How to train finger strength for climbing reddit. But it's not something you can boost.

How to train finger strength for climbing reddit. What injuries to the hands and fingers have you typically seen when training finger strength? The main things to watch for are finger and wrist injuries from overuse. Your grip strength is determined by forearm strength and the tendons in your fingers, hands and wrists. He basically stretched 1 minute video into 25 minutes missing all the crucial points. I'm going to go against the grain. For a while, finger strength and technique were by far my biggest weaknesses. Finger strength training consists of a lot of glides, movement based exercises, and functional training like climbing and hangboarding. Hangboarding will be better for training crimp strength than climbing. The more knowledge and experience you have, the more you can adjust your training to your needs and the better your transfer. I don't think anyone follows a program with the specific purpose of strengthening the tendons in your hand, and I don't think it makes sense to do so. My local climbing place is about an hour away and I’m only able to go there maybe once every two weeks due to my course load in uni. The only answer is time and consistency, introduce finger boards when there’s no climbs available that are challenging your fingers strength, or you’re adding weight to max hangs (after minimum a year of solid climbing) You theoretically can finger board now and probably avoid injury, but the reward for risk is not worth it. Sep 30, 2024 · Fundamentals Season 2 (Part 4 of 6) — Everybody wants stronger fingers. The flipside of "just climbing" is to "vary your training", which exposes you to different movements (climbing) or methods (training). Reply reply I have been climbing for about 2 years now, and my answer would definitely be YES, you can strengthen your fingers. What is an efficient way to train finger strength for a climbing beginner who has a decent amount of pulling strength from Callisthenics (1. Hangboard Training for finger strength and endurance Seems like there are a ton of different hangboard workouts out there and I'm not sure which exactly fit into what I'm training for. How to Train Finger Strength for Climbing [Block Pulls Guide] Hooper's Beta 133K subscribers Join Feb 15, 2024 · Arm-Lifting is a recent trend in finger strength training. Aside from that, a very cheap option is to buy a 3/4 in strip of wood, and nail/screw it onto another piece of wood (Porch rafter, over a door way, under the stairs, etc). Finger strength is only one of many components that contribute to your overall climbing ability, but for intermediate to advanced climbers it is also one the most important things you can train. Everyone is right though - Climb more to get better at climbing. Takes "time under tension" and stress to force the body to change. : r/bodyweightfitness     Go to bodyweightfitness r/bodyweightfitness r/bodyweightfitness In climbing, however, you need excess strength primarily in your forearms, as hand strength is often the weakest link. The traditional method of building finger strength is deadhanging, and Climbing for 2 months? The best way to increase your finger strength right now is to just climb climb climb. So much of sloper strength is core/shoulder strength, as well as open hand strength. I've talked about resting and finger strength but the same applies to all types of climbing movement and climbing strengths. Apr 6, 2020 · Follow this at-home, all-levels training routine recommended by Nelson to help maintain your climbing strength and keep you prepared for a return to the gym or crag. Raised-Leg Diamond Pushups These hit core, shoulders, triceps, chest, and back. half-crimp, 3 finger drag), minimum edge hangs Equipment: hangboard, no-hang device, any sort of edge. The strength will come. It drove me nuts too when I first started, but for now, your best idea is just to climb more. Although forearm strength is greater in lead climbers than non-climbers, boulderers display greater finger-flexor maximal strength and rate of force development (RFD) when compared to lead climbers 2. 1 attribute for climbing performance… It’s no wonder everybody talks about finger strength training and the endless training sessions and tools that exist, but this can also make it a bit overwhelming when it comes to knowing what is best?! We thought it would be great to sit down with some of the best climbers in the UK (and who have some of the I'm starting bouldering in the local climbing hangar next week and hoping this will help in both relative bodyweight strength and finger strength, Cheers Peeps, Reddit's rock climbing training community. ex shoulder stability or just technique under the fingerboard. Yet he makes no comments on training fatigue, periodization, progressive overload or how to fit these in a weekly training program that includes climbing. It takes 2 or 3 months of climbing before your ligaments start to strengthen at all. Find a problem in your gym that is particularly finger-y and work it regularly - you'll find improvements in strength but also in technique and body position as you learn how to make a difficult climb easier. Train for finger strength and the tendons take care of themselves. Finger Planks Hold a high plank (or raised pushup position) using your fingers to hold you as high as possible. Are finger rolls actually training finger tendon strength or just grip strength? I’m not an expert and I’m not trying to be a dick but that exercise looks more like it trains forearm strength than it would finger strength