Hangboard Routine for Route Endurance

I recently started hangboarding with the intention of increasing my endurance on sustained sport or trad pitches. I don't have a gym membership and primarily 'train' by climbing outside 3-4 days a week, with a focus on bouldering during the winter and rope climbing during the summer. The hangboard protocol I decided to follow is the 7:3s 40% deadhang repeaters on the Crimpd app (10 sets of 6 7:3s repeaters at 40 percent of max load, one minute rest between sets). I do it once in half crimp position, take a long rest, and repeat in 3 finger drag. I'm currently doing this twice a week. Is this an efficient way to build general endurance and recovery without consistent access to a gym?

Repeaters are okay but if you're not actually working on getting stronger at some point, they won't do much for improvement, especially at only 40% of max. Something is always better than nothing but I would suggest building max finger strength at some point. Climbing endurance responds really well to having strong fingers.

Sounds like a pretty good protocol since you’re working max power bouldering 3-4 days a week. The time-under-tension (TUT) for the 7:3s works out to 14 minutes per session which is low for endurance work. I would slowly work up to an hour of TUT. 

I would probably do sets with higher numbers of reps. If I had a specific crag in mind I might tune each set to simulate the length of one climb. This might be more of a “power endurance” thing than true “endurance” but I’m not sure any human alive is mentally capable of true endurance training on a hang board . 

How hard is it for you to complete the repeaters you are currently doing? When do you do it, relative to your bouldering sessions? And when does your rope season start?

My gut feeling, based on personal experience, is that, no matter what kind of endurance training protocol you choose, it makes no sense to do endurance training more than a month out from the time you plan to climb on ropes. Endurance comes quick.

If you are more than a month out from your rope climbing season, I would not do endurance work on hangboard, and would do max hangs instead. Then when bouldering, do mini-project/limit bouldering sessions 2x a week, focusing on projecting hard stuff, and throw in stamina sessions 1-2 times a week, such as doing higher volume of boulders you can actually send, in a timed interval... whether it's a pyramid of ~20 problems total, with short rest between problems, or some kind of boulder intervals (like Lattice 20 in 20, or PC on-the-minute (sets of 8-10 problems in the same amount of time, then rest 10 min, repeat the set of 8-10). I don't know how practical it is at the place where you are bouldering outdoors. You might have to repeat the same couple problems multiple times to get the volume. And obviously don't obsess about the exact timing, if you need to move pads, etc. Just think volume, and keep track of total V-points and time it took you to do them.

When you are about a month out, for the hangboard workouts I would do 7:3 repeaters, but I would either increase the weight to maybe 60% max, or increase the reps to failure. And on the boulders, keep to your limit/mini-projecting 2x a week, and the other 2x times a week do something like 4x4s, if possible.

I've recently done a bunch of research into this because I have been mainly bouldering the last few years and mostly neglected any endurance training. I recently went to Red River Gorge, where I not surprisingly got worked. Here is what I have found seems to be a general consensus about endurance training, in relatively non-technical terms:

Strength and endurance exist on a spectrum, where amount of force and the time you can sustain that force are inversely related. So at one end of the spectrum is High Force/Short duration (Max Strength) and the other end is Low force/Long duration (Aerobic Strength). In between these extremes is the general realm of Power Endurance.

Examples of Max Strength exercises: Max hangs or lifts, hard bouldering. Should not be getting pumped, but the focus should be on maximal effort, so finish when you can no longer maintain power or velocity of movements.

Examples of Aerobic Capacity exercises: ARCing, low intensity climbing, easy long duration repeaters, squeezing an easy gripper. Also should not be getting pumped, but the focus should be on long TUT.

Examples of Power Endurance exercises: 4x4s, short repeaters, basically anything that gets you the feeling of pumped. There is a wide spectrum between how intense you make it and how quickly you get pumped.

The best long term way to train Power Endurance is to build the two ends of the spectrum: Max Strength and Aerobic Capacity. Direct training of Power Endurance can be done as a top up a few weeks before a trip or objective, but should not be the base of long term training. So most of your long term year round training should be in the first two categories above. Which one you focus on depends on what your individual relative weakness is. For example, being a boulderer, my max strength is not the main limiting factor with my sport climbing ability, it is definitely my aerobic base; so if I wanted to be improve my rope climbing, I would long term focus on the second category of exercises. However, many people who only route climb might have the opposite relative strength/weakness, so their long term training would be to focus on the first category. Then for both types, before a trip, the third category could come into play, focusing on the time duration of the particular locale that you are training for.

