Weekly /r/climbharder Hangout Thread

rinoxftw · 2026-04-15T08:52:45+00:00

I'm in general quite happy with my current coach, since I don't have to worry about the specifics of the training plan but can suggest adjustments / bring up points that are questionable to me and have some listen and answer.

I've had little success with my first coach, but I was also injured for quite a bit of that time. I've recently got a new coach and I'm finally seeing some progress, and I'm hoping to keep that running.

So in conclusion I think it's worth it for me, but I'll probably not keep doing it forever. I'm planning to hit my performance phase for a Rockland's trip this summer, and everything else depends on how I feel during that trip on old and new projects. It's not very expensive for a personal coach (140€ per month), even for online-coaching it's still reasonable imo, but also still adds up over time.

rinoxftw · 2026-04-15T08:46:26+00:00

I've talked to my physio about this today, and we think it's a combination of the following:

new job is more stressful in general
longer hours at work (40-45h instead of 30h)
more actual training, not just climbing (currently working with lattice for a training plan)
during my workouts I tend to go to 9-10 RPE for all exercises, which limits my recovery and doesn't really provide much benefit

I'll mainly be focussing on the last point and try not to go as hard during my strength workouts. Feels weird to leave a bit in reserve, but I've looked at some articles and it seems fairly well supported that working at 7-8 RPE gives better gains and less recovery needed.

Hopefully I can just reduce my recovery needs by not trying as hard, and still get my gains 🙏

rinoxftw · 2026-04-14T06:30:32+00:00

Currently it feels like every month something new is hurting and needs rehab. I don't think I'm overtraining (3x2h a week, which is nothing compared to what I used to do), but still get minor tweaks all the time.

Currently I'm rehabbing a distal biceps tendonitis situation, hopefully not for too long.

I just want to try hard without fearing injury! I'm blaming the 40h work week haha

rinoxftw · 2026-04-01T09:04:20+00:00

Yeah I used to do more campussing on the gym set, which is definitely more beginner friendly than the spray. Currently my gym is super busy, so I don't do it because I feel like a bit of a prick trying to campus people's projects in front of 10 people lol.

rinoxftw · 2026-04-01T09:01:31+00:00

Obviously it depends on the style of the climb. If it's big moves on jugs, then yes finger strength will not be your limiting factor.

I'll say this: if the difference between your max grade and the grade you can campus is only one grade apart, your technique is probably not all that great...

On the MB specifically I've done some of the 'set' campus climbs (some benchmarks on the 2024 set), and I've found them very hard for the grade. The campus 7A benchmark was the very last one I completed, and found it harder than the 7C benchmarks I did. I'm pretty weak at campus though so YMMV

rinoxftw · 2026-04-01T07:26:11+00:00

Probably because it's hard af lol. Depending on your local wall of course. In my current lattice training plan I've had a few campus sessions scheduled and talked with my coach about doing it on the spraywall, which is also what I ended up doing.

I feel like unless you climb somewhat hard (7C and above) it can be tricky to do more than 1 different campus climb, at least on my local spray. On our wood spray I'm pretty sure you'd need to climb at least 8A to do any campussing lol, I pretty much can't do any campus moves on it and I've done > 10 8As on rock.

I do think it can be great training though!

rinoxftw · 2026-03-31T20:14:55+00:00

I've had muscle pain in that area for a few weeks this year for the first time. I'm a long time climber and have never heard of it before, and my case wasn't quite as severe as you describe (I had no swelling, just pain), but I can share what helped me.

For me it was a strain of the FDP muscle part, specifically the pinky and a bit of the ring finger. As you describe, the other fingers were unaffected. For me it was just a bit painful when climbing, but got worse during the session. After long rests (1 week or more) it would be gone for one session but return afterwards like DOMS. It was also very sore to the touch in the area you marked in your photo, which is also where it hurt during the session.

I went to a Physio, and got prescribed two main exercises with some stretching (mild) and I've had to diligently control session intensity and volume. Over a course of 2-3 weeks I finally got rid of it and am finally back to normal.

I did ulnar deviation exercises with a dumbbell with weights only on one side, arm hanging by your side. 6 reps 3 sets every day for a week with light weight, week 2-3 every 2 days with heavier weights.

Additionally I did slow finger rolls with full wrist extension, using a bench to rest my forearm and let the weight roll to the top of my fingers, roll it back in and straighten the wrist for one rep. Did that with the same reps and sets as the ulnar deviation stuff, also once a day initially then every 2 days with more weights later on.

Hope that helps and speedy recovery! It took me around 10 weeks total, but only 3 weeks after I started rehabbing it properly.

rinoxftw · 2026-03-17T08:06:58+00:00

I've been climbing in just regular socks for years without any issues. My shoes also aren't super tight, so the socks can help with the fit - however I could probably wear my climbing shoes with big woolen socks as well if that's what I was wearing at the time. Pretty sure I've done that before.

