warming up before handboarding

Hi there!
Last year I started hangboarding with my beastmaker (beastmaker.co.uk) fingerboard. The thing is that I started to get better quickly. I was at 5.10c when I began and reached 5.11b/5.11c in around 2-3 months.
The problem is that I injured my ring finger when I was trying to push hard in a 5.12 route, and I had to stop hangboarding and also I had to climb only easy routes(5.10a). The injury was that my ring finger became inflamed every time I used it and it also hurt. I got really depressed at that time.
The thing is that I want to start hangboarding again since my finger is ok now, but I don´t want in any way to get it injured again.

I think that the reason I got my finger injured could be inappropriate warming up. So, how should I warm up? I don´t have a gym nearby to go and then come back to hangboarding, so I used to run 20 minutes and do around 2 sets of 8 pull ups in the 2 jugs for warming up.

This might seem stupid, but do you think that drinking coffee everyday could be bad for the tendons so it´s easier to get your fingers injured?

I do the following because I'm not going to drive to the gym for 30 mins prior to hangboarding:

1) Use a grip ball for 5-10 mins for each hand. Simple, easy and gets my joints and forearms going.
2) Rather than doing (1) set of 7 sec on 3-sec off on a jug that doesn't do much for warming up the fingers I pick 7 random holds. I'll choose a set amount of weight to reduce from my body for the entire warmup (let's say 25 lbs - just something that doesn't tax my fingers but just warms them up) then I'll do the following; jug, sloper, 3-finger pocket, biggest crimp, 2 finger pocket (ring/middle), 2-finger pocket (index/middle), and then middle size crimp. This is all done at random and it's done as the first set. So set your timer: hold jug for 7 secs, rest for 3 sec, hold sloper 7-sec, rest for 3-sec,...., hold middle crimp for 7-sec, rest for 3-min. Once 3 min break is complete start your normal hangboarding session.

Hope that helps.

Hans Florine gave a presentation at our gym the other week, and included in that was some finger stretching that seemed really good as part of a warm up...he swears by it for that. I'll try to describe it:
1) sit on the floor or a sofa
2) extend your index fingers, remaining fingertips against your palm, thumb on floor to stabilize, press down to stretch, hold 10-15 sec (he didn't really say much about how long)
2) repeat with index and middle finger extended, ring and pinkie tips against palm
3) repeat with index, middle, and ring extended, then all 4 extended
4) then just pinkie extended, other fingertips against palm
5) then pinkie and ring extended, etc

Apparently if you do this frequently enough, you will be able to climb the Nose in under 2 1/2 hours!

Also: I had a nagging finger injury (pretty sure it was a pulley) for a while earlier this year which I tried to be really careful about taping before workouts, and also I avoided any moves which were painful for it (for some reason slopers really bothered it). I was able to climb pretty frequently and still have the injury heal. Note that while it worked for me, I'm pretty sure that tape can be a dangerous game, though, potentially encouraging you to climb when you really shouldn't.

EDIT: obviously the finger stretching above is not a complete warmup, just one part of it. I'm glad you raised this question, though, I'd wondered about it too. Jarthur's approach looks like a smart one to me, I'm curious to see what other folks do...

Thank you for the answers guys. I think this is a really important topic. They always say you have to warm up thoroughly before hangboarding. Yes, ok, but how? In general, people don´t have a gym at home, neither is a good option going to the gym only for warming up (providing it´s close enough to your home). So for people in general that only have a hangboard at home, how should be a good warming up?

I think Jarthur approach seems good, curious about Optimistic stretching. I would add 15 - 20 minutes running first (or anything aerobic). It is always nice doing some aerobic exercise before anything harder.

ernirulez wrote:Thank you for the answers guys. I think this is a really important topic. They always say you have to warm up thoroughly before hangboarding. Yes, ok, but how? In general, people don´t have a gym at home, neither is a good option going to the gym only for warming up (providing it´s close enough to your home). So for people in general that only have a hangboard at home, how should be a good warming up? I think Jarthur approach seems good, curious about Optimistic stretching. I would add 15 - 20 minutes running first (or anything aerobic). It is always nice doing some aerobic exercise before anything harder.

If it helps call it "Optimistic stretching", otherwise call it "that effing Hans Florine stretching". :)

Seriously, though, I have no idea if the stretching really helps, but it feels surprisingly good. Florine says he does it in the car on the way to the crag every time he goes climbing...hard to think of a reason not to, not like you can get much else done. He also likes this thing a lot for the car: campsaver.com/pro-gyro?gcli…
Flame him if you disagree, not me! Plenty of folks have pointed out that the fact that a totally awesome climber uses a particular workout does not make it a totally awesome workout.

I checked (again) just now in the Rock Climber's Training Manual to see what they have to say about warming up at home, and they seem not to address it except to say that they'd rather that you warm up at the gym before you come home to hangboard... Hopefully they will see this thread and weigh in with some fully home-based alternatives.

What I'd previously been doing is 5 sets of 5 jug pullups with 3 minute rests. I think Jarthur's plan makes a whole lot more sense than that.

The Andersons already chimed in on this topic here. I do a similar warmup to jarthur:

1) Go for a short jog to get the blood flowing. While jogging I warm up my fingers with one of those grip trainers with individual springs for each finger.
2) Put a chair 2-3 feet in front of the hangboard and slowly cycle through all the grip positions with your toes on the chair. Do 2-3 sets of this with 3 minutes rest in between. Reposition the chair between sets to make the warmup harder (less weight on your feet).
3) Between sets I'm getting the weights ready, putting on my harness, adjusting pulleys, cranking up the music, etc.

The key is to warm up those fingers. Hangboarding is an excellent, controlled way to increase finger strength and avoid finger injuries. Note that if you're doing a periodized training schedule, your finger strength will drop off rather dramatically after 6-10 weeks, after which you should avoid bouldery moves at your limit until after the next hangboard cycle. This past spring, I suffered a minor pulley tear around this time from cranking too hard too long after the hangboard cycle ended.

Alec wrote:Note that if you're doing a periodized training schedule, your finger strength will drop off rather dramatically after 6-10 weeks, after which you should avoid bouldery moves at your limit until after the next hangboard cycle. This past spring, I suffered a minor pulley tear around this time from cranking too hard too long after the hangboard cycle ended.

I´m still waiting for my RCTM, and I really hope they talk about what you should not do after a given Phase and not only what you should, cause this is what makes you injuries-prone. I think that one of the reasons I got injured was that the "hangboard" Phase lasted too much for me (I was not periodizing at that time, just like hangboarding forever), and also a flawed warming up.

I use a rice bucket to help warm up for hangboard. Works pretty well.