$7.95 Flat Rate Shipping within the contiguous USA

Menu
PhysiVāntage®
0
  • SHOP
    • "CRUSH" No-Jitters Pre-Workout
    • SENDURE X® - Pre-Workout & Power Endurance
    • Supercharged Collagen®
    • Weapons-Grade Whey® Protein Complex
    • POWERPLEX™ Plant Protein
    • Creatine Monohydrate (micronized)
    • "FLOW" - Electrolytes & BCAAs
    • REDUX HP™ - Natural Pain Relief & Recovery
    • Mag-ATP Booster
    • Organic Greens Superfood
    • VITALIUM™ Multi-Vitamin
    • SEND BLEND COFFEE
    • The Ultimate Pre-Workout Stack!
    • BULK DISCOUNTS & BUNDLES (Save up to 20%)
    • APPAREL & LOGO BOTTLES
      • "ELEVATE" T-shirt
      • "Sendure X" T-shirt
      • PhysiVāntage® Logo Hat
      • Electric Whisk (handheld)
      • Stainless Steel Bottle with PV Logo
      • Water Bottle with Sendure-X Logo
      • PhysiVāntage Logo T-shirt
      • Women's Logo Tank Top
  • BOOKS
    • Training For Climbing 3rd
    • One Move Too Many
    • Rock Climber's Exercise Guide
    • How To Climb 5.12
    • Maximum Climbing
    • Learning To Climb Indoors
    • Climbology
    • FREE Training eBook Download >>
  • TRAINING
    • Finger Force Testing & Training with Force Board
    • Lattice UK - Training Equipment
      • Lattice "MX Edge" Lift Trainer
      • Lattice "MxEdge SWITCH" Training Board
      • Lattice "Triple" Testing & Training Hangboard
      • Lattice "Heavy Roller" Forearm Trainer
      • Lattice "MEGA Bar" Portable Hangboard
      • Lattice "QUAD" Pinch Block
      • Lattice Lifting/Loading Pin
      • Lattice "Mini Bar" for Warm-Up & Training
      • Lattice MICROS Training Holds "6 Pack"
    • Training Articles
      • The Ultimate Guide to Hangboard Training
      • Campus Training Is Connective Tissue Training
      • Daily Finger Training Protocol
      • 7/3 Hangboard Training Protocol
      • Tendon Training Process Cycle
      • Finger Injury Rehab Video (A2/A4 Pulleys)
      • Core Training Video
    • Training Podcasts
      • Podcasts on Tendon Training and Injury Prevention
      • Personalized Nutrition for Peak Climbing Performance
  • SCIENCE
    • Tendon/Ligament Plasticity
    • Tendon Structure & Muscle Matrix
    • Tendon Adaptations
    • About Tendinopathy (Are You Injured?)
    • Nutrition for Stronger Tendons
    • Introducing Supercharged Collagen!
    • Research References
    • Podcasts on Tendon Training and Injury Prevention
    • Latest Collagen Research Impresses!
  • PRO TEAM
    • Pro Athlete Team
    • Masters Athlete Team
    • Pro Ninja Team
    • Coach & Clinician Team
    • Matt Fultz Profile
    • Justin Salas Profile
    • Become an Ambassador
  • BLOG POSTS
    • TRAINING AND NUTRITIONAL INFLUENCE ON ATHLETE INJURY RISK AND CONNECTIVE TISSUE ADAPTATIONS
    • Training & Nutrition for Developing Stronger Tendons
    • LATEST COLLAGEN RESEARCH!
    • ANNIE SANDERS MAKES HER DEBUT ON THE ADULT CLIMBING CIRCUIT AT 15 YEARS OLD!
    • Climbing Injuries Podcast - Causes, Rehab, & Prevention
    • The 8 Superpowers of the Best Climbers
    • CAMERON HÖRST DECLARES "MARTIAL LAW" (5.15A)
    • Daniel Woods Establishes America's First V17
    • Thirty-Six 5.14 Ascents in 7 Months!
    • Three 5.15s in 2020 by Jonathan Siegrist
  • ABOUT US
    • About PhysiVāntage®
    • Our Founder
    • Medical Advisory Board
    • Quality, Transparency, and Trust
    • Charities We Support
    • How PhysiVāntage Helps YOU!
    • Supplement Users Guide
    • Science-Based Supplements
    • Mission Statement & Beliefs
    • Climbing Business Journal PV Feature
    • F.A.Q.
