[shark]

I will be interested to see the results of this. I can see your theory in terms of joint angle etc. but I'm curious about the transferability of having the fingers separated like this, when on a majority of holds on rock climbs your first three fingers (at least) are working together on relatively planar surfaces.

I agree and needs to be complemented with regular grip types. For my warm up I start with drag, half crimp, strict half crimp and full crimp on a regular edge.

[shark]

I suppose you could make it adjustable for the most common variation of finger length. I'd imagine pinky - ring being the greatest variation?

Maybe. The pinky is a weird one. Using it at 45 degrees on teh ergo edge feels very strange at first

Does the Anderson fingerboard not already do the 'ergonomic' thing, by splitting the board and angling each part inwards?

Dunno. Serpico was badgering Crusher to do that years ago. The angling of the holds was an afterthought for me. The main ergonomic advantage is the positioning for each fingertip

[Smith42]

M - Valley, pull ups and repeaters to warm up then Campusing on big and medium rungs mainly reps of 136 and 146 not all successful and all bit random.  Ten reps of random max dead hangs to finish on various edges.  Core work out to finish.
T - 15km on bike then 5km run 
W - Valley, cold down stairs, struggled to warm up without climbing.  Pull ups and repeaters to warm up then progressive set up to training load of 25kg then 2 blocks of 4 reps 8-10secs.  Struggled but did seem to improve so maybe had not warmed up enough.  Then did some random Campus board stuff followed by trying to climb the 55deg Beastmaker with just left foot.  Core work out to finish.  Tried rock shoe on right foot but too painful. 
Th - Ran 5km in about 26mins
F - Gym, Bench press 65kg rep of 5.  Seated Leg press worked up to 120kg.  Pistol squats 5 sets of 3 reps. 
Sat - Ran 5km and bike 5km. just not psyched. 
Sun - Mountain biking with girlfriend and her mates.  Legs were tired from Friday so up hills felt hard but did few more jumps which was cool.

A difficult week for more reasons than just the injury and lack of climbing.  Work is just super depressing at the moment with redundancies and uncertainty about the future. 
Anyway, it has been a tough week and I’m missing my happy place.  Hope to cut down on the biscuits and wear rock boots again next week. 

[Nibile]

I will be interested to see the results of this. I can see your theory in terms of joint angle etc. but I'm curious about the transferability of having the fingers separated like this, when on a majority of holds on rock climbs your first three fingers (at least) are working together on relatively planar surfaces.

I agree and needs to be complemented with regular grip types. For my warm up I start with drag, half crimp, strict half crimp and full crimp on a regular edge.

I find it a great idea, not only because I've been thinking about it for ages.
As for the above question, in my opinion it's a matter, as usual, of potential. That is, stronger fingers will perform better on different holds, than weaker fingers, ceteris paribus.
If normal fingerboarding leaves behind the ring and pinky, unfulfilling their strength potential, something gets lost.
With this device one can fully exploit each finger's potential, and that is a good thing, regardless of the application.
It's the very same thing about one armers and the famous "You'll never use a pure one armer on rock" argument.

[tomtom]

Yetix- maybe Dupetrens contracture? (Spelling prob wrong)

[shark]

As for the above question, in my opinion it's a matter, as usual, of potential. That is, stronger fingers will perform better on different holds, than weaker fingers, ceteris paribus.

How about “digitos paribus” as a catchy slogan.

[yetix]

Yetix- maybe Dupetrens contracture? (Spelling prob wrong)

I wondered that, but I'm quite young to have it (turned 27 today) and most suggest it happens in the later 30s onwards?

If it is that, does it tend to impact climbing too much?

[tommytwotone]

Grip bantz aside, pretty crap / standard week for me.


Goal - 3 x Font 7as by end of year (current score = bit fat zero)


Better week for my pocket than my fingers / ticklist.


M: Worked from home, no time for lunchtime fingerboard session, then got the call from nursery that little boy had a bad stomach so had to go get him.
T: Binned off work and stayed home with Clem. On the plus side discovered that a) he liked watching Cheltenham on the TV ( "more horsey"!) and b) I landed £110 profit on the day at little or no risk thanks to various offers from the bookies. Had to work in the evening to make up for daytime absence. No training.
W: In office, but very much catching up after lost day so no lunchtime gym session. Bagged £180 profit, this time with a complete no-risk bet.
T: Off work again with Clem. No joy from horses, but only lost a fiver.
F: Packed Clem off to nursery but worked from home to be on safe side. No lunchtime fingerboard session as still chasing my tail. No winners at the races.
S: Nowt. Rained all day so stuck indoors for most of it.
S: Took advantage of daughter (aged 5)'s enthusiasm for a return to The Depot. Turns out this was short-lived. Got to see some actual UKB #strongdads there though. Did a bit myself, but hamstring / glute thing worse than ever.