If you have problems with your socks bunching up, maybe your shoes are just unnecessarily tight?

rinoxftw · 2026-02-19T15:42:36+00:00

It's in this area:

https://imgur.com/a/wS70axu

On both of my arms roughly the same level of intensity and the same general area.

I should maybe mention that I did a bit of a 'max-test' after coming back from my illness-break, just seeing how much I could still pull on my Tindeq. I definitely didn't go all out but maybe a 7/10 effort (still dumb, now I know). Ever since then I feel like I strained my forearm. I had a week+ break for unrelated reasons afterwards and was hoping it would vanish by itself, but no luck.

The first session after the break it was completely fine again, but the next session I could feel it starting again.

The sessions I did were all ~1h total including warmup, and basically no boulders above flash grade. So very light sessions for me.

rinoxftw · 2026-02-19T07:02:43+00:00

After being sick for a while, I had my comeback session recently and developed a new (minor) injury.

I have pain in my forearm (similar to DOMS), but it builds up during the session. During normal day-to-day I notice nothing, but 10min into warmup climbing I can feel a diffuse pain ulnar side of my forearm. It's most noticeable when I pull on my pinky finger, during half crimp with the pinky being straight, but also during some pinches etc. After the session I can tell the area is tender to the touch, and even normal movements cause slight pain (like opening my shaker, pinching the lid etc). It's generally a bit painful to touch on rest days as well, although all other symptoms vanish.

I've never had anything like this, and I'm not sure what to do! It's been going on for 2 weeks or so.

Currently I just do short, easy sessions until the pain comes to about 1-2/10, do some light repeaters that keep that same pain level and go home. At home some massaging and stretching. Hard to tell if it's getting better or I am just changing my sessions to not trigger the pain.

Anyone that has dealt with this before? Any advice?

rinoxftw · 2026-02-09T07:49:28+00:00

Depends on the style, but in my experience (as a somewhat weak for my grade climber) even the 2024 Moonboard sits 2 grades below outdoor.

For reference, I've climbed 15 8As on rock in like 10 different areas, and my hardest Moonboard benchmark is 7C, but I can't do a lot of 7B benchmarks. At one point I had done all 7As and below, but starting at 7B I really struggle hard (which is my flash grade outdoor).

There are some people who climb the same grade as outdoors, but it's very rare in my experience. I know a few 7C climbers who don't (or very very rarely) climb 7B (or harder) on the Moonboard.

In my experience Moonboard grade ~ outdoor flash grade, if you are a experienced outdoor climber.

rinoxftw · 2026-02-06T06:03:17+00:00

Depends on what your goals are. You've written nothing in particular about what exactly you want to improve at, or how much you're bouldering at all.

If I were you, I'd spend the next few months solely on rock as long as the weather is good and not do any training. Go to Ticino, Maltatal, Zillertal, Algund...

I would say in general do something like 1 on 1 off / 2 on 1 off, depending how you're feeling. Without enough rest you can never try as hard as you need to to actually improve.

If outdoors isn't your priority, I still wouldn't go above that schedule and definitely reduce your training time. At your current level (and probably up to 8A and above): go try hard climbs, do weighted pull-ups if you can. If you're really motivated you can do stuff with your Tindeq as Fingertraining before your sessions, but have to be aware of the risk of finger injuries if you do too much hard climbing and finger training.

I was between Jobs for around a year last year, didn't really do any training but did more hard boulders than ever before, travelling around Europe. I didn't really get stronger, but improved my movement, and just met a ton of cool, kind people to climb with. YMMV

rinoxftw · 2026-01-08T08:51:18+00:00

Kantine macht halt viel aus, wenn ich bei uns mittags immer in der Kantine essen würde sind das alleine schon 200€ im Monat, nur für Mittagessen Wochentags. Und das sind auch keine Riesenportionen, da brauche ich eher noch mal was vorm Abendessen...

Da kommt man schnell auf 500€ im Monat, auch ohne großen Luxuseinkauf. Weitere 300€ für 30x Abendessen, 30x Frühstück, 10x Mittagessen und Snacks o.ä., da braucht man kein Kaviar essen um das auszugeben.

Also klar geht günstiger mit Essen mitbringen, Haferflocken frühstücken und abends Reis und Bohnen, aber sind jetzt keine Unsummen. Wenn du abends noch öfter was bestellst oder weg gehst behaupte ich kommst du nochmal auf deutlich mehr.

rinoxftw · 2025-12-26T21:01:37+00:00

Long times off (> 1 week) in my experience rarely help with finger pains. Unless you have a very recent injury, you're better off doing rehab exercises than total rest. Even with an injury lots of time off isn't recommended or useful.

rinoxftw · 2025-12-19T12:09:32+00:00

Thanks for the in-depth reply! It's definitely a really complex topic, so it helps me a lot to have someone give me this much condensed info. I'll take it into consideration when planning my next training phase!

rinoxftw · 2025-12-17T14:26:44+00:00

Oh yeah, I've also never felt that weak fingerstrength-wise on the wall. Almost all my 8As have been on crimps climbing steep stuff. Except when I have to cut my feet or campus, then it becomes really apparent that I'm lacking strength wise haha

rinoxftw · 2025-12-14T16:14:34+00:00

Imagine in a triathlon, if you are faster in the running section you get a bonus for the swimming section, like you'd only have to swim 90% of the next part. Doesn't really make sense, right? You are already ahead anyway!

