Performing hand exercises is a critical component in any rock climber's training routine. Building your hand strength allows you to use a wider variety of handholds while you are climbing, thus allowing you to tackle greater climbing challenges more easily. Eric J. Horst states in his book "Training for Climbing: The Definitive Guide to Improving Your Performance" that you should perform hand strengthening exercises that improve the weakest aspects of your climbing rather than just build on your strengths.
Fingerboard
The fingerboard is one of the most common tools used for hand exercises in rock climbing. To improve your grip strength with the fingerboard, you only need to select a grip to train, such as an open grip, and then hang from the board for as long as possible. After you fall from the board, give your hand at least one minute of rest. The exercise should be repeated for a grip at least three consecutive times. When training with this technique, you can experiment with different grips on different sizes of finger holds to find what works best for you.
Campus Board
A campus board is a much more intense way to improve your hand strength when compared to a fingerboard. A campus board is a wall-mounted sheet of plywood that has narrow strips of wood running across it approximately every 12 inches or more. The board can be angled to increase the challenge of grasping the wood strips as you climb. Routines for ascending and descending can be adjusted to suit your skill level and current hand strength. The only drawback of this type of exercise is that you are only able to train with a pinch grip.
Heavy Finger Rolls
One rock climbing hand exercise that you can perform without special equipment is the heavy finger roll. The next time you visit a gym, set up a barbell on a squat rack that is at waist height. Add somewhere between 50 and 150 percent of your body weight to the barbell. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your back straight as you lift the barbell up with your finger tips, letting your arms hang at your side. Roll your fingers into a closed fist to perform a repetition of the weight. The goal is to lift the weight three to six times per set, which will improve your hand and forearm strength.
Hyper-Gravity Isolation Training
Hyper-gravity isolation training is a method of hand strengthening that was developed by Horst. The basic concept is that you wear a weighted belt as you climb and isolate two fingers on each hand on which to focus your grip. This type of training dramatically stresses the exercised fingers and promotes both strength and muscle endurance gains.
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