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climberoon
Mar 11, 2013, 10:02 PM
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Is there an efficient way to improve your finger strength without using a fingerboard?
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shotwell
Mar 12, 2013, 2:49 AM
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climberoon wrote: Is there an efficient way to improve your finger strength without using a fingerboard?
Bouldering.
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namoclimber
Mar 14, 2013, 11:27 PM
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Make something that looks like a finger board and call it something else.
but really, just climb lots and try things above your level. Really hard moves even ifonly1 or two moves at a time on smaller or harder holds.(oh wait that's bouldering never mind).
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fitzontherocks
Mar 15, 2013, 2:57 AM
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I do "finger curls." No, really. A 40 lb (or whatever works for you) hand weight in each hand. Sit. Lay your arms on your thighs, palms up, and open and close your fingers with the weights in each hand. Let the weight roll down your fingers as far as you can without dropping it. I do two sets of 20.
Or you could just climb more.
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redlude97
Mar 15, 2013, 3:20 AM
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Campus board 
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camhead
Mar 15, 2013, 4:43 PM
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fitzontherocks wrote: I do "finger curls." No, really. A 40 lb (or whatever works for you) hand weight in each hand. Sit. Lay your arms on your thighs, palms up, and open and close your fingers with the weights in each hand. Let the weight roll down your fingers as far as you can without dropping it. I do two sets of 20. Or you could just climb more.
This is the best answer of the lot, but for effective hypertrophy, you will need WAY more than 40 lbs in each hand, which is only about enough for an average sized male to warm up. You may as well just hang off of door jams for intervals.
Effective heavy finger rolls require an Olympic style squat rack, bar, and weights ranging from your body weight to 200 lbs or so. Obviously, this is great if you have access to a gym, but not a hangboard.
The other obvious solution, if you do not have a hangboard, is to make one out of strips of sanded wood. It's pretty simple, and allows you to tailor specifically to the sizes that you need to work on.
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redlude97
Mar 15, 2013, 5:19 PM
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camhead wrote: fitzontherocks wrote: I do "finger curls." No, really. A 40 lb (or whatever works for you) hand weight in each hand. Sit. Lay your arms on your thighs, palms up, and open and close your fingers with the weights in each hand. Let the weight roll down your fingers as far as you can without dropping it. I do two sets of 20. Or you could just climb more. This is the best answer of the lot, but for effective hypertrophy, you will need WAY more than 40 lbs in each hand, which is only about enough for an average sized male to warm up. You may as well just hang off of door jams for intervals. Effective heavy finger rolls require an Olympic style squat rack, bar, and weights ranging from your body weight to 200 lbs or so. Obviously, this is great if you have access to a gym, but not a hangboard. The other obvious solution, if you do not have a hangboard, is to make one out of strips of sanded wood. It's pretty simple, and allows you to tailor specifically to the sizes that you need to work on.
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camhead
Mar 15, 2013, 5:28 PM
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redlude97 wrote: camhead wrote: fitzontherocks wrote: I do "finger curls." No, really. A 40 lb (or whatever works for you) hand weight in each hand. Sit. Lay your arms on your thighs, palms up, and open and close your fingers with the weights in each hand. Let the weight roll down your fingers as far as you can without dropping it. I do two sets of 20. Or you could just climb more. This is the best answer of the lot, but for effective hypertrophy, you will need WAY more than 40 lbs in each hand, which is only about enough for an average sized male to warm up. You may as well just hang off of door jams for intervals. Effective heavy finger rolls require an Olympic style squat rack, bar, and weights ranging from your body weight to 200 lbs or so. Obviously, this is great if you have access to a gym, but not a hangboard. The other obvious solution, if you do not have a hangboard, is to make one out of strips of sanded wood. It's pretty simple, and allows you to tailor specifically to the sizes that you need to work on. Do you have any evidence that finger rolls actually help with climbing specific hand strength? IIRC in previous threads where this came up the consensus is that it doesn't actually help. The only other anecdotal evidence I have is of a friend who weight trains alot who can finger curl 300+ points but can't even come close to "hanging" on one of my hangboard workouts, let alone climbing.
No evidence. Todd Skinner, Steve Bechtel, and Eric Hörst have all gone into the details of how heavy finer rolls build finger and forearm srength, but that's all I know.
Out of curiosity, how much does your 300 lb finger-curl friend weigh?