    • CONTACT INFO
    • European Sales
  • Sign in
  • Your Cart is Empty
PhysiVāntage®
  • SHOP
    • "CRUSH" No-Jitters Pre-Workout
    • SENDURE X® - Pre-Workout & Power Endurance
    • Supercharged Collagen®
    • Weapons-Grade Whey® Protein Complex
    • POWERPLEX™ Plant Protein
    • Creatine Monohydrate (micronized)
    • "FLOW" - Electrolytes & BCAAs
    • REDUX HP™ - Natural Pain Relief & Recovery
    • Mag-ATP Booster
    • Organic Greens Superfood
    • VITALIUM™ Multi-Vitamin
    • SEND BLEND COFFEE
    • The Ultimate Pre-Workout Stack!
    • BULK DISCOUNTS & BUNDLES (Save up to 20%)
    • APPAREL & LOGO BOTTLES
    • "ELEVATE" T-shirt
    • "Sendure X" T-shirt
    • PhysiVāntage® Logo Hat
    • Electric Whisk (handheld)
    • Stainless Steel Bottle with PV Logo
    • Water Bottle with Sendure-X Logo
    • PhysiVāntage Logo T-shirt
    • Women's Logo Tank Top
  • BOOKS
    • Training For Climbing 3rd
    • One Move Too Many
    • Rock Climber's Exercise Guide
    • How To Climb 5.12
    • Maximum Climbing
    • Learning To Climb Indoors
    • Climbology
    • FREE Training eBook Download >>
  • TRAINING
    • Finger Force Testing & Training with Force Board
    • Lattice UK - Training Equipment
    • Lattice "MX Edge" Lift Trainer
    • Lattice "MxEdge SWITCH" Training Board
    • Lattice "Triple" Testing & Training Hangboard
    • Lattice "Heavy Roller" Forearm Trainer
    • Lattice "MEGA Bar" Portable Hangboard
    • Lattice "QUAD" Pinch Block
    • Lattice Lifting/Loading Pin
    • Lattice "Mini Bar" for Warm-Up & Training
    • Lattice MICROS Training Holds "6 Pack"
    • Training Articles
    • The Ultimate Guide to Hangboard Training
    • Campus Training Is Connective Tissue Training
    • Daily Finger Training Protocol
    • 7/3 Hangboard Training Protocol
    • Tendon Training Process Cycle
    • Finger Injury Rehab Video (A2/A4 Pulleys)
    • Core Training Video
    • Training Podcasts
    • Podcasts on Tendon Training and Injury Prevention
    • Personalized Nutrition for Peak Climbing Performance
  • SCIENCE
    • Tendon/Ligament Plasticity
    • Tendon Structure & Muscle Matrix
    • Tendon Adaptations
    • About Tendinopathy (Are You Injured?)
    • Nutrition for Stronger Tendons
    • Introducing Supercharged Collagen!
    • Research References
    • Podcasts on Tendon Training and Injury Prevention
    • Latest Collagen Research Impresses!
  • PRO TEAM
    • Pro Athlete Team
    • Masters Athlete Team
    • Pro Ninja Team
    • Coach & Clinician Team
    • Matt Fultz Profile
    • Justin Salas Profile
    • Become an Ambassador
  • BLOG POSTS
    • TRAINING AND NUTRITIONAL INFLUENCE ON ATHLETE INJURY RISK AND CONNECTIVE TISSUE ADAPTATIONS
    • Training & Nutrition for Developing Stronger Tendons
    • LATEST COLLAGEN RESEARCH!
    • ANNIE SANDERS MAKES HER DEBUT ON THE ADULT CLIMBING CIRCUIT AT 15 YEARS OLD!
    • Climbing Injuries Podcast - Causes, Rehab, & Prevention
    • The 8 Superpowers of the Best Climbers
    • CAMERON HÖRST DECLARES "MARTIAL LAW" (5.15A)
    • Daniel Woods Establishes America's First V17
    • Thirty-Six 5.14 Ascents in 7 Months!
    • Three 5.15s in 2020 by Jonathan Siegrist
  • ABOUT US
    • About PhysiVāntage®
    • Our Founder
    • Medical Advisory Board
    • Quality, Transparency, and Trust
    • Charities We Support
    • How PhysiVāntage Helps YOU!
    • Supplement Users Guide
    • Science-Based Supplements
    • Mission Statement & Beliefs
    • Climbing Business Journal PV Feature
    • F.A.Q.
    • CONTACT INFO
    • European Sales
  • 0 0