for climbing specific movement (holding onto smaller edges for longer). Sure maybe low volume hangboard could be beneficial and further improve your finger strength but the risk of overdue / training incorrectly isn't near as beneficial as just climbing more and learn how to effectively use it. Climbing itself can only get you so far in this arena. Climbing is a mental and technical skill sport that requires regular practice and devotion, and paying attention to your finger strength is crucial if you want to climb safely. Nov 24, 2023 · Try to touch the ground at each turnaround. TLDR: it’d be more beneficial to train open hand strength than full crimp strength. The problem with just climbing routes is that you don't usually expose yourself to enough pinches, so pinch strength won't drastically improve if you don't pinch enough. Many people want to isolate both exercises for misc. Specific exercises will newrly always beat out non specific exercises for the specific thing they train. Hangboards and no hang devices are the best substitutes for long periods of no climbing, 6 weeks is actually a great timeframe for a training cycle too! There are tons of protocols out Reddit's rock climbing training community. Loads of people do them, including a lot of very strong climbers. I've seen Eric Horst and Geek Climber actually train pinch strength with pinch blocks, which is a targeted and efficient way to expose yourself to frequent load and thus improve. How to know when finger strength is holding us back? Share Add a Comment Sort by: Best Open comment sort options came_to_post_this • I recently just started to be able to hang with a half crimp on a 20mm edge, but I don't think this routine is responsible for my finger strength gains, but it has allowed me to feel better on my climbing days to pull harder. reasons. As much as people hate to hear it, when it comes to grip strength in the early years of climbing, climbing is the best training for climbing. Considering the toll that outdoor and board climbing takes on the fingers, how might one fit these around hangboarding? Would it be reasonable to only do 2 finger intensive workouts per week? Fitting into this category would be crimpy overhung outdoor routes, board climbing and hangboarding. I’ve been climbing for ~4 years with a focus on bouldering and generally climb 3-4 days per week, now at a v5-7 level (indoors). How can I increase my finger and grip strength? Looking to build your finger strength as a rock climber? These articles, podcasts, videos, and more can help you learn to strengthen and care for your fingers. I've only been climbing for about a year and am climbing outdoors at a V3 bouldering and 5. Focusing on this direct connection to the rock can benefit your climbing performance greatly, and luckily, finger strength is relatively easy to train. g. Its really easy to over train the muscles in your forearms and develope issues like golfers/tennis elbow. What would you consider the most important of them to train (if you had to only pick one due to time constraints) in order to move forward? I think the priority goes something like this: Finger strength. Otherwise, currently I tend to do pinch training on a non-climbing evening followed by some basic dumbbell work. In the climbing community better climbers are talking to newbie climbers to focus on technique first and then on finger strength. You don’t need a climbing gym, as all exercise variations can be done with regular free weights and your body weight. Just looking for safe and reliable ways to train the fingers. All of your effort goes into maintaining a strict crimp, and that allows you to best overload the finger muscles that hold a crimp. I generally climb v5, 11b-11c outside and I can only pull 40-45lbs for 10 reps and it feels like it's working my climbing muscles a lot harder than doing deadlifts with the tension block with 90-100lbs. Either that, or what I do (when I have the option to do so in my current frustratingly scheduled work-life balance) is train finger strength in the morning/noon before a climbing session in the afternoon/evening. Dec 21, 2022 · In climbing, when your fingers fail, the rest of your body falls. I think that’s pretty common and so the “easy” solution is to continue to climb and train for finger strength. Training your crushing grip strength as part of a well rounded hand/forearm prehab/strength protocol is great, training it as a substitute for climbing is not. If you want to start working out then I'd begin with 3x20 barbell finger curls. If you really want to see progress on the fingerboard, maybe some weeks of light training with it will make you able to hang with more weight. Jul 8, 2024 · In order to increase your stats, you should include a rock climbing grip training routine that puts emphasis on grip and finger strength. A hang board allows for a well structured workout, practical climbing grips, and allow for more weight. Some of the training exercises require rock-climbing grip training equipment or other exercise tools but most of them can be found in your local climbing gym or inexpensively online. The crux of the "climbing as primarily a strength sport" idea is that most people can acquire the climbing skill over enough time to climb hard (lets say V-double digit) but many fewer people will be able to build that appropriate amount of elite finger and hand strength. You should take it easy, and don't push it. Some climbers suggest waiting until you can comfortably climb at V4, while others recommend waiting for at least two years of climbing experience. This is why training to