Brand new to climbing want advice on a good board.

I'm new to climbing and want to start building up my grip strength and practicing holds, was thinking about buying a climbing board. Wanted to hear opinions and tips on good ones. I live in a fairly old house so I'm mildly concerned about where I'm going to mount it. I'm a big guy 6'2 265. Any advice is appreciated currently just been doing general work outs and weight training if you have any tips on exercises I could add to help that would also be helpful. 

Don’t buy a board. At this point just focus on technique and don’t injure yourself.

Agreed with the above message: conventional wisdom suggests you climb at least a few years and/or climb at least v4 before hang-boarding. Finger ligaments/tendons strengthen incredibly slowly; finger boards and their workout plans are designed for experienced users and will likely lead to injury for the less experienced climber. At the very least you'll find you'll improve far more rapidly dedicating the proposed finger board time to actually climbing (in gym or outdoors). 

It’s really easy to hurt your shoulders and soft tissue. Better to take it slow the first couple years till the ligaments and tendons strengthen. Just climb. Always be careful with the “injury board”. Wish I had this advice 13 years ago.

I'm slimming down currently my goal is around 235, is that a reasonable weight for climbing? My primary sport is basketball and I definitely enjoy being bigger and stronger than the people I play against so not sure how much lighter I would go. Also would it be smarter to focus on just getting in proper shape for it or should I be climbing at the local gym well I get in shape. 

start climbing and lose weight if/when your body calls for it. Lighter does help. Healthier is best. My mentor crushed and was 220 lbs.

I agree if you're band new you don't need one but I think a hangboard is great for getting stronger *IF* you're smart about it.  Of course if you can climb a few days a week instead that's preferable, it's way more fun and you're learning technique. But if you're like a lot of people and limited on time where you actually go climb then a hangboard makes it super easy to get a climbing specific workout in right when you are ready for it. You want to start climbing about one day on and 3-4 days off. You want to be fully recuperated and not sore at all before your next climbing session. As you get stronger you take less and less days off. Listen to your body, start slow, keep your work outs on the too easy side until you are experienced and know what your body can handle. The nice thing about a hangboard is if you can't get to the gym or a crag you can get a workout and keep your workout cycles on track. If you only go to the gym and miss a day, or your partner is unavailable for a week, you are missing that time you could be getting stronger. The more advanced you are the more important that is, and you even have to make sure you climb/train a few days a week just to maintain the strength you've gained. I actually got the most injured from bouldering. At least with a hangboard you can keep your workouts balanced and very methodically increase the difficulty. Being light is great for climbing but being strong is even more important IMO. You'll never reach your full potential if you're heavy but if you're strong you'll make it up a lot. You may climb multipitch with a 8 lb rack and a 5 pound pack and sure it was be nice to be 13 pounds lighter but when you're strong enough you can handle that extra weight. 

Nick Rutnikwrote:

I'm slimming down currently my goal is around 235, is that a reasonable weight for climbing? Also would it be smarter to focus on just getting in proper shape for it or should I be climbing at the local gym well I get in shape. 

You don't say what kind/type of outdoor climbing you aspire to do.  Climbing in different areas varys from lower angle to steeply overhanging.  The question isn't so much will you be able to do all types of climbing, but more how likely it might be for you to develop certain chronic injuries with different types of climbing.  People of ALL weights can do ALL types of climbing but as a broad generality, I'd say a 200+ pounder will have more chances of developing injuries (shoulders, elbows, biceps) on overhanging sport, where that same person might never have any of those issues with alpine/mountaineering stuff, slab climbing or vertical/off vertical crack routes.  Unfortunately, I think the trend in gyms is to favor overhanging terrain.  You almost never see sub vertical walls in gyms, whereas in many climbing areas, this angle is the majority.

Mark Bwrote:

Don’t buy a board. At this point just focus on technique and don’t injure yourself.

This.  

Get out and climb, aim for at least once a week, even better if you can achieve two-three times a week.  And aim for volume.  More moves on more holds is going to help you the most.  And watch how better climbers -- especially women -- do the moves you can't do.  How do they hold a hold?  Place their feet?  Position their body?

Any weight is fine to climb as long as your body can handle your weight, it sounds like you are a pretty fit guy so you should get after it. Best advice I have is to go to the gym and climb with people way stronger and make friends! I learned so much from climbing with people way stronger than myself, and quickly caught up to the pack. Id recommend getting a hangboard if your fingers can handle it, but id get one that has big holds, slopers and deep pockets to start, at any weight, crimping with no experience, technique, and connective tissue will be dangerous, but you get so much stronger with a 5-10 minute routine of 10s on 50s off just hanging on any jug hold as you first start out, then throw in some pull-ups a few times per week. Don’t listen to these hang-board fearmongerers, but as a beginner, your aim is to spend as much time actually climbing as you can. for the first year or so, hangboard exercises are just to supplement climbing, and specific training is useless and possibly dangerous. but just hanging on holds at the beginner level will make you significantly stronger especially at times when you can’t make it to the gym. Good luck, hope you enjoy the sport as much as I do!

Edit: recognize your weaknesses as you progress by paying attention to moves you have trouble with but someone else can do with ease. 

phylp phylpwrote:

 Unfortunately, I think the trend in gyms is to favor overhanging terrain.  You almost never see sub vertical walls in gyms, whereas in many climbing areas, this angle is the majority.

Yeah this is annoying and I don't understand why this is except for maybe the fact that it looks cooler. IMHO slab is one of the best ways to train balance, body movement patterns and shoe confidence. My regular wall has 20*20 plus another section of 5*15 meters dedicated to overhang and maybe 5*15 on steep slab. Luckily some other walls a tiny bit further away have a bit more.

FWIW I agree with all advice given, don't hangboard yet except for maybe super bomber holds. If you want you can maybe focus on upper body strength (pull ups, strength exercises for your lower arms etc.). But smaller fingerboard holds and pockets are a one way ticket to injury and you won't need those until you start climbing 5.10b+.

Unless you have an uncanny degree of body awareness and restraint, I also suggest you hold off on hangboarding for at least a year. I started climbing after a few years of weightlifting, so I was habituated to steady increases in muscular strength...and I was also overweight by climbing standards. Had strong forearms and fingers from working construction and playing guitar. Found that I could boulder pretty hard straight out of the gate--particularly on small holds. I trained for climbing like I trained in the weight room--more reps and more difficulty was the goal. Lacking technique and restraint, I quickly developed elbow tendonitis and a finger pulley tear. 

The muscles were pretty strong, but not balanced for the purpose, the tendons and ligaments were weak, and my ego wasn't in check. I learned the hard way to focus on technique, mental discipline, and enjoying the movement.

Now, I'm 10 years older, 20 pounds lighter, and considerably weaker in a muscular sense. I climb WAY harder and haven't had an injury in years. At this point, my performance would benefit from hangboarding, but I find climbing way more fun.