Alex Lowe 400 pullups a day

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Messages 21 - 40 of total 75 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
Chief

climber
May 12, 2010 - 09:40am PT
Bill Sherman aka. "Wild Bill" from Montana?

Perry
Scraptee

Trad climber
Tacoma
May 12, 2010 - 10:57am PT
Check out the 20 Pull-Up Challenge - http://twentypullups.com/. There is also a 100 Push-Up Challenge site. It would be fun to say you can do 20 pullups, but how well that one excercise translates to improved climbing is probably pretty limited...
Anastasia

climber
hanging from a crimp and crying for my mama.
May 25, 2010 - 05:56pm PT
Chief,
Yes, he is "Wild Bill" from Montana. You know my husband?
:)AFS
aspendougy

Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
May 25, 2010 - 06:38pm PT
Use rings and avoid full extension of the arms; arms on a bar and complete straightening cause stress on joints and ligaments.

Better to take an easy climb at the climbing gym; then add weight a little bit a time, and keep repeating the route, gradually adding more weight. It's like, doing 5.10 moves with a certain amount of extra weight = 5.11. Not exactly, but to some extent it is a valid principle. Bachar once said on a video, words to the effect that, "Yah, did all those pull ups, but not sure how much good it really did."

I've always wondered how good chimps and gorillas would be at climbing if you could train them to do the moves.

Maybe in the future, they will genetically engineer people to have better climbing skills.
Tobia

Social climber
GA
May 25, 2010 - 10:44pm PT
People who undergo Max VO2 test rarely max out (when they endure the test until their bodies switch from aerobic to anaerobic metabolism) that is their tolerance for the pain or muscles fail before they peak in 02 uptake.

To max you must continue the exercise beyond the point where 02 uptake plateaus even if the exercise intensity increases. It is rare for someone to reach the plateau. Once someone does peak they will either continue momentarily and resign or pass out.

If Alex Lowe's max VO2 was in the 60 ml range he was not near the top of the heap as far as recorded max VO2's which have been as high as 88ml (superhuman). I think Lance Armstrong has maxed out at 85 ml/Kg/min.

(Not trying to take anything from Alex Lowe just clarifying record max VO2's)
Chief

climber
May 26, 2010 - 04:06pm PT
anastasia,

When I first hung out with Alex and Jenni in the Valley in 81 (ish) they were hanging out with a mild mannered, bespectacled guy from Montana and his name was Bill. He was anything but wild and maybe that's why the name stuck. I just remember him as a real nice guy. It's been almost thirty years and I never saw him again.

Perry
Anastasia

climber
hanging from a crimp and crying for my mama.
May 26, 2010 - 05:57pm PT
Chief,

Well that just shot that out of the ball park... My Bill was only a tot when you met your gentleman.

Plus for good or ill, my Bill is not what I can call mild mannered. He can be very professional at work but in his private life "mild" is not a word that describes him.

:)AFS
marv

Mountain climber
Bay Area
Dec 14, 2010 - 01:55am PT
here's a mildly entertaining video of Steve House competing in the GU 2009 Pull-Up Championship (more entertaining: the comments on YouTube):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVgulqwjME8&feature=related

House has his thumb under the bar, which I was taught not to do. Seems kinda weird
rgold

Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
Dec 14, 2010 - 08:52am PT
Spend your time doing tons of pullups and you'll be a really strong 5.10 climber---if you can climb 5.10. If you want to climb 5.15, an entirely different training routine would be called for.
bookworm

Social climber
Falls Church, VA
Dec 14, 2010 - 12:16pm PT
one of the best stories i read about alex lowe:

he and his partners were stuck in their tents during a white-out; the ever-moving alex pulled on his boots to get some air...an hour later, his friends got worried and went looking for him

alex had dug a pit about 5 feet deep, had his skis lying across the top, and was in the pit doing pull-ups

i always thought his 400/day were just to pass the time and not a work out routine
steelmnkey

climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
Dec 14, 2010 - 12:44pm PT
If Alex Lowe's max VO2 was in the 60 ml range he was not near the top of the heap as far as recorded max VO2's which have been as high as 88ml (superhuman). I think Lance Armstrong has maxed out at 85 ml/Kg/min.

(Not trying to take anything from Alex Lowe just clarifying record max VO2's)

I'd be surprised if Alex's V02 wasn't higher, given the way he used to just blow everyone away with his capabilities at altitude. Maybe that ability just translated to something other than V02 somehow.

Lance's V02 was never that high, a subject that cause lots of the doping discussions regarding his abilities. Greg LeMond's VO2 max was measured at 92.5.

