So you start the training on the finger board

From a certain level of climbing a regular training on a finger board is very useful and effective. In today's guest article, Christoph Völker explains what it takes to get started in the world of fingerboard training.

A guest contribution by Christoph Völker from target10a

A good way to systematically improve your maximum strength and endurance is training on the training board. Therefore, it should be comprehensively informed about the correct installation site (important!), About warming up to the different training possibilities.

Because once the board hangs, it's not so easy to find access to meaningful training. Even after reading these lines, it will take some time until a certain routine and even later, a success in the climbing performance sets. Exercises on the fingerboard train very isolated the finger power. Climbing and bouldering are always necessary to bring the whole thing to the rock.

Here you should mount the finger board

One can not mention it often enough, but the first building block to successful training is a suitable place of attachment. And this is not in the basement or in the roof or garage. Except for hard-core like Tom randall and Pete Whittaker (see the following video).

Rather, a good place for a training board in the living room, in the kitchen or in the hallway is above a door.

Good places are there, where you can see the board constantly and can deal pleasantly during the breaks. For example, with the TV or the Internet or with a conversation with partners, friends or whoever. On the one hand, the constant eye contact with the training board reminds you that a training would be necessary, and on the other hand, the hurdle is not that great to start a workout in the evening, when the training board is in the living room anyway.

For the people with great discipline, it may also be possible to disappear in the cellar for an hour and to complete a unity there! But over the years, it is difficult to overcome this every time again to create! And even for the most disciplined among us, it's just better to do a workout in a pleasant place.

mounting height

Relatively important is the height at which the fretboard is mounted. The height depends on your own height and arm length. All handles of the board should be within easy reach. If you stick to the handles, the legs should be tightened only minimally to lift off the ground. On the one hand, this is important in order to train comfortably. On the other hand, in case of emergency, immediately contact with the ground should be possible again in order to avoid injuries.

My tip for determining the optimal height is therefore:

  1. Stand with your arms and fingers fully extended, under the appropriate spot and mark the top point. But while standing on the entire sole of the foot.
  2. From this mark, pull 5 down to 10 cm down.
  3. Now attach the top of the fingerboard at this point.

This ensures that all handles can be comfortably reached while standing. If necessary with something stand on the tiptoe. Considering that a healthy fingerboard technique requires a slight donning in the shoulder and elbow, this will make you stand out on the ground - without having to put on your legs! You then float only a few inches above the ground. Perfect to reach ground contact only in a split second only by stretching the feet!

So you warm up properly before training on the fingerboard

In order to start with the "right" fretboard training, one should be well warmed up in the fingers and forearms. This works best with the training board itself.

Just hang yourself for a few seconds on the biggest grips of the board, take a break for a while and hang out the next time a little bit longer. So you slowly grope to smaller handles, but always with the idea of ​​warming up and not already training itself.

One possibility would be pull-ups on relatively large holes, so that the tendons in the fingers slowly get used to the strain. It should also slowly flow some blood into the forearms, but still no "pumpy" feeling arise. That then lifts you up for later training. Time should be complete in about 10 min. But every single person has to develop a feeling for himself when he is "warm enough" to start the right workout.

But my experience is that the more advanced one is that warm-up program lasts longer and longer. This is a normal development because the more powerful the muscles, the more vulnerable they become.

To compare this with an old diesel engine and a Formula 1 race car: While the diesel is virtually unbreakable, the Formula 1 engine must first be brought to temperature slowly and carefully!

-> Tips for warming up can be found in the following posts.

These areas can be trained with the fingerboard

In principle, the following different forms of training on the fingerboard are possible:

  • maximum strength
  • a mixture of maximum strength and strength endurance
  • strength endurance
  • athletics

Whereby athletics can not be practiced on every board, because you already need a few big handles.

My personal focus when training with the training board is in the area of ​​maximum strength. If adequate training is lacking, you can also do strength training on the training board.

Before it goes to the concrete plans, again an unscientific explanation of what I mean by maximum strength, endurance and athleticism.

maximum strength

This really means the smallest possible Griffomen, which you can just hold for 1 to 6, a maximum of 10 seconds. The break can be relatively long from 30 seconds to 2 minutes.

This means, for example, that you take a shallow 2 finger hole, hold it for about 5 seconds, then make 45 for about a second, then repeat the whole thing 3 times.

Where the example is the assumption that the hole can be held just for 5 seconds and after 45 seconds feels recovered enough again to hang about 5 seconds again. However, you do not have to work with a stopwatch, the feeling is.

"If the example just mentioned represents an exercise, which and how many such exercises should be included in a training unit?"

