In 2018 we have teamed up with Spit Magazine to bring you training beta to motivate and educate climbers about training tools, methods and offer some training inspiration for your own sessions.
In this one, Volume 3, published in Spit Magazine n.6 May/June 2018 we highlight the XC PegBoard.
XC Pegboard
In this edition of the Explore Training Series we move on to the pegboard, which at a glance is self explanatory: pull up on the pegs, remove one arm and insert the pegs ever higher on the board. So, not only does the pegboard work our major muscle groups used for lock offs, but it takes a considerable amount of coordination to effectively move upwards and across the board.
You may remember these from your grade-school gymnasium, right next to the fireman’s rope and antiquated gymnastics equipment. Nowadays the pegboard has been updated, enlarged and kitted out with more peg options to accommodate a wider variety of movement, exercises and focus in on climbing specific grips. Let’s take a look at some basic pegboard training exercises.
PEGBOARD EXERCISES
Pull Ups
After completing your general warm up, pull ups are a good way to warm up for the pegboard. Start with both hands on the pegs at shoulder width and execute your pull ups.
Offset Pull Ups
Stagger the pegs, one higher than the other for your pull ups – make sure to complete repetitions on both arms. The next level is to increase the vertical distance between the pegs, emphasizing the tricep push on the lower arm during your repetitions.
Typewriters
With the pegs at equal height and in a wide shoulder stance, execute a pull up and at the top of your pull extend your left arm horizontally as if to push away the peg while simultaneously relaxing your left hand’s grip. Repeat for both sides. The motion is like a typewriter resetting when the line of text reaches the edge of the page.
The Peg Ladder
The traditional pegboard exercise – start with both pegs shoulder width apart on the bottom rung and pull up, removing one peg and inserting it in a higher slot, repeating for the other side at equal intervals until you ascend to the last row. Descend in a controlled fashion, taking care not to fall onto your straightened elbow, but rather maintain a slight bend as you go down.
To increase the difficulty try skipping more slots on the way up and down or performing cross overs. A good progression towards increasing the distance of your lockoffs is to start in a staggered offset position, which focuses your training onto each arms range of motion. The next level is to change your grip – a sloper, edge or pinch.
Core:
The newer large format pegboards are exceptional training tools for core workouts that are relevant to climbing.
From a hanging position with the pegs at shoulder width, raise your legs to perform leg lifts, or toe-taps on the side edges, or have your training partner raise their hand to be touched.
If your board is big enough the ultimate game is to set up one peg on each side edge of the board and the challenge is to raise those pegs using only your feet.
Pre-set Tracks:
If you’re training as a team and have numerous pegs available, this game is a great way to mix up the training. As a team, pre-set the pegs on the board and try to campus between them all. Be creative!
Dial up the difficulty:
To make the pegboard more difficult you can do one or many of the following: make longer moves with bigger spaces between the pegs, use a different shaped grips or add weight.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
Important Notice: Training on the PegBoard can be hard on the elbow and shoulder joints without a proper warm up before hand. Make sure your arms, shoulders, and stabilizers are well warmed up before beginning your session. It is better to maintain good form than to desperately eek out one more repetition.
