Unlock Your Climbing Potential: The Benefits of Campus and Finger Board Training
Are you ready to take your climbing skills to new heights? Whether you're a seasoned climber or just starting out, there's no denying that training is key when it comes to unlocking your full potential on the wall. And when it comes to effective and efficient training, two tools stand out above the rest: the campus board and finger board. In this blog post, we'll dive into the incredible benefits of incorporating these essential training devices into your routine. Get ready to strengthen your fingers, improve your power and endurance, and unleash the climber within you like never before!
Introduction to Campus and Finger Board Training
If you're serious about taking your climbing to the next level, you need to start training on a campus board and finger board. These pieces of equipment are essential for developing the strength, power, and technique required to climb at an elite level.
Campus boards are horizontal ladders that climbers use to train for rock climbing. They provide an excellent workout for the arms, shoulders, and core muscles. Finger boards contain small holds of various sizes and depths that climbers can hang from to train their grip strength.
When used correctly, these pieces of equipment can help climbers unlock their potential and take their climbing to the next level.
Benefits of Campus and Finger Board Training
Training on a campus board and finger board can help you develop the strength, power, and endurance needed to excel at rock climbing. Here are some specific benefits of this type of training:
1. Improve your grip strength – Campus boarding and finger boarding can help you develop stronger fingers and hands, which is essential for rock climbing.
2. Build explosive power – This type of training can help you develop the powerful muscles needed for dynamic moves in rock climbing.
3. Increase your endurance – Campus boarding and finger boarding can help you build the endurance needed to sustain yourself during long climbs.
4. Enhance your coordination – This type of training can help you improve your coordination and body awareness, both of which are important for successful rock climbing.
Safety Aspects of Campus and Finger Board Training
There are many safety aspects to consider when campus board and finger board training. Here are some tips to help you stay safe while training:
1. Only use a campus/finger board when you have been climbing for at least 18/24 months and your fingers are reasonably strong.
2. Under 16 year olds should only use these training tools under the strict supervision of qualified/experienced coach. A child is still developing and so at much greater risk of injury.
3. Under no circumstances should you use a campus/finger board if you have had any recent injuries or have chronic injuries of fingers, elbows or shoulders, or if you are tired.
4. Start slowly, gradually increasing the difficulty of your workouts as you get more comfortable with the campus board or fingerboard, and be aware of the grips you are using.
5. Limit your workouts to 30 minutes or less to avoid fatigue.
6. Always warm up thoroughly before using the campus board or fingerboard, and cool down afterwards to avoid injury.
How to Get Started with Campus and Finger Board Training
The campus board is a staple of rock climbing training, and for good reason. Campus boarding can improve your finger strength, forearm endurance, and body tension—all key elements of successful rock climbing. Plus, it’s a great way to build mental toughness and confidence on the wall.
Here are a few tips to get started with campus board and finger board training:
1. Find a campus board or finger board that meets your needs. There are many different types of boards available, so it’s important to find one that suits your climbing style and abilities. If you’re just starting out, look for a board with large holds and plenty of room to move around.
2. Start slow and progress gradually. When first starting out, it’s important to take things slow and ease into things. Begin by working on easy sequences and moves, and gradually increase the difficulty as you become more comfortable with the board.
3. Pay attention to form. As with any type of training, proper form is essential for both safety and effectiveness. Make sure to keep your shoulders back and down, core engaged, and pay attention to the grip you're using.
4. Be consistent with your training. In order to see results from campus boarding, it’s important to be consistent with your training regimen whilst also not over doing things. Aim for no more than 1 or 2 campus/finger board sessions per week, and mix things up by adding in other types of climbing strength training as well.
5. Campus/finger board training should always be about quality not quantity, so once you get tired and can't do an exercise properly, STOP. If you feel any sort of twinge or suspected injury, STOP. There will rarely be time within a campus/finger board session to train to failure due to the long rests needed between sets to avoid injury. It's best to pick one or two exercises that focus on a specific weakness and do these with excellent form and effort. Change the exercises up for your next session to keep variety in your training.
Recommended Routines for Campus and Finger Board Training
If you're looking to improve your climbing performance, campus board and finger board training are two of the most effective methods. There are a wide variety of routines you can undertake depending on the boards you have access to and your level of training. Remember that all campus/finger board sessions can be done with your feet on. This is a great way to avoid injury and allows you to incorporate endurance sessions into you training. Here are some recommended routines to get you started:
Campus Board Training:
1) Ladders: start matched and move up through the rungs with alternate hands (without matching the rungs on the way up). Once you reach the top, match and repeat back down. Keep going to failure and rest for 2-3 minutes rest between sets.
2) Max Ladders: Same as 'ladders', but go to the furthest rung you can reach in each movement (single rungs on the way down to avoid injury).
3) Up and down: Start hanging, explode up to the highest rung you can reach with one arm. Bring that arm back down and repeat on the other side.
4) Start with an easy grip (e.g., open-hand/chisel grip), then progress to a harder grip (e.g., half- or full crimp) as you get stronger.
5) Use a variety of grips and rung sizes to build strength over time.
