building up your big pulling muscles stamina.





HANGBOARD WORKOUT 002 - Endurance workout


This workout, as the title suggests, works at building up your forearm endurance and again is a simple, measurable workout.

You need a hangboard (obviously) and a chair. Place the chair far out under the hangboard so that you can hang on the board with your body extended out with your feet on the chair simulating a very steep wall in a way.

For this I am currently using a large flat edge on my hangboard but you can use any hold you like but try to continue using the same hold for a while to be able to measure improvement.

Start by setting your stop watch to run 1 minute set followed by a 30 second set over and over 10 times.

Hang on the hold you have chosen with your feet out on the chair for the 1 minute then rest for 30 seconds, hang with feet on the chair for 1 minute again, rest for 30 seconds again... repeat this for 10 sets. you should be feeling a deep forearm pump early in the workout and have to maintain through it till the end. If not, use a smaller / worse / slopeyer hold or put the chair further away or whichever so that you re getting properly pumped in the workout.

This in a way simulates a very long and pumpy climb and you can even do this workout several times with a good rest in between overall sets.

When the 1 minute sets are being acheived easily enough increase the hang time out, for example to 75 second hang, 30 second rest, or 90 second hang, 30 second rest, etc... jsut increase it slightly and progressively over time until you are doing long hangs (perhaps up to 3 minutes) then move to a smaller hold and go back to the 1 minute / 30 second routine and increase again from there. This is an easily measurable routine that can be increased gradually over time, improving your route enurance endlessly :)


So there you have it, 2 great and simple hangboard workouts that you can perform and monitor your improvement on easily.
If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask here in the comments section!

Duncan.

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EDIT: As asked by our friend Richard I will add a couple of pics to show eactly what I mean by using the chair in the workouts. As you can see in the pics I put the chair out as far as I can comfortably reach. You can adjust how far out you put it, bring it closer, use a hight chair, whatever works for you to make the workout the correct resistance for you personally.
I hope that help Richard, let me know if you have any other questions :)

TOTAL CIRCUIT 003

Good afternoon all!

I'm back again with a third Total Circuit workout for you for this week. This one is a bit different in that it has a fair few static poses, meaning poses or positions that you will hold statically (or try to at least!) for the whole minute.

Again the workout contains 10 exercises that you will do for 1 minute each and run through the 10 exercises twice for a total of a 20 minute work out. Easy. Remember it will be easier for you if you have a timer that beeps at you every minute to save you having to watch the clock when you are fighting the burn!

Ok so here it goes...




TOTAL CIRCUIT 003 - 20 minutes total time


Starjump Burpees
Star Plank
Boat Pose
Warrior Burpees
Extended Plank
Reverse Star
Star Jumps
Alternating Superman
Lunge & Leg Raise
V Sits


Again there are a few exercises in there that you already know and some new ones as well so just watch the video to see how to do each of the exercises then set your stopwatch and go!






Hope you enjoy the workout, see you all again really soon!

Duncan

TOTAL CIRCUIT 002

Hi again!

While I wont be posting every few days all the time I do have a few things up my sleeve ready to go to get us all started so here is the second of my Total Circuits to get you working.

You may have noticed the first one was a bit focused on chest, shoulders and core, well this one is a bit more of an all rounder but maybe a little tougher in some ways. I have changed my timings a little to make it easier for those with no interval stop watches so everything is done on the minute. But, also no rests, just go, go, go for 20 full minutes so it's a killer if you keep up your pace throughout the workout.
Also there are a few exercises in this that carry on from the first Total Circuit as well as new ones, this should give you some continuity and flow from the exercises you have already learned while you also learn new ones. I find that the overlaps as you go helps you develop and expand your repetoire more organically.

So, here is the layout...


TOTAL CIRCUIT 002 - 20 minutes total time


Spiderman Push Ups
Core Ball Pass
Burpees
V Sits
Lunges & Leg Raises
Burpees
Twisting Leg Raises
Sumo Squats & Side Leg Raises
Alternating Superman
Star Jumps

You perfom each exercise for a full mintue then swap to the next immediately, using a timer with an alarm makes this easier than watching a clock of course. Complete 2 full rounds of this for your full 20 minute workout.

Here is a video of how to perform each exercise...

Athlete By Choice - Total Circuit 002 from Duncan Brown on Vimeo.

I have another Total Circuit coming in a few days as well as a Time Trial too (Time Trials will be a good way of measuring your improvement as you go so watch out for that coming up).

