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skeates
Nov 5, 2004, 10:48 PM
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I have been climibg (indoor) for about 3 months now with about 3 weeks off inbetween.
I was pretty much just thrown in the deepend and told to do sit starts and so fourth on 4c's 5a's from the start. I am not complianing I am rather glad as I have improved quite rapidly.
I want to improve my finger strenght more for those crimpers has any one got any good tips on how to do this. I know most things just take practice, but was wondering if there is any speeder way of doing it.
Thanks
Alexis
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bensnyder
Nov 5, 2004, 11:09 PM
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Do doorjam pull ups and/or get a hangboard. Be sure to use the open grip as much as possible when training; it is less stressful on tendons and stregnth gains in the open hand grip translate into stregnth gains in the crimp grip, but not the other way around. As you get better, train with smaller and smaller holds or use a hypergravity belt. Stregnth, and not endurance, should be the key if you are doing bouldering.
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tisar
Nov 5, 2004, 11:44 PM
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In reply to: Do doorjam pull ups and/or get a hangboard. Be sure to use the open grip as much as possible when training; it is less stressful on tendons and stregnth gains in the open hand grip translate into stregnth gains in the crimp grip, but not the other way around. As you get better, train with smaller and smaller holds or use a hypergravity belt. Stregnth, and not endurance, should be the key if you are doing bouldering.
Be careful with that! Three months isn't near to be enough for your tendons to accumulate. I've been climbing for almost a year now on a regular basis (i.e. two times a week) and I still have probs with my fingers just to stand the abuse. No hangboard or doorjam pullups included.
Take it easy and start to work on footwork, technique, edurance, whatever. Your fingers will appreciate it and your tendons will slowly get used to the extreme exposure they'll find in climbing itself. Watch your muscles grow and keep in mind that tendons and ligaments are just lazy b*tches that will follow your deeds with a certain offset. Untill you're going for the upper 5.10's (don't know what comparable boulder ratings are about) you won't need it anyway.
Speeding allways includes the risk of injuries. I prefer climbing... :wink:
Just take a little care.
- Daniel
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bensnyder
Nov 6, 2004, 12:14 AM
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Yeah tisars def right...be careful. Start working on finger stregnth in earnest when you can climb 6c/7a (some would wait until they can climb 7b/7c - but i am not suggesting here to avoid it completely; rather just be super cautious with it). Just an afterthought: if your climbing 4c/5a i would bet finger stregnth is not limiting your climbing ability. Its all technique - especially footwork. Look at the best climbers in your gym and notice how delicatly and precisely they work their feet and try to copy them a bit. You'll be climbing harder in not time if you focus on technique, because for new climbers it tends to be where the biggest gains can be made.
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curt
Nov 6, 2004, 12:58 AM
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I also agree with tisar and bensnyder. Intensive finger workouts done without a solid foundation of buliding up finger strength through regular climbing is a recipe for injuries.
Curt
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off_center
Nov 6, 2004, 1:55 AM
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Try using an open hand technique rather than crimping. By open hand, I mean keep your hand flat, curling just your joints near your fingernails when you grab a hold rather than having your fingertips close to your palm when you grab a hold. (If I had a digital camera I'd illustrate the difference).
Doing this when you can has multiple advantages. First, you get stronger hands: you are essentially applying a torque with you hand and by making the force that you have to counter (the rock) further from you pivot point (your hand) your fingers have to exert a larger moment. To exert a larger moment, they have to get stronger. Second, you're less prone to injury by keeping you hands open. You're not trying to hyper-extend you fingers like you are when you crimp on the same hold. Think about how many people you know or know of having hurt themselves in crimp position rather than in open hand position.
Obviously there will be times when you need the extra power to crimp, but you develop your strength with open hand technique, you'll be able to crimp harder when you need to crimp.
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curt
Nov 6, 2004, 2:35 AM
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In reply to: Try using an open hand technique rather than crimping.........you're less prone to injury by keeping you hands open. You're not trying to hyper-extend you fingers like you are when you crimp on the same hold. Think about how many people you know or know of having hurt themselves in crimp position rather than in open hand position.
This is total bullshit, by the way. But, it is a nice "old wives" tale.
