Training for Climbing, 2nd: The Definitive Guide to Improving Your Performance (How To Climb Series)

rubber doughnut is ineffective for increasing functional grip strength for climbing. Conversely, hanging on a fingerboard or bouldering on small, strenuous-to-grip handholds is very specific and, thus, highly effective training.

     
    Table 7.1 Classification of Finger- and Forearm-Training Exercises
     

    The degree to which a given exercise will produce gains in functional grip strength for climbing can be estimated by considering the following requirements. The more of these requirements an exercise meets, the more effective it will be at producing gains in usable grip strength.
    1. The exercise must be high intensity throughout the entire set. In climbing, higher intensity is created by increasing wall angle, decreasing hold size, or increasing hold spacing. Unfortunately, there’s a definite limit to how far you can go with each of these. Beyond a certain point, it’s more effective to increase intensity by adding weight to your body. Adding just ten pounds can make a huge difference in training intensity on overhanging walls and can yield a leap in finger strength in just a couple of weeks. Interestingly, very few climbers are aware of this fact!
    2. The exercise must produce rapid muscular failure, not failure due to technique. In the weight-lifting world, muscular failure in three to ten reps is considered ideal (though different texts prescribe slightly different values). This is also valid for climbing, but translates to strenuous climbing with failure in six to twenty total hand movements (three to ten moves per hand). In climbing, however, there’s always the lingering
     
    Table 7.2 Determining Specificity and Effectiveness of Common Finger-Strength-Training Exercises
     

question of whether failure resulted from muscle failure or failure of technique. Thus, the best exercise for training grip strength would reduce the technical requirements as much as possible and eliminate training of footwork or arm positions.
     
    3. The exercise must be specific to climbing positions and movements. The principle of specificity instructs us that strength gains resulting from a certain exercise are specific to situations involving similar position and movement. The greater the difference between the exercise and sport use, the less the strength will transfer. Thus, the best grip-strength-training exercises involve actual climbing movements, whereas an exercise performed while standing or hanging would transfer less.
    4. The exercise must focus on a specific grip position for an entire set. In climbing, the rock dictates a random use of varying grip positions. Since strength is specific to each grip position, such cycling of grips allows you to climb much longer than you could if you used the same grip repeatedly. That’s great if you are climbing for performance; however, it’s not ideal for training finger strength. That’s why a full season of climbing builds local forearm endurance but may leave you with about the same maximum grip strength as last year. Effective grip-strength training must hammer a specific grip position until failure. Due to the limited transfer of strength among grip positions, you’ll need to train several, including open hand, half crimp, full crimp, pinch, and the three two-finger pocket combinations or “teams.”
    Let’s examine seven exercises that will produce beneficial gains in finger strength. They are listed in order, from the most basic exercises appropriate for all climbers to the most highly targeted advanced exercises.
BOULDERING
     
    Bouldering is the most straightforward way to train grip strength. Without the constraints of a rope and gear, bouldering allows you to focus on climbing the hardest moves possible. Inherent to hard bouldering, however, are some limiting factors that diminish the potential to build maximum grip strength. Consider that technical difficulties may prevent you from climbing up to the point of muscular failure. Furthermore, the rock dictates the use of many different grip positions, thus, making it difficult to isolate a single grip position and work it to failure.
    Despite these limitations, bouldering should be a staple of your training program. It will build some functional strength while at the same time developing mental and technical skills. Consequently it’s a good training strategy to couple bouldering with one of the other finger-strength-training exercises described in this section. Use the following training strategy to best