Hangboard Training Methodology Review

There are now dozens of hangboards available, not to mention DIY options. There are perhaps, even more suggested training methods. Given the variety of methods, I wanted a succinct overview of the different workouts, how they are used, and their overall philosophy. The following are my thoughts on the subject, but ultimately, you should make your own decisions based on your knowledge, experience, goals, and interests.

Starting with it's humble roots in walking to the top of hills, modern climbing is a marvel of human accomplishment and technology. Despite climbing's widespread public exposure, relatively little science has gone into training methods as compared to more well established Olympic sports like running or weight lifting. Perhaps the complex range of movements and span of physical systems required for any given climb, much less climbing style, challenge the training science that has been successfully applied to other sports. With all that in mind, there are certain common factors that we climbers can take from other sports, like specificity and periodization. After a certain level of overall fitness and technique, climbing, and modern sport climbing in particular, becomes almost entirely dependent on finger strength. It has famously been quoted that for climbers, the limiting factor is usually "from the elbows out."

In running, success can be measured by the combination of speed and distance the athlete runs. In weight lifting, the mass lifted in a particular style is the metric of success. In climbing, the metric of success is the grade of climb achieved. But grades are not absolute, rather ordinal and highly subjective. A climb that "feels like 5.12" to one climber may feel much easier or harder to another climber. This is a fundamental problem to training science. No matter how hard I train, if I am too tall/short, if my fingers are too large/small, (not to mention environmental conditions like humidity) the route is different and I may not be able to send. Therefore, climbing training must start with well defined proxy metrics for success.

Hangboards have long been a unique tool in the climbers training repertoire to isolate muscles and improve finger strength. However, the best means to use them are a subject for debate. A variety of techniques have been suggested, with each top athlete having their own recommendation. Before selecting a technique, one must consider the metric by which to measure success, is it weight held on a specific grip, time on a specific grip, number of cycles on a set of grips? Given the inherently limited number of grips and movements one can do on a hangboard, I will argue that for endurance based activities, a bouldering wall or climbing routes offer a better training facility. The strength of a hangboard lies in it's offering of consistent grips. This allows the user to measure their capability to hold more weight on, or hold longer on, a specific hold.

So how does one best use a hangboard then? My recommendation is the "rockprodigy" method. It combines measurable results with sport specific grip positions. I also see a high degree of value in Eva Lopez's "progression" workouts. In contrast, the "Chris Web Parsons" workout lacks any metric of success or even reproducibility of a given workout.  Workouts like those suggested by Nicros, Metolious, or Ben Moon's School Room seem best suited as substitutes for a workout at the gym.

The "rockprodigy" method, briefly, consists of using weights (with a pulley) to increase (or decrease) the difficulty of a hang. It is recommended that hangboard workouts be followed by two full days of rest, so 2x per week at most. In a given workout, 5-7 grips may be worked. For a given grip, three sets of hangs are performed with each set being 5-7 10 second hangs with 5 seconds rest and each set increasing in load and decreasing in time.

The Lopez method is an 8 week cycle with the first 4 weeks focusing on maximizing the weight added and the second 4 weeks focusing on using the smallest grip possible. Unlike the rockprodigy method, it is meant to be done in addition to regular climbing. Workouts consist of a set of 3 hangs on a defined edge size and load such that one hangs for 10 seconds out of a total capability of 13 seconds. That is, you would fall/fail at 13 seconds, so you stop at 10. Counter to common training philosophy, one does not train to failure.

I appreciate the science behind the Lopez method (see her blog and papers showing percent improvments for various groups of climbers). I also appreciate the fact that the Lopez method can be incorporated into regular climbing as setting aside 4-8 weeks for nothing but hangboard workouts is mind numbing. However, I appreciate the specificity in grip positions utilized by the rockprodigy method (as opposed to Lopez's specialized progression/transgression boards). Both methods utilize repeatable loads and grips with the focus of hangboard workouts as increasing finger strength as opposed to an overall climbing workout. As for which is best, rockprodigy or Lopez, I think the answer depends on your personal style. And who's to say that you couldn't adapt the Lopez method to any hangboard and grip position.

I hope you find this comparison useful. My goal is to be able to track my training and see quantifiable gains.

References:

1. rockprodigy:
1. http://rockclimberstrainingmanual.com/
2. http://www.rockclimbing.com/Articles/Training_and_Technique/The_Making_of_a_Rockprodigy__258.html
3. http://blog.trango.com/category/hangboard-beta/
4. https://www.trango.com/p-232-rock-prodigy-training-center-by-trango.aspx
2. Eva Lopez:
1. http://en-eva-lopez.blogspot.com/search/label/Finger%20training
3. Chris Web Parsons:
1. http://vimeo.com/61430224
2. http://www.climbingstrong.com/2013/03/10/my-thoughts-on-chris-webb-parsons-high-intensity-hangboard-program/
4. Moon Board:  http://www.moonclimbing.com/blog/school/fingerboard-training-plan/
5. Nicros:  http://www.nicros.com/training/articles/effective-hangboard-training-part-1/
6. Metolious:  http://www.metoliusclimbing.com/training_giude_10_min.html

Periodized training update

As the season is winding down I thought I would post an update as to the results from this falls training cycle.  Overall, I would rate it as a success.

There are many factors that influence a seasons quality, some within your control and others beyond - partners, weather, free time, challenging high quality routes, and of course personal fitness.  This fall, things came together nicely and I was able to strike a good balance of getting out to take advantage of good weather and staying sane/not traveling EVERY weekend as well as climbing both trad and sport.  While I didn't bump up my hardest sport redpoint grade, I am stronger than ever bouldering.  Likewise, a combination of physical strength and improved mental toughness have pushed me to new grades on gear (very exciting).