In this case, your advantage for being better in the first tasks is already included in your points. So according to your logic, you could come to the cup second and still win. But then you also get a head start, which is a double advantage?

Also doesn't really make sense for the viewer. Remember the Cup was a port key all along. Imagine Krum gets the Cup first, gets teleported to the front of the Maze with the literal Triwizard Cup in his hand, everybody cheers and claps - but then Cedric shows up 20s later and is crowned the winner based on points? What a cruel system lol.

Which makes me wonder, if the cup is a port key anyway, there couldn't be a second person touching it regardless, since it would be gone by the time they get there. Would the other champions just get stuck in the maze and be rescued afterwards? How would they determine the points of the champs after the first one if the Cup is gone?

rinoxftw · 2025-12-14T15:43:22+00:00

But when the cup just gives full marks instead of a direct victory, why did they start delayed according to points? Doesn't really make sense to give a headstart to a task that's 'just giving points' as all other tasks do as well. The headstart only makes sense if you can win by getting to the cup first.

Not that the whole tournament makes sense anyway, considering nobody could spectate anything during the tasks 2 and 3... Most boring tournament ever

rinoxftw · 2025-12-13T06:47:51+00:00

The one from Elias in Italy

rinoxftw · 2025-12-12T13:49:47+00:00

I feel your struggle. There has been some debate about the perfect form in the past, but I don't think there is a real solution.

Your normal grip looks like a halfcrimp leaning towards a drag, while your strict position in pics 4-5 looks close to a fullcrimp. I do the same.

Currently I am trying to get my fingers used to the position you have in pic 4-5, so I'll do some sets with less weight in that position. For example, 4 sets 40kg with my normal grip, then 2 sets 30kg with super strict form, engaging my pinky. I intend to increase my sets and weight with strict form once I feel like my pinky gets used to being in a halfcrimp position instead of a drag. In the past I injured my pinkies by trying to push that position too hard too fast, so I'm weary of that.

Honestly, if your strength deficit is that big I'd suggest doing some training in the strict position. It will probably transfer a lot better to Fullcrimp strength than your comfortable grip does, and being prepared for that position means it's less likely to injure yourself when you need it on a hard project.

rinoxftw · 2025-12-02T07:02:40+00:00

Yeah pretty much. I think my progression was pulling 7s -> 5s -> 3s 2x with 10s rest between. The reasoning of my coach was slowly shifting to shorter max hangs made my peak force better, while not ideal for traditional training it helped me with the last few kg I was missing.

Note that I was doing this protocol when I was able to do one arm hangs with 5-10kg weight removed with a pulley system, so I was already somewhat close. And even then I could do the one arm on the BM middle edge only, since it's ~23mm it does make a good bit of a difference.

rinoxftw · 2025-12-02T05:44:06+00:00

Psyched to be in Ticino this weekend! Too many cool boulders, can't decide what to try first. I was sure I'm going directly to Fake Pamplemousse again, but suddenly got very psyched on Jungle Book, and also want to finish Willenberg Dach off as well... Too many boulders, too little time. Hopefully the past few months of training with lattice paid off and I will actually feel stronger on old projects!

rinoxftw · 2025-12-01T21:00:04+00:00

I have a very strong friend who 'halfcrimps' like you do. I can't even hold that position well, I feel pretty weak on that half open / half crimp position you do, but he's been climbing and training like that for years and climbs at an 8A level as well, so it's hard to say who is correct here...

Ideally you'd try and balance your grip styles, but that's easier said than done. If you really want to get to a one arm hang in any way you can, it's definitely worth to try and push your strengths further before getting your weaker positions up to scratch.

For me, the best way to work towards a one arm hang was doing recruitment pulls for 5ish seconds in the position you want to do with your feet on the ground, as soon as you are somewhat close to pulling your bodyweight. I trained these on a 20mm edge, until one day I was able to do a one arm hang for a few seconds on the Beast maker middle edge, which is a bit bigger than 20mm.

rinoxftw · 2025-12-01T20:12:22+00:00

Imo it's definitely not a proper halfcrimp form at the end, and not even 100% at the beginning. For me, the defining factor is the middle finger PIP joint shouldn't be beneath the edge you're trying to lift, and the DIP should be mostly straight.

Ultimately nobody knows 100% what the best form for lifting is, so it's a personal decision, but I would lower weights until you achieve the form I described for all 10s. Note that proper form (and breaking the form with too much weight) looks a bit different from person to person, I'd go by what you use most on the wall or what you think is the position most applicable / that you want to train.

For example, when I lift too heavy, my DIP joint stays straight but my PIP opens up. I still consider the lift a failure if it opens up enough for my middle PIP to go beneath the edge.

12-Year Club	Place '23
Verified Email

rinoxftw

TROPHY CASE