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fitzontherocks
Mar 15, 2013, 6:01 PM
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Works for me. Your results may vary.
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redlude97
Mar 15, 2013, 6:11 PM
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camhead wrote: redlude97 wrote: camhead wrote: fitzontherocks wrote: I do "finger curls." No, really. A 40 lb (or whatever works for you) hand weight in each hand. Sit. Lay your arms on your thighs, palms up, and open and close your fingers with the weights in each hand. Let the weight roll down your fingers as far as you can without dropping it. I do two sets of 20. Or you could just climb more. This is the best answer of the lot, but for effective hypertrophy, you will need WAY more than 40 lbs in each hand, which is only about enough for an average sized male to warm up. You may as well just hang off of door jams for intervals. Effective heavy finger rolls require an Olympic style squat rack, bar, and weights ranging from your body weight to 200 lbs or so. Obviously, this is great if you have access to a gym, but not a hangboard. The other obvious solution, if you do not have a hangboard, is to make one out of strips of sanded wood. It's pretty simple, and allows you to tailor specifically to the sizes that you need to work on. Do you have any evidence that finger rolls actually help with climbing specific hand strength? IIRC in previous threads where this came up the consensus is that it doesn't actually help. The only other anecdotal evidence I have is of a friend who weight trains alot who can finger curl 300+ points but can't even come close to "hanging" on one of my hangboard workouts, let alone climbing. No evidence. Todd Skinner, Steve Bechtel, and Eric Hörst have all gone into the details of how heavy finer rolls build finger and forearm srength, but that's all I know. Out of curiosity, how much does your 300 lb finger-curl friend weigh?
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shotwell
Mar 15, 2013, 6:17 PM
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redlude97 wrote: camhead wrote: redlude97 wrote: camhead wrote: fitzontherocks wrote: I do "finger curls." No, really. A 40 lb (or whatever works for you) hand weight in each hand. Sit. Lay your arms on your thighs, palms up, and open and close your fingers with the weights in each hand. Let the weight roll down your fingers as far as you can without dropping it. I do two sets of 20. Or you could just climb more. This is the best answer of the lot, but for effective hypertrophy, you will need WAY more than 40 lbs in each hand, which is only about enough for an average sized male to warm up. You may as well just hang off of door jams for intervals. Effective heavy finger rolls require an Olympic style squat rack, bar, and weights ranging from your body weight to 200 lbs or so. Obviously, this is great if you have access to a gym, but not a hangboard. The other obvious solution, if you do not have a hangboard, is to make one out of strips of sanded wood. It's pretty simple, and allows you to tailor specifically to the sizes that you need to work on. Do you have any evidence that finger rolls actually help with climbing specific hand strength? IIRC in previous threads where this came up the consensus is that it doesn't actually help. The only other anecdotal evidence I have is of a friend who weight trains alot who can finger curl 300+ points but can't even come close to "hanging" on one of my hangboard workouts, let alone climbing. No evidence. Todd Skinner, Steve Bechtel, and Eric Hörst have all gone into the details of how heavy finer rolls build finger and forearm srength, but that's all I know. Out of curiosity, how much does your 300 lb finger-curl friend weigh? 170ish. I weigh 175-180. I generally follow Eva Lopez's philosophy that using smaller edges in lieu of added weight is just as effective, and I guess maybe my buddy just can't hang onto those edges as well.
We're about the same weight and I'm always curious about hangboarding results versus results from targeted bouldering/movement training. What is your height and age? What kind of improvement in max ability sport climbing or bouldering have you seen through hangboarding?
I'm not out to start an argument; just trying to decide whether I want to stick with my current training philosophy or change things up!