One of those curveball "work around a problem" weeks where everything else has to go to the back of the queue. Have regrettably had to concede that my leg issues aren't just a "rest and it'll calm down" thing so trying to get in with physio to get it looked at.

[Ballsofcottonwool]

Yetix- maybe Dupetrens contracture? (Spelling prob wrong)

I wondered that, but I'm quite young to have it (turned 27 today) and most suggest it happens in the later 30s onwards?

I developed a similar lump in my left hand in my early twenties, a junior doctor friend suggested Dupytrens. So I went to the GP, who dismissed it as a skin callous and recommended sanding it off with a nail file . I recently started training hard again after a 10 year break and have developed an identical nodule in the palm of my right hand. It hasn't had any negative consequences so far, apart from a little discomfort when hanging off fat slopers.

[galpinos]

Yetix- maybe Dupetrens contracture? (Spelling prob wrong)

I wondered that, but I'm quite young to have it (turned 27 today) and most suggest it happens in the later 30s onwards?

If it is that, does it tend to impact climbing too much?

Happy Birthday Dan!

I have had tethering on my right hand since my early twenties (my dad had pretty bad dupuytren's). Never given me any real problems.

[SA Chris]

Yetix- maybe Dupetrens contracture? (Spelling prob wrong)

I wondered that, but I'm quite young to have it (turned 27 today) and most suggest it happens in the later 30s onwards?

If it is that, does it tend to impact climbing too much?

About the age mine first appeared, but it took about 10 years of climbing with it before i realised it actually had a name (conversation on here about it made me aware of it!). Which I guess in part answers your question. I've just had a second one appear age 49, and they only really bother me if I am climbing steep ground on hand jugs, especially if the moves involve swinging to one side or the other, then it just causes discomfort on the skin.

[SA Chris]

Work is just super depressing at the moment with redundancies and uncertainty about the future. 

Snap. Told I'm "at risk" on Monday. Might be climbing full time come summer.

[teestub]

 
If normal fingerboarding leaves behind the ring and pinky, unfulfilling their strength potential, something gets lost.

If you’re concerned about your little finger and ring finger not getting the required workout why not isolate them as recommended by the beastmaker chaps about a decade ago?

[yetix]

Thanks Nick and thanks others for responses.

Nice to know it doesn't impact most people's climbing on here (if that's what it is)

[AMorris]

Perfect weather for indoors this week. I have been continuing my attempt to improve my power endurance, with some encouraging progression

M - Got on my 'mid term' endurance project and managed to take it down first go whilst fluffing the sequence at the start a bit. Equal parts surprised and enthusiastic, but with that characteristic bitter sweet tang of it not being quite as hard as I thought since it went down in only a few sessions and I didn't climb it efficiently. Found a version of it with a much harder exit into a 7A+ burly boulder where the crux is the last move, that will be very hard for me.

T - Rest. Light core & Elbow rehab exercises (which have become a point of fascination for my housemates as they want to try the ab roller and the elbow exercise).

W - Weak day indeed. Elbow felt pretty poor so I went light and just repeated a few things. Decided I needed a couple of days rest before the Indy comp.

T - Rest. Elbow rehab.

F - Rest. Elbow rehab. Initial pain from aggravation caused by the exercise starting to leave me now. I think it might actually be doing something.

S - Perfect weather for the Indy comp which meant that half of north wales seemed to turn out, fleeing the sideways drizzle. Absolutely fantastic day and I really found my psyche for climbing again. My elbow felt fine, and the setting made me realise how limited the style at my local wall is, with hard stuff being desperate short problems on tiny edges (partially my fault, as one of the setters, but also it's a tiny wall). Won a DMM hoodie in the raffle, get in.

S - Rest and elbow rehab. I am not used to huge moves between volumes, so I was brutally sore (though the hangover didn't help).

All in all, this was the week I wanted. Psyche is on an upwards trend, as is my elbow. I don't want to tempt fate, but I am hoping the next month or so will bring me back to full strength.

