Hooper’s Beta Ep. 110

Anatomy of the Climb Ep. 7

Intro

Welcome to another episode of Anatomy of the Climb! In this episode we focus on some of your favorite outdoor climbs! I (Jason Hooper) focus on the anatomy while pro climber, coach, and all-around great guy Dan Beall focuses on technique!

Be sure to catch the full video because that’s the only way you get all of Dan’s amazing notes!

Climbs

Climb: The Friendly Whale - V7

Climber: Alex Pfiffner

Specific Notes (Anatomy) from Jason: 

• Double toe hook: anterior tibialis will be very active

  • Training method: bat hangs, resisted dorsiflexion with band, or “lean backs” with your toes anchored

    • If I do situps, I personally like to use my toes to help with the situps. Some people want JUST core recruitment here but I actually think it’s a good opportunity to work on the anterior tibialis since I find other regular anterior tib training to be a bit boring

• Once the right hand is thrown let’s talk about the heel hook

  • With that amount of rotation it makes me think of 2 things

    • 1) the biceps femoris will likely be more loaded in this position, so if there was pain or an injury afterward that will need to be considered

    • The overall mobility in the hips needed for this reminds me very much so of the butterfly stretch. So this is a good example of combining mobility and stability with movement 

BONUS Notes (Technique) from Dan:  

• Heel hook position as a pivot 👍🏻 

• Double pump 👎🏻

• Foot fishing 👎🏻

  • Scap scoop and arm blinding (tick it?)

Climb: The Bat Cave - V3

Climber: Richard Banh

Specific Notes (Anatomy) from Jason: 

• I just had an overall note about this one and the importance of tension from foot/calf, hamstring, to core, shoulder, and fingers. Maintaining good tension through multiple body parts is going to help reduce fatigue in the hands/fingers which will limit your ability to send. 

  • If you’re getting ready for some aggressive cave climbing, I recommend horizontal rows / inverted rows. If you can get your toes onto an edge as well that would be a great idea to work that flexor hallucis longus muscle more. 

BONUS from Dan:  

• Pace 👍🏻

• Beta recall and footwork 👍🏻

• Frequent handhold adjustment 👎🏻

• Unnecessary? Dangle before last move 👍🏻👎🏻

• Precision 👍🏻👎🏻

Climb: Takonka - V9

Climber: Rachel Rubin

Specific Notes (Anatomy) from Jason: 

• I want to specifically note the fact that this V9, asides maybe from the start, she is in a drag/draped position basically the entire time. Great flexor digitorum profundus strength and she doesn’t totally depend on crimping the entire line!

• Another neat anatomical note to make is that when her right hand is on the lip you’ll notice that her thumb tucks under. 

  • This changes the mechanics and stability of her wrist and also increases the activation of our nervous system. Improved mechanics and decreased pressure on the ulnar nerve increase pulling ability

Climb: Squaminator V11

Climber: Jake Artibello

Specific Notes (Anatomy) from Jason: 

• The first move is great. Loads of hamstring and calf engagement on the first big move 

  • a good reason to work on hamstring activities that also involve the calf, such as nordic curls up against the wall, or a new one I really like: doing slightly extended single-leg bridges with your toes on an object. I use rings personally to add some instability to the mix

    • New exercise to demo: single-leg bridges with toes on an edge/object or with rings 

  • The first move is also a great representation of how trying wide can pay off. He is so spread out from the left foot to the right hand. The shoulder blades are super separated, but you can tell he has the shoulder and midback strength to handle this

    • Wide pull-ups 

• And hey while we never said that one-arm lock-offs would make you a pro clikmber, it certainly helps him here. He is also in a “neutral” pull up position here which means increased activation of the brachioradialis and pec muscles. 

Climb: Starnage Problem - V6

Climber: Conner Fernandez

Specific Notes (Anatomy) from Jason: 

• FDP, FCU, and ECR all day!

  • And by that I mean… this very slopey problem will depend significantly on the strength of the flexor digitorum profundus, but since the wrist is now in a neutral position the stability of the joint cannot be solely established by joint congruenty, instead, it is in fact in the “loose packed position” meaning that the wrist stabilizers, including the wrist flexors and extensors, will have to be super activate in this position. This is where all that wrist stability training pays off :) 

• As he goes to press over…. This is now the benefit of having foot wrist mobility (left hand). 

  • You can see the massage stretch to the wrist and moreso finger flexors, but this allows him to maintain his friction until he turns his hand out the other direction. 

• You can say that foot trust and good temps play a role in this climb, but you cannot argue with the role good wrist mobility and stability play in this climb. 

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.

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

IG: @hoopersbetaofficial

Filming and Editing by Emile Modesitt

www.emilemodesitt.com

IG: @emile166