The strength of your fingers and grip while rock climbing can be the difference between life and death, making it one of the most important skills you need. Increasing your finger strength means you'll be more confident on smaller handholds and be able to move more dynamically up the face of the wall you are climbing. Climbing authority Eric J. Hörst in his book "Training for Climbing: The Definitive Guide to Improving Your Performance" notes that you should select finger strengthening exercises that specifically target your weaknesses.
Dead Hang
Performing dead hangs on a climbing hang board can quickly build up your hand endurance, "Urban Climber" magazine advises. To perform a dead hang, stand on a chair and grab the hang board with an open grip. Hold the grip for as long as possible and repeat the exercise two more times, taking a one-minute break between each set. Each time you perform the exercise, use different grips so your fingers are fully trained for different situations. Tying weights to your waist while performing dead hangs will help you improve your strength even more. When training for strength, add enough weight that you cannot hold your grip for more than 10 seconds.
Campus Board
Campus boards are an advanced way to train finger strength for rock climbing. The equipment is nothing more than a sheet of plywood with rungs screwed to it. You must ascend and descend the board using only your fingers to grip the thin rungs. It is difficult to use specific grips in this type of exercise, but you can practice your finger strength between lateral and specific angle movements. Incline the board to increase the intensity further. Beginners to climbing may find this type of training difficult or impossible to perform until after building a base amount of finger strength.
Hyper-Gravity Isolation Training
Hörst describes hyper-gravity isolation training as the ultimate way to improve your finger strength for climbing. During a HIT routine, you wear a weight belt to increase the amount of tension you feel in all of your movements. You climb up a wall using two fingers on each hand to vastly increase the strength in those two fingers. You can also perform sets of weighted pull-ups using your entire hand to disperse the strength gains. Perform three sets of 10 to 20 pull-ups while wearing 5 to 7 percent of your bodyweight as a starting point. As the exercises become easier, increase the amount of weight you use.
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