Enjoy and have fun!

Duncan

TOTAL CIRCUIT 001

So here we go with our first 'Total Circuit'. Total Circuits are the name I am giving to my full body workouts and I will try to keep things fresh with a different one of these each week or so.

The Total Circuits are full body strength conditioning ciruits that almost exclusively use body weight only exercises, minimal equipment (for this one you need a ball like a fit ball or something similar, I use a beach ball here, and a theraband style elastic, that's all). They are aimed at getting all of your big muscle groups working and working on whole body strength at the same time as raising your heart rate and burning calories.

I use a free aplication on my IPod touch called 'Interval Trainer' to plan out thr timings of my sessions. You can use something similar or a purpose bought interval training stopwatch. Or just watch a clock, it's up to you, although an interval timer with an alarm sound is easier to work with of course. Also my times are not set in stone, you can lengthen or shorten them if you like of course.

The main aim of these circuits is to try to do all the exercises smoothly, consistently and with good form for the alloted time. Practice doing each exercises shown in the video first before doing the actual circuit so you can ensure you are doing them with good form. Try to push yourself to do as many reps as possible in the time for each exercise. the more reps you fit in the harder you're working. Push yourself hard, sweat it out, make yourself work for it. Most of the exercises are back to back with no rest so just keep on moving to the next, no quiting!

So here you go, the exercises and the interval times for each...




Total Circuit 001 - 20 minutes total time


60 seconds Starjump
45 seconds Push Up to Side Plank
45 seconds Leg Raise Ball Pass
45 seconds Downward Dog Push Ups
45 seconds Twisting Leg Raise
60 seconds Sumo Squats with Side Leg Raises
45 seconds Side to Side Wide Push Ups
45 seconds Elbow Prop Scissors
45 seconds Shoulder Press and Raises
45 seconds Toe Touch to Plough
40 seconds Breakdance Push Ups
40 seconds Alternating Superman
40 seconds Rest


Then run through this one more time replacing the final rest at the end with Starjumps again to finish for a total of 20 minutes.

Athlete By Choice - Total Circuit 001 from Duncan Brown on Vimeo.

So all of the exercises are fairly self explanatory and in the video I go through each of the exercises so you can see how to do them all easily. The only ones to pay careful attention to are the Downward Dog Push ups in which you go into the donward dog yoga position and push up from there so as it is using your deltoid muscles and your upper pectorals similar to doing an incline bench press.

The other tricky one is the Breakdance push up which I learned from bodyrock.tv (check them out). It is hard to explain in words so just watch the video and you'll see what it is.


So at the moment I am doing at least one of my Total Circuits every day that I train, so about 5 or 6 days a week, and sometimes doing two of them. Try this one out for a while and I will be back with my next Total Circuit for you soon!


Happy training!!!

Duncan

Welcome to 'Athlete By Choice'

So hi, bonjour, ni hao and hello!

Welcome to Athlete By Choice. This blog is dedicated to those folk who are out there pushing their limits in their sports for no other reason than because they want to - the love it - they live and breathe it. Those people are my inspiration. They are athletes by choice...

What is choice? It is an act of selecting or making a decision when faced with two or more possibilities. Those of us who love our sport and want to improve have that kind of decision to make. Do we want to strive to improve and progress or are we ok with watching time and opportunity pass us by? It's our own choice.

A little bit about what this is all about. For those of you who don't know me I am Duncan Brown. I am a rock climber, outdoor enthusiast and avid traveller among many other things and right now I live in the amazing town of Yangshuo in Guanxi Province in Southern China. Aside from the amazing food, scenery and culture I live here for the rock climbing. Climbing is the passion of my life and while I am not perhaps what you would call an amazingly talented climber I love pushing myself and trying to improve.

I have a bit of history in sports coaching in Swimming, Gymnastics, Trampoline and of course Rock Climbing and now I am trying to pull together the things I have learned over the years to create effective training plans for myself and my friends using both climbing an cross training techniques to help us improve at the sports we love.

The reason for starting this site is because I get a lot of friends asking me to help them out with strength training plans, etc and I thought instead I would put my thoughts and plans up here for all to see.

The main focus of my plans on here will be strength conditioning and core strength training which will be both useful and applicable to the majority of sports as well as great for simply getting and staying in shape.

As always, if you are unsure about beginning a training program or are new to exercise please consult your doctor first.

Please feel free to contact me through this blog if you have any questions or comments.

Thanks for visiting and welcome to Athlete By Choice!

Duncan.