Some of the highest recorded:
harihari

Trad climber
Squampton
Dec 14, 2010 - 03:30pm PT
You are as strong as your weakest link. There's a good book by Heather Sagar (sp?) which has a set of tests in it to help you figure out your weaknesses & strengths. You then train your weaknesses.

Most climbers, who are overwhelmingly not coached, tend to overtrain their strengths: Head weak? Avoid slabs. Core *and* head weak? Avoid off-widths. Fingers and endurance weak? Avoid sport climbs. The wrong-- and easy-- way to go.

In other disciplines, coaches observe and test, and adjust training so that the weakest part of performance improves. An objective set of eyes other than yourself can give you very useful feedback.

IMHO pullups are nice but far from essential-- hand and crimp strength, endurance, and bomber footwork are FAR more important. After all, watch Chris Sharma or whoever climbing 5.15: yeah, there will be the occasional epic pull-up move, but there will be much more hard crimping, etc.
eeyonkee

Trad climber
Golden, CO
Dec 14, 2010 - 06:10pm PT
Personally, I think that working out is cheating.
Tobia

Social climber
GA
Dec 14, 2010 - 11:59pm PT
You missed my point.
Most people, when being tested can't reach their max VO2 threshold when being tested due to the onset of fatigue (oxygen debt & lactic acid build-up).

Any max V02 above mid 60's, is in terms of physical work, is high and way above what the average "Joe" is capable of.

Lance Armstrong and other world class athletes were in the mid 80's; which in terms of human physiology is "superhuman". The XCC skiers you listed are off the charts when compared to "Joe". Mentioning Lance Armstrong in my original comment was to illustrate a V02 max with a household name.

Lance was listed in the same chart you picked your #'s from (http://www.topendsports.com/testing/records/vo2max.htm); you just didn't post it.

Furthermore, VO2 max is only one peramater of an athlete's ability to perform at record setting levels. Armstrong's "low" V02 is not proof of doping, more of an indicator of other astounding physiological traits. Doping would give him an edge but wouldn't make the man.

If you want a better understanding of exercise physiology, see
Textbook of Work Physiology by Astrand & Rodahl.
RDB

Social climber
wa
Dec 15, 2010 - 10:37pm PT
VO2 of 60? Alex? ....now that is some funny sh#t. Somebody needs to remeasure that one or retype it.
AP

Trad climber
Calgary
Dec 15, 2010 - 11:21pm PT
Some friends were on K2 with Alex and everyone had to do an identical load carry up this slope. Alex left last, had a double load, and was the first to reach the dump then passed everyone else on the way down.
No one else has the Alex gene
bmacd

Trad climber
100% Canadian
Dec 16, 2010 - 12:24am PT
Saw Ed Viesters on TV the other day, it's not just VO2 max but anareobic thresholds which play a major role in endurance

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/11/1122_041122_ed_viesturs_2.html
Only world-class endurance athletes such as cyclist Lance Armstrong have a higher VO2 max than Viesturs, Schoene said. Viesturs also has an anaerobic threshold of about 90 percent, meaning he can climb for hours on end using 90 percent of his maximum exercise capacity without collapsing. Most people collapse at levels around 60 percent.But more than this physiology, Schoene said, Viesturs moves with incredible efficiency

"I do really well with less oxygen," he said. "I've gone to the top of Everest without oxygen and sat on top for an hour and had lunch. I was not crawling on my hands and knees." - Ed V.
rurprider

Trad climber
Mt. Rubidoux
Dec 16, 2010 - 12:31am PT
Alex Lowe was an amazing athlete, but I read in Mountain Magazine, in the 80s, where Tony Yaniro would do 1,000 pull ups a day as part of his training regimen. Yaniro caught a lot of flack about training like a fiend, when no one else trained, but it obviously paid off (ie. Grand Illusion, the Pirate).
bmacd

Trad climber
100% Canadian
Dec 16, 2010 - 03:05am PT
Paging "Doktor Climb Hard" - Your Alpine Medical kit has been denied clearance at the Customs desk
Rickster

Trad climber
Pine Bush,NY
Dec 17, 2010 - 07:58am PT
When Alex visited here in the Gunks in the early 80's, he didn't appear to ever train. He climbed, graciously, hard, boldly and always with a smile. A fine person.

Just to put some of these numbers in perspective though, a current record for total pull-ups in a day is 3355. Accomplished in less than 16 hours this last May.

http://www.recordholders.org/en/list/chinups.html

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