strengthen your fingers is crucial if you want to take your climbing skills to He makes this video super complicated with a title "how to get stronger fingers". But finger strength is only one of the many variables that allows you to grip bad holds while climbing. Is there any research if such type of training translates to improved grip or fingers strength? Have any of you found this exercises Recently got into rock climbing. The drop in max strength might be because that way of testing finger strength is unusual for you now - f. I believe having greater awareness has helped me apply my strength gains more easily. How forearm training improves our climbing? I'll start that by forearm training I don't mean any types of static hangs/holds but rather exercises like dumbbell (wrist) curls , reverse curls, wrist rotation etc. If you are moderately new to climbing and your finger-, pull- and body strengths are equally good or bad. Exercises: max hangs for multiple grips (e. Dec 18, 2020 · Grip strength is one of the most critical aspects that differentiates a mediocre climber from an experienced one. Combining a finger program with mental conditioning and movement training can further optimize per Aug 14, 2019 · Siegrist spoke with Climbing to discuss possible injuries to beware of while training finger strength, as well as how to prevent and mitigate these injuries. Anecdotally, I have a buddy who can three finger drag 6 mil all daybut he sucks at Mar 10, 2023 · For most climbers, certainly the trained ones, finger training has tended to mean doing weighted hangs on a 20mm edge for either 7 or 10 seconds. You really don't want a finger injury in your first few months of climbing. I'm hanging a tension block and a resistance band from a gymnastic ring and doing /r/GripTraining is a resource for anyone wanting stronger hands, bigger forearms, or to compete in the sport of grip. I am planning to start finger training, and I'm wondering how I can supplement my climbing with finger training without it getting in the way of actual climbing. My guess is that a 2-3 rep max weight strict pull up on a 20mm edge is probably the best predictor for overall climbing performance. Has anyone trained wrist or forearm strength in particular and noticed useful carry over to improvements in climbing? Has anybody has success with training this longer term? I recently see increasing content online relating to isolated training of the wrists via forearm training inspired by forearm training tools and drills with the wrist wrench and heavy roller style exercises from the likes Reddit's rock climbing training community. I came from a background of some other sports so I felt like I had a good baseline of strength that improved over time through climbing as well. From what I've seen of weightlifting things, the general consensus is that low intensity, high reps is better for tendon strength. I'm not looking for rapid results or anything. Your finger stress should come from climbing and over doing it is asking for an injury This is a list of 12 great training exercises that come from training books, interviews with professional climbers, social media, Reddit and some of my climbing friends. r/griptraining is a super knowledgable community and has a section in the sidebar specifically addressing grip training for climbing. I use both, but as for finger strength, all my gains have been from hang board sessions. Also notice how the excersises work the antagonistic (opposing) muscles in your hands and forearms, this helps to prevent repetitive strain injuries. Dedicated to increasing all our knowledge about how to better improve at our sport. Finger training Hello. That said, grip strength for climbing is a bit different as its locking you fingers and not crushing in your hand. If you identify a specific weakness, programing in 15 minutes to address that weakness Thanks for this, inspired me to swap from barbell finger rolls to tension block finger curls on a lat pull down machine. Learn how to develop stronger fingers and tendons for climbing. This will help condition your forearms and fingers for finger training. Probably also campus boarding on small rungs?. Reddit's rock climbing training community. Apr 24, 2023 · Enthusiasm for this ‘new’ training method has exploded, as attention is drawn to the incredible feats of strength happening at the intersection of rock climbing and grip sport (Yves Gravelle, Tanner Merkle and others), while at the same time, suspension type fingerboards and grip tools have become far more available. For crimps I worked on finger strength, for slopes should I practice palming basketballs? Obviously, early on you want to take it easy because you haven't built up the foundation strength, but even pros hurt tendons. Your fingers are all tendons and it takes a long time to build tendon strength, so the advice I got was to keep climbing but once they hurt, stop climbing crimpy routes for the day. Additional strength training, especially for your fingers, isn’t recommended until you have at least a year of regular climbing. Dive into the world of hangboard training for the most effective way to strengthen your grip! For now I'd mostly recommend just climbing with a focus on technique and making sure to do crimpy routes every session. Of course training specific things helps a lot too. Questions for climbers/coaches: Generally, what do you think? Useful in sports like climbing and martial arts, grip training will carry over to many aspects of every day life. Finger strength in climbing is often less about grip strength and more about how much force your