How To Build Finger Strength (SCIENCE EXPLAINED)

Timestamps:
0:00 Dr. Keith Baar
1:00 Two hangs per day
2:58 Background to research
3:58 Groups of climbers
5:18 Results!
8:01 Conclusions
11.50 Limitations
12:40 Next steps

This description will be updated as more information becomes available!

If you wish to help with the prospective study you can answer the VISA-C (injury questionaire) here:

You can download Crimpd here and search for "Emil" to try the workout yourself:

Link to Ryan Devlin's podcast with me and Keith Baar:

Link to the article:

Original video "Hangboard Training 2 Times Per Day For 30 Days":

Follow up two years later "Hangboard Training 2 times per day for 2 years":

Massive thank you to Keith Baar, Natalie Gilmore and Peter Klimek for making this knowledge available to us all.

My gear:
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FIlmed by Cordelia Mangia Jansson
Edited by Emil Abrahamsson

[EmilAbrahamsson]

Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed this follow up to the two hangs per day videos.
I will add all relevant information in this pinned comment and in the description as we learn more about this topic!


2. If you wish to help with the prospective study you can answer the VISA-C (injury questionaire) here:

3. You can download Crimpd here and search for "Emil" to try the workout yourself:

4. Link to Ryan Devlin's podcast with me and Keith Baar:

5. Original video "Hangboard Training 2 Times Per Day For 30 Days":

6. Follow up two years later "Hangboard Training 2 times per day for 2 years":

Massive thank you to Keith Baar, Natalie Gilmore and Peter Klimek for making this knowledge available to us all.

[jprobertsclimb]

Having science backed data like this is a huge step for the climbing community! Keep up the good work, I can't wait to see how far this research goes!

[MrChristof]

Absolutely LOVE that the most intense research in our sport comes because a guy likes making videos it's awesome

[nordexp]

Regarding your survey, it may be beneficial to change the scaling for pain to be: 0 = No pain and 10 = severe pain. Currently you have it set as 0 = severe pain and 10 = no pain, which is confusing when taking everyday speech and how we think about pain into consideration.
I mean, if you ask someone; "please rate your pain on a scale from 0 - 10" and they answered "0! Lots of pain", I would look them up and down a few times and wonder if they're ok :D

[quxify]

Congratulations on the publication. This is really a great step towards more research in climbing specifically!

[mangiari]

One possible limitation of the conclusion that I did not hear already is the fact that the Abrahangs are a relatively new concept. And it was very new in the crimpd app. So it could be that the people doing max hangs already did them for years, but just started to incorporate the no hangs. So this would not propose that they are equally effective. I could imagine that the benefits on strength gains don't sustain as long as max hangs do. On the other side, consistently doing max hangs for years might contribute to fingers finally breaking down, the Abrahangs seem to do the opposite.

Great work, no matter what. Thanks a lot!

[chrismaschhoff]

Thank you! I’m a physical therapist in the USA and started bouldering about 8 months ago. Even with my knowledge of anatomy and physiology I was struggling with how to train finger strength but not over train. This type of research is fantastic! I subscribed, down loaded crimd, and plan to try to be in your prospective study!

[emilmn]

Wow, one of the biggest science studies in rock climbing explained in a nonchalant way. Make history, Emil!

[minihjalte]

I would be really interested in a workout protocol based on these findings with both no hangs and max hangs.
And it would probably do good numbers on YouTube.

[danielwesterlund]

Big up to Felix for creating the original training programs that ultimately led to this collaboration and continuation of the scientific study on the subject.

[eurekaflows]

It's funny how one of the C4HP "coaches" coined "Abrahangs" a long time ago as a means to insult the protocol. I'm glad Emil is owning the term for his own!

[tadeasulrich]

Science oriented videos definitely your best work!! whats even more awesome that other channels pick up upon your content and develop discussion about new methods even more, good job.

[jaysworld]

Greasing the groove aka feeder workouts have been known to have great strength benefits for all muscle groups and movement patterns.

[Baytowne]

@8:51 I think there's an important caveat here.

I'm coming at this from other perspectives - I don't climb, I'm just generally interested in the tendon development and rehabilitation field as it relates to my own/other sports.