5 Reasons Why Stronger Fingers Equal Better Climbing!

May 25, 2024

While climbing is, first and foremost, a mental and technical skill sport, long-term improvement demands getting stronger in a number of climbing-specific ways, including developing stronger fingers.

Numerous research studies have confirmed that elite climbers, compared with non-elites, have a higher finger-strength-to-mass ratio, greater forearm endurance, and a higher rate of force development in the finger flexors. Therefore, assuming that you have solid technical and mental skills, training for stronger fingers is paramount to taking your climbing to the next level...and pursuing your genetic potential.

Knowing now that research has confirmed that strong fingers matter, let me detail five reasons why increasing your absolute finger strength will improve your climbing performance.

1. Stronger fingers can grip smaller holds.

Duh! Seriously, though, long-term improvement at gripping smaller and smaller holds—essential for climbing harder—depends on building a higher level of absolute (limit) grip strength. Fingerboard training (with the proper training protocol) is unquestionably the best method of training maximum grip strength, whereas the campus board rules for training "contact strength (i.e higher rate of force development in the finger flexors).

2. Stronger fingers can endure longer when climbing on submaximal holds.

Explaining why requires a bit of exercise physiology, so bear with me for a moment. When your fingers are gripping at just 20% of maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) blood flow through your forearm flexor muscles begins to slow....and at a contractile force of about 50% of MVC (and above) the blood flow occludes completely. When blood flow slows—or stops—power output declines precipitously after about 10 seconds and, depending on the relative difficulty of the sustained grip (% MVC), failure will follow in a matter of seconds to, at best, a minute or two if the finger flexors are contracting at a force far less than 50% MVC.

Anyway, lack of blood flow and oxygen supply is the crux of the matter, since oxygen is required for creatine phosphate resynthesis (CP is a vital intracellular energy source) and blood flow is needed to remove metabolic byproducts of anaerobic lactic energy production. Thus, when resistance climbing through a long sequence of relatively difficult, yet submaximal holds, the greater the perfusion (delivery of blood to the capillary bed) the longer you will endure.

Given the above understanding of blood flow occlusion as a function of the percentage of maximum voluntary contraction (MVC), it's now easy to understand that in gaining a higher level of maximum grip strength (a greater MVC) you will be able to support your body weight (or whatever part your feet aren't supporting) with a smaller percentage of MVC. This is a powerful concept and a critical guiding principle for effective training!

Summarizing: Increasing the MVC of the finger flexor muscles enables contraction at a lower percentage of maximum (compared with the weaker fingers of the “old you”) when climbing on similar submaximal terrain, thus allowing for increased blood flow (and greater use of the aerobic energy system) and improved forearm endurance.

3. Stronger fingers can rest and recover on smaller holds.

I’m sure you’ve seen videos of rock stars, such as Chris Sharma and Adam Ondra, pausing in the middle of some long, steep, and ridiculously hard climb to shake out and somehow rest on a small “finger bucket” that would in no way be a rest hold for the mass of climbers. Yet somehow these guys can stop and catch their breath and recover enough power reserve to push on and finish the climb. What is their secret to resting on small holds—let's call it a "micro rest"—that would pump out the average climber?

Strong fingers, of course!

As explained in #2, blood flow is the key to resynthesizing CP (essential for brief, high power movements) and removing fatiguing metabolic byproducts of the anaerobic lactic energy system (the predominant energy system when climbing hard, sustained sequences lasting between twelve seconds and a minute or two). For a rest hold to be good enough to hang onto for a meaningful rest (say, fifteen to thirty seconds or more), you must be able to grip the hold using less than 50 percent of your MVC—only this way will there be enough rejuvenating blood flow into both the shaking and gripping arms.

Therefore, a climber with "average" grip strength may require a 4-inch (10cm) deep hold to recover (the smallest hold he can grip for an extended time at <50%MVC on, say, an overhanging route with marginal footholds) whereas the 5.15 climber can likely shake out on a one-inch-deep hold (2.5cm) thanks to a very high relative grip strength that allows him to grip with less than 50% of MVC (with the aid of proper foot and center-of-mass positioning, of course). 

physivantage pro, alex megos - photo by eric horst

Some of the strongest fingers in the business...PhysiVantage pro, Alex Megos!

4. Stronger fingers have more stamina.

Occasionally you hear a mind-boggling media report of some pro climber on-sighting or redpointing multiple 5.14 routes in a day and then doing it again the next day . . . and maybe even the next!

How is this even possible?

Let me tell you a story about a climber named Alex who does this with regularity. I’ve climbed with Alex a few times in recent years, including a day at the New River Gorge when, in the matter of a few hours, he warmed up on a couple 5.13+ routes and then proceeded to do the first ascent of a 5.14b and a second-go second ascent of another 5.14b. Sounds like a fatiguing day of climbing, right?

Not for Alex!

