UKC

I have brought other forearm trainers before but not really found them that effective, does anyone have any training aids or tips that they use that works well?

Cheers

In reply to Bouldering8mad: tie string to the middle of a bar, attatch weight's to the other end and wind the weights up and down... cheap

In reply to Bouldering8mad: Apart from the obvious "climb more" (I'm sure that brigade will come along soon, and maybe will one day realise not everyone lives 5 minutes away from a wall/rock) I've found powerballs to be really good. They're £15ish on amazon, and you can use it whilst cooking/watchin tv/anything else you can think of that only requires one hand.

Just remember to swap hands every now and then. And they only work if you work them hard. You're arm should feel like its about to fall off when your done.

In reply to Bouldering8mad:Metolius Grip Savers are quite good I found. One sorted my right arm after it came out of a cast all weak and thin, I think they give good gripping strength compared to the kind with sprung buttons on them.
Tim

In reply to ianstevens: Haha yes not everyone can get to a climbing wall everyday like some people think. Thanks for the help guys!

In reply to Bouldering8mad:

The forearm strength you should be coveting is isometric finger strength where the fingers hold a hold in a position and don't move as you would when climbing.

Shaking a ball, winding up a broom handle or using some spring loaded device may get you bigger forearms and an eye-popping pump but won't be anywhere near as useful as hanging from a fingerboard or door frame in getting isometric finger strength.

Here come the brigade!

If you can't get to a climbing wall, build one.
If you can't build one, get a fingerboard.
If you can't put up a fingerboard, hang from a doorframe.

In reply to shark:

Is holding a spring loaded device, compressed, roughly equivelant?

In reply to Dave 88:

Are the springs exerting as much force as your entire body weight?

In reply to Dave 88:

I guess that depends what shape your hand and fingers are in when using the device. A further complicating factor is that different holds and the individually differing length of your fingers will require strength at diffrent joint angles. Some people can be strong in an open handed position and weak at a closed crimp for example and others vice versa. Ideally you should be training for all these different joint angles, prioritising training the weaker grip positions, in order to spread the load/reduce injury and allowing you to make the most of the holds that routes throw at you. Another factor is that certain fingers can be differently strong so it makes sense to identify the weaker combos (such as small and ring fingers) and prioritise training them seperately. These things are best done hanging on holds rather than using devices.

In reply to Stone Muppet: I have a finger board but as a student i carn't put it up in my rented accommodation,although i they have allowed me to put it up in their barn but i was hoping of some form of exercise that i could do in the comfort of my home and hanging from a door frame isnt going to work as my brother did it on the first day and broke the frame.

(and before you say it, i do use my fingerboard)

In reply to Bouldering8mad: If you have a look around there are other methods of installing your fingerboard, might cost a bit but worth it for the reason shark makes. Totally applicable training.

In reply to Bouldering8mad:

Might want to check out this link for a e-book on the subject:

http://www.andy-kirkpatrick.com/blog/view/hands_new_ebook

Only costs 3 quid.

Yours,

Neil Newton Taylor

In reply to neilnt: Cheers, sounds good might get it considering it's £3.

In reply to GuyVG: yeah i have seen some different ways of installing them only recently but just debating whether or not to get one.

In reply to Stone Muppet:



Couldn't have put it better myself!

In reply to Bouldering8mad:

Sounds like you need one of these... http://tinyurl.com/85p3j6a .. but I didnt tell you to put it up in rented accom

In reply to Bouldering8mad:

roman rings.

cant do antagonizing push exercises on a finger board.

In reply to ianstevens:


Powerballs - I found that once you had mastered them the benefit diminished greatly. Apart from that, they are not good for RSI.

More harm than good IMHO

In reply to nniff:

I understood they were very good for giving you RSI Shark is right...follow the science.

In reply to Bouldering8mad: Handstand push ups good for forearm and shoulders and and posture.

In reply to nniff:

My Powerball certainly helped get past my elbow tendonitis though. They're not useless but I'm not sure as a regular training aid.

In reply to Bouldering8mad: if you have/get a hook on pull up bar you can hang a fingerboard from it, the door frame will keep it steady

In reply to jadias:

they are an invention with a shoe-horned application imo. waste of space as a training aid.

In reply to neilnt:


From the blurb about the book on that link:

"The subject is purely about grip strength and is focused on winter climbers - especially leashless climbers."

Which, I assume, isn't quite what the OP is asking about.