Rock Climbing Finger Strength and Health

Finger Strength and Health 

Although rock climbing is considered a low impact sport it puts a lot of work and weight on your fingers and tendons. It is important to keep them healthy and strong in order to prevent injuries. When climbing our fingers will often take 100% of our body weight and that means they need to be prepared to take on that much weight. Below I will go over a training plan that will help build and support your fingers and tendons alongside going over the importance of treating injuries. 

What to do when you get Injured? 

Getting injured can be very demotivating and worry some. For some it may be pulling a tendon or for others it could be rupturing the tendon. It is important to prevent these injuries however I understand that is not always possible. So let us go over what to do when you are injured: 

1) REST

    -This should always be the very first step when you find yourself injured, it is important to give your fingers time to rehabilitated, avoid putting too much weight on them. 

2) Slowly move it and put weight on it

    - Luckily your fingers are being used everyday so it should not get too stiff, however slowly adding weight onto it will help bring it back to its original state

3) Climb below your grade and avoid holds that trigger pain 

    -If you injure a part of your finger that hurts one crimps, do not climb crimps. If it hurts when holding onto to sloppers avoid sloppers. It is very straight forward the hardest part is forcing yourself to climb lighter and easier when you want to push yourself. But trust me in the long run it will pay off. 

Personal Experience with Injury 

I recently injured by A-2 pulley in my right middle finger and it took me out of climbing hard for about 2 months. It was very difficult to stay motivated and continue to feel the love I have for climbing. With my finger slowly coming back to strength I am making sure to tape up, it helps to tape the injured finger to one adjacent to it. I also did this pen rolling rehabilitation that helped so much. Keeping my finger moving and strengthening it with either rolling the pen or even a rice bucket . 

Preventing Injury!

What is better than preventing an injury? Nothing!!! Keeping in good shape and keeping your tendons strong and stable is a very valuable thing to focus on when climbing. The best way to prevent climbing injuries is to have strong fingers, here is a great plan to train fingers and tendons. 

Training structure is important for consistency, and achieving your climbing goals. My primary goal to build muscle and then get stronger for September 21st, adjust your training to suit your goals.

Here's my plan:

Fingers (always trained first)

-2 Max hang sessions per week

-3-5s hangs or 15-20s hangs

-5 sets

-3-5 minutes rest

1 Tendon hang session per week

-30-45s hangs

-3 sets

-3-5 minutes rest

-Climbing 4 x per week.

PHASE 1: Hypertrophy & Bulk

-6 months building muscle to raise my strength ceiling and improve weak areas. Bulking to aid hypertrophy.

-Workout daily (& after climbing):

-Rotate Push/ Pull/ Legs.

    -2 exercises

    -5 sets per exercise

    -8-12 reps

    -1-3 minutes rest between sets

PHASE 2: Strength

10 weeks dedicated to Strength training. Building strength to create power (strength x speed) during the next phase.

Workout 3 x per week (before climbing):

-Weighted Pull-ups

    -3-5 sets

    -2-4 reps

    -3-5 minutes rest between sets

-Bent Over Rows

    -3-5 sets

    -2-4 reps

    -3-5 minutes rest between sets

    -Rotate Push / Legs on other days.

PHASE 3: Power 4

-4 weeks of Power training. Power = Strength x Speed. Strength maintenance and speed work.

-Workout 3 x per week (before climbing) :

-Power Pull-ups

    -40-50% of 1RM

    -3-5 sets

    -3-5 reps

    -3-5 minutes rest between sets

-Weighted Pull-ups

    -80-90% of 1RM

    -3-5 sets

    -2-4 reps

    -3-5 minutes rest between sets

-Rotate Push / Legs on other days.

The De-Load Rule:

-De-Load every 1 out of 4 weeks. That means, 1 week of 40% volume every 3 weeks. I'll also be doing a 2 week de-load directly before my trip in September. This applies to finger training also.