On a trip away from Fontainebleau and Ticino, it's often just you and your project. No warm-up boulders or easy routes in sight. Professional climber Alexander Megos explained to us how best to prepare your fingers and body for such situations. He always keeps two things in his car for this purpose – a yoga mat and a fingerboard. Here he explains how he uses both.
Alexander Megos. He spends a large part of the year traveling, often on projects where there's nothing around to keep his hands warm. He's regularly asked how he protects his ring ligaments and how he stays fit. For Lacrux, he's written down his routine, from the morning mat to the hanging protocol in the tree.
Alex takes over from here.
Warm-up or no warm-up?
Anyone who's ever stood at a boulder and found nothing to warm up on knows the situation: there are no warm-up boulders, the project is incredibly difficult, and the downclimb, in the worst-case scenario, is a mossy slab that doesn't help at all. You warm up anyway – or you don't, with the well-known consequences for ligaments and tendons.
So, what's the best way to warm up? Jump straight into the project and try out moves? Ugh. Isn't there another way? Yes. Your friend and loyal companion, always there to support you: the fingerboard. I'm constantly asked how I stay fit, warm up, and even train on longer trips. Generally, there are two things I ALWAYS have with me on EVERY trip: my fingerboard and my yoga mat.
Yoga isn't just for the elderly.
Stretching isn't just important for older people. For me, my morning yoga session is the start of a good day and the beginning of my warm-up. I take half an hour to stretch, do handstands, and, most importantly, get my lower body—legs and hips—really warmed up. For me, it's two things: a warm-up on the one hand, and a short mobility and balancing session on the other.
Yoga can also be practiced on rest days. Despite strenuous exercises like handstands, it doesn't negatively affect climbing performance, provided it's practiced fairly regularly. "Somewhat regularly" means every day, or at least every other day. Once a week is better than nothing, but in my opinion it's not enough.
Picture of stretching on the yoga mat?
The “Lemon Squeezer” for warming up
The second tool I bring on every trip is more climbing-specific. I use the fingerboard not only for warming up, but also for training – namely when the weather makes the boulder shimmer with water and the mossy downclimb is more saturated than a sponge 100 meters deep off the Kalymnian coast.
So here are a few tips on how I use my fingerboard to avoid a visit to the orthopedist.
Every start is SLOW
I attach my fingerboard to a tree, a branch, a ladder, the car, a boulder, in a garage, or even my foot. Whatever's handy. Then I slowly start pulling on it – just like I would indoors – so my fingers get used to the pressure. I do this with each finger individually, but always with very light pressure. The Lemon Squeezer even has a special mono-pocket for this, a little homage to the Frankenjura region.
I also enjoy doing finger curls, and when I'm a bit warmer, hanging exercises with two hands and finally with one hand. This ensures that the initial stress on the fingers is very controlled, and the risk of injury decreases.
When the passage falls through the water
Sometimes you have to get a little creative, but often you can find enough building materials to hang up a fingerboard somewhere. After a classic warm-up, I like to do a few fingerboard exercises to keep myself in shape during the trip.
For me, the classic is a 7/3 hanging protocol plus pull-ups, ideally one-armed – optionally the second hand can also be used.
The 7/3 protocol in practice
The 7/3 protocol is actually quite simple: hang for 7 seconds, rest for 3 seconds, and repeat that five times in a row. That's one set. I do four to six repetitions of that, with one or two hands. Spoiler alert: it's harder with one hand. Anyone who can do it one-armed on a 20-23 mm bar is pretty much world-class.
Then a 2 to 3 minute break, then the whole thing again. In total, about four to six sets.
Pull-ups: The number should seem easy in the first set.
Pull-ups are pretty clear to everyone, I think. Three to four sets are ideal, the number of repetitions depending on your fitness level. The important thing is to achieve the same number of repetitions in each set. So choose a number that feels relatively easy in the first set.
The first time, the following day will be unpleasant.
That's all there is to it. The whole thing doesn't take long, but it keeps you fit.
Warning: If you're doing this for the first time, you won't be able to climb well the next day. So get used to it slowly, see how your body reacts, and stop if it hurts.
Don't: If it hurts, just tape it up and keep going until you've got a pulled ligament in the corner. Just kidding. Stop before that happens.
More tips from Alex:
Alex “Lemon Squeezer” by Megos & Woods in beech, maple, and cherry. | Image: Sonya Tymchenko
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