[Nibile]

As for the above question, in my opinion it's a matter, as usual, of potential. That is, stronger fingers will perform better on different holds, than weaker fingers, ceteris paribus.

How about “digitos paribus” as a catchy slogan.

It's "DIGITIS PARIBUS". Ablative. 

[Coops_13]

T - Rest. Elbow rehab.

Hi A, what elbow rehab do you do? I've recently got sore elbows again so would be interested to hear of your tips?
Thanks, Coops

[duncan]

Thanks Nick and thanks others for responses.

Nice to know it doesn't impact most people's climbing on here (if that's what it is)

The Dupuytren's thread. A compilation of useful information and advice with some entertaining digressions as you'd expect here.

[Nibile]

 
If normal fingerboarding leaves behind the ring and pinky, unfulfilling their strength potential, something gets lost.

If you’re concerned about your little finger and ring finger not getting the required workout why not isolate them as recommended by the beastmaker chaps about a decade ago?

Easy, tiger. 
The main problem for me is the pinky.
I can train ring fingers well with front3 and back3 hangs. For the pinky, the real problem is not just the relative length of the fingers, but mainly the subsequent relative position of the joints.
For instance, my right pinky is one phalanx shorter than my right ring, and its DIP joint sits short of the ring's medial one.
So, when my ring is half crimped (MIP joint bent on the edge of the hold) my pinky is almost dragged (DIP joint on the edge of the hold). If you add some stretch my pinky ends up fully dragged.
In my left hand it's even worse because my pinky is even shorter.

[tim palmer]

I can literally never think of a time when I have found isolated pinky strength was an issue.  Obviously I have found my fingers have been too weak, but I thìnk this is best addressed by training hand positions you might actually find on rock.  I can't see the advantage of training with such a contrived hand position to real rock

[AMorris]

T - Rest. Elbow rehab.

Hi A, what elbow rehab do you do? I've recently got sore elbows again so would be interested to hear of your tips?
Thanks, Coops

What kind of elbow pain? I would say the most common in climbers is some kind of tendonitis or tendonosis of the medial epicondyle (unfortunately I have the latter). There are a few other types, each which require a different set of exercises, but the philosophy is the same.

For medial epicondylitis/osis (golfers elbow) I put a small amount of weight on one end of a dumbbell and hold by the other end upright with my elbow resting on my knee with a 90 degree bend, rotate my wrist outwards till the dumbbell is parallel to the floor and back up. This will aggravate the injury, but that is essentially what you want in order to strengthen the pronator teres, which is the culprit for me. Weight should be low enough to get to 10 reps without feeling total limit but still being hard.

Like I say, it really depends what brand of elbow misery you have as to how to tackle it, so the first thing to do is work out where the issue lies and what is damaged. Julian Saunders is pretty good with this stuff, being a climbing physio, so he knows our pain. He is also entertaining in the no bullshit way he writes:

http://drjuliansaunders.com/dodgy-elbows/

Hope this helps!

[SA Chris]

Thanks Nick and thanks others for responses.

Nice to know it doesn't impact most people's climbing on here (if that's what it is)

Bear in mid it can get worse though, Bonjoy had surgery, as has PoD. Apparently Glucosamine Sulphate can make it worse.

[galpinos]

Thanks Nick and thanks others for responses.

Nice to know it doesn't impact most people's climbing on here (if that's what it is)

Bear in mid it can get worse though, Bonjoy had surgery, as has PoD. Apparently Glucosamine Sulphate can make it worse.

Dad's hands were properly screwed with multiple operations, it was worse in his bowling hand and he always put it down to that! So my advise is, don't play cricket.

[SA Chris]

Seems like it doesn't matter what you, it will still happen, it's just that in some activities it is more noticeable. There are improved surgical options these days

 https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/dupuytrens_contracture_-_a_climbers_condition-1312

[Coops_13]

T - Rest. Elbow rehab.

Hi A, what elbow rehab do you do? I've recently got sore elbows again so would be interested to hear of your tips?
Thanks, Coops

What kind of elbow pain? I would say the most common in climbers is some kind of tendonitis or tendonosis of the medial epicondyle (unfortunately I have the latter). There are a few other types, each which require a different set of exercises, but the philosophy is the same.

Ah cheers, yeah think it's tennis side. Will look at those!