Chris Webb Parson’s 30-Minute Finger Strength Program

Chris Webb Parsons recently posted a video of his finger strength hangboard program which has generated some interest on the web. Tommy Caldwell even said he’s going to give it a go while he can’t be out on the rock. I thought it would be good to summarize Chris’s program and share with Gstring users as one way to use and benefit from Gstrings. Gstrings offer a number of unique features which can further extend and customize Chris’s program.

Start by watching Chris’s video to become familiar with his basic method. It's a program designed to increase finger and hand strength. Please note the usual cautions and caveats:

• Don’t start the program if you have having finger, wrist, elbow or shoulder problems.
• Stop the program if issues start to develop in any of these areas.
• The program WILL increase finger and hand strength which can lead to developing bad habits by relying on new strength instead of good technique.
• It can be an excellent way to improve your climbing ability IF integrated with good climbing technique and habits.

His program basically is designed to train flat edge/crimp positions. However, it can be used for any grip position. Other possibilities with Gstrings are any of the pinch or sloper positions. This is an excellent way to train whatever grip position you are weak at. 

< If training a crimp position, Chris recommends using a half-closed crimp. The crimper on Gstrings allow you to easily adjust the difficulty by rotating the grip.

> I personally found that I needed to start with something a bit easier and used the flat edge between the first and second joint position. Then eventually reducing it to the first joint and then transitioning to the crimper. 

For this training you'll only use one Gstring grip because you're focusing on one hand at a time. You’ll need to replace the other Gstring grip with an old piece of climbing rope, webbing, or a sling. A fat old piece of fuzzed climbing rope worked ideal for me.

Choose a grip position that you desire to train and then adjust the difficulty so that you can only hang on for 2 seconds before dropping off due to your grip slipping or hand opening up. The beauty of Gstrings is that once you decide on a grip position, it’s easy to customize the difficulty by adjusting the angle of the grips. If training the flat edge or crimp position you can also modify the difficulty by the degree of contact your fingers have on the grip or how many fingers you use. 

Use the piece of rope to augment the hand being trained by pulling just enough to stay on the grip for 10 full seconds. If you fall off before the 10 seconds finish get right back on and finish out the 10 seconds. At the end of 10 seconds loosen your grip on the rope so the Gstring hand fails by opening or sliding off. In subsequent hangs modify the assistance provided by the rope hand so that you stay on the full 10 seconds. As soon as you finish one hand, switch and start the other hand immediately. After finishing both hands rest 3 minutes then repeat the cycle for a total of 3 times.

Three arm positions are trained each session: arm almost straight but not locked; arm bent less than 90 degrees; and, arm bent more than 90 degrees. The following chart sums up the cycle:

Session schedule  (~30 minutes)

straight arm (not locked)
left	right	3 min. rest	repeat cycle 3X
arm bent <90
left	right	3 min. rest	repeat cycle 3X
arm bent >90
left	right	3 min. rest	repeat cycle 3X

Recommended: 2-3 sessions per week with at least 1-2 days between sessions

This is designed to be a 12-week program consisting of two 6-week cycles. As you progress and gain strength you will be able to increase the angle of the grip or reduce the finger contact area so that you remain constant at 2 seconds for the unassisted hang. 

12 week program schedule

week	hang time 1st 6-weeks	hang time 2nd  6-weeks
1	10 seconds	5 seconds
2	10 seconds	5 seconds
3	5 seconds	10 seconds
4	10 seconds	5 seconds
5	max. time without assistance	max. time without assistance
6	rest	rest

Once you understand the principle and cycles, it’s quite easy to get into the groove and follow the program. It’s great because it’s only takes ~30 minutes per session. By being consistent and keeping a log of finger and grip position and contact area, it's easy to track your progress. 

Let me know if you try this and how it goes, the end results, and any modifications or suggestions or modifications you have after using this method. At the end of the 12-week cycle either take a break, train a different grip position, or increase the difficult of the current position (finger contact area; angle of hold; change to finer grip surface; or add weight).

Chris’s method isolates training to the finger and hands. If you’d like to have a more holistic approach that also involves the core and abs, see some of the exercises listed on the SICgrips website.

RollBar for Finger and Forearm Training

OK, I mentioned that I would explain how to make a RollBar. You're probably thinking "What in the world is a RollBar?" The RollBar is my version of a commercial-type training device. While the bar can be used as a pull-up/chin-up bar, that's not its primarily purpose. The main purpose of the RollBar is to provide another way to train finger, hand and arm muscles through a range of motion from an open hand position to a positive jug position. This is done by grasping the bar like you are going to do a pull-up but then gradually letting your body weight unroll your fingers until you are about to lose your grip and roll off the bar, then roll back up to a full grip. By rolling back and forth, rolling and unrolling your fingers, you can create an incredible forearm pump! It can provide complementary exercises to those done on your Gstring Climbing Grips or hangboard.