Clearly, this question can not be answered, but there are several key points:

  • the duration of the workout should be about 45 minutes minimum to 1 / ½ hours maximum (times without warm-up)
  • As many gripping forms as possible should be used

From these key points 15 to 30 result in different exercises. Now you can just rightfully throw the question into the room: "So many different grips has not even the largest fretboard!" That's right and in the section "ways to increase the grip variety" will be dealt with solutions to it. So much ahead - Being creative is in demand!

In summary, maximum strength training means keeping the smallest possible grips for a short while and taking relatively long breaks. The arms are not "fat" in this training form!

Power endurance variant 1

The strength endurance training on the training board is a bit different. Here you use slightly larger handles to train as follows:

You hang 8 up to 15 seconds and then pause 3 until 5 seconds. This repeats itself then 4 to 8 times. After that, it pauses for about 2 minutes, and then makes the next set with a different grip. The arms should be quite "thick" here. The muscle comes in an oxygen debt.

In total, several sentences are combined into a series. A training session can consist of eg 3 series with 5 sentences. A sentence in turn consists of 7 repetitions. Between the series is about 10 minutes break.

“When it comes to strength endurance, one unit should not exceed 1½ hours. After all, you want to stimulate your muscles, not destroy them. "

Whether this training is now a pure strength endurance training, or whether it is also something in the direction of maximum strength, it may be argued. Of course, it also depends on how long the active dwell time and the breaks are designed.

Power endurance variant 2

The second variant for the strength endurance training goes like this: You are looking for three relatively large handles. Best Sloper, 4 finger hole and pliers handles as on balls. Then you try to hold a grip as long as possible within a minute (eg 40 sec). Rest the rest of the minute (20 sec). You repeat that three times until it goes to the next handle. If you have all the 3 handles through, take a longer break from 5 minutes and then start the whole thing over.

In this training, it blows the arms already properly!

athletics

As already mentioned, not every training board is suitable for athletic training, as it should have large grips.

The exercises are mainly pull ups, one-arm blocking, pull-ups and trunk strength by "pulling up" the legs, which is possible in different variations.

Opportunities to increase the grip variety

Hardly a training board has different handles up to 30. Nevertheless, in order to get a high number of exercises with as many different forms of grip as possible, there are the following possibilities:

1. Various exercises on a handle

Different exercises can be performed on the same handle.

Handle: Narrow 4 finger bar

Possible grip shapes:

  • 4 finger set up
  • 3 finger hanging
  • 2 finger hanging
  • 1 finger hanging

Handle: 2-finger hole

Possible grip shapes:

  • 2 finger with ring and middle finger (back two)
  • 2 fingers with index and middle fingers (front two)

2. The use of additional weights

Additional weights allow the training to be varied very well. The following options are available:

  • weight vest
  • Weight plates packed in a backpack
  • a large dumbbell disk attached to the harness with rope
  • ankle weights

While these measures all have an aggravating effect, there is also the possibility to reduce its weight:

  • by attaching Therabändern to the ceiling or wall in connection to the body (possibly on a harness)
  • by hanging a cable, on which a weight acts against the body weight
  • by hanging a static rope, which you reach with one hand for relief

3. One-armed training

The one-armed training is not only a way to increase the grip variety on the training board, but also a highly recommended means to extremely irritate the muscles and demand.

If very small handles (eg a very small 2-finger hole) are held on a training board with only two fingertips but with two hands, the load is different from holding a very deep 2 finger hole with just one hand. In my experience, you also have a very steep learning curve at the beginning as regards the one-armed handles!

In principle, the one-armed training as well as the maximum strength training works: The goal is to keep the most difficult grip forms, if only for the extremely short time of one second. In the beginning, it is also a means to an end to move your feet off the ground for a fraction of a second, since the strain is so great!

Unfortunately, one-armed training is not possible on every training board. The handles are usually too small. A great board for a one-armed training is eg the beastmaker 1000. Since it is designed as a beginner board very light, it has very deep handles for 4, 3 and 2 fingers. Perfect for all one-armed stories!

4. Use of simple and complex training devices

Another way to bring variety into training is the addition of the following training tools:

  • Balls of different diameters
  • the freely suspended forceps device Power Grips from Metolius
  • inclined plane for unscrewing various handles
  • Sloperrail
  • Pinchbalken

You may also be interested in

You want to know more about the training?

Other Training tips can be found here.

You lack the necessary equipment for training?

You can find articles for your personal training www.target10a.com


Credits: Titelbild, Text Christoph Völker von target10a.com

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