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

stimulate gains in finger strength via bouldering.
    Select a boulder problem that appears to be strenuous, but not technically difficult. Favor overhanging problems, which will place more weight on your hands and maximize the training effect. When bouldering indoors, try to locate—or consider setting—problems that isolate a specific grip position. For example, a problem that possesses a lot of crimp holds will be best for training crimp strength. Attempt to climb the problem two or three times with sufficient rest between each ascent to allow a good effort. As a guideline, rest for at least three minutes between attempts of short bouldering problems and five minutes or more between longer problems.
    Move on to another strenuous-looking problem that appears to target a different grip position, such as pinch, two finger pockets, open hand, and such. Ascend this problem two or three times, with adequate rest between attempts. Continue bouldering for thirty to ninety minutes, and then finish your finger training with one of the isolation exercises described below.
HYPERGRAVITY BOULDERING
     
    Advanced climbers with several years of bouldering under their belt eventually reach a point where they no longer achieve significant gains in finger strength despite regular, hard bouldering. Fortunately, hypergravity bouldering and the HIT workout (described later in this chapter) are powerful training strategies that will yield further gains in high-end finger strength. To do this, you’ll need to invest in a ten-pound weight belt (a five-pound belt for climbers weighing less than one hundred pounds) or fill a fanny pack with five or ten pounds of scuba diver’s weights (check TrainingForClimbing. com for a current weight belt retailer). Here is the best strategy for engaging in hypergravity bouldering—this is an indoor training strategy only!

     
    Hypergravity bouldering with a twenty-pound weight belt.
     

    Overview of Fingerboard Training
     
    Since its advent in the mid-1980s, the fingerboard has become the standard apparatus for performing pull-ups and straight-armed hangs. What’s more, the fingerboard is economical (less than $100) and can mount in just about any apartment or home. So if you don’t have the space or resources for a home climbing wall, consider a fingerboard mandatory. In fact, even those with home walls find the fingerboard an excellent tool for warm-ups and the many pull-muscle exercises to be discussed later.
    The obvious strengths of fingerboard training are its ease of access and the ability to isolate a wide variety of grip positions. Advanced climbers progressively add weight to their body (hypergravity) to train maximum grip strength with a series of brief, high-intensity hangs. The strategy for training endurance requires a lighter load (less than body weight), best achieved by placing your feet on a chair (or footholds on the wall) so that you can circulate your grip around the board for several minutes in a manner similar to climbing.
    To maximize effectiveness of fingerboard training, it is important to know about the grip-relax repeating sequence (GRRS) and to try to mimic this action in your training. Consider that it’s a good climbing tactic to move quickly through cruxes and to get on and off difficult holds (the grip-relax) as fast as possible. This conserves energy reserves and even allows for brief, but invaluable steps in recovery between each grip. The physiology behind this process relates to the fact that blood flow is occluded (closed off) during peak contractions and resumes only when the muscle relaxes. Inevitably, if you have to grip a hold maximally to stick it, then the blood flow in your forearms is occluded and your grip will ultimately fail in a matter of fifteen seconds or less. Given a brief “relax” period between each maximum grip (the few seconds while your other hand grips), however, you can climb on for a surprisingly long time. Top climbers use the GRRS to keep them going and going up the most improbable-looking routes.

     
    Of course, a complete warm-up is imperative before any fingerboard training. Ideally, perform some light general exercise to elevate your heart rate and muscle temperature. Proceed to crank out a few sets of pull-ups along with gentle stretching of your fingers and upper body. Complete your warm-up with some self-massage of the fingers, forearms, and arms, and consider reinforcing the tendons at the base of your fingers with a