Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Antagonistic Muscle Training: Part 1

This might be an assumption but I think most climbers would like to only have the muscles necessary to climb and throw away all the others in order to cut down on their weight. If this was possible it would actually cause a lot of problems especially with our joints. By using our main climbing muscles i.e the lats, biceps, finger flexors, quads most of the time and their anatagonists i.e the external rotators, pectorals, finger extensors, triceps, and  hamstrings very little of the time we can cause stress to our tendons (tendinitis anyone?) or strain/pull muscles. In this post I'll present various agonist, their antagonists (as they relate to climbing), and some exercises to help strengthen the anatagonists.

Lats -- Pecs/External Rotators
The lats originate on the lower back and insert on the front of the arms, underneath the biceps, by going through the arm pit. As we mentioned in some previous posts, the lats are the pulling muscles. On the opposite side of the coin the pecs are the pushing muscles (think of the bench press). Climbers rarely perform pushing movement except for maybe mantling or the occasional opposing side pull or press move.
The pecs can be strengthen by doing bench presses, push ups or the pec fly. I prefer the pec fly to the other two exercises because it targets the pecs better and provides a more sport specific movement.


Because the lats attach to the front of the arms and through the armpit they can cause internal rotation of the arm especially if the lats are very big. This is one reason why climber's shoulders roll forward and we look a little hunch backed. Not only does it make us look weird it can cause an impingement of the biceps tendons. An impingement is when a tendon becomes inflamed and irritated by rubbing on bony structures. By exercising the external rotators of the rotator cuffs we can prevent impingement.
There are several exercises that target the external rotators. If you have dumbbells handy, then you can do the reverse butterfly or kneel parallel to a weight bench (or couch) with one knee on and one elbow one. Use the other leg to stabilize yourself and with the dumbbell in the free hand. Bend the arm so the elbow joint is at a 90 degree angle bring the dumbbell from the bench twist out from your body.
 

If you have access to resistance cords, attach one end to a door knob or another elbow height object. Grab the other end of the cord and turn your body so the hand that isn't holding the cord is facing the door knob. Again bend the elbow so the joint is at a 90 degree angle. Take the hand with the cord from your body twisting out away from the body.

Biceps -- Triceps
The biceps help assist the lats in the pull up motion as well as pulling in after grabbing an under-cling. Opposite of the arms are the triceps and they help with extending the arm and forearm. The triceps are contracted when performing a mantle move mid-route or the top out of a boulder problem. Push ups are a good exercise if you want to work your pecs and triceps but if you would like target the triceps more specifically you can perform tricep curls or bar dips. My favorite are dips because they are the closest thing to topping out and they can be done when suffering a shoulder impingement.


In the next post, we'll discuss exercises to minimize the imbalances between the quads/hamstrings and the finger flexors/extensors. I will also try to post some pics of the exercises described above.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Optimal Range of Motion: Part 2

Anatomy
We'll continue in this part by going over some basic muscle physiology and anatomy. Our muscles are complex and fairly simple at the same time, to demonstrate this we'll work from the outside in. The outside of our muscles are covered by a layer of connective tissue called the Epimysium, this layer covers the belly of the muscle and helps make up our tendons. Under the epimysium, there is another layer of connective tissue called the Perimysium, this layer surrounds bundles of muscle fibers.  Surrounding the individual muscles fibers is another layer called the Endomysium. All of these layers of connective tissue help with generating muscle force.


Within the individual muscle fibers are what are called Myofibrils. The myofibrils are bundles of proteins and this is where the magic happens. There are two main proteins within in the myofibrils, myosin and actin. These proteins are what cause muscle contraction. The myosin and actin are organized in a way that 6 actin surround 1 myosin. With this configuration the actin and myosin can produce force by the sliding filament mechanism. (Don't worry we won't go into all the details)

Physiology
The jist of the sliding filament mechanism is that myosin and actin form a "ratchet".  The myosin attaches to the actin and pulls towards itself, grabs another portion of the actin and pulls once again. Check out the illustration below. The blue lines represent the actin, while the red represent the myosin.
You're probably wondering what everything else in the illustration is and we're getting to that.......right now.

As you may already know muscles are extensible and can be stretched, when they are stretched the actin and myosin are moved apart. When this occurs the myosin can't make as many connection with the actin and less force is produced. On the opposite end of the spectrum, muscles can contract and shortened in length. This is a good thing but only to a point. As one actin fiber is pulled closer to the center of the myosin, the other actin fiber is being pulled to the center of the myosin. (As seen on the left of the illustration) When this happens the actin can get in the way of each other making it difficult for the myosin to make new connections, thus producing less force.

Application
Overall when fewer connections between the myosin and actin are made, the less force is produced and the less weight can be moved.
When training in the weight room our time and energy is precious and we want to utilize them the best we can.  By limiting full range of motion (i.e no "squeezing" at the end of movement) during targeting exercises we can lift a greater amount of weight.