pulleys and tendons can handle. Tendons don't strengthen that fast. Linking with the above assessments, you can attempt a more in-depth analysis of finger strength to determine which grips may be inhibiting your pinch strength: Dragging with fingers straight: for large, wide, slopey pinches. This may or may not help but climbing requires a lot of finger/hand/forearm strength. As this is 100% right i have focused on improving technique in the past year and made a lot of gains there but here comes the question. Check it out! The reason I like this is because despite their being merit to “just climbing” instead of training finger strength in isolation, I feel quite strongly a lot of new climbers at modern gyms will end up under training their fingers due to the heavy use of jugs and slopers. However, there is no one-size-fits-all recommendation for when to start finger training. Hangboards don't need 10 different pocket combinations to work. You can learn a lot about your actual pull up strength and finger strength by combining the two exercises. Built a little routine to train it, want some critique. Climbing 5 months is way to early to train fingers specifically, finger strength should still be coming naturally for the first 1 or 2 years. But it's not something you can boost. All other factors aside, reaching your potential on rock depends on building up enough resilience in your fingers. Useful in sports like climbing and martial arts, grip training will carry over to many aspects of every day life. 62x BW 1rm chinup and working on OAC) ? Edit: thank you for everyone who seriously answered! Apr 27, 2025 · This makes training finger strength in your fingers completely different than other parts of your body. Second the pinch training at the start of a session. Training finger strength, weighted pull ups, shoulder stability/strength, and flexibility all helped me improve. Grip strength is without a doubt one of the most important aspects of rock climbing. Sloper strength is one of the weirdest things to train. Apr 25, 2023 · It has been shown that forearm strength and power are important to bouldering performance 1. How climbers get STRONG fingers (3 methods) Emil Abrahamsson 255K subscribers Subscribed Jun 15, 2023 · Supportive Training for Pinches Pinch strength is a complex beast, it’s not just about being strong in the thumb, the wrists come into play and you also need strong fingers to maximize the range of gripping angles. Use our weekly Q&A posts for your questions, routines, exercises, reviews of equipment you use, grip accomplishments, technique/training tips, grip sport news, grip videos/articles, etc. These are relatively small, light muscles. 11- sport climbing level in Colorado. Pull ups on small edges are an awesome exercise that is super underrated. Not a very exciting answer, I know, but just be patient. You aren't limited by finer strength. Otherwise there will be a high risk of injury You'll train finger strength by climbing problems that are too difficult for you at the moment. Your grip is giving out because you need to improve your technique, not because you need to improve your grip. com Jan 26, 2024 · It’s important to allow your fingers to adapt and strengthen naturally through consistent climbing. Isolating is Jan 2, 2023 · There's no getting around the importance of finger strength for climbing. This will really build finger strength and core, as you should be fighting to stay afloat. If you think about the last few times you fell Apr 7, 2024 · Introduction to Arm-Lifting finger strength training Finger strength training is essential if you want to improve your climbing. It's not just the "fingers" you're training, but the forearm flexors, connective tissues, energy systems, and neurological adaptations. So yeah- 3 finger drag will help, but if you don't have the core/shoulders to press down on the slopers while moving your body around them in space it won't matter. Sorry for the wall of Apr 23, 2024 · We can all agree finger strength is the No. Finger Strength Training I’d like some feedback on integrating hangboarding to my climbing/training routine. If you have the requisite strength level to campus board safely, IMO that's a better tool that hits most of the same aspects of climbing strength; however, for at home training or if you simply don't have access to a campus board, finger pull ups can be a good exercise. We cover our favorite finger training methods, key principles to follow, how to apply your strength to the rock, how to avoid finger injuries, the power of consistency, and much more. Someone with good core strength will be able to use that far away foothold on a steep wall and gain a little strength back in their arms whereas someone with poor core strength is only going to drain their strength more. Initially, it was used for pinch blocks to isolate the thumb more effectively, but soon, climbers realized they could also use this approach for regular edges to spice up their finger strength training! The best climbing coaches and athletes, including Lattice Training, Tyler Nelson, and Yves Gravelle, use this state-of-the-art Jan 12, 2022 · Some climbers will naturally have strong thumbs, and some will have strong (or weaker) fingers. You could look up different finger routines specific to climbers and see if that would help. Climbing and pull exercises alone can be pretty taxing without additional training. Jan 26, 2024 · By incorporating the No-Hang Hangboarding Routine into your training program and following the key principles, you can expect to see significant improvements in finger strength, forearm