Every climber, regardless of level, knows the necessity of strong forearms, wrists and fingers. It is absolutely crucial for both performance and injury prevention. In this post I will present an exercise that should be a regular part of every climber's routine due to its simplicity and effectiveness.
The importance of Injury Prevention:
As a physiotherapist specializing in climbing injuries, I work with many different injuries and injuries, and a consistent pattern is that I almost always find reduced strength in the injured area or the adjacent joints. This applies regardless of whether it is the wrist, fingers, elbow or shoulder that is injured. We know that a strength imbalance can lead to both acute injuries and overload injuries. Therefore, it is crucial to integrate exercises that strengthen exposed areas such as fingers and forearms, which are responsible for your grip strength, among other things.
Exercise Effectiveness:
Training with a rice bucket is not only incredibly effective for increasing strength and endurance; it also prevents overuse injuries by strengthening a wide range of muscles in the forearms, wrists and fingers. The exercise is both effective as injury prevention by increasing the strength and endurance of the arm muscles, but also as part of the exercise selection for golfer's elbow or tennis elbow, which are widespread overuse injuries among climbers.
The Problem with Traditional Exercises:
Traditionally, many climbers and athletes use exercises with rubber bands or dumbbells to train wrist flexion and extension. These exercises are quite effective in preventing and treating specific conditions such as tennis elbow and golfer's elbow. However, for the dedicated climber who wants a comprehensive improvement in functional strength, these isolated exercises can be limiting.
The forearm contains 20 muscles, and none of them work in isolation; therefore it is important that in your training you engage the muscles in an interaction when you train.
A Dynamic Approach to Forearm Training:
This exercise takes into account the complex nature of the forearm by including movements in all directions and planes: flexion/extension, radial and ulnar deviation, as well as supination and pronation. Training in all planes ensures strength, endurance and mobility, which are critical for climbers who often encounter unpredictable grip types and hand positions. It ensures that you are strong and prepared, regardless of the angle or position of your wrist or fingers.
Implementation in Training Routine:
This exercise should be integrated into your training routine 1-3 times a week. It is an exercise that can be performed both as recovery training and as part of your general strength training program. To achieve the best results, it is recommended to do the exercise regularly, focusing on technique and gradually increasing intensity.
Programs and video:
Here is the setup used in the video. This ensures that there is room for both hands in the bucket at the same time... but of course you can make your own setup.
✔ 20 liter bucket
✔ 9 Kg. rice
The language in the video is in danish - but im sure you’ll catch the important parts aka the movements 😉