In climbing and other athletic activities the body is required to move throughout entire ranges of motion. So why train the way explained above?  Just like our example of "weak links" in part 1, we can only train as hard as our weakest link. Physiologically speaking really long and really short muscle lengths are our weakest links and prevent us from training to our highest potential.

Optimal Range of Motion: Part 1

We would all rather spend our time climbing instead of lifting weights, but unfortunately things like school, work, bad weather, or the in-laws come up and sometimes the weight room is our only option.  When this happens we shouldn't lift just to fill the hole left in our lives, we should be training smarter so when we do climb, we can climb at our best.  One of the ways we can make our training more efficient is by optimizing our ranges of motion.

Compound Exercises
A compound exercise is any exercise the utilizes more then one joint through out the movement. The example we will use today will be the seated row. The seated row is an exercise that is done often but isn't usually done efficiently. Using a cable and pulley system, the individual:

  • sits down and holds some form of a handle
  • starting with their arms and forearms straight, they pull the handle until their arms are parallel with their torso
The 2 joints involved in this exercise, making it a compound exercise, are the elbow and shoulder joints. The agonist muscles that we are targeting in this exercise are the biceps and the lats.

Isolating vs Targeting
Despite popular belief there is no way to isolate specific muscles only target them.

Try this example to see this principle in action:
Standing up straight, while keeping your arms and forearms straight, lift your hands so they are shoulder height.
Which muscle group contracted first to bring about this movement?
When I was asked this question I answered the deltoids but I was wrong and maybe you were too.

To discover the correct answer repeat the example, but take one arm and place it behind your back touching the same side as the arm you will be lifting to shoulder height. (If you aren't flexible enough to do this find a friend and have them perform the example while you touch their lower back.)
Did you feel the muscles along the spine contracted? These muscles contract in order to maintain posture while your center of gravity changes as your arms lift up.

With every movement we do, our bodies will utilize different stabilizer muscles. Therefore we can't every isolate muscles. What does this have to do with the seated row? A lot.

Eccentric, Concentric, and Isometric Actions
When our muscles are under tension they can shorten (concentric actions), lengthen (eccentric actions), or stay the same length (isometric actions). Each of these actions can produce different amounts of force. Eccentric being the strongest and concentric, the weakest.


Larger Muscles Produce Larger Amounts of Force
The larger a muscle is the larger number and size of the muscle fibers it contains. This subsequently produces more force. (We will cover more of this in Part 2)

 
Puzzle Pieces
When performing the seated row, most people grab the handle, curl their backs and then pull the handle all the way to their chests. Knowing what we now know, what is wrong this execution of the exercise?


The seated row is designed to target the biceps and the lats but these aren't the only muscles that are involved.  When the individual starts with their back curled and then pulls, the muscles along the spine are moving in a concentric action. As mentioned above, concentric actions are the weakest of the 3 muscular actions. Looking back at our stabilizer example, the muscles along the spine contract in order to maintain posture. These muscles are designed to maintain posture not to lift things, during the seated row they are weaker than the biceps and lats.  If we don't do something to strengthen this weak link within the exercise the muscles along the back are going to fatigue before the lats and biceps and we won't be able to perform as many repetitions or use as much weight.
 

An isometric action is stronger than a concentric one, by holding the back straight and only moving the arms we strengthen our weak "link".
When an individual pulls the handle all the way to their chest, they have to move their arms past parallel thus causing a decrease in the length-tension relationship (more on this subject in Part 2) and transferring the force requirements on to the posterior deltoids. The posterior deltoids are much smaller than the biceps and lats and can't produce as much force.
The seated row is designed to target the biceps and lats, there is no reason to bring in a small muscles like the posterior deltoids when they aren't used as stabilizers.


You may be saying "But if I curl my back and pull the handles to my chest I will be working the muscles along the spine, posterior deltoids, lats, and my biceps all at once and that is more time efficient." It might be more time efficient but it isn't more muscle efficient because you would only be working your back muscles and posterior deltoids. Yes, your biceps and lats would be contracting and moving but they would only be challenged as much as your back and posterior deltoids are and that isn't a whole lot for muscles as big as the lats.
There are much more efficient and safer ways to exercise the posterior deltoids and muscles along the spine like practicing correct posture through out the day and bent arm extension.


In Part 2 we will cover muscle physiology and how it affects range of motion.

Spring Break in Columbia, California

After reading the article in Climbing magazine, Amy and I knew we needed to spend our spring break in Columbia, California.  Even though Dean Fleming mentioned that Columbia is one of the few places "that 'adventure' and 'bouldering' are used to describe the same climbing area..." we didn't expect the experience we had.

