4 Week Ice Climbing Grip-strength Workout
Warm-up
Start by hanging from tools with only your body weight for 10–12 seconds out of every 60 seconds for 5 minutes. If you have a bouldering wall, do 5 minutes of easy bouldering, followed by 25 burpees at a moderate pace. Then do 10 Turkish getups per arm with appropriate weight, 10 dips (bench, rack, or ring depending on your strength), and another 5 minutes of bodyweight hangs (10–12 seconds out of every 60 seconds). Finally, it is wise to complete a little shoulder mobility work like a few sets of Ys, Ts, Ws and Ls (YTWL). YTWLS are done by lying face down on the ground and then repeatedly making the letters Y-T-W-L with your arms—doing each 10 times. While you are completing the warm-up make sure to “listen” to what your body is telling you: are you feeling good and ready to train? Or are you sore or tired? If so, it might make sense to make it an easy aerobic day and wait until you are feeling better before you train.
Workout
Hang from both arms, with your shoulders activated. Don’t hang limp on your shoulder joints. You may want to wear gloves, depending on your tools and the grips. I recommend using the largest, bottom grip of your ice tool as that’s the grip you use most often. Determine the most weight you can hang from your body that only allows you to hang for 10–12 seconds before you are 90–95 percent “done” and have to drop off, or if your form starts to degrade.
Complete this workout two times a week for four weeks.
Progression
Week 1:
6 minutes of 10-to-12-second hangs per minute followed by 3 minutes of rest. Go through this circuit until you can no longer consistently hang for 8–10 seconds.
Week 2:
Hold the weight steady from last week’s workouts. 8 minutes of 10-to-12-second hangs per minute followed by 4 minutes of rest. Go through this circuit until you can no longer consistently hang for 8–10 seconds.
Week 3:
Increase the weight by approximately 15–20 percent over last week’s workouts. 6 minutes of 6-to-8-second hangs per minute followed by 3 minutes of rest. Go through this circuit until you can no longer consistently hang for 6 seconds.
Week 4:
Hold the weight steady from last week’s workouts. 8 minutes of 6-to-8-second hangs per minute followed by 4 minutes of rest. Go through this circuit until you can no longer consistently hang for 6 seconds.
These progressions are adapted directly from isometric training theory and will increase the strength capacity of your grip in this position. Therefore, you will require a lower percentage of your absolute strength when gripping and swinging ice tools.