It's may be difficult to do this under full body weight (at least for me). However, by resting my heels on the floor in front of me I can control the amount of weight on my arms. Probably a better way to reduce body weight would be to use a pulley reduction system and weights which would allow you more precision and control in reducing the weight. This would require an additional 2 pulleys (sicgrips.com/Endurance.html). Since I use the RollBar more for endurance training for forearms and fingers than for power, I try to maximize repetitions. This means doing it with significantly less than full body weight. I repeat the unroll - rollup cycle as many times as possible with my heels resting on the ground in front of me. After doing as many times as possible, I rest, "rinse" and repeat for a total of 3 cycles. This creates an incredible pump in my forearms similar to climbing a longer route. 

The commercial product (Lapis Rollybar) that sparked the idea for the RollBar had sealed ball bearings inside a resin bar which rotated on an axle. No doubt it's really 'slick' and heavy duty, but at $150+ I can do without the glitz and smoothness as long as it's still functional. 

Besides being cheap, the system I comes with another major advantage - it's easy to insert different diameter bars. While I haven't done it yet, I plan to also make 2" and 4" diameter bars to add variety. Depending upon materials what materials you use and how many of them you already have, the RollBar could easily be made for under $20.

Materials needed:

• 2 sleeve bearing pulleys. You can also use ball bearing pulleys which provide less friction and make it really smooth, but are quite expensive if you have to go out and buy them.  I used two sleeve bearing pulleys that I had lying around which are often used in climbing/rescue work. If you need to go out and buys pulleys, a cheaper alternative would be the hardware store variety of pulley with sleeve bearings like this. However, they generally aren't as smooth running:

     

• 6mm accessory cord for making the "belt" and pulley hanging loops. Length varies (see below). 
• 1" PVC pipe - 24"-30" long (I weigh 135lbs - if you weigh over 150lbs, you may want to change the PVC to a steel pipe or tubing. The exact length needed will vary depending upon where you plan on grabbing it - inside the cord belt, or outside and what the distance is between the cord belts.
• 3/8" "S" hooks or 2 additional small loops of 6mm accessory cord depending upon whether you'll be hanging the pulleys from a bolt or doorway pull-up bar like this: 

     

Optional:

• PVC tubing caps (to give a finished look but functionally unnecessary)
• Several sheets of 220-320 grit sandpaper and contact cement (to provide a friction surface so that it's harder to slip off of bar). 

Construction:

1. Cut tube to length.
2. Make two equal sized "pulley belts" from the 6mm accessory cord using a using a water knot or double fisherman's knot. Determine the diameter of "pulley belt" by how low you want the bar to hang below the anchors (lower if you want heels on floor in front of you to take weight off, higher if you want to free hang, and if you plan using a variety or larger diameter bars. A good general size to start with is approximately 5-6" diameter if you plan on using different diameter bars but want it mounted as high as possible. If you're only going to use the 1" bar then it's possible to reduce the diameter even more to 4". If you want your feet on floor in front of you, you may want to increase the diameter to 10"-12" (approximate size shown above).
3. Spray or brush contact cement on the bar. After a few minutes roll the bar on the paper backing on the sandpaper like a rolling pin. After it's applied, trim off the excess at the seam with a metal straight edge and utility knife. Only apply the sandpaper where your hands will go on the bar. I coated the entire bar with sandpaper (except for the ends where the caps slid on) however I think it would roll smoother if the cord belts rolled on the bare PVC pipe.
4. Assemble the pieces and hang. See the photos.

Variations:

• It would be easy to create a 2", 3" and/or 4" RollBar using PVC with the pulleys. The 4" would give a work out that was more like that obtained on slopers.
• Reversing the hands (chin-up position, palms facing you) and doing the same exercise could work the complementary muscles to help keep everything in balance. This would also help work some of the muscles used in underclings.

Caution:

If you perform the finger roll-unroll with your feet on the floor out in front of you, make sure to have some padding underneath you in case your fingers roll off the bar when your pumped. A bouldering pad works great.

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Well that's it for this installment. Let me know if you have questions, modifications or additions. In the near future I hope to share some new tips and exercises using the Gstrings which haven't made it onto the website yet.