[duncan]

From power club:

 Tested individual finger strength by doing pick-ups, one finger at a time. Middle the strongest, index fingers ~75% the strength of the middle, ring fingers are just over 50% of middle’s strength, little finger just under 50%. Little difference between sides, most fingers within 5% of each other, except the L index finger which was more markedly (~15%) weaker than R.

It was interesting to test fingers individually, a good rainy day activity when you can't climb. Anyone else done this? Ring fingers were weaker than I expected. I feel strongest on two-finger pockets with my middle two but perhaps that's because they are the two most similar in length. Left index is something to work on straight away.

[James Malloch]

I wouldn't mind being in Siurana right now...

T - Tested individual finger strength by doing pick-ups, one finger at a time. Middle the strongest, index fingers ~75% the strength of the middle, ring fingers are just over 50% of middle’s strength, little finger just under 50%. Little difference between sides, most fingers within 5% of each other, except the L index finger which was more markedly (~15%) weaker than R.

Siurana is pretty nice right now, but damn it got cold in the last week! But still better than the U.K. I imagine…

Interesting stats on the fingers. How did you measure them? And are there any average figures on which to compare yourself to?

[Stabbsy]

I feel strongest on two-finger pockets with my middle two but perhaps that's because they are the two most similar in length.

I can remember hearing in the past that this is related to the middle and index going to the same attachment point and ring finger going to a different one. So by using middle and ring, you're going to two different attachments. Maybe with middle and index, the weak point becomes the attachment point rather than the individual fingers?

No idea if this is nonsense, but some anatomical diagrams seem to back this up, e.g., first pic on here.

https://www.assh.org/handcare/safety/tendons

[jwi]

T - Tested individual finger strength by doing pick-ups, one finger at a time. Middle the strongest, index fingers ~75% the strength of the middle, ring fingers are just over 50% of middle’s strength, little finger just under 50%. Little difference between sides, most fingers within 5% of each other, except the L index finger which was more markedly (~15%) weaker than R.

Looked in my training diary from 2020 (good job me of keeping one, should start again).

All half crimp or 90 deg at second phalange, no hyperextension of first, including pinky, all compared to middle left finger.
Middle right: 100%
Ring left: 90%, ring right: 77%
Index left: 72%, index right: 70%
Pinky left & right: 72% (note: in drag my pinky was a lot stronger than index)

I know that my left hand is significantly stronger than the right, and on this single instance of measuring it was down just to the left ring finger which was a lot stronger than the right.

[SA Chris]

Are you left  handed?

[jwi]

Are you left  handed?

No, right handed. I am also 5% stronger in left arm in pulling movements, and stronger in left leg as well (never quantified but one legged squats are way easier on left leg).

[SA Chris]

Interesting. my left leg is definitely dominant (and less injury prone) as is my left hand. Makes bowling and curling challenging.

[moose]

IIRC handedness and footedness are independent.  Left-handers are around 10% of the population, left-footers around 20%, but being left-handed makes you no more likely to be left-footed.

Left-handedness is also reasonably nuanced - far more complicated than "which hand do you write with?".  I've read of assessments that involved surveying how people use their hands for hundreds of tasks - the outcome is generally most people are around 70/30 to 80/20 in their division of labour.  I'd be regarded as left-handed by most (write with my left) but I do almost everything else with my right hand (except for play the guitar and play snooker - left-handed for those, but would prefer my right when playing tennis or golf etc, using most tools).

[SA Chris]

Didn't say there was a link, just that having a dominant left hand and foot makes bowling etc. awkward.

I write, play racquet sports and throw with left hand, but play pool, cricket, golf (not that i do) shoot and would play guitar (not that i can) right handed. Apparently shooting is more to do with dominant eye than dominant hand. 

[User deactivated.]

except for play the guitar and play snooker - left-handed for those

would play guitar (not that i can) right handed

I think right handed guitars require more dexterity in the left hand (and vice versa), even for classical or flamenco styles.

[moose]

I think there is a strength versus dexterity issue thing with me (and I've observed it in other "ambi-useless" people).  If (and God save us all from this prospect!) I ever had to perform surgery, I would wield the scalpel with my left hand. Although, to use a knife in almost any other circumstance (e.g. food prep) I use my right hand.

[SA Chris]

I think there is a strength versus dexterity issue thing with me (and I've observed it in other "ambi-useless" people).  If (and God save us all from this prospect!) I ever had to perform surgery, I would wield the scalpel with my left hand.

When climbing, I always rack nuts on my left, as left hand is definitely better at fiddling with bits (insert old joke here if you must).

[duncan]

Interesting stats on the fingers. How did you measure them? And are there any average figures on which to compare yourself to?

Carlisle Slapper recommends using a sling:

Duncan's finger test originated out of a conversation we had re the Nugget interview with Dan V (https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=nugget+dan+varian&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8) re identifying lazy fingers in open / crimped positions and possible significant gains by (re)activating them. Probably worth discussing in more detail in its own thread!

I used a portable hangboand and did 'pick-ups', one finger at a time. If you wanted to get really geeky this would also allow you to test individual fingers in different positions: full crimp, half crimp etc. I dragged as this is what I'd invariably do on a small hold. I should probably embrace crimping a bit more...

Looked in my training diary from 2020 (good job me of keeping one, should start again).

