Finger Board training

Training Anaerobic Endurance with "Pyramids"

Pyramid training simulates the way your forearm muscles might work in climbing a long boulder problem or medium-length sport route. In this way, it tends to train forearm endurance over pure strength. As shown in Figure 6.2, one run through the pyramid involves seven hangs on the same pair of holds.

The rest interval between each hang is just five seconds, so a complete cycle will take just under one-and-a-half minutes. Take a one-minute rest, before performing another pyramid cycle on a different set of holds. Your goal is seven to fifteen total sets.

As you progress through the sets, strive to hit all the primary grip positions including full- and half-crimp, all the two-finger pocket "teams," pinch grip, and open-hand slopers. It's good to vary the size of the holds used for a given set based on your level of fatigue, but be sure to stay "on schedule" in terms of the timing of your hangs and rest intervals.

Use the same pair of holds and follow each step precisely with just a five second rest between each step.

That is, hang: four seconds, rest: five seconds, hang: six seconds, rest: five seconds, hang: eight seconds, rest five seconds, and so on.

Training Contact Strength with "Repeaters"

Repeaters may be the single best fingerboard regimen as they will build contact strength (i.e. maximum grip strength). One set of repeaters involves a series of ten, maximum-intensity hangs on the same pair of holds. Each hang should last just three to ten seconds each, so you may need to wear a 10-pound weight belt (or use smaller holds) to make this a difficult task. Rest just a five-seconds between each of the ten hangs. The complete set of repeaters should take around two minutes and, of course, lead to a growing forearm pump.

Take a two-minute rest before launching into your next set of ten repeaters. Use a different pair of holds for each set of ten repeaters, beginning with your most "problem" or difficult grips, and then gradually progress to larger holds as you fatigue. It's also good to vary the grip positions trained to spread out the neuromuscular stimulus. For instance, you might begin with shallow two-finger pockets, then progress to small crimps, narrow pinches, small slopers, shallow three-finger pockets, medium crimps, deep two-finger pockets, medium slopers, medium crimps, and large slopers. Therefore, performing one set of repeaters (ten repetitions) for each of these ten grip positions would result in a total of 100 near-maximal contractions--a pretty good finger workout!

More ideas for Finger Strength Training can be found on Eric Hörst site here; http://www.nicros.com/training/articles/top-5-finger-strength-training-exercises/