Eric Horst: Training for Climbing

Chris Rice wrote: I think the big change from when Todd talked about finger curls is the advent of climbing gyms. When he said that gyms were very few and far between. At that time the finger curl was a good move for those who couldn't climb for very long stretches of time (many of us as to outdoor climbing) - it can add significant general hand strength over sitting on the couch :)

I believe the argument against finger curls is that they are not very climbing specific.
While climbing, fingers are held in an isometric position. Similar to hang boarding.

Curls are a cyclic concentric/eccentric motion with almost no direct parallel in climbing. Only those occasions when an open grip is converted to a crimp grip.

Theoretically, curls should be at least as effective as hang boarding for stimulating muscle hypertrophy.
I believe there are two reasons why they aren't.
1) most hangboard sessions are 1-2 hours long. Nobody does this volume of curls.
2) I think the intrinsic muscles of the hand are more important than has been recognized in stabilizing the grip on actual holds. So training on a round bar may not carry over to real holds as well as expected.

FWIW, I've been doing a couple of sets of these at the end of my general workouts and think they do help a little with the open-crimp transition. But for everything else, I prefer hangboarding.

Mark E Dixon wrote: I believe the argument against finger curls is that they are not very climbing specific. While climbing, fingers are held in an isometric position. Similar to hang boarding. Curls are a cyclic concentric/eccentric motion with almost no direct parallel in climbing. Only those occasions when an open grip is converted to a crimp grip. Theoretically, curls should be at least as effective as hang boarding for stimulating muscle hypertrophy. I believe there are two reasons why they aren't. 1) most hangboard sessions are 1-2 hours long. Nobody does this volume of curls. 2) I think the intrinsic muscles of the hand are more important than has been recognized in stabilizing the grip on actual holds. So training on a round bar may not carry over to real holds as well as expected. FWIW, I've been doing a couple of sets of these at the end of my general workouts and think they do help a little with the open-crimp transition. But for everything else, I prefer hangboarding.

Do people really do 2 hour hangboarding sessions??

People must have ridiculously better discipline and stamina than I. 45 minutes and I'm totally hosed.