Curt
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fracture
Nov 6, 2004, 3:35 AM
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In reply to: Think about how many people you know or know of having hurt themselves in crimp position rather than in open hand position.
'Round here, at least, most people I know seem to hurt themselves on two or one finger pockets, which you grip with an open position....
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jt512
Nov 6, 2004, 4:18 AM
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In reply to: In reply to: Think about how many people you know or know of having hurt themselves in crimp position rather than in open hand position. 'Round here, at least, most people I know seem to hurt themselves on two or one finger pockets, which you grip with an open position....
But I would think that that is because they're concentrating their weight on few fingers more than because it's open handed.
-Jay
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bensnyder
Nov 6, 2004, 4:23 AM
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Using the open hand grip instead of the crimp grip should help reduce the occurance of pulley tears. I don't think this is a wives' tale - the training articles ive read about figer stregnth say this is true and so does common sense - i cant really imagine tearing a pulley with an open handed grip (although I'm sure it's happened to somebody)...am I missing something?
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fracture
Nov 6, 2004, 4:49 AM
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In reply to: In reply to: In reply to: Think about how many people you know or know of having hurt themselves in crimp position rather than in open hand position. 'Round here, at least, most people I know seem to hurt themselves on two or one finger pockets, which you grip with an open position.... But I would think that that is because they're concentrating their weight on few fingers more than because it's open handed.
I'd imagine so. I was just commenting on the previous poster's anecdotal evidence.
I've heard the closed vs. open crimp thing a lot, but never seen numbers to support it, and most people seem to get hurt on pockets anyway, so I just hold onto the rock in whatever manner gives me the best chance of sending.
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hosh
Nov 6, 2004, 6:25 AM
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I say go ahead and do mono pocket pull ups like that Japaneese guy in the new issue of Climbing. rip your tendons right in half. See how many of your fingers you can tear in half then worry about foot work. (Just kidding) Yeah, working on finger strength can have it's apeal, but it's mre important to build a foundation of other skills (like footwork, mentioned several times before). And I was just kidding about all the mono pullups above. Work on the basics, worry about the intense specific trainings later.
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curt
Nov 6, 2004, 6:35 AM
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In reply to: Using the open hand grip instead of the crimp grip should help reduce the occurance of pulley tears. I don't think this is a wives' tale - the training articles ive read about figer stregnth say this is true and so does common sense - i cant really imagine tearing a pulley with an open handed grip (although I'm sure it's happened to somebody)...am I missing something?
That is not common sense, at all. When you crimp, the load is basically on the joint (bone to bone) and when you grip a hold with an open hand grip, the load is basically on the connective tissue, i.e. the tendons and pulleys. The only pulley failures I have had (as fracture alludes to) have occured when open hand gripping pockets--not when crimping.
Curt
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sustainedclimber
Nov 6, 2004, 7:05 AM
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I'm with Curt...I don't have any medical proof behind this, but I too have only experienced tendon injuries in an open grip position on shallow pockets. DAMN SHALLOW POCKETS!
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antigrav
Nov 6, 2004, 9:01 AM
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In reply to: I say go ahead and do mono pocket pull ups like that Japaneese guy in the new issue of Climbing. rip your tendons right in half. See how many of your fingers you can tear in half then worry about foot work. (Just kidding) ...
Hmm... Maybe not such a bad idea, seriously... Since the gospel seems to be to focus on footwork, why not get those fingers out of the way asap, then one really has to focus on the feet! By the time tendons et al are back in business, the feet should be walking circles around the hard routes...
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skeates
Nov 6, 2004, 11:37 AM
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Thanks for the carzy amount of replys it helps a lot.
Don't get me wrong i was not trying to just go for finger strnegth. I have been told and always try to owork on my foot work. I started climbig with two friends who have been climbing for over a year but they have gone home now so I alone as such. So I have taken a lot of advise from them.
I keep trying to push my self to do more difficult climbs so that I can improve more. Just getting to the stage were I can climb a 6a which would not have any crimps in it, but put a 5a infront of me were I have to match a small grip and I will not be able to do it.
So this is why I am trying to improve this.
Well thanks for the help guys and gals
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