For this training cycle, I focused on one hard workout per week, one hard session bouldering, and then getting out on the weekends.  Weekends climbing throw a wrench in your training schedule, but its worth doing because a day out is always better than a day at the gym.  Plus, depending on the season, you can tailor your day at the crag to fit your training cycle.  The consistent one hard workout plus one hard bouldering session per week were the single most important factor to the training.  More than one hard workout and I 1) got bored of just doing workouts, 2) would push myself too close to injury, and 3) noticed a decrease in my climbing skill.

Near the tail end if my training, just before my planned peak period during early October, I took a small vacation with my girlfriend.  This was the power endurance phase of my cycle, and despite the one day climbing on vacation, it was certainly not power endurance.  The week after the vacation I felt noticeably weaker, but pushed as hard as I could on my 4x4's and by the third week was easily finishing three sets of v2-v3 problems for my 4x4s.  Conclusion: a one week break is not the end of the world.

My peak period was fun!  Routes and holds that previously seemed impossible were now easily in my grasp.  Even routes that felt hard while hanging the quickdraws saw a redpoint on the next burn.  I may not have increased my absolute highest sport redpoint grade (but that is more a function of the fact that I was previously in good shape and found a few routes that fit my strengths), but I built up my base of solid-for-the-grade 5.11's on sport and solid 5.10's on trad.

Looking forward to a winter cycle and killer spring season!

Periodized Training for Climbing

Climbing is an odd activity that blurs the line between lifestyle, hobby, obsession, and sport.  If you get into climbing, you'll want to get better if for nothing else than the ability to explore more places and more climbs.  Getting better involves two distinct components, namely 1) technical skill and 2) physical ability.  In this post, I'll discuss methods and means to improve physical ability.  **Disclaimer:  this is not professional advice, nor is it for novice climbers.  Novice climbers should climb a lot, pay attention to movement efficiency and balance, climb on varied terrain and find a mentor.

If you want to know more, read these books:

• The Self Coached Climber - the most current book on the market that brings it all together
• Performance Rock Climbing - a little dated, but still full of good info
• An Eric Horst book (How to climb 5.12, Training for Climbing, one of the other equivalents)
• The Making of  Rock Prodigy / Anderson Brothers' Training Guide - this is essentially the beef from the above books; what exercises to do and in what order to get results.  It may not be the be all end all, but it gets results for a lot of people.  

What I do:
My training is essentially based on these books plus what I've picked up from friends.  I don't want to restate what others have said better, but as a brief summary, I try and periodize my training as follows (3-6 weeks per step):

1. ARC:  build up aerobic endurance/increase anaerobic threshold through long times on the wall.  
2. Hypertrophy:  build muscle mass, one rep max weight lifting style by hangboarding.
3. Power:  force divided by time, improve explosive strength by campusing
4. Anaerobic endurance:  climb through more pump with 4x4's

Try it once and listen to your body.  Then individualize your regimen.  Here is my current schedule (note the incorpration of bouldering, antagonist muscle training and spreading out of hard workouts):

A few more details on each phase:
ARC:  Look at professional marathon runners and you'll see that their mile splits are faster than you can run a single mile.  What pushes you into unsustainable anaerobic excercise is within their sustainable aerobic capabilities.  According to running literature you can train yourself to run at 80-90% max intensity and be in your aerobic state by running a lot at your aerobic limit (right under your anearobic threshold).  So do long sets on the wall over easy to moderate terrain, like 30 minutes of 5.8 climbing.  Take this time to work on movement, practice backsteps, footwork, and flagging.  Then reap the rewards of recovering while climbing sections of routes that within your aerobic limit.

Hypertrophy:  This is building muscle to gain strength.  You do this by working so hard that your muscles fail within a very short time.  The rock prodigy method suggests choosing 6-8 grips on the hangboard and doing 3 sets consisting of 6 reps of 10 sec hang / 5 sec rest.  Furthermore, rock prodigy suggests using weights and rigging a pully system to add or subtract weight as needed.  I have also been mixing in "frenchie's" (pull up hold, drop, pull up, lock off at 90 deg, pull up, lock off at 120, repeat...).  And to keep it interesting, boulder problems that focus on small holds with stopper moves, essentially fast failure but on a route.

Power:  also known as max recruitment, this is about getting all muscles to fire simultaneously to generate maximum force.  The classic exercise here is campusing.  I do 4-6 sets of ladders, that is start with hands off set (left hand low, right hand on the rung 18 inches higher, then reaching the low hand to the next rung 18 inches above the right hand).  I have also been doing 1 arm lock offs / negatives (with assistance as needed) and it is paying big dividends.  Not sure if that is more hypertrophy, but it helps with low lock offs while climbing.  To avoid campusing too much I am also aiming to do dynamic bouldering - big moves to small holds that focus on explosive power and contact strength (its not about finishing the problem but trying hard).

Anaerobic Endurance:  This is supposed to be the fastest to gain, but the fastest to lose, so it goes at the end of the periodization.  All I know to do here are 4x4's - choose 4 problems that are below your grade such that you can just barely do them all back to back to back to back.  Maybe you could eak out harder problems by doing running style repeats - alternating hard problems with short rest or an easy down climb.

Putting it all together:  
It seems easy, but the details are critical.  Find your target peak period - send season (October in my case) or a trip date, then plan backwards.  You have to do it to figure out what your body can handle.  Remember, injury free is the number one goal, so take a day off or drop down to one hard workout per week if you are feeling off.  Note in my plan the included antagonist muscle training.  Make sure to do pushups, wrist rotations, elastic therapy band workouts for your shoulders (rotators and stabilizers) at least once a week.

That got a bit long... I'm curious to here what else you guys do for exercises in each phase.