“Time under Intention”: A Simple Strength Drill to Train Oppositional Force Production
Imagine yourself stemming in an alleyway, hands and feet pressing firmly against opposing walls—every limb engaged in perfect opposition to hold position.
You’re not hanging by brute force. You’re not dangling or rushing. You’re held—stable—because every limb is applying balanced, intelligent opposition.
Side-to-side stemming is a perfect, embodied metaphor for intentional internal resistance:
Equal, opposite forces keeping you in place.
Agonists and antagonists negotiating movement.
Strength used deliberately, not wastefully.
Opposition on the wall is not just about resisting gravity. It’s about creating controlled, intentional tension between muscle groups.
On the wall, you don’t just need strength. You need time under intention: the ability to apply force deliberately, feeling the balance of opposing muscle groups every moment.
Climbing rarely lets you “just pull” or “just push.” Every move is a conversation between forces:
Pressing and resisting.
Holding and releasing.
Stabilising and moving.
We want strength that thinks.
Strength that negotiates.
Strength that listens to opposition instead of bulldozing through it.
This floor-based drill is a way to train that negotiation in the simplest possible terms—mirroring exactly what you see in the stemming position of the photo.
Setup
Lie comfortably on your back.
Knees bent or straight—whatever keeps your back relaxed on the floor.
Arms in front of your face, palms pressed firmly together.
Instructions
Establish Opposition
Press your palms together hard.
Notice the contraction through your chest, shoulders, and even into your core.
This is your initial “closed” state—a stable, compressed position.
Name the Goal
Your end position is arms out in a T on the floor.
But the real goal is maximal, balanced tension throughout the entire movement.
You want to move as if your chest is refusing to let your arms open.
Begin the Movement
Engage your shoulder blades to begin pulling the arms apart.
Simultaneously maintain intentional resistance in the chest—imagine your pecs fighting to keep the arms closed.
The key is equal, balanced opposition: neither side dominates.
Keep your focus on intention—it’s not about how wide you go, but how deliberately you resist every millimeter.
Proceed Millimeter by Millimeter
Go slowly—painfully slowly if you can.
Feel the tremor of controlled effort.
Breathe deeply, steadily.
Don’t let the tension collapse just because the arms move apart.
Reach Full Extension
Arms arrive in a T, resting on the floor.
Chest is still active, resisting even at end range.
Feel the stretch earned through active control, not passive flop.
Reverse with Control (Optional)
Press the floor gently to begin closing the arms.
Maintain balanced resistance in the back as you close the arms.
Imagine your back refusing to let the arms close easily.
Sets and Reps
Perform 2–5 reps only.
Prioritise quality and slowness.
Each rep should be fatiguing because of the intent, not because of speed or weight.
Key Cues
“Equal force in both directions.”
“Move against myself.”
“Negotiate, don’t collapse.”
“Resist even as I yield.”
“Time under intention.”
Why Do This?
This drill isn’t just about raw strength.
It’s about educated force production.
On the wall, you’ll find this same need:
Pulling while pressing.
Locking while twisting.
Trusting one point of contact to resist another.
If you learn to feel balanced opposition on the floor, you’ll recognise it on the wall.
You’ll stop wasting energy in flailing or collapsing.
You’ll develop strength that holds form even in the hardest positions.
This is time under intention—where every second of effort is an opportunity to learn intelligent, balanced force production.
Closing Reflection
Opposition is what keeps us on the wall.
Not by exaggerating force—but by balancing it, just like in a solid stem.
This drill is a way to train that balance consciously, intentionally, millimeter by millimeter, off the wall.