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camhead
Mar 15, 2013, 6:38 PM
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redlude97 wrote: camhead wrote: redlude97 wrote: camhead wrote: fitzontherocks wrote: I do "finger curls." No, really. A 40 lb (or whatever works for you) hand weight in each hand. Sit. Lay your arms on your thighs, palms up, and open and close your fingers with the weights in each hand. Let the weight roll down your fingers as far as you can without dropping it. I do two sets of 20. Or you could just climb more. This is the best answer of the lot, but for effective hypertrophy, you will need WAY more than 40 lbs in each hand, which is only about enough for an average sized male to warm up. You may as well just hang off of door jams for intervals. Effective heavy finger rolls require an Olympic style squat rack, bar, and weights ranging from your body weight to 200 lbs or so. Obviously, this is great if you have access to a gym, but not a hangboard. The other obvious solution, if you do not have a hangboard, is to make one out of strips of sanded wood. It's pretty simple, and allows you to tailor specifically to the sizes that you need to work on. Do you have any evidence that finger rolls actually help with climbing specific hand strength? IIRC in previous threads where this came up the consensus is that it doesn't actually help. The only other anecdotal evidence I have is of a friend who weight trains alot who can finger curl 300+ points but can't even come close to "hanging" on one of my hangboard workouts, let alone climbing. No evidence. Todd Skinner, Steve Bechtel, and Eric Hörst have all gone into the details of how heavy finer rolls build finger and forearm srength, but that's all I know. Out of curiosity, how much does your 300 lb finger-curl friend weigh? 170ish. I weigh 175-180. I generally follow Eva Lopez's philosophy that using smaller edges in lieu of added weight is just as effective, and I guess maybe my buddy just can't hang onto those edges as well.
Yeah, I agree with you on that, too, though I do my fair share of adding weight, too. As for your friend, it is obvious that he just illustrates the fact that you can't improve your climbing by hangboarding, if you have not already built a solid, multi-year technical base.
This kind of relates to Shotwell's question about hangboarding versus normal gym bouldering (variety of techniques, some projecting, some circuits, some 4x4s). For me, both are essential, but I'm coming to get more comfortable with taking a month off each year or so for just hangboarding (though this year, the hangboarding was forced because of a broken foot).
Oh, and some stats that Shotwell was asking about:
I'm 34, 165 lbs. Was a .12c or so climber for nearly a decade, and dealt with some injury issues: shoulder aggravation, and some sort of tendon injury once every couple years (I think I've had four pulley strains that required me to take significant time off).
I started doing specific hangboarding exercises about 2 years ago, and as of last fall, was getting to be a fairly well-rounded .13a/b climber (face, slab, enduro, bouldery, crack). My bouldering did not improve as significantly, but I don't boulder as much outside, and my gym does not grade problems, so I'm not ever sure what level I'm at. But my flashes got a bit better when I did go bouldering.
Most important, I have not had any overuse injuries despite moving up through grades more quickly than I did in the past decade.
Hope that helps.
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redlude97
Mar 15, 2013, 6:42 PM
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shotwell wrote: redlude97 wrote: camhead wrote: redlude97 wrote: camhead wrote: fitzontherocks wrote: I do "finger curls." No, really. A 40 lb (or whatever works for you) hand weight in each hand. Sit. Lay your arms on your thighs, palms up, and open and close your fingers with the weights in each hand. Let the weight roll down your fingers as far as you can without dropping it. I do two sets of 20. Or you could just climb more. This is the best answer of the lot, but for effective hypertrophy, you will need WAY more than 40 lbs in each hand, which is only about enough for an average sized male to warm up. You may as well just hang off of door jams for intervals. Effective heavy finger rolls require an Olympic style squat rack, bar, and weights ranging from your body weight to 200 lbs or so. Obviously, this is great if you have access to a gym, but not a hangboard. The other obvious solution, if you do not have a hangboard, is to make one out of strips of sanded wood. It's pretty simple, and allows you to tailor specifically to the sizes that you need to work on. Do you have any evidence that finger rolls actually help with climbing specific hand strength? IIRC in previous threads where this came up the consensus is that it doesn't actually help. The only other anecdotal evidence I have is of a friend who weight trains alot who can finger curl 300+ points but can't even come close to "hanging" on one of my hangboard workouts, let alone climbing. No evidence. Todd Skinner, Steve Bechtel, and Eric Hörst have all gone into the details of how heavy finer rolls build finger and forearm srength, but that's all I know. Out of curiosity, how much does your 300 lb finger-curl friend weigh? 170ish. I weigh 175-180. I generally follow Eva Lopez's philosophy that using smaller edges in lieu of added weight is just as effective, and I guess maybe my buddy just can't hang onto those edges as well. We're about the same weight and I'm always curious about hangboarding results versus results from targeted bouldering/movement training. What is your height and age? What kind of improvement in max ability sport climbing or bouldering have you seen through hangboarding? I'm not out to start an argument; just trying to decide whether I want to stick with my current training philosophy or change things up!
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