Crimping, crimping, crimping

Crimping, crimping, crimping.

There is only one real difference between up-to 5.11 climbing, and the rest - mandatory hard crimping. Sundays climb was rated by the locals as a 5.11a, but with literally one good hold on the +/-15 move problem, I would doubt that very much. The rig wasn't negative until the last 6 moves. But it was a series of precision crimps leading to what would definitely be an onsight dyno maybe done statically to the final jug. So how do we build up this monster finger strength without wrecking our tendons. Or more importantly, what can the home climber do for this?

Its important to remember that all training for tendon strength requires appropriate hydration. Also, its important to know when to stop pushing the training cycle as not to overwork yourself into lesions.
I begin everytendon workout with one set of finger, hand, and forearm stretching. By holding my arms out in front of me, shoulders low, and breathing normally I spin my hands slowly making full circles. Spin each way for about 20 seconds. Afterward I shake out and then get on my hanging area ( I use my door frame, you can get creative depending on whats in your house). Its important to use a area large enough to allow you to hang, but small enough to challenge you. Obviously you are not going to get on a 1cm surface and do pullups your first time.
Try hanging for about 10 seconds. Really push yourself. If ten is easy, try 15 and so forth until you hit your limit. From there subtract two seconds and you have your repetition quantity. Example. If you try for ten seconds but can only do 6 at the most, cut down to 4 seconds and use this as your rep. I do 10 sets of hangs for my weekday workouts. Ideally you are trying to build up to about 15 second hangs. But its important to not that you should not up the cycle too soon. Spend about two weeks with a certain amount before upping your efforts. add one or two seconds according to your personal growth.
Another great exercise to incorporate into your routine is to lock off. This means getting on your ledge and pulling up until your chin is at or above the ledge and lock off there. This exercise translates well to climbing because many times on the rock we have to lock off to reach the next hold. Use the method above to find a safe number of seconds for lock offs. 10 sets once again is the magic number. Why 10? we are doing these workouts to build endurance not strength. And even though this workout naturally builds strength, we need to make sure we are reaching the correct goal which is being able to hang more, whether it is straight armed or locked off.
Its also important to note that crimping becomes easier the more core strength you have built up. As you can imagine, while we hang our bodies natural contours pull us in different ways. the ability to stabilize our hanging makes the work on our fingers that much easier. try incorporating 300 crunches twice a week into your cycle. I currently do 300 four times per week. The first set is a burnout. I can usually hit 100-110 in the first go. This kills. But if when it starts to really burn you push it hard and try for another 20 within a couple of weeks you will see dramatic increases in your ability to both crunch and crimp.
Have a great week and get on the rock!