One thing I don't buy is that hypertrophy of the finger flexors is anywhere near as important as neuromuscular recruitment for finger strength. If this were the case, I might expect to have stronger fingers than Will Bosi and Allison Vest, but I do not! Long hangs for capacity makes more sense.
Quote from: Liamhutch89 on February 24, 2023, 09:33:22 amOne thing I don't buy is that hypertrophy of the finger flexors is anywhere near as important as neuromuscular recruitment for finger strength. If this were the case, I might expect to have stronger fingers than Will Bosi and Allison Vest, but I do not! Long hangs for capacity makes more sense.Trying to figure out what you mean here Liam! Are you saying you've done loads of hypertrophy type fingerboarding and it hasn't made much difference to your absolute strength?
What Barrows says At least they're bigger than Allison Vest's forearms and even on a bad day, I assume she warms up with my PB's!
Quote from: Yossarian on February 24, 2023, 10:30:02 amQuote from: Liamhutch89 on February 24, 2023, 09:33:22 amOne thing I don't buy is that hypertrophy of the finger flexors is anywhere near as important as neuromuscular recruitment for finger strength. If this were the case, I might expect to have stronger fingers than Will Bosi and Allison Vest, but I do not! Long hangs for capacity makes more sense.Trying to figure out what you mean here Liam! Are you saying you've done loads of hypertrophy type fingerboarding and it hasn't made much difference to your absolute strength?What Barrows says At least they're bigger than Allison Vest's forearms and even on a bad day, I assume she warms up with my PB's! But I've had success with so-called hypertrophy fingerboarding in the past, it's just that I don't think hypertrophy is the reason (actually I have significantly smaller forearms now than when I started climbing). Most likely, they work via increasing work capacity and improving energy systems which can then be translated into higher peak force output via climbing on small holds, board climbing, max hangs, etc.
Quote from: Liamhutch89 on February 24, 2023, 10:47:50 amWhat Barrows says At least they're bigger than Allison Vest's forearms and even on a bad day, I assume she warms up with my PB's! I suspect you weigh about 25-30kg more than she does though!
Quote from: Liamhutch89 on February 24, 2023, 10:47:50 amQuote from: Yossarian on February 24, 2023, 10:30:02 amQuote from: Liamhutch89 on February 24, 2023, 09:33:22 amOne thing I don't buy is that hypertrophy of the finger flexors is anywhere near as important as neuromuscular recruitment for finger strength. If this were the case, I might expect to have stronger fingers than Will Bosi and Allison Vest, but I do not! Long hangs for capacity makes more sense.Trying to figure out what you mean here Liam! Are you saying you've done loads of hypertrophy type fingerboarding and it hasn't made much difference to your absolute strength?What Barrows says At least they're bigger than Allison Vest's forearms and even on a bad day, I assume she warms up with my PB's! But I've had success with so-called hypertrophy fingerboarding in the past, it's just that I don't think hypertrophy is the reason (actually I have significantly smaller forearms now than when I started climbing). Most likely, they work via increasing work capacity and improving energy systems which can then be translated into higher peak force output via climbing on small holds, board climbing, max hangs, etc.Slight segway but I'm steadily more convinced that hand anatomy also plays a big role in finger strength on a given edge size. I think the reason I've been happily adding weight to bodyweight one-armed for years (since I climbed sport 7c and with barely any previous fingerboard training) is because my fingers are symmetrical (pinky/index pair and ring/middle pair are each the same length) which makes chisel and half crimp extremely anatomically strong because way less flexion is required for significant load to be taken through the pinky. It also explains why I'm almost the same on monos with index/pinky as I am with ring and middle - the two middle fingers almost never end up in an open handed position unless in two finger sloping pockets. I'm actually significantly stronger in middle two half crimp than I am in middle two drag. All of this was pre-determined by genetics and won't change unless I very consciously train isolated grip types like middle two single pad drag. Another fun thing that couples with this is that because I have mild hyperflexibility (thumb touches forearm etc) and chisel is my 'automatic' grip type i.e. the most anatomically available strong grip, a recent switch to drag and closed crimp grips resulted in unhappy TFCC's whilst they got used to be loaded in this way (an ongoing process to a given extent) because these grip positions offer much more wrist mobility than chisel. Again, all defined by genetics and something that would be great to have been aware of 10 years ago I think there is SO much depth to grip strength which is yet to be mined. It's going to be really interesting to see where the sport science progresses on this. Sorry for the essay but I find this topic really interesting.