All half crimp or 90 deg at second phalange, no hyperextension of first, including pinky, all compared to middle left finger.
Middle right: 100%
Ring left: 90%, ring right: 77%
Index left: 72%, index right: 70%
Pinky left & right: 72% (note: in drag my pinky was a lot stronger than index)

I know that my left hand is significantly stronger than the right, and on this single instance of measuring it was down just to the left ring finger which was a lot stronger than the right.

Thanks. Similar results (in relative terms, absolute values probably rather different!) including the greatest asymmetry in the index finger.

Ally Smith posted the following on his IG story (with permission) using the sling test:


Percentages for each finger are relative to the total for that hand. More information on the sling test and the spreadsheet Ally used in Yossarian's link or here.

[shark]

Vid on how to do the sling test here:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ci8E7dGDOQK/?

[teestub]

Ally Smith posted the following on his IG story (with permission) using the sling test:


Percentages for each finger are relative to the total for that hand. More information on the sling test and the spreadsheet Ally used in Yossarian's link or here.

Is that 30.5 kg on the little finger? Pretty sure that would snap mine straight off 😂

[yetix]

If Ally is doing that off his pinky in HC as Dan described then he should be burning Aidan off!

[jwi]

This are my results from a training session using the same measures. Not on a sling but a mono hold I had drilled in a wooden block. The block has a sling to attach weights that were lifted off the floor.



Not sure it says anything else than that my right ring finger was comparably weak a day in the spring of 2020.

[User deactivated.]

I can't comprehend how the pinky finger could be anywhere near as strong as the index finger. Perhaps this is telling that I have some gains to make! I'll give it a go next week.

[abarro81]

Conversely I believe my pinky is stronger than my index (I've not felt the need to check that's still the case, but it used to be). I think it's just how your hand happens to be put together and what feels more tweaky.

Does no-one else feel like your score on monos, especially on "weird" fingers (i.e. not middle), and doubly-especially on half-crimp are mostly going to be determined by how tweaky you feel on each finger rather than anything else? I don't think I could get very close to pushing hard on any individual finger, even middle finger open hand monos, without a month or more of gradually breaking in that grip type. For something like ring finger half-crimp or crimp it would purely be a test of tweakyness surely?

[jwi]

Yeah, partly. It is weird to half crimp without stability from surrounding fingers.

 My figures were after two weeks of doing exclusively mono pickups. This was after an operation on the skin of the back and I was asked not to do anything that stretched the skin. My dermatologist has a son and a brother who climbs and her list of things I was not allowed to do was very specific. (Only in France will your dermatologist tells you that you are not allowed to hangboard...).

The first session I found it very strange to half crimp on index and pinky.

[MischaHY]

Conversely I believe my pinky is stronger than my index (I've not felt the need to check that's still the case, but it used to be). I think it's just how your hand happens to be put together and what feels more tweaky.

Does no-one else feel like your score on monos, especially on "weird" fingers (i.e. not middle), and doubly-especially on half-crimp are mostly going to be determined by how tweaky you feel on each finger rather than anything else? I don't think I could get very close to pushing hard on any individual finger, even middle finger open hand monos, without a month or more of gradually breaking in that grip type. For something like ring finger half-crimp or crimp it would purely be a test of tweakyness surely?

This brings me back to my constant reminder that I really need to do a period of careful mono loading and then look for excuses to use them. I kept avoiding mono and full crimp for years because of how tweaky they felt but after around 6-9 months of consciously building up full crimp strength my overall ability to pull hard on crimps has increased tremendously. If the same could happen with monos it would be amazing. I can barely bodyweight good monos at present.

[Ally Smith]

If Ally is doing that off his pinky in HC as Dan described then he should be burning Aidan off!

That's drag! I haven't tested crimp position yet.

[User deactivated.]

I can't comprehend how the pinky finger could be anywhere near as strong as the index finger. Perhaps this is telling that I have some gains to make! I'll give it a go next week.

Didn't know what I was talking about.

Results are in, tested with a pickup fingerboard, approx 22mm edge (right hand was almost exactly the same except for a stronger pinky in drag):



https://adobe.ly/3AO8qCO

I'm not sure what normal is supposed to look like, but I think my index fingers are very weak and my ring fingers are overly strong? If this is the case, I will start doing weekly index finger lifts.

[MischaHY]

I can't comprehend how the pinky finger could be anywhere near as strong as the index finger. Perhaps this is telling that I have some gains to make! I'll give it a go next week.

Didn't know what I was talking about.

Results are in, tested with a pickup fingerboard, approx 22mm edge (right hand was almost exactly the same except for a stronger pinky in drag):



https://adobe.ly/3AO8qCO

I'm not sure what normal is supposed to look like, but I think my index fingers are very weak and my ring fingers are overly strong? If this is the case, I will start doing weekly index finger lifts.

Dan suggested he doesn't think single finger lifts are very useful for actually training because it doesn't relate to the common grip type closely enough so he recommended training pairs for better transfer.

[Wellsy]

In four finger half crimp my 10 second max added weight is 45kgs at the moment, but with front three half crimp (I.e strict half crimp, no pinky) its 0kgs added, for 10 seconds, barely

Very intweeging. Back three half crimp is definitely way stronger than front three (incidentally my front 3 drag max for 10 secs is about 40kgs)