one exercise or circuits

Can anyone offer any advice wrt to the benefits of performing a routine by

a)doing the sets for each exercise all after each other

b)doing a set of each exercise and moving on to the next (eg lat pull down > bench press > .. >Lat pull down 2)

I am interested mainly in terms of strength training. I train for rock climbing so I am actively trying to avoid gaining muscle mass that decreases my strength to weight ratio.

I'm 30 been training / climbing for 13 years except the past 18 months due to recovering from tendonitis and family commitments. I have started back gradually over the past 6 weeks. I'm making good progress but want to make the best progress possible in terms of strength (re)gains before February as that is when my training cycle will be become more stamina oriented.

Thanks in advance

Don't forget:

c) A mixture of the above.

Usually circuits are used for endurance training. For awhile, people thought they might be better for fat loss but there's been no real proof of that.

Basically, these are all just techniques that you can use. I'll superset exercises and merge 3-4 exercises into a circuit to save time after I do my main exercises. Some strength coaches like putting two exercises that work antagonistic muscles together and then bouncing back and forth.

Keeping your weight steady (and not gaining mass) is more of a function of diet. A huge portion of strength isn't the size of the muscle but the efficiency of the muscle. Training improves efficiency.

You want to choose exercises that mimic the movements where you need more strength.

You might want to think in terms of bulking up a little in the offseason and then cutting fat to return to your former weight. I know it's mentally hard to gain over a certain point when you've been fighting to stay at a certain weight but if you diet properly, you can get back to the same weight and be leaner than you are now.

Watson (the pencil neck) Davis

Assuming adequate rest between sets, the former takes longer but develops higher limit strength. The latter is somewhat quicker and develops greater work capacity.

BTW, as a rock climber, you don't really do lat pulldowns, do you?

In that case, work the muscles that are used in rock climbing. Any muscle you develop along the way will only increase your strength to weight ratio.

Tendinitis is a real problem in climbing. One fellow I know has had numerous tendon injuries in his fingers, which have kept him away from climbing for extended periods of time. How do you recover from family commitments?

Personally, I'd view this period as an opportunity to build limit strength, then use the next period to build work capacity.

I would rather do weighted chins with a variety of asymetrrical grips on a fingerboard an/or bar - but I am buliding up slowly.

what's so bad about lat pulldowns anyway? its the closesest thing along with tricep pushdowns that you can do with weights for climbing type movements. I would get a cable crossover machine too if I had room. Many really technical moves are based upon handholds way out from the axis of the bodyand shpulder rotation contributes to aiding upward movement.

I used to train with a very small amount of weight training i.e. just negative cable stuff for building up to one arm pull ups etc but I have found that i am less likely to pick up injuries when I weight train

see above. I have posted elsewhere about the fact that I am managing a shoulder injury also. And, to be completely honest I like strength training in its own right. I stay away from squats and so on of course.

. Well in part you get your partner interested in climbing also. That way she can belay (hold the rope) too. Sneaky

That's why there is the February transition to higher reps and more climbing wall work.

Thanks

I would rather do weighted chins with a variety of asymetrrical grips on a fingerboard an/or bar - but I am buliding up slowly.

what's so bad about lat pulldowns anyway? its the closesest thing along with tricep pushdowns that you can do with weights for climbing type movements. I would get a cable crossover machine too if I had room. Many really technical moves are based upon handholds way out from the axis of the bodyand shpulder rotation contributes to aiding upward movement.

I used to train with a very small amount of weight training i.e. just negative cable stuff for building up to one arm pull ups etc but I have found that i am less likely to pick up injuries when I weight train

see above. I have posted elsewhere about the fact that I am managing a shoulder injury also. And, to be completely honest I like strength training in its own right. I stay away from squats and so on of course.

. Well in part you get your partner interested in climbing also. That way she can belay (hold the rope) too. Sneaky

That's why there is the February transition to higher reps and more climbing wall work.

Thanks

I don't know of any advantage of lat pulldowns compared with pullups/chinups/campus board work. OTOH, I see below that you're trying to rehab a shoulder, in which case lat pulldowns are not a bad choice. PNF style cable exercises (high-to-low and low-to-high, crossing the body in both directions) are particularly good for rehabbing a shoulder.

Sounds like a plan.

Why stay away from squats totally? It seems like doing some squats would be a good idea. Just doing some squats isn't going to blow your legs up if you are controlling your food intake. Or do squats bother your shoulder?

Jeff out ...

To be honest I get more than enough of that type of exercise pounding up hills and scrambling over rocks with a pack on. I do 25 -30 rep squats around this time of year with lightish weights because I ski for about one week each winter. Oh and I dont have a squat rack so I have to clean and press first. I find leg curls and SLDL type strength along with inner and outer ankle cable exercises to be of more benefit for climbing. This is the kind of power that you need for moves like heel hooks and 'rocking over' onto high and off centre footholds. But now that you mention it squating and leg pressing is beginning to sound attractive. I intend to start the spring off by hitting some technical slab routes where high steps on very small footholds will feature and being strong in the pressing department will enable a smooth fluid motion meaning the foot is more likely not to pop off the hold I guess.

When I weight trained a lot when I was at university I made very quick mass gains. But I suppose that this will be different for a 30 yr old than when I was 19?

Neil

That's good exercise. The question is whether you feel leg strength could ever become your weakness in your activities.

How about front squats? Without having to press the weight, you can handle heavier weights. Or split squats, where you use less weight anyway. Or, step-ups with DB's, where you step forward, to the side, and backwards (good grip work, too). You might consider step-ups onto high steps, which requires good dynamic flexibility (but ease into these with light weights).

Possibly, but you wouldn't grow without extra caloric intake anyway. There's more than one route to strength, since you can get stronger either through hypertrophy (bigger muscles) or through neuromuscular efficiency. If you look at the great powerlifter Alexi Sivokan, you'll see an incredible example of the latter: he's been in the same weight class for a very long time, and continues to get stronger and stronger.

If you eat maintenance calories (but be sure to get enough protein and EFA's) and set up your routine properly, you can maximize your strength without gaining weight.

I'm only a recreational climber, so I probably can't relate all that well (I climb a little indoors during the winter once Mtn biking season ends), but I will offer this: I've found climbing to be mainly about muscle endurance rather than limit strength. To that end, a circuit type routine with short rest breaks might be best.

However, there is also the argument that the weight room should be the place to concentrate on injury prevention and neromuscular intensity, in which case you might be better off with long rests and concentrating on one exercise at a time.

Really just depends on what your goals are.

And deadlifts and barbell hack squats are others that you can do.