[Scraggadoo]

Hi guys,

Done a search on the site for fingerboard routines and all that, but one thing I can't seem to find out is when to fingerboard...  I am aware that some people do it before an endurance session or at the end of a cragging day.  However, when the nearest climbing for me is usually approximately 45-60 minutes away (both indoors / outdoors), is fingerboarding before / after climbing feasible or will that open me up to injuries?

Or, will it be best to fingerboard on a rest day (in between climbing sessions) - I suspect not?

At the moment, since it's my first intro to fingerboarding after about one and a half years of regular climbing, I am probably going to be careful not to overdo it and to start off with once every week...  Any help with this would be greatly appreciated!

Oh and if this thread descends into scientific mumbo jumbo, don't worry I should be able to keep up (this is not a challenge to confuse me by the way!).

Cheers in advance.

[stom]

Some good articles on fingerboarding......

http://www.beastmaker.co.uk/Training%20data.htm

http://www.beastmaker.co.uk/Grip-article.htm


Should give you some good ideas.

[Scraggadoo]

Thanks for that, I am already aware of the different articles that exist on fingerboard routines (on here, moonclimbing, metolius, 8a etc), the real reason for my post really is when should I fingerboard to be more specific?

[shark]

I would be interested too and not seen it addressed specifically so would like to see some informed comment.

References in Dave Mac's and Beastmaker blogs suggest that as often as you can fit it in i.e 3/4 sessions a week if you are keen. I conjecturalise this means that less and often is the general rule - so enough to stimulate a physical response but avoid getting so busted that it significantly compromises any climbing/training you do the following day.

I imagine it takes a while to build up to this volume though and that adding to the volume/intensity of individual sesssions is also done over months rather than weeks.

 

[Richie Crouch]

Good topic question...

I fit maybe 1 session a week in on a Thursday and mostly climb outside Tues/Sat/Sun with Mon and Fri being the rest days. Seems to help me recover enough to keep good form up but probably to the detriment of fingerstrength gains? I would imagine 2-3 sessions per week would help significantly over a long period of time. I find it hard to motivate myself to do it after a day spent outside climbing (I would have thought an in-between day or active rest day would the best time for such sessions as the body has recovered a little overnight and would not require being rewarmed up again for possibly the 2nd/3rd time of the day?)

[Scraggadoo]

Yes, I seem to find conflicting advice everywhere.  Like Simon Lee says, Dave McLeod trains three / four times a week.  Again, I agree with Simon that this would probably take a good while to build up to, especially for someone like me who is just introducing themselves to it.  Nonetheless, I still think it's applicable to even experienced climbers, because like Simon I am of the opinion that training gains may not be maximised if insufficiently rested by the next climbing/training session? 

I found this with a quick google:

http://www.urbanclimbermag.com/themag/workshop/workshop_-_26_-_hang_time/

Somewhere on the page it says that 2 - 3 days of rest may be necessary for such a short workout (and from Ben Moon himself).  This is something that particularly concerns me as I do not want to open myself up unneccessarily to injuries, and also bad training form.

I have also read somewhere that the first few weeks are likely to yield big gains (as with any exercise that is being tried), but then plateaus afterwards - so applying this idea 3 months out of a year with other training in between could in theory, give gains just as well as fingerboarding 3 or 4 times a week?  Lets make it clear though I am not referring to doing this three or four times a week for a short period, I am referring to doing this once or twice a week for a month, stop, and repeat in 3 months time for example, in contrast to 3 / 4 times a week for long periods of time?

I think people's experiences (good and bad) will show us a trend hopefully, if people could do that, that would be a useful insight I reckon.  What do you guys think?

[shark]

like Simon I am of the opinion that training gains may not be maximised if insufficiently rested by the next climbing/training session? 

I should add that doing varied isolation training in a concurrent way may be part of the solution insofar as you would not have to be fully recovered from a fingerboarding session to effectively do something more arm, endurance, core or technique biased the following day.   

Given my climbing day at the weekend is Saturday I'm toying with a default approach aiming to start each week along the lines of

Monday: Lunch: Systemsboard Session Strength (arm bias). Eve: Fingerboard deadhanging.
Tues: Lunch: Systemsboard Session Endurance (finger bias). Eve: Easy traversing and play on campus board and/or indoor boulder.
Weds or Thurs Eve: Fingerboard deadhanging or indoor bouldering.

That should cover all the bases and allow enough rest before Saturday again.


Feel free to pimp my programme !!!

[Scraggadoo]

Feel free to pimp my programme !!!

If only I had a systems board for myself!!  Currently next on the to do list.  Forgive me if what I take from your post sounds stupid though...  You do a deadhang fingerboard session on monday and then system board with finger strength training in mind (i.e. finger bias)?  Sounds a bit full on to me but then again I have zero experience of a systems board which is unfortunate as I am quite keen to see how I get on with one.

Also, can you not switch indoor bouldering with outdoors? 

Cheers for the posts though!

[shark]

Hi Scraggy

Its not a regime I do currently but am thinking of embarking on now the sport climbing season has started mainly with the aim of maintainance and maybe some small gains. I have worked quite hard over the winter to up the volume to be able to train 4 days a week so should be able to sustain it. Each session is one I do currently but thought by overlapping them at the start of the week would be an efficient way to cram it all in. It wasnt a recommended one-size-fits-all-magic-bullet for everybody as everyone is different in their development and strengths and weakeness and goals and access to training facilities.

Re your specific point about the Monday fingerboard session that would be sets of repeaters of 7 sec hangs which is different from the systems board endurance sets I devised which is sets of 90 secs duration of easy moves holding each hold for 3 secs going up and down for a classic rock solid forearm pump.

Thinking about it  maybe I should do a short maximal hang type fingerboard Monday session instead of repeaters to make it even more different from the Tues systems endurance workout.

With regard to bouldering outdoors - it suits me personally to go to the Foundry Wave (my local) as its something I can do with my kids after work.

Best, Simon