EP 241: Fundamentals — How to Train Your Fingers

The Nugget Climbing Podcast

Fundamentals Season 2 (Part 4 of 6) — Everybody wants stronger fingers. In this episode, Jesse and I share our top tips and pitfalls when it comes to building functional finger strength for climbing. We cover our favorite finger training methods, key principles to follow, how to apply your strength to the rock, how to avoid finger injuries, the power of consistency, and much more.

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Show Notes:

thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/fundamentals-s2-part-4

Nuggets:

(00:00:00) – The NUG

(00:01:19) – Two things that have improved Jesse’s finger strength

(00:04:12) – Using climbing to gain finger strength

(00:07:53) – Overview

(00:09:05) – Steven’s Tip #1: Do something simple enough that you can be consistent with it, and do it for a very long time

(00:11:02) – Examples of simple consistency

(00:13:48) – Climbing on a board

(00:18:14) – Jesse’s Tip #1: You probably don’t need much finger training

(00:19:37) – Maintaining finger strength on a trip

(00:21:50) – Steven’s Tip #2: Use big edges to get strong and use small edges to apply that strength to the rock

(00:31:28) – Jesse’s Tip #2: Understand the adaptations from different styles of training

(00:37:41) – Owning the hold

(00:38:43) – Finger curls/active flexion

(00:42:53) – Building forearm capacity and endurance

(00:44:08) – Rate of force development

(00:46:12) – Wall crawls/crimp crawls/low gear

(00:48:33) – Steven’s Tip #3: Own the hold

(00:53:32) – RPE and 10-second hangs

(00:56:32) – Jesse’s Tip #3: Practice grips on the wall

(01:01:28) – Steven’s Tip #4: Train a variety of grip types

(01:11:54) – Bonus Tip: The Ladder Program

(01:14:56) – Jesse’s Pitfall #1: Training too heavy

(01:17:20) – Genetric freaks and the 200 lb goal

(01:18:25) – Steven’s Pitfall #1: Not considering how you climb when you train your fingers (i.e. Your finger training should be specific to you)

(01:22:26) – Jesse’s Pitfall #2: Doing your finger training when you’re tired

(01:24:38) – Watching Tyler Nelson one-arm hang a 15mm edge when tired

(01:27:53) – Rate of Force test

(01:29:28) – Steven’s Pitfall #2: Switching protocols too often

(01:30:30) – Jesse’s Pitfall #3: Too much “perfect” edge training

(01:34:44) – Steven’s Pitfall #3: Stressing out about which protocol is “the best”

(01:36:30) – “It takes years”

(01:38:18) – Bonus Tip: N=1

(01:39:55) – Wrap up