Dr Baar mentions that you shouldn't need to perform similar movements in the gym as your sport. My retort would be that it is often true in sport that you are not working the underlying qualia sufficiently in your sport to gain an adaption.

Specifically - a quarterback throws many times per game/practice. However, those throws are modulated by context. It is rare that you see a maximal effort throw, as the throw speed is dependant on target, positioning of other players on the field, counter-productive body mechanics from trying to avoid defensive players who are seeking to tackle you, etc. So a quarterback does still need to perform max effort throwing exercises or movements that transfer to it (long toss, med balls, jerks, etc.) in order to improve max throwing distance.

Similarly, in volleyball, I jump a lot. But that jump is always to a non-maximal target, and is modulated by the speed of play, my own positioning, etc. So if I don't train full approach jumps, standing jumps, and other exercises that transfer to them (power cleans, jump squats, depth jumps or other plyos) then I will not see a positive adaptation in vertical.

What we DON'T have to do is do the low intensity versions of these movements that are ordinarily present in a training program in order to ensure we have sufficient capacity to handle the high intensity movements. I don't need to do a bunch of drop landings to prep my body for max effort jumps. I do those tons in practice and play. It's handled. When it comes to the GPP component, I DO need to do what Dr Barr is suggesting - provide supplementary training in a different direction from my sport, e.g. long hold leg extensions, to offset injury risk and support tissue development.

Tl;dr - DO continue high intensity, overloading versions of your sport specific movements. DO add counter-acting GPP work. DON'T add lots of low-relative-intensity volume that mimics your sport.

[BeautifulFreakful]

This research protocol seems to have some serious methodological issues, not least of which are the inclusion criteria for the different groups. To be in the "Max Hangs" group, people had to do "Abrahangs" less than 3 times per week, and max hangs more than 0.5 times per week (= once every two weeks). Abrahangs only was the opposite. Both was > 3 and > 0.5. This create a huge variability in training regimen for people included in the different groups. In particular, the cutoff for maxhangs is quite ridiculous seeing as the typical prescription for maximum strength training is two sessions per week of > 80% 1 RM intensity with a total time under tension between 30 and 90 seconds per session. What motivated this choice of cutoff? This is not explained in the study. I don’t think this study says what you think it does considering this important flaw (and others).

[whoknows]

0:58 for later me
Great video mate. Trying to figure out how to train tendons strength best/ fastest
1:23 method 40% intensity 10 seconds 50 sec pause twice a day
2:07 6 hours prior/after any other exercise/training

[adriensanz]

This is freakishly great. Thanks a lot to all of you ! Favorite video of the year for me.
Keep the great work Emil.

[arck]

I don't know why but this reminds me of zone 2 training and the whole "learn to run slow in order to run faster" idea. Zone 2 is also not enough to be a running athlete: it works best when you couple it with hill running and sprints. There looks to be a common denominator which could be summarised as "in order to get stronger you should definitely push your limits but you should also teach your body how to efficiently handle all the low effort and stress that leads to those radical peaks" (it's probably an oversimplification but it feels like a natural thing to do)

[potatspoday]

Hello, I have been climbing for around 7 months and decided to try out this protocol of no-hangs mixed in with the odd max-hang here and there at the start of January. I began being able to hang onto a 20mm edge for an average of 13.25 seconds with my bodyweight (I produced an average from 3 trials of hanging), now at the end of the month I can hang onto the same edge for an average of 29.12 seconds which is a 2.2 times longer than at the start of the month! great stuff.

[yamchoonhian]

Makes sense. Max-hangs or Abrahangs depends on what stimulus each climber gets on their climbing days. So it's about complimenting one's existing climbing style & intensity so as to not undertrain or overtrain. Hence there is no one "best" way to train fingers. A lot depends on individuals themselves with their unique climbing styles, genetic make-up & age. I personally tried Abrahangs only once a day & noticed increased inflammation as my body wasn't able to recover from my regular training sessions with this added protocol. Might work if I am still in my 30's & early 40's when my recovery was way faster. Still, an awesome video that brings forth more scientifically in-depth analysis of our sport, which is so hard to understand due to its varied physiological demands. ❤