[John Gillott]

That does sound very much like it, yes.

[cliffrad]

WELL SAID!!!!!

[chris05]

Is it this?:

"Physiological determinants of climbing-specific finger endurance and sport rock climbing performance"

It's available as a payable download on a couple of sites.

If anyone would like this paper but doesn't have access to it, send me a pm.

[slackline]

Although that may contravene the copyright!

Paywalls for academic journals suck.  Anything funded by public money should be in the public domain and freely available. 

[shark]

I have settled on a bi-weekly fingerboard training (3 weeks on/ 1 week off) the first session based on assisted one armers and the second on two-armed encores. Most of the inspiration came from Dan's Beastmaker article and an article by Crusher holds. The set-up is a pair of rock rings for hand/s and a counterweight on a pulley attached to an etrier for a foot. Early signs are promising.

Session 1 (Assisted 1 armers)
After warm-up
I arm session pyramiding reps using middle rung of rock ring adjusting weight to what I think I can cope with. On Monday's session this was:
RIGHT: 10kgx1rep, 12.5kgx2 reps, 15kgx3reps, 17.5kgx4reps, 20kgx5reps, 20kgx4, 17.5kgx3, 15kgx2, 12.5kgx1
LEFT: 12.5kgx1rep, 15kgx2 reps, 17.5kgx3 reps, 22.5kgx5 reps, 22.5kgx4 reps, 20kgx3reps, 17.5kgx2 reps, 15kgs x 1rep.
Some of the reps required assistance from the other hand to complete so will stick to something similar to these weights next week

Session 2 (Encores)
After warm-up
Bottom crimp of rock rings All 4 on one and back2 on the other. 4repsx8secs with 5 secs rest on alternating. 4 sets per arm with 1 min rest between sets as follows:
Grab 1: Full Lock i.e. pull-up hold 8secs and release 5secs rest then Grab2:
Grab 2: arms ¾ lock
Grab 3: arms half lock
Grab 4: arms ¼ lock
15mins rest
As above but two-handed Mid2 then Front2 1x6sec, 9sec then 12 secs with 4 secs rest. 4sets each combo with I min rest between sets. 10 mins between combos.
10 mins rest
8kg DB 50 finger rolls 2 sets
The above was done very comfortably this morning with a 12.5kg counterweight so will reduce to 11.25kg next time

[mr__j5]

I always though that for pyramids, you were supposed to increase the difficulty with each step and thus have a single rep of the hardest level at the top of the pyramid and then come back down again.

Yours seems to be the other way up.

But I might be wrong 

[shark]

I always though that for pyramids, you were supposed to increase the difficulty with each step and thus have a single rep of the hardest level at the top of the pyramid and then come back down again.

Yours seems to be the other way up.

But I might be wrong 

You might be right but its what Dan Varian / Carlisle Slapper recommended. The article is no longer on the web as far as I know but the relevant bit was this:

One armers:
I have found most success training these by doing pyramids with assistance

1 armers      
reps   assistance   rest (mins)
1   0kg or little finger   2
2   2kg or little finger   2
3   4kg or index finger   2
4   8kg or index finger   2
5   10kg or middle finger2
4   8kg or index finger   2
3   4kg or index finger   2
2   2kg or little finger   2
1   0kg or little finger   8

I will do one full set on one arm (my weakest i.e. Right) then I will do the next set on my strongest arm i.e. left, I find this has helped to begin to sort out any imbalances I have had in the past. I often do this exercise off the 20 degree sloper or one of the central “face” holds. I often would combine 2 sets of these (one for each arm) with a core work out, but not really with maximal hangs or repeaters as I find it drains the arms past the quick recovery period. If you only wish to train 2-3 times a week or have to have time off due to work it could be a good idea though.

[John Gillott]

Is that routine involving anything that makes your fingers fail? Ie are they the weakest link? My guess would have been that you'd be able to hang the middle slot of a rock ring one armed without assistance - is the assistance helping you pull up rather than keep contact?

Maybe you want to train close to the limit rather than at it of course, in which case, it's perfect - plus you get to regain your one armer party trick if you've lost it.

[Big Dave]

I always though that for pyramids, you were supposed to increase the difficulty with each step and thus have a single rep of the hardest level at the top of the pyramid and then come back down again.

Yours seems to be the other way up.

But I might be wrong 

Pyramid sets can be done either way, just make sure you're warmed up if starting with the heaviest set first.

[shark]

Is that routine involving anything that makes your fingers fail? Ie are they the weakest link? My guess would have been that you'd be able to hang the middle slot of a rock ring one armed without assistance - is the assistance helping you pull up rather than keep contact?

Maybe you want to train close to the limit rather than at it of course, in which case, it's perfect - plus you get to regain your one armer party trick if you've lost it.

No I can't quite hold the middle slot one handed and unaided yet even with the thumb on the side for longer than maybe 1 second certainly no more than 2 though shoulder instability is possibly a contributory factor. The assistance definitely helps with both the contact and the pull-up but I am fairly sure that is the fingers that are failing when I use the other hand for assistance but it is a good point and I will double-check next session. Hopefully I will be able to graduate to the small rung soon.