Hooper’s Beta Ep. 91

Anatomy of the Climb Ep. 5

INTRODUCTION

Welcome BACK to another episode of Anatomy of the Climb! We are stoked to once again be joined by professional climb, Dan Beall! We get Dan’s take on an epic climb in the Yosemite, Midnight Lightning V8

Warning: We get a little nerdy in this episode discussing not only climbing tactics, anatomy, and training tips. But, we also discuss some of the mental aspects of climbing as well!

Let us know what you liked about this version! We are always looking to improve on our process and make it more approachable to our viewers. So, let us know what you think with a comment!

CLIMB INFO

Climb: Midnight Lightning (V8)

Location: Yosemite, Camp 4 Boulders, Big Columbia Boulder

Climbers:

1st Climber: Judith Sim. Link to original YT video

2nd Climber: Jennifer Poe. Link to original YT video. IG @jkpoe3

3rd Climber: Blimp Link to original YT video

MOVEMENT INFO

Climber: Judith Sim

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• When you do a dynamic move try to find a movement or moment that allows you to stabilize or fight the force. Instead of allowing the hip to fling back, away from the wall. Use the Moon kick to generate force in the same direction to help stabilize.  (Moon Kick = Pogo)

• The famous lookback: It’s uncommon to complete a big move when you are looking down at your failure spot. It’s the battle of preparing for failure vs success. It’s OK if it’s your first few attempts at it and it’s smart to be safe. But once you decide you’re safe, it’s time to go for it!

Climber: Jennifer Poe

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Fantastic hip abduction and external rotation mobility! This is a great reminder of the benefits of the Frogger stretch!

• An elbow flare isn’t always a bad thing. Sometimes it’s just based upon the positioning of the climb, sometimes it’s to engage the pectoralis muscles more. It can, though, be a weakness of the external rotators. The reason this can be an issue is that excessive internal rotation without control or counteraction of the external rotators can cause labrum or rotator cuff issues such as tears. 

  • Work on the strength of the external rotators especially in overhead positions such as with isolated ER work or with the Face Pull exercise. A face pull with overhead press is an advanced exercise but extremely helpful in this situation.

• Mobility is very helpful and is not your enemy!... as long as you have good stability as well :) It’s all about balance. Climbing puts us into extreme positions but if you practice those positions you’ll be safer (just don’t overdo it :) )

• Follow the “Rule of 7” (or approximately) when it comes to attempting awkward, unusual, or extremely challenging movements to avoid injury. 

• Knee over toes and ankle mobility

  • Both are super important for the final position before she pistol squats 

  • She gets way over the toe. She basically is really using her feet well this way BUT she may almost be overdoing it as it puts her in a more vulnerable position. But really, good use of the feet to allow her to grab onto that final hold

Climber: Blimp

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Uses mobility to set him up for a less challenging farm move. 

  • Another piece of supporting evidence of the frogger stretch

• Safer, stronger shoulder positioning on the big dyno move

• Utilizes an “overshoot” on the dyno move. 

  • This is extremely helpful anatomically and biomechanically as it places you in a slightly bent elbow position.

    • Provides additional compression between the arms

    • Greater muscle fiber overlap

    • Better “shock absorption” as you aren’t hitting at the end range of your levers

DISCLAIMER

As always, exercises are to be performed assuming your own risk and should not be done if you feel you are at risk for injury. See a medical professional if you have concerns before starting new exercises.

Presented by Jason Hooper, PT, DPT, OCS, SCS, CAFS

IG: @hoopersbetaofficial

Filming and Editing by Emile Modesitt

www.emilemodesitt.com

IG: @emile166