endurance, grip strength, and overall climbing abilities. I know that building finger strength takes time and patience, but I'm willing to put in the work. I'm focusing on exercises that target my finger flexor muscles, such as hangboarding, campus board training, and finger rolls. I typically use a hang gripper for thumb strength (pinches) and for warm up. Muscles can be trained and strengthened relatively fast. Your fingers are the means by which you directly engage the rock, and finger strength is usually the weakest link in your chain of physical abilities. Feb 24, 2023 · Finger strength, though critical to climbing performance, is just one component to climbing hard. climb harder - ideas and structured training to get better at climbing Reddit's rock climbing training community. In this episode, Jesse and I share our top tips and pitfalls when it comes to building functional finger strength for climbing. There is *some* overlap between grip training and finger training (climbing-specific) but, if you're looking to improve your ability to pull down on small holds, spring loaded grip training tools are likely a waste of your time/capacity to recover. But most finger strength training research uses 22-25mm edges, and these edge depths, especially the 25mm, make more sense for recruitment than smaller edges. Training with weight swinging tools (heavy clubs, kettlebell, mace) are good tools to add as a general fingers to wrist to elbow to shoulder girdle mechanics and in my experience over the last year of expirimenting with them has been great for upper body mechanics and mobility and forearm strength for sure. Of course holding a tough crimp requires a lot of forearm activation but more likely you are more limited by what your fingers can support. There's nothing wrong with training pull ups, but technique is the most important thing to learn in the beginning. This will increase fore arm strength and wrist stability. Eventually over time the tendon strength will build to a level where it’s safe to use hang boards to improve finger strength. If you tear one you're pretty fucked. Climbing multiple times a week does wonders for finger strength if you focus on working problems that require a lot of finger strength. But increased strength on its own did not equal increased grades for me. Mar 26, 2025 · Training strength usually requires isotonic exercises like pull-ups that involve moving the joint through its range of motion, so muscles get stronger at every angle. I think this is likely true from a statistical sense. How do you train specifically for sloper holds? I'm climbing in the 11a range but when it comes to big slopes I can't do much. Due to the limited availability of hangboards and weights, you'll have to get creative with this one. How much time does a mild finger tendon injury need to heal while “at rest”? Can low-grade climbing help encourage my finger to heal faster? What back or pull exercises can I do instead of pull-ups/toes-to-bar to continue strength training for climbing? Can finger rolls be beneficial with a hurt finger or do I risk injuring further? If you’re training finger strength (hangboard), always train open hand just to avoid injury and because it’s the one you and most people are worse at. Use our weekly Q&A posts for your questions, routines, exercises, reviews of equipment you use, grip accomplishments, technique/training tips, grip sport news, grip I’m a beginner in climbing and I was wondering if there were workouts to increase your finger strength in the weight room. I have a good back and pulling strength but lack of grip strength is holding me back. Hand grippers do not build tendon strength or neurological at all. Do that for 6 weeks then take a de-load week. Bouldering and System Training The short and simple advice for improving pinch strength, along with the associated techniques, is simply to gravitate toward problems that offer Finger strength training is not recommended without climbing 2x or more a week for a year due to the historical use of hangboards at body weight load. Nov 21, 2024 · Achy tendons and joints are the bane of hard-training athletes. You are limited by poor technique which puts a lot more load on your fingers than is necessary. I wouldn't do much direct grip training though. It's easier to safely improve technique than finger strength at this point in your climbing and will pay off more down the road. But strength gains never hurt anyone either. Oct 18, 2024 · Strength Training Program for Climbers This is a strength training program for intermediate-level climbers who want to get stronger to help improve climbing performance. I've been doing a lot of research on finger strength training, and I've come up with a plan to help me reach my goals. In climbing, the fingers remain relatively static after grabbing a hold, so it’s best to train finger strength in the most common positions: Nov 9, 2022 · Methods of Training Finger Strength There are essentially 4 different methods in which you can train your finger strength: Climbing: Bouldering or climbing on a board Campusing: Either on a campus board or boulder wall Fingerboarding: Isometric hangs Lifting: Taken from grip strength sports However each method comes with its own level of precision in training, in other words how easy it is to See full list on trainingforclimbing. It has been shown to reduce injury risk by exposing the fingers to supramaximal loads in a controlled environment and to improve performance by allowing you to climb harder and more frequently 1. hklk kkxu velhoopx utreb qsfnrag gzzkuuy gnnh ijfajhfu cmy kvzkfkwe