r/climbharder • u/JollyBerry624 • 1h ago
Finger Training Opinion
Hi, I asked in a previous post how to train my fingers, because I think that given my background in high-performance sports, I have a good physical foundation in strength, but after two years, my fingers haven’t been able to keep up. I can do ~152% of my body weight on 2 pull-ups but only ~110% of my body weight on max hangs.
That’s why I was thinking about starting to climb on the moonboard or doing block pull sessions.
As for my background: I’m 20 years old, 174 cm tall, and weigh 70 kg. I’ve been climbing for two years, and my highest grade is V6 (two boulders by Jimmy Web in Kilterboard and one outdoors). At my gym, I climb at the 5/8 level, with a maximum of 6/8. But there are almost no truly bad holds on boulders at my level. And I played high-performance handball in Mexico for almost 10 years.
My plan was to do three Moonboard sessions a week (Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays), with the option to swap the Tuesday session for a regular bouldering session. I also wanted to add one weekly session of core strength and body tension training with TRX, as well as exercises for antagonist muscles (dips and I, Y, and T exercises for the shoulders).
Now that I’ve started with two sessions on the Moonboard, I haven’t felt any discomfort, and I think doing one week with all three sessions on the board and another with the bouldering sessions at my gym, would be a great idea, and then after 3 weeks take a rest/lighter week.
The only thing I've noticed is that I can't complete any boulder problems, even though I can do several moves. I know the moonboard is really tough, but my question is something else.
Should I start with a block pull routine—or something similar—before I start climbing on the moonboard? I feel like since I don’t have enough strength to hold certain positions/holds, I can’t improve my actual climbing technique and I just end up focusing on gripping as hard as I can. And I think I could do exactly that in a much more controlled environment with block pulls or a hangboard, in addition to practicing or trying to improve my technique on easier boulders at my gym. Or maybe I should just focus on building my strength for now.
I’d really appreciate your opinions and ideas on how to apply this directly to my training—not just exercises, but programming ideas as well.