In fact, he climbed other routes at the 5.14 grade both the day before and the day after! How is this possible? Before I embellish further on the importance of getting stronger, I must point out that Alex possesses world-class technique and a very strong mind. That said, the master key is that Alex is really strong! We have yet to see what Alex’s true climbing limit is (but it will be fun to watch in the coming years), but I can tell you that climbing 5.14b routes is nowhere near his limit. So for Alex to climb at this level on successive days is similar to 5.12 climber doing 5.11 routes on successive days or a 5.14 climber sending multiple 5.13a routes.

The bottom line: By increasing your limit strength and advancing your high-end climbing ability, the submaximal level at which you can climb with relative ease and aplomb—and in high volume—is elevated. Therefore, by making a long-term training commitment to getting stronger (and improving your mental and technical game), you may someday find your current maximum climbing level to be relatively “moderate” and achievable in volume!

5. Strong fingers make climbing more fun.

Pulling on smaller holds and gliding more easily over difficult terrain brings joy to the heart. And, of course, breaking into the next grade and sending a hardest-ever route is a rare, transcending experience that can make your season and, in fact, make a great memory for life!

In closing, the quest for stronger fingers must be viewed as a gradual, long-term endeavor at which you can improve year-over-year for a decade or more, given a properly nuanced training program.

Toward this end, here are two Pro Tips:

#1. A haphazard, shotgun approach to finger training (i.e. doing lots of everything) will be, at best, marginally effective...and might even get you injured. Steady, long-term gains in grip strength come from the execution of a smartly designed, appropriate program (for your ability and climbing experience) that dovetails just the right training stimulus with adequate rest (both between exercises and workouts) as described in the book Training for Climbing.

#2. Finger injuries are frighteningly common, and each injury occurrence represents a massive setback in your training and pursuit of greater finger strength. Getting adequate rest and consuming enough protein each day is essential to support connective tissue and muscle remodeling/strengthening. PhysiVāntage Supercharged Collagen protein is used by many top boulderers and sport climbers to promote finger tendon and pulley health. Learn more about the science behind this essential product for serious climbers >>

Top photo: Jonathan Horst sending Genetic Drifter (5.14c/8c+), Wild Iris, WY.


Copyright © 2000–2024 Eric J. Hörst | All Rights Reserved

  • Share:


Also in Articles

Latest Collagen Research Impresses!
Latest Collagen Research Impresses!

June 10, 2025

Read More

Are NSAIDs Hurting Your Training & Performance?
Are NSAIDs Hurting Your Training & Performance?

June 05, 2025

Read More

Why Top Doctors & Physiotherapists Recommend Collagen
Why Top Doctors & Physiotherapists Recommend Collagen

June 04, 2025

Read More

Follow

Tag @PhysiVāntage in your social media posts!

  • Become an Ambassador!
  • Shipping Info
  • Refund Policy
  • 20% Discount for Military & First Responders!
  • FAQ
  • Medical Advisory Board
  • Quality & Trust
  • European Sales
  • Pro Deal Purchases
  • Search
  • Affiliate Program
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Gift Cards

© 2025 PhysiVāntage®. Training For Climbing, LLC | 717-394-1678
Powered by Shopify

American Express Diners Club Discover JCB Mastercard PayPal Venmo Visa
★ Reviews

Let customers speak for us

1236 reviews
Write a review
93%
(1151)
5%
(63)
1%
(14)
1%
(7)
0%
(1)
1166
M
SENDURE-X® - Pre-Workout & Peak Performance (Boost Power-Endurance & Stamina) - NSF Sport Certified!
Mr. McC
Great product!

I use it for climbing and long distance trail running. Great taste! Great product!

G
SENDURE-X® - Pre-Workout & Peak Performance (Boost Power-Endurance & Stamina) - NSF Sport Certified!
Gregory Steverson
Sendure x

It has become my go to
Pre-workout drink and the drink I take to the crag. I do feel my endurance and recovery has improved since I have started drinking it

J
SENDURE-X® - Pre-Workout & Peak Performance (Boost Power-Endurance & Stamina) - NSF Sport Certified!
Jessie Graff

SENDURE-X® - Pre-Workout & Peak Performance (Boost Power-Endurance & Stamina) - NSF Sport Certified!

N
SUPERCHARGED COLLAGEN® (Connective Tissue, Skin & Joint Support)
Noah Swanson

Just starting to use it, but it seems to be working great! I love that the website has the science and sources behind it!

A
"ELEVATE" T-shirt
Andrew McClung
Great shirt!

The shirt looks super cool and presents the brand really well! It’s also comfortable and allows good air flow which I like!

123