Finger strength is an essential aspect of climbing. As you progress through the grades, the holds get smaller and smaller. At some point, your base level of fitness will not be enough to keep you progressing, so you should increase your finger strength.
Plateauing is easy once you reach a certain grade. When I first started climbing, I had a good level of fitness to progress fairly quickly. However, I then plateaued hard. After learning about finger training and incorporating a routine, I found that I was able to keep progressing!
Many exercises focus on improving your finger strength, but how do you choose the right ones? We’ll keep it simple and focus on one. With a bit of equipment and a lot of psych, you can push your grades and climb harder.
Different methods for finger training
There are four different methods to increase finger strength: climbing, campusing, hangboarding, and lifting. While each has its respective area of training, we’ll focus on lifting.
Lifting allows you the most control when training. You can be highly accurate and controlled with the amount of intensity you want to incorporate into your workout. It’s also the most accessible since you can do it anywhere. You will need some equipment, but I’ll provide that below.
The arm-lifting community
In recent years, the arm-lifting community has been infiltrating climbing, and it’s been a good thing. As a prolific climber and arm-lifter, Yves Gravelle has shown that the two worlds can combine.
If you want to increase your finger strength, you need to know who Yves Gravelle is. Yves is a family man, an ex-Canadian National Bouldering Team member, a three-time arm-lifting champion, a full-time employee, and, oh yeah, he has climbed V15/8C.
The Canadian has flipped the climbing world upside down with his finger-strengthening exercises. He has some of the strongest fingers in the world, pound for pound, and is the lightest person to lift the Thomas-inch dumbbell.
The secret? Arm-lifting.
What is arm-lifting?
Arm-lifting is an exercise used to target the muscles in a single arm. With the weight on the ground connected to a grip type, a single repetition includes lifting and lowering the weight.
You can practice this exercise with numerous grip types, including large holds, pinches, or a roller bar. Arm-lifting aims to focus your strength in each arm and work them independently. It’s a great exercise for discovering weaknesses on either side of your body.
What do I need for arm-lift training?
To begin arm-lifting, you will need a few key pieces of equipment. Many climbing gyms have everything you need. But to increase your finger strength at home, you should pick up your own equipment.
We carry everything you need right in our shop, here. Check out this list to help you get started:
1-inch lifting pin
This is the desired diameter for arm-lifting enthusiasts because it allows numerous weight plates to be added. Many weight plates have different diameters, so a 1-inch lifting pin will be more universal. Check the Lattice lifting pin here.
(Make sure you grab a pin that is short enough to use with a straight arm. More on this later.)
Weight plates
A set of weight plates is essential for lifting weights. If your gym has all the equipment, you can perform a training session there to see which weights to buy. Don’t have that opportunity? Grab a set of Lattice lifting plates in our shop.
18-20 Edge grip
Yves recommends training on an 18mm edge to increase finger strength. The YY Penta has multiple grip sizes and is a perfect tool for arm-lifting and hanging.
Pinch grip
This workout will train grip strength, so you’ll want something good for the skin. The Lattice Quad Block features an anodized aluminum finish with four pinch grips.
Roller bar
Wrist strength is commonly overlooked when training finger and grip strength, but not anymore. The last thing you’ll want is a roller bar to improve the new muscle connections you’re training. The Lattice Heavy Roller is perfect.
Yves’ arm-lifting workout
To maximise this workout, warm up your fingers by doing some light hanging or bouldering. You can also use your edge grip and perform some reps with low weight.
Always use the correct form when lifting. Proper form is important for protecting the muscles and maximising your workout.
For arm-lifting, this includes setting your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart with the weight directly between them. When you grab the hold, twist your shoulder so it’s in line with the center of your body. When lifting, keep your arm straight and lift through your legs.
If your arm isn’t straight when performing these lifts, you work more with your shoulder than you should. This is why the correct length pin is essential.
After you’ve warmed up your fingers, move on to the warmup period of the workout. The workout will include four to seven sets, with the first three gradually increasing the load. The number of sets you perform after the warmups will depend on how you’re feeling.
