UKC

Hey,

So I have been climbing on and off for around a year now. Loving it! But I am having serious problems with finger strength/ stamina..

After a good hour of solid climbing my fingers just seem to completely give up! I can hardly do any routes and struggle to keep up the climbing with my friends who all seem completely fine after around 10 minutes rest. Its like they have know stamina!!

Is this just due to bad finger strength or is there some way of improving my stamina?

First time posting on this forum so apologies for the novice questions!!!

Cheers

Seb

In reply to swifty:

Listen to what they're telling you, climbing is the only training they need at your level.dont over work them,a torn pulley is horrible and takes an absolute age to heal.try to climb routes with big holds to build your stamina without tiring your fingers,and don't get caught up with what everyone else can do. Staying injury free is the best way to keep making progress. Good luck

In reply to Wsdconst:

Thanks man

In reply to swifty:

I agree with wsdconst that climbing is the best training for climbing. If you feel it's specifically finger strength you are struggling with it could be worth trying some finger resistance bands such as power fingers in your spare time
http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/news.php?id=6858

In reply to Wsdconst:

Absolutely!

Years ago I pulled something in my right hand trying to pull over something strenuous at the end of a day's climbing.

It took well over a year to mend.

In reply to swifty:

Nobody seems to have asked you - but what kind of technique do you have? Are you naturally going for the steeper routes and hauling yourself up with strength? Or are you do airy fairy twists and turns and pulling your hips into the wall, your free leg sometimes swinging to the side to counterbalance - delicately placing your feet with as much sound as a fly landing on a birthday cake?
If not - that's your problem.

In reply to SenzuBean:

First one.. I need to really get to grip with climbing techniques, and try use my legs more. Practice is my onlyoption i guess!

In reply to swifty:


Well there's not just one way to practice. I.e. if you just do what you're already doing, you're only going to re-enforce bad habits and your technique may not get much better at all.
My advice would be to build together a few training techniques (which you need to stick to each time you climb until they become habits). For example no-hands-at-all and palming-only on the slabs to practice footwork and balance, silent feet (made my climbing so much better), and just repeating problems that are not at your limit, but in better and better style - just trying out different ways of doing it (i.e. do it a different way to the way you first did it on purpose, until you've tried every way of climbing it and every technique you can think of).

In reply to swifty:

So Just an update.. I have kept up the climbing real hard, and it is paying off. I have pulled myself back a bit and started playing with much easier climbs and really focusing on my technique. The plan is to perfect my foot work and general climbing before tackling the harder stuff. Thanks for the tips guys, really helped!

In reply to swifty:

Damn you! I thought this thread was going to be about a lost finger!!