Now I know what you’re thinking, another article on hangboarding? We all know finger strength is important and hangboarding is the best way to train it – so haven’t we pretty much covered it?
Well, those are fair questions. Unfortunately, while hangboarding has become more and more popular, lots of climbers get lost in the minutia. We get asked all the time about what combination of sets/reps/grips/amount of rest is the best protocol. The answer is a lot of that doesn’t matter. If you’re consistently making your fingers work hard (and we mean really hard), you’ll see finger strength gains.
This back to basics approach is why we are sharing professional climber and coach Dave MacLeod‘s post about the Edge Hangboard, which he helped design, and his in-depth how-to hangboard video.
“My first fingerboard was a single campus rung which cost me a few pounds. I used it to go from being stuck at around 8b/V10 for quite a few years to jumping forward to E11/9a/V14 in the space of about a year and a half. However, it wasn’t just any old piece of wood! The rounding and finish was just right for pain free comfortable training, and so I could do more on it and get stronger. Since then I’ve used some of the more popular models of wood fingerboard which are also pretty good. I’ve also visited some climbing walls with some fingerboard models which I feel are just nasty. Perhaps you can get away with lots of training on these for a while, but they just make my fingers hurt and as such end up being counterproductive in the long run. Obviously you can still make something great to train on by yourself if you have the skills. The problem is most people don’t do it and just want to buy one. So when asked to help design the Edge, I tried to think of the things I’d always wanted to make a fingerboard that is just right.” – Dave MacLeod
How-To Hangboard Video
If you have experience hangboarding, I’m sure you’re thinking, “How can I possibly sit through a 25-minute video on this?”. However, I (Matt Pincus) can assure you I’ve spent plenty of time on a hangboard and I still found this video useful. It does a great job of simplifying hangboarding down to the essentials. My guess is most climbers out there will change at least a thing or two with their hangboarding protocol after watching it.
Here are the 6 parts of the video so you have a better idea of what you’re getting into:
- What Exercises?
- Structuring the Workout
- Adjusting the Intensity
- Scheduling Your Workouts
- Injury Avoidance
- Choosing a Hangboard
Watch the video below and then be sure to click through to read the rest of MacLeod’s article. Also, if you like the look of the Edge Hangboard, you can purchase one for yourself there.
Full Article: Edge Hangboard and How-To Hangboard Video
(video still courtesy of onlineclimbingcoach.blogspot.com)
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