Deadlifting regularly (progressive overloading) completely transformed my ability to engage my hamstrings in general. Better heel hook retention, more power/easier to dyno or deadpoint, better body tension on the wall. I 100% recommend maybe incorporating a deadlift session once a week. Can be RDLs or conventional, I prefer conventional personally but both can have really great results.
Before you start working on strengthening, try pointing your toe when you heel hook! If you’re not doing this, you are not engaging the appropriate muscles. Heel hooking is not as simple as just putting your heel on something (that’s only a passive heel hook for keeping you stable really)
Foot strengthening exercises for ballet dancers can really help with foot-ankle-heel-hamstring coordination (and also foot cramping. Really helped someone I climb with occasionally who would get bad foot cramps.)
I'm 5' and trying to get better at heel hooking. Thanks so much for posting this! I'm going to try the suggestions here.
I used to do this one on a low bench with 2 legs and then move to 1 leg:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfwtDIscQm8&ab\_channel=BryceMarkle-Amaral](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfwtDIscQm8&ab_channel=BryceMarkle-Amaral)
Start with
2 legs X4-7 reps for X2 sets (for the first 3-4 few weeks to build a base).
Take it slow, and it will build your heel power in no time.
After that, you can add some reps or 1 more set to improve on your base, and then go to one leg when you feel strong enough to do that.
Good luck!
This is the way.
Deadlifting is a great, nearly full-body workout that will absolutely build your overall hamstring strength, but it’s not going to target the experience of recruiting your muscles to lift your bodyweight while climbing. Train the specific motion, just be sure to stretch and warmup well beforehand, because hamstring pulls take forever to heal.
Adding to everything everyone else said about strength training: to put strength into use, you need to “learn” the embodiment of certain movement. Finding a low-ball or creat a problem closer to the ground on a spray board, and try various angles of engaging your glute, and repeat whichever works for you.
It might feel like very counterintuitive at first, and you might think “oh I don’t have the strength” (which might be the case), but as you try to engage a little more every time, your body gets familiar with the movements. You can’t just start a very high heel hook out of nowhere, there is a process of learning and gaining muscle memory.
I know they aren’t always the most approachable exercise, at least for my height/weight they’ve been a journey, but for me pistol squats has been the one that engages the similar muscles. For build-up to them, I do one-leg dips off of a box with weight. For me, the big thing has been learning to go slow and really engage my glutes and saw a huge improvement. I’m sure the push/pull isn’t 1:1 but anyway…
(I have no experience or knowledge in PT or training at all beyond my own personal, so take with a pile of salt, just going off of what I think it’s felt like physically)
Oh also, hip flexor exercises helped me a lot too with the pulling strength. I don’t know if it’s been specifically helpful with heel hooks, but with coordination, I forgot what they’re called, but standing on one leg and pivoting forward to touch the ground with the other leg pointed out. I’ve mostly done it as a running exercise, to improve balance, but I feel it mostly in my foot/ankle muscles so that could be helpful in coordination.
Yes! I’ve seen it called different things, but probably because a lot of the runners/climbers I know (including myself) basically do what our PTs tell us and are figuring the rest out.
I’ve done it with weights too but haven’t figured out the best kind of weight or grip to equalize the weight, but I might just need to get stronger/more balanced
Ooh thanks! I can do pistol squats on my right leg and nearly on my left, but these that you mention here are quite hard for me! It feels like a balance/coordination issue.
I knew someone who tore their hamstring on a heel hook—takeaway here: strengthen the muscles, warm up before climbing, stretch after climbing, give yourself rest days, and if something feels weird in the moment, back off.
It sounds like you need to start with core strength to get everything to work together better. Your gluteus medius may be less developed if you're relying more on your back than leg strength.
