UKC

Okay, probably the most basic question in climbing... I don't seem to be making any gains in this area.

Any guidance/advice/things to consider would be most appreciated.

In reply to climber007:

It might be useful to fill out your profile. If you climb V10 and are struggling to improve further despite lots of specific training, that's a bit different to if you started climbing last year and have never done any bouldering.

Do you do much indoor bouldering? That's where I got the finger-strength I have from (which is enough to get me up the odd crimpy font 7a).

In reply to climber007: Hi, thanks for the reply. I can get up most 6a and 6a+'s at the indoor wall.

I much prefer jugs. Any crimpers and my fingers feel like butter.

In reply to climber007: Ive just bought a wooden fingerboard. Before people start laying into me about damaging tendons etc (heard it...) Im being pretty careful on it, using the jugs and switching to the large pockets whilst my weight is semi-supported (feet on a chair). If you're careful I dont see why you cant try that. I'll build it up as I get lighter and stronger.
Bring on the slating...

In reply to climber007:

I reckon a bit of bouldering is the way forward. Crimpy bouldering is a fun way to gain finger strength, much more effective than doing routes because you're doing harder moves (but less of them of course). It's also excellent for developing technique.

Be warned though, finger strength takes a while to build up and it can be quite easy to hurt yourself if you overdo cimping down hard on tiny holds.

In reply to Jamming Dodger:

Totally agree, I use my fingerboard and only climbed for just over a year (properly)

Any type of gains need to be done in moderation. Don't see what all the fuss is about.

Light short training sessions, building up every month.

In reply to climber007:

There's no big issue about having a fingerboard as a beginner. Maybe people are confusing it with a campus board?

In reply to xplorer:
Thus speaks someone who hasn't injured themselves yet!

Now define 'moderation' in the context of enough effort to make a gain.

Once you've done that, tell me how you know for sure.

In reply to nniff:

Gains have to be made in some way, either by climbing or using a finger board carefully, it's really not that complicated.

Injuries in sports will obviously always happen. Having a healthy diet, and building your self up gradually in your training and climbing isn't hard.

I train on a finger board, by trying to simulate climbing in the gym, using a couple of footholds to switch between. And then I do a light just fingers session, no injuries yet, just aches the day after, like any other type of training

In reply to climber007:
A wise and vastly better climber told me "if you think your fingers are weak then your footwork is crap, if you improve your footwork and still think they are weak then your shoulders and back aren´t strong enough"
Since when we measured our finger strength I was about 30% stronger than him but he climbs 8b and I don´t there is probably a lot of truth there!

In reply to climber007: Interesting... but it would seem to go against what many other top level climbers would suggest. I don't deny that my strength and footwork (indeed, technique in general) could use much improvement though...

In reply to climber007: I just went climbing a couple of times a week and climbed routes that were a little too hard for me until I fell off. Even if my fingers were burning and cramping, just didn't let go. You'd be amazed what you can do, finger strength definitely rocketed.