You’ll notice that you will increase the intensity (amount of weight) by 10% during each warmup set. We want to keep our last sets at a max of 80% intensity. If you exceed this, you can compromise your form and sabotage your energy for your next session. Rest for at least 5 minutes between each set.
- 50% intensity for 8 reps
- 60% intensity for 8 reps
- 70% intensity for 8 reps
- Sets 4-7, 80% intensity for 4 reps
As you increase to the maximum intensity, you’ll lower the reps to focus on power. Lifting the weight and returning to the ground mimics climbing more than hangboarding. Instead of trying to isometrically hang, pull up and move on, much like a climbing move.
Perform these sets with all three recommend grip types:
- 18-20mm edge – Finger strength
- Pinch – Grip strength
- Roller bar – Wrist strength
Combining these muscle groups into your workout creates a solid base for increasing your finger strength. It’s akin to improving the muscles around the target muscle for maximum performance.
Remember to listen to your body. If your warmup sets are too difficult, decrease your weight. Sometimes, the reason we aren’t performing well has nothing to do with our strength. Factors like enough restful sleep, eating enough, or outside stress can influence a workout.
On the flip side, try to perform an extra set if you feel strong! But only if you’re keeping the intensity at 80%. Keep track of your workouts so you can monitor your progress.
Check out this video from Lattice training to see it in action:
Different crimp types to train
You should know what type of crimp you’d like to strengthen before you perform the above workout. Lattice Training has a good explanation of the different crimps and their uses that we’ll use.
Half crimp
This is best ‘all rounder’ for training strength as it is arguably more transferrable than other positions.
Front 3 drag
Good for catching holds and using pockets. Usually this is a slightly lower risk grip position to train.
Back 3 half crimp
Good for those with weaker pinky fingers. Higher risk than drag positions.
Front 3 half crimp
Good for big moves (pinkie doesn’t catch) and smaller width edges. Higher risk than drag positions.
Full crimp
Good for small edges. Due to the higher forces put through the joints and pulleys it should be trained via climbing, instead of on a fingerboard – unless you are very experienced, with a suitable training history.
Should I quit hangboarding?
Hangboarding and arm-lifting have different uses in climbing, so it’ll depend on what type of training you want. Hangboarding is excellent for training different grip types and learning how to hold smaller edges. Arm-lifting is about increasing the force you can pull when grabbing different holds.
Take it from arm-lifting super-Canadian Yves; he hangboards and arm-lifts. If you want to focus on a single aspect of your training, consider what your weaknesses are. This will help you narrow down what to train and for how long.
This video from Lattice Training on how to mix hangboarding and arm-lifting is also worth a watch:
Getting strong fingers for climbing
Fingers aren’t made of muscles that can be worked the same as other areas of your body. Instead, the fingers are made of ligaments and tendons. They take a long time to strengthen and can be injured more quickly if not cared for.
If you’re new to climbing, the best way to increase your finger strength is to climb. As you progress and learn technique, start picking climbs with smaller holds. Ultimately, this depends on your background and is more than just a one-size-fits-all answer. Some people have been developing their finger strength in other areas of their lives, while some haven’t.
If you’re wondering which group you fall into, simply try a semi-crimpy climb and listen to your body. Do you feel super sore afterward? Could you climb it again after a short rest? These are indicators of whether you should be finger training or just climbing for now.
Climbing training
Increase your finger strength with arm-lifting and push your climbing grades. The only way to see progress through training is to stay consistent. A week of finger training likely won’t yield promising results, but a 6-week block session will!
Record your workouts to monitor your progress, and remember to listen to your body. If you’re not feeling great on a particular day, taking it lightly or skipping your workout is okay. Just make sure you consider external factors like the amount of sleep, food, and stress if you’re not feeling great.
Perform each workout properly and increase the intensity as you get stronger. Train your fingers only to 80% intensity and never to failure for fear of injuring yourself.
Stronger fingers await you! Have you incorporated arm-lifting into your training routine? Let us know in the comments how it’s going!
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