UKC

I'm totally new to any sort of fingerboard style training as I mainly climb & boulder to train. However I work offshore so have 3 week periods where I can't do any climbing and I'd like to use my time as best as possible - any advice will be helpful.

I have a pair of Tindeq duck rings (https://tindeq.com/ see for yourself if you don't know what they are) out here with me. Im not particularly interested in finger strength specifically at the moment as im not a good enough climber for that to be holding me back yet but what does is forearm pump and endurance once the rock starts getting steeper.

Does anyone have any suggestions to train endurance using fingerboard/rock ring style equipment?

Cheers!

In reply to J Whittaker:
Being stronger is gonna help endurance because you not having to try so hard,. I'd just do normal finger board sessions. And general exercise. Core, push up pull ups etc. If i was stranded out at sea.

In reply to J Whittaker:

You should look into performing repeaters on the fingerboard, this simulates the grip relax sequence you would use when climbing.

In reply to J Whittaker:

At the level you say you're at, the best thing for reducing forearm pump is better footwork and overall general technique.

In reply to J Whittaker:
'Encores' (repeaters+french pullups) made a big difference when I was training to boost my trad grade, helpful lockoff endurance for while you fiddle in a wire
http://www.beastmaker.us/training/2015/3/17/from-beastmakercouk

The metolius 10-minute workouts might also be adaptable to your rings - designed to produce a sustained pump and easily modified if it gets too easy

In reply to J Whittaker:

As benlatham said, being stronger makes every move feel easier because it is further from your maximum. Strength is also the slowest thing to build up so I would never neglect strength training entirely at any point, regardless of what your goals are. But strength training alone without any endurance training will lead to the first few moves feeling really easy, followed by a terminal pump building up very quickly.

I would aim to do maybe one session a week that is strength based and make your other session(s) endurance based.

For the strength side of things, you will be wanting to do short hangs, with decent rest aiming to recover almost completely in between reps. They should be hard (though ideally not to failure every time, it is easy to injure yourself if you are failing each time) and the sessions should be low in volume.

With those rings, you will be wanting to use the crimp or pinch holds and adjust the difficulty as needed to make it feel hard but doable. If it is too easy, add weight using a rucksack or a harness. If it is too hard, use your feet on a chair or some scales and then try to reduce the amount of weight on your feet each time.

For the endurance sessions, you could do repeaters (usually about 6 reps of ~7 seconds hanging, 3 seconds rest then a longer rest between sets) although these are really somewhere in between strength training and power endurance training. For trad at the grades you are climbing, an ability to hold on/recover when on a route for a long time is going to be the most important thing.

So for this longer endurance, you are going to need to make it easier so that you can hold on for a lot longer. I would suggest keeping your feet on the chair and then spending a shortish amount of time on the crimps/pinches (maybe even doing a set of repeaters on them if this isn't too hard) before switching to the jugs for a longer period of time to try and recover. Rinse and repeat. This is to simulate short crux sections, followed by trying to recover at the next decent hold/ledge. If it gets too easy, try to increase the ratio of time spent on the harder holds.

The endurance workouts will get boring so have something to listen to/watch to keep the boredom at bay.

In reply to Rob Powell LC&CC:

Rob. I absolutely agree, technique is king and strength, endurance and stamina build on solid technique. I try and focus on footwork and climbing well when im back home but i dont think there's much i can do on that out here short of convincing them to build me a bouldering wall haha.

Cheers for the suggestions everyone, ill have a go at them.

In reply to J Whittaker:

Thanks for taking my comment positively as it was intended. It seems others didn't. Your logbook suggests we are climbing at a similar level and footwork has been the difference between me leading VS and HVS.

As for offshore workouts, I'd recommend as well as any campus training you could also work on core strength through planks and crunches etc. Maybe you could do some indoor buildering problems?! Good luck with it.

In reply to J Whittaker:

I'm in a similar situation what I have done is a couple of things

I have a simple fingerboard made from a 25mm campus rung (screwed on upside down so it's not a incut) on a plywood board that I can hang on a pull-up bar. I do repeaters with this a mix of weighted ones or no weight and sets of press ups during the rest period. After every session I will do a core workout a mix of bar stuff and floor would like some rings but lack of floor space and head height is a factor

Secondly I work out on the underside of the stairs but you need a understanding oim/safety guy. I use the stairs outside and do some foot on campusing and ladder up and down without moving my feet.

We went through a faze of doing stupid challenges like a 1000 pull-ups before lunch or a load of press ups.

Always did this and some running everyday keeps me fit enough to climb 7b+/E4

In reply to ffati:

We have a pretty well equipped gym out here thankfully. Couple of treadmills, pull up bar, TRX bands which I can use for climbing training plus a load of free weight stuff I don't tend to bother with these days. I work on core quite a lot with my benchmark being able to do a front lever at some point. Getting closer to it but can only hold it for a few seconds with 1 leg tucked at the moment.

Ill start working on repeaters and stuff like that but I was thinking from an endurance point of view I could try hanging with my feet on the floor at an angle to simulate an overhanging face and try and hang there mixing up 1 arm 2 arm and moving around a bit on different holds. Essentially trying to simulate bouldering as much as possible minus footwork.

In reply to J Whittaker:

That's what you are trying to simulate with foot on campusing on the underside of the stairs simple movement where you just build fitness not strength.

Repeaters are great for power endurance type work out get used to recovering quickly.

Could think about getting strong offshore then build some fitness at home long days out soloing/bouldering i.e. Doing loads of pitches ar stanage in a day solo or a 50 font5/6a boulder problems in a day all buys you time on rock and teaches you to be efficient

In reply to J Whittaker:

I don't really know what I'm talking about here, but here's my thoughts:

Any form of endurance training on the ring things is going to be intolerably boring and will be so unlike any form of actual climbing that it may not translate at all. I'd use those for what they were designed for (presumably finger strength?) and then make sure that the whole time you're home you work on climbing as much volume as possible. If it's rainy, go to the wall and do 20 or more routes (you need a willing partner for this sort of thing of course, or autobelays) or some kind of volume boulder session. But obviously go outside whenever you can.

The high volume stuff will improve technique and endurance, and with strong fingers from the offshore training, robert will be your mother's brother - you'll be walking up e-grades nae bother.

In reply to Jon Stewart:

I hadn't thought how boring it could get...I can count the waves to make it more interesting! More Lakeland revival ticks when im back? I want a T-shirt and hat!

In reply to J Whittaker:

Yeah, for sure. And if it's rainy I'll be up for doing loads of routes at Kendal Wall.