The advice I've had (and am sticking by) is that in the first year or so, the best finger exercise is climbing; I've found that my fingers have become drastically stronger just from that.
The basic issue is that the finger tendons (and tendon pulleys) are very small and pretty delicate, and tendons take a lot longer to get stronger than muscles do. So the standard advice is not to try to rush them, or you risk nasty damage.
If you've only been climbing for a few months, there's probably a lot you can do on the technique front to take the weight off your arms. That will postpone the failure point, and allow you make lots more progress while you wait for your fingers to catch up *g*.
(Btw, I am very jealous of your chin-ups.)
Last week I watched another woman smear up a wall using only two fingertips from each hand on one tiny handhold! It was hot stuff, and I'd like to be able to do it too!
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branchandroot
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Date: 2010-06-16 03:22 pm (UTC)The basic issue is that the finger tendons (and tendon pulleys) are very small and pretty delicate, and tendons take a lot longer to get stronger than muscles do. So the standard advice is not to try to rush them, or you risk nasty damage.
If you've only been climbing for a few months, there's probably a lot you can do on the technique front to take the weight off your arms. That will postpone the failure point, and allow you make lots more progress while you wait for your fingers to catch up *g*.
(Btw, I am very jealous of your chin-ups.)
Last week I watched another woman smear up a wall using only two fingertips from each hand on one tiny handhold! It was hot stuff, and I'd like to be able to do it too!
I knooooow. But we can watch, and dream!