Campus Boards, yay or nay?

[jest]

Does anybody here have any experience on a campus board? How is it? I only get to go climbing once a week so I'm looking for a way to train on the days when I'm not climbing. A campus board looks fairly easy to build, but I'm not sure it would be much of an improvement over simply falling hanging off door frames by my fingertips. *g*

Comments

[rydra_wong]

The advice I've heard is not even to think about campus-ing until you're climbing at a pretty advanced level (say V6 or above if you're bouldering), or your tendons will go ping.

However, if you've been climbing for a year or so, you could try a fingerboard. I haven't dared buy one yet, but I've got a set of rock rings, which are pretty nifty.

And one of the best climbers in the UK, Dave MacLeod of the clan Macleod, just has a strip of wood nailed up over a door-frame, which he hangs off while watching TV. So you may be on the right track already *g*.

[jest]

*nods*

I've only been climbing for a few months, but I am quite strong (chin-ups were a regular thing for me even before I started climbing). The fingertips and forearms are the first to failure when I'm climbing. I've now got exercises for my forearms, but I'm not sure what to do to strengthen my fingers.

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!

[rydra_wong]

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!

I knooooow. But we can watch, and dream!

[jumpuphigh]

I agree with everything that rydra_wrong said above but wanted to add that I have had tendon damage and you really do not want to risk it. It both hurts (a lot) and takes a really long time to heal.