Finger Board Training:
1) 4-6 sets of 5-10 second hangs, with 2-3 minutes rest between sets.
2) As with the campus board, start with an easy grip and progress to a harder grips as you get stronger.
3) Start with the bigger holds and using all four fingers, only progressing to smaller holds and three/two/one finger pockets when you have developed the strength to avoid injury.
4) Incorporating the use of a band or larger hold on one side of the finger board is great way to introduce smaller edges/pockets without too high a risk of injury.
Injuries Associated with Campus and Finger Board Training
There are a few injuries associated with training on campus boards and fingerboards. The three most common injuries are "pulley injury," which occurs when the A2 pulley, located at the base of the finger, becomes irritated or damaged, a second type of injury, called "trigger finger," which occurs when the tendons in the fingers become inflamed and swell, and a third type of injury called "De Quervain's tenosynovitis," that happens when the tendons in the wrist become inflamed.
Most injuries are caused by overuse, repetitive motion, or improper form, and symptoms of injury include pain, tenderness, stiffness, clicking or popping and swelling. Treatments can involve rest, ice, splinting, anti-inflammatory medication and even corticosteroids, so a medical professional should always be consulted if you have any concerns.
Alternatives to Campus and Finger Board Training
Remember that training on a campus or finger board is not the only way to improve your rock climbing and it's important to include a variety of training tools to become a stronger climber. Here are some other options:
1) Bouldering: Bouldering is a form of rock climbing that is performed without the use of ropes or harnesses. It is typically done on shorter walls or boulders, and climbers often use crash pads to cushion their falls. Bouldering is an excellent way to build strength and technique.
2) TRX Training: TRX training is a type of suspension training that uses gravity and your body weight to provide resistance. It can be used to build strength, improve flexibility, and increase endurance. TRX training can be beneficial for climbers of all levels.
3) Yoga: Yoga can help improve flexibility, balance, and core strength—all important qualities for climbers. There are many different types of yoga, so find one that you enjoy and that meets your needs.
4) Cross-Training: Cross-training refers to participating in activities outside of climbing that can still help improve your performance on the rock. This could include things like running, weightlifting, or swimming.
Conclusion
With the right training, you can unlock your potential as a climber. While campus and finger board training require some dedication and effort, their benefits are undeniable. Whether you want to build strength, increase endurance or improve your technique, there’s no doubt that this kind of training will help get you there faster than ever before. So if you’re looking for an efficient way to take your climbing game to the next level, come along to one of our climbing development sessions and give campus and finger board training a try!
Spring 2023 Newsletter
New Developments at our Cwmafan Climbing Wall
CLimbing club development
Young climbers 5-8 yearsOur new traverse section is now open with user friendly holds for young climbers. This resource is great for building confidence, improving movement skills and providing fun challenges. Many of you will also have already tried our rope climb, which is proving very popular with all of our groups.
The young climbers session is a games-based fun session that also has basic coaching to improve skills. We'll be working with the children over the coming months to develop their confidence and introduce them to some of the skills they’ll use when venturing outdoors with us.
Intermediate climbers 9-11 yearsIt’s been a pleasure to watch our intermediate climbers develop since we opened in January and we’re already seeing many of you quickly improving your basic climbing skills such as selecting, and correctly fitting a harnesses, tying into a harness with a rethreaded figure of eight knot, and belaying under supervision.
We’ll be developing skills within this group over the next few months to introduce warm up and cool down routines for climbers, movement skills on our traverse section, and improved route climbing.
12+ climbersFor our older children we’ll be teaching them how to develop their own warm up and cool down routines based on climber-specific movements, we’ll also be introducing a progressive approach to improve climbing skills and techniques, with an emphasis on movement skills. Improved belaying skills and effective use of peer belaying will grow their confidence as we step outdoors and also enhance their team working skills. For those that are interested, we’ll be exploring the basics of route reading and setting.
With our new training area almost complete, we’ll be introducing age appropriate strength and condition to their sessions with a focus on long-term development, mobility, and injury prevention.
16+ climbersFor our older/more advanced climbers, the pending completion of our training area will allow us to introduce a holistic approach to their coaching. As well as developing their movement and climbing skills on the wall, we’ll be adding strength and conditioning for climbers, mobility and movement sessions to ensure injury prevention, an Introduction to the correct use of training equipment such as fingerboards, peg boards, campus boards, TRX, rings, and bands, floor exercises to enhance coordination, fitness training, and more.
Recent activity
Birthday parties (£10 per child) – we’ve run two birthday parties recently and are available for more bookings (see the photos below)
Power In Me group – They joined us for two evenings of climbing and all had a great time (see the photos below). Contact us to hire our climbing wall (£20 per person – discounts available for not-for-profit groups/organisations)
Spring/Summer outdoor activity schedule
We have two outdoor sessions during the Easter holidays, which still have places available. On 3rd April we’ll be at Pobbles Bay on the Gower and then at Box Bay, Porthcawl on 5th April. Visit our Adventure Sessions page for more info and booking.
Keep an eye on our social media and website for more dates coming soon.
