Here at TrainingBeta, we post a lot of articles about how to improve your finger strength.  We have covered numerous different hangboard routines, which hangboards are our favorite, and how to improve finger strength for different grips.  However, while following a training program the prioritizes finger strength will certainly help improve your climbing performance, understanding exactly why having stronger fingers will improve your climbing is also important.

In an effort to help you understand why you are (or should be) spending time on a hangboard, here’s an article by climbing coach and trainer Eric Hörst that explains just how improvements in finger strength work to improve climbing performance.

“The quest for stronger fingers must be viewed as a gradual, long-term endeavor at which you can improve year-over-year for a decade or more, given a properly nuanced training program. A haphazard, shotgun approach to finger training (i.e. doing lots of everything) will be, at best, marginally effective…and might even get you injured. Steady, long-term gains in grip strength come from execution of an smartly designed, appropriate program (for your ability and climbing experience) that dovetails just the right training stimulus with adequate rest (both between exercises and workouts).” – Eric Hörst

5 Ways Stronger Fingers Help Improve Climbing Performance:

While Hörst is careful to acknowledge that climbing is a skill based sport, he does explain that any climber looking to continually improve towards their ultimate potential will need to train for physical gains in strength.  To back this up, Hörst outlines five examples of how increasing finger strength will increase climbing performance:

1. Stronger fingers can grip smaller holds
2. Stronger fingers can endure longer when climbing on submaximal holds.
3. Stronger fingers can rest and recover on smaller holds
4. Stronger fingers have more stamina
5. Stronger fingers make climbing more fun

Click through below to read about these five reasons in detail.  While this post doesn’t cover exactly how to train your fingers beyond saying that it is an ongoing process that must be done deliberately and systematically, it is certainly helpful to understand exactly how having stronger fingers will help improve your climbing.  After all, if you are going to commit your time to hangboard sessions after hangboard session, don’t you want to know exactly why.

Full Article: 5 Reasons Why Stronger Fingers Matter

(photo courtesy of trainingforclimbing.com)

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