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Antagonist maintenance

2-3 easy rounds of push-ups, reverse plank, shoulder taps, and external rotations.

Slot
Strength
Focus
Stability
Time
10 min
Intensity
Low
Injury risk
Low
Intervals
2 rounds, 1:00 rest
Equipment
Floor space, Timer

How to do it

Do 2-3 easy rounds of: 10 controlled push-ups, a 20-second reverse plank (sit, hands behind you, lift your hips up), 10 shoulder taps per side from a push-up position, and 10 external rotations per side (elbow bent at your side, rotate the forearm outward). Rest 1 minute between rounds. Keep it easy - it should support your climbing, not tire you out.

Who it’s for

Everyone who climbs more than twice a week. Climbing is almost all pulling, and the pushing muscles that balance it need very little work to keep up, but they do need some.

Common mistakes

  • Turning it into a workout. Two or three easy rounds. If it tires you out, it’ll eat into your climbing and you’ll drop it.
  • Push-ups with the shoulders shrugged. Shoulder blades down and back, body in a line.
  • Rushing the shoulder taps. Slow and controlled, hips staying level. Wobbling hips means it’s a core drill you’re failing, not an antagonist drill.
  • Saving it for rest days and then not doing it. Tack it onto the end of a climbing session and it actually happens.

How to progress

Add a round before you add difficulty. When three rounds are genuinely easy, put your feet on a box for the push-ups and slow every rep down rather than adding reps.

When it fits

The training periods this exercise fits into in Blok Sessions.

  • Base Lots of easy climbing, good movement and aerobic fitness.
  • Strength Stronger fingers and pulling, with weight you control.
  • Power Explosive moves, momentum and coordination.
  • Power Endurance Keep your power through one hard move after another.
  • Endurance Climb longer before you pump out, by moving efficiently.
  • Performance Peak for a trip or a comp: focus, reading problems, trying hard.
  • Deload Train less, let your fingers recover, keep moving.

Start with a ready-made block

A six-week strength plan with a deload, as a file for the app, and seven short emails on how to run it.