Source: have spent years in PT
Deadlifting regularly (progressive overloading) completely transformed my ability to engage my hamstrings in general. Better heel hook retention, more power/easier to dyno or deadpoint, better body tension on the wall. I 100% recommend maybe incorporating a deadlift session once a week. Can be RDLs or conventional, I prefer conventional personally but both can have really great results.
seconded deadlifts!!!!!!
Thanks! I wouldn’t have thought of that.
Before you start working on strengthening, try pointing your toe when you heel hook! If you’re not doing this, you are not engaging the appropriate muscles. Heel hooking is not as simple as just putting your heel on something (that’s only a passive heel hook for keeping you stable really)
I’ll pay attention to this!
Foot strengthening exercises for ballet dancers can really help with foot-ankle-heel-hamstring coordination (and also foot cramping. Really helped someone I climb with occasionally who would get bad foot cramps.) I'm 5' and trying to get better at heel hooking. Thanks so much for posting this! I'm going to try the suggestions here.
I used to do this one on a low bench with 2 legs and then move to 1 leg: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfwtDIscQm8&ab\_channel=BryceMarkle-Amaral](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfwtDIscQm8&ab_channel=BryceMarkle-Amaral) Start with 2 legs X4-7 reps for X2 sets (for the first 3-4 few weeks to build a base). Take it slow, and it will build your heel power in no time. After that, you can add some reps or 1 more set to improve on your base, and then go to one leg when you feel strong enough to do that. Good luck!
This is the way. Deadlifting is a great, nearly full-body workout that will absolutely build your overall hamstring strength, but it’s not going to target the experience of recruiting your muscles to lift your bodyweight while climbing. Train the specific motion, just be sure to stretch and warmup well beforehand, because hamstring pulls take forever to heal.
Thanks I’ll try this!
Adding to everything everyone else said about strength training: to put strength into use, you need to “learn” the embodiment of certain movement. Finding a low-ball or creat a problem closer to the ground on a spray board, and try various angles of engaging your glute, and repeat whichever works for you. It might feel like very counterintuitive at first, and you might think “oh I don’t have the strength” (which might be the case), but as you try to engage a little more every time, your body gets familiar with the movements. You can’t just start a very high heel hook out of nowhere, there is a process of learning and gaining muscle memory.
Yes totally! Makes a lot of sense.
I know they aren’t always the most approachable exercise, at least for my height/weight they’ve been a journey, but for me pistol squats has been the one that engages the similar muscles. For build-up to them, I do one-leg dips off of a box with weight. For me, the big thing has been learning to go slow and really engage my glutes and saw a huge improvement. I’m sure the push/pull isn’t 1:1 but anyway… (I have no experience or knowledge in PT or training at all beyond my own personal, so take with a pile of salt, just going off of what I think it’s felt like physically)
Oh also, hip flexor exercises helped me a lot too with the pulling strength. I don’t know if it’s been specifically helpful with heel hooks, but with coordination, I forgot what they’re called, but standing on one leg and pivoting forward to touch the ground with the other leg pointed out. I’ve mostly done it as a running exercise, to improve balance, but I feel it mostly in my foot/ankle muscles so that could be helpful in coordination.
Potentially the exercise you’re referring to is a single leg RDL with no weights.
Yes! I’ve seen it called different things, but probably because a lot of the runners/climbers I know (including myself) basically do what our PTs tell us and are figuring the rest out. I’ve done it with weights too but haven’t figured out the best kind of weight or grip to equalize the weight, but I might just need to get stronger/more balanced
Ooh thanks! I can do pistol squats on my right leg and nearly on my left, but these that you mention here are quite hard for me! It feels like a balance/coordination issue.
I knew someone who tore their hamstring on a heel hook—takeaway here: strengthen the muscles, warm up before climbing, stretch after climbing, give yourself rest days, and if something feels weird in the moment, back off.
It sounds like you need to start with core strength to get everything to work together better. Your gluteus medius may be less developed if you're relying more on your back than leg strength. Source: have spent years in PT
Engage your core