Friday 28 July 2006

Training antagonists - be thorough and it pays!

It was comforting to be back on the fingerboard again just then after a few weeks out climbing mountain trad (which involves a lot of walking/faffing and precious little climbing if you are doing new routes). I was mega fit (for me) in June after a long stint of daily training, so it was frustrating to see it slip away. Anyhow a thought just appeared in my head; 'no elbow pain!' Bad elbows have kept a lid on my training for 6 years and are constantly there nagging after hard sessions. This spring I made a determined effort to work the antagonists (the humble press up sufficed) and I must say it's been like a magic wand. 5 sets a day worked into my standard sessions, and not a single ache for three months. A good feeling.

Working antagonist muscle groups is one of those training chores that is so easy to skip. Don't skip it!

1 comment:

  1. Hi Dave,
    It's interesting to see this post from 2006 advocating training antagonists, yet your more recent advice mainly talks about eccentric work. Is it because you feel eccentric work can replace working the antagonists, or that the idea of antagonist training is so widespread to not need mentioning?

    Cheers
    Danger

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