Antagonist muscle training is an essential part of a sound training-for-climbing program. At minimum, I recommend two 30-minute antagonist muscle workouts per week, targeting the pushing muscles of the upper body, the extension muscles of the core and lower body, and the extensor muscles of the forearms. While getting into the details of a comprehensive antagonist workout is beyond the scope of this article, the video below will reveal a novel forearm warm-up exercise that you’ve probably not seen before. Using a simple wooden dowel, you and a partner will be able to warm up the often overlooked extensor muscles. Executing a proper forearm muscle warm-up, including some stretching of the extensors and flexors, will lower injury risk and help you to perform better when climbing/training.
View “Novel Warm-up Exercise for the Forearm Extensor Muscles” video on Vimeo.
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