The Beginning
After driving 12 hours we reached our camping site at the Marble Quarry RV Park as it started to rain. We all quickly set up camp and went to bed. The next morning woke up to several puddles as well as a couple of flooded tents. The guide book for Columbia is only sold at Sierra Nevada Adventure Company in Sonora (about 4 miles from Columbia). We made a trip monday morning to pick up the book and check out what else Sonora had to offer while things dried out. During our outing Amy left her purse by a bench. We drove back to the campsite not knowing this until we decided it was warm enough to climb. Frantically we drove through Sonora slowing down whenever we saw a bench. We parked by the bench we had sat at last and enter all of the near by businesses to see if anybody had turned the purse in. After a couple of businesses thinks we looking grim. The bank was the last place on the block, nervously Amy asked one of the tellers if they had seen a purse by chance. She had and turned it in to the police department. Amazingly nothing was missing.
 
By the time we made it back to camp all of our pads were dry.  Earlier in the day we had decided to begin climbing at Columbia's State Historical Park. When we arrived, a group of elementary school kids were learning to pan for gold. Even though the majority of the climbing is within the historic town a group of college students with crash pads on their backs is still an interesting site. After climbing the two problems that weren't flooded with water we moved on to the Diggins area and climbed some cool high-ball problems. With plenty of day light left we navigated the rest of the state park area to discover that everything else was wet, but not all was lost because we discovered a foot trail from our campground to the state park.
We visited Sonora one more time that day to do some grocery shopping and stumbled on an artisan pizza restaurant. While we were eating it started raining again so we all fled to our tents when we arrived back at camp.

 
Columbia College
Tuesday morning we packed up the crash pads and headed to the local community college, Columbia College. We purchased our parking pass and started hiking towards the forest behind the college, on our way we were stopped by security. We were told to make sure that we didn't do any climbing on campus and to do so we would have to climb on someone else's private property.  I don't know if we broke this rule... because we never came across any of the landmarks mentioned or any signs. We wound up in the Miner's Bane area and spent a lot of time exploring the corridors between the walls of the boulders. Very surprisingly we found a lot of trash especially beer cans around the area. I don't know if they were from the college students( the campus has a dry campus rule, maybe this is the hip hideout?) or the local climbers, but its was really disappointing. Once we explored as much as we could we decided to buckle down and get some climbing in. In the Miner's Bane we climbed the tallest problem we came across the entire trip. My estimate of the height is 25~30 feet.
 
After climbing the dry routes in the Miner's Bane we tried to spend some time in the Waterway area. We should have guessed that it would we be filled with water and none of us were desperate enough to get in the water (yet). So we headed back into town to by some more groceries and some dry fire wood.
Back at camp it was already raining, so we tried to build a shelter that we could build our fire under. Unfortunately when we moved to our sunnier campsite we sacrificed an earlier abundance of trees so our shelter wasn't very tall. We started our fire but the wind shifted and blew all the smoke in towards the shelter. We didn't stay up very late that night and woke up to the ditch behind our campsite full of water.

 

"Clubhouse Fever"
Feeling bad for us Wednesday morning, the camp hostess offered to let us stay in the RV park's clubhouse the rest of the week since no one had it scheduled the rest of the week. Being the hardcore group we are...we gladly accepted. After moving into the double wide trailer equipped with small kitchen, billards table, and workable tv (don't worry we didn't use the tv) we decided that this would be the perfect day. A little while later we could sense the symptoms of "clubhouse fever" setting and went on a hike to the marble quarry that our campground was named after and then on to the historic town. We wandered around the town sipping on sasparilla taking in the sights, a small group of us decided to splurge having their "old time" photos taken and receiving lessons in gold panning. The rest of decided to run around the boulder fields and attempt to be parkour stars. We finished the perfect rest day by returning to Sonora and dining on Thai food. (I know we spent a lot of time in town, but it was only 4 miles away.)


Adventure Time
As a result of our restlessness we were determined to go climbing on Thursday no matter what.  We were once again at the state park but only for a moment as we hiked towards the Labrynith area. We choose this place because our guide book mentioned it is usually the driest area. On the trail there was a huge pond/river in the way... we sucked it up, took off, are shoes and waded through the water and then hike another 20 yards and got back in the water. Being the Labrynith we got a little lost but finally found our way. On top of the Labrynith was very warm and we quickly got down to climbing.
This had to be my favorite area of the entire trip. There are so many problems in one area and the features are unreal. Due to mining in the area and the large rock formations, the miners decided it would be easier to excavate by flooding the area instead of digging around the rocks. All this water created the coolest wave-like formations. The rock had plenty texture but not a whole lot of holds, requiring a lot of body tension movements which are uncommon in Southern Utah. The opportunity to climb all day was rare earlier in the week so we climbed til we couldn't lift our arms above our heads. Hiking back we had our fingers crossed that it was warm enough to evaporate the ponds we crossed early, but alas we had no such luck. Once again the shoes came off and we went into the water.  
Travellin' Day
The plan was to stay until Saturday but the forecast predicted rain for the majority of the day so we decided that leaving early would be for the best. We packed up the car the next morning and hopped in for the 12+ hour journey back to Southern Utah.

All in all this was an awesome trip and an awesome place to visit. Amy and I are seriously considering moving to Sonora once we're done with the whole school thing and plan to make another bouldering trip this coming Thanksgiving (we're hoping the weather will be kinder to us).