Your favorite climbing-specific fingerless workouts

I tore my A4 pulley last week, so I am not to touch a climbing hold for at least a few weeks. I would like to use this time to try and build some strength in the rest of my body, core, etc. I am basically a training novice and am overwhelmed by the number of exercises targeted at the core and am unsure of what will best translate to actual climbing.

Sometimes I do crunches and a few leg lifts, but that's about all I got right now. What are you doing that keeps you fit for climbing without using your hands?? Any guidance is appreciated.

Lots of stretches. That's about all I can think of that I'd be willing to try...healing a pulley injury is hard, I had a partial tear and it took a couple months.

ab rollouts and stretching are my favorite

focus on some strength work, push(over head press), squat, hip hinge(deadlift), make your core work hard like you are unable to do 10 reps of it.  Just doing 100 crunches will not get your core stronger.

Not a core workout but, once you're ready, here is an article that has some good finger PT exercises. Finger PT is crucial to coming back stronger.
https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/esther-smith-nagging-finger-injuries/esther-smith-nagging-finger-injuries.html

Turkish get ups, Russian twists, planks, standing oblique dumbbell raises, burpees, and weighted step-ups.  

+1 for turkish getups mentioned above. Proper form is crucial, however.

I'm also a big fan of the hollow hold with arms overhead (perhaps the only "hollow hold" totally beneficial to climbing   ). 

Heavy dead lifts

Weighted pullups

Any sort of core work involving weights in plank or bridge positions

Get started on balance and yoga, flexibility is my strong suite and it gives you better resistance to tears in other parts of the body. Think about the type of climbing you’ll ensue once healed, bouldering or sport maybe even multi pitch and focus around that if applicable. Eat more veggies and quality protein. manganese vitamin c b6 and b12 are all building blocks to stronger tendons and ligaments. research more thorough to most of what I say, I am not a pro or a coach but have done well with nutrition and health. It’s a life changing sport, make it last. Hope you make a nice recovery!

Danny Poceta wrote: I tore my A4 pulley last week, so I am not to touch a climbing hold for at least a few weeks.

For what it's worth, resting it for a month (or more) is no longer the recommended therapy.   "If you don't stress it, it won't heal" is the new approach and it has worked for me and lots of others I know.   Gentle stress without pain, will cause it to heal faster and better.  

I injured my A1 (aka "capsule").  My PT (also a climber) in addition to other treatment, had me climbing immediately at a much lower level (ex. top-roped 20 pitches of <5.8 in the gym) with my finger taped to its neighbor.  No crimping, if it feels like it might hurt, don't do that move.  Two days rest.
   
After knee/hip surgery, they have you walking the same day, or in a machine that moves your leg for you, they don't cast you for a month!  That's old school.  
 
You might want to see a different doctor/Physical Therapist who's "up" on the latest stuff.

Thanks everyone for your replies!

John: I am aware that pure rest is not the recommended therapy. However, my impression was that easy climbing isn't recommended until the pain subsides and range of motion is mostly recovered? Were you climbing through pain immediately after the injury, or did it subside quickly? It has been about three weeks for me and there is still quiet a bit of discomfort. My statement of "not touching a hold for a few weeks" came from Esther Smith's interview on the Training Beta podcast.

I really appreciate the advice from everyone and would love to hear any/all approaches.

In addition to the other advice you've received, it's probably worth trying very low-weight, high-repetition dumbbell finger curls (sometimes called rolls). I've found these beneficial and an improvement on just resting.

rob.calm

Danny Poceta wrote: John: I am aware that pure rest is not the recommended therapy. However, my impression was that easy climbing isn't recommended until the pain subsides and range of motion is mostly recovered? Were you climbing through pain immediately after the injury, or did it subside quickly? It has been about three weeks for me and there is still quiet a bit of discomfort. My statement of "not touching a hold for a few weeks" came from Esther Smith's interview on the Training Beta podcast.

No, I wasn't climbing through pain.  Pain is a spectrum as all athletes know.   I was instructed to keep the pain in the 1-3 range (out of 10) while using it, and avoid any sharp pain.  This is fairly easy to do in a gym top-rope scenario, starting on a 5.5 and gradually increasing the difficulty.   It was my ring finger, and I taped it to my middle and pinkie fingers, which naturally compensates.   You can also tape your A4 to give it a bit more support; I don't think that will slow healing, but check on that.

So if you're mindful while climbing, it's not difficult to keep the pain on the right range, and your natural "guarding" behavior should also help keep you under control.

I was able to stay in reasonable shape, doing endurance/ARC type workouts, and I think I was back to full strength in about 4 weeks.  My injury was the capsule, in the palm, so my recovery time may not reflect yours (more blood-flow).  

pistol squats, any work on gymnastic rings