The basic takeaway is that there is not one specific protocol that is overall "best" for endurance training - you have to assess your weaknesses and eventual goals and decide which category on the spectrum you need to train. Once you choose, then the specific exercises or protocols you do within that category are probably not super important compared to consistency. But this is why any advice that claims "One Best Way" to train endurance or "Follow Stefano Ghisolfi's Endurance Training Plan" are probably not necessarily valid for an individual's specific needs or goals.

Here are some videos from Steve Bechtel that explain this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qst6oH2mHB8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fuf-AQqutGI

Thanks for all the input. I'm not sure I can double or quadruple my time under tension per workout without going insane/quitting the routine entirely. I'm trying to address the gap between performance on enduro vs. bouldery routes, which is a solid number grade at the moment. (5.11+ vs 5.12+) Assuming I don't want to spend multiple hours on a hangboard session, is slowly increasing load to failure or slightly below failure a reasonable compromise?

Finding something you enjoy doing is the most important part of endurance training, not the protocol. There’s no magic to 7:3, it was meant to simulate climbing but it feels way too rushed imo. You can always explore around with different timing 10:5, 40:20. I’m doing minute on minute off small edge lifts and I love how skin friendly it is for an identical pump.

Another fun option is hangboard circuits. Set up a chair or something under your hangbord (think assisted front lever position) and do feet on ‘circuits’ around your board grips. Move the chair further out, add weight, use less fingers or do more cycles if you don’t have many small grips.
You feel like a total dork making up a fake route but the pump is there and the pacing feels realistic. You can tune the timing under tension to simulate a project or get some pocket fitness before limestone season. More fun than staring at a clock wondering how you went from trying climbing at a birthday party to moaning in your basement torturing the smallest muscle group in your body for an hour.

I'm not sure I can double or quadruple my time under tension per workout without going insane/quitting the routine entirely.

I have a high tolerance for boredom vis-a-vis training, and using a hangboard to train endurance is very monotonous. I agree with the previous poster - hangboard circuits are the best in that regard.  The Training Strength website outlines what he calls the best hangboard-based endurance workout, and I couldn't take it.  

Ryan Moser wrote:

Thanks for all the input. I'm not sure I can double or quadruple my time under tension per workout without going insane/quitting the routine entirely. I'm trying to address the gap between performance on enduro vs. bouldery routes, which is a solid number grade at the moment. (5.11+ vs 5.12+) Assuming I don't want to spend multiple hours on a hangboard session, is slowly increasing load to failure or slightly below failure a reasonable compromise?

Sounds like you might be like me, much better at bouldery climbs vs. enduro climbs, which would suggest that your Aerobic System needs to be trained more. Unfortunately, the way to train the Aerobic System is through volume. You cannot replace high volume with a higher intensity/lower volume, since that would be training a different energy system. It is a common misconception that because you get pumped while climbing that you should be training by getting pumped as well.

I have a similar issue in that I can't really spend half an hour on a wall at my busy gym, nor do I have the patience to spend half an hour hanging out continuously on a hangboard, so I haven't found the best way to train. I've been experimenting with using an easy gripper for longer durations (what Lattice has called "Carcing") which is something I can do at work or watching TV or on a long drive.

I have heard that “carcing” is not very effective unless you combine it with hiking/fast walking.  You need to get the heart rate and blood flow up.

Ward Smith wrote:

I have heard that “carcing” is not very effective unless you combine it with hiking/fast walking.  You need to get the heart rate and blood flow up.

Dang, if that's true then I've been wasting some workouts this past month.

Here is another video from Steve Bechtel that does give some specific sample workouts that train the Aerobic System.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJojCjEazeE

The comments and answers to questions are particularly noteworthy. Note it's not the specific protocols that matter, but the idea behind them in terms of getting the intensity and overall volume correct. Basically intensity should be low enough that you can maximize volume, with the duration not being less than 30 minutes and eventually building up to more. Maybe with some of these fundamental concepts you can think of how you can adapt these ideas to a hangboard workout.

If you get strong enough, those flat edges on your endurance projects will start to feel like jugs.  Once you can shake out anywhere, endurance routes become much easier  

I think your hangboard time will be better spent working max strength.  Focus some of your bouldering time on building your endurance. As Lena mentioned, boulders on the minute, or deep pyramid progressions.  Start doing 4x4’s about a month before your hoping to get on some longer routes.

Training endurance on a hangboard is a great way to loose your motivation to train completely. 

Kevin Stricker wrote:

If you get strong enough, those flat edges on your endurance projects will start to feel like jugs.  Once you can shake out anywhere, endurance routes become much easier  

I think your hangboard time will be better spent working max strength.  Focus some of your bouldering time on building your endurance. As Lena mentioned, boulders on the minute, or deep pyramid progressions.  Start doing 4x4’s about a month before your hoping to get on some longer routes.

Training endurance on a hangboard is a great way to loose your motivation to train completely. 

Getting stronger is not enough to close the performance gap between Enduro and Bouldery routes, it'll just move the gap up the grades. If OP wants to reach their potential in the Enduro style, training volume is the only way to do that. There are plenty of incredibly strong boulderers who can't shake out on what they would call a jug because their aerobic system is undertrained. 

Training endurance in the bouldering gym is a good recommendation as it is the most efficient and mentally stimulating method that I've found. You do need to be very careful however that you don't edge into power endurance territory. You also pretty much have to go when the gym is dead; people getting in the way of your endurance circuit is really frustrating and can take you out of the head space.

Training endurance with a pick up edge in front of the TV is grindy but bearable and gets the job done. Adam's 1 min on 1 min off suggestion works well for swapping hands. Density style hangs on the hangboard with a pulley are more time efficient but podcasts/music are less immersive than tv so it feels way more boring. The benefit of the edge/hangboard is that is is dead simple to hit the intensity you need for effective endurance training.

Stumbled across this potentially relevant youtube video.  It goes deep into the weeds and focuses on a particular training tool (Tindeq), but they talk about hangboard and on-the-wall drills too.  There's some discussion in the comments about how you need longer drills for true endurance training.

JaredG wrote:

Stumbled across this potentially relevant youtube video.  It goes deep into the weeds and focuses on a particular training tool (Tindeq), but they talk about hangboard and on-the-wall drills too.  There's some discussion in the comments about how you need longer drills for true endurance training.

Scanned the video. For one, it's very similar to what I do for bouldering, which is by far the best training I have ever done. It's simple, repeatable, fun, and shows consistent results cycle over cycle, and has also kept me tweak-free. For two, I really appreciate that they actually do a before/after analysis of the training. It's at least attempting to be honest and scientific, and they've chosen objective and subjective metrics that make sense.

The off-wall finger stuff is great, don't get me wrong, but don't sleep on the wall crawls / drill-like climbing. That is the truly game-changing stuff.

Ward Smith wrote:

I have heard that “carcing” is not very effective unless you combine it with hiking/fast walking.  You need to get the heart rate and blood flow up.

Interesting - I've been doing "carcing" on my 35 minute commute a few times per week for about a year. I've mostly been bouldering during that time so hard to say how much it helps endurance. It definitely makes my fingers feel less tweaky though. Why is it only effective if you have a high heart rate during the workout? 

John Goodlander wrote:

Interesting - I've been doing "carcing" on my 35 minute commute a few times per week for about a year. I've mostly been bouldering during that time so hard to say how much it helps endurance. It definitely makes my fingers feel less tweaky though. Why is it only effective if you have a high heart rate during the workout? 

Increased blood pressure on the capillary walls in addition to working the muscles apparently drives capillary growth. I’m not saying that what you are doing is “bad,” or couldn’t help.

 I’ve been doing “threshold” ARC sessions in the gym  and my basement where I go back and forth between harder routes that push me into the anaerobic zone and then easier routes on which I recover.  I try to stay on the wall for 30 minutes (autobelays are great for this). I’m thinking of adding some “carcing” with my several tines per week hikes.

Ward Smith wrote:

Increased blood pressure on the capillary walls in addition to working the muscles apparently drives capillary growth. I’m not saying that what you are doing is “bad,” or couldn’t help.

Do you have any sources handy for this claim? Getting the heart rate up is logistically challenging for hangboard style ARC sessions so I'm wondering if the effect size is large enough to justify the headache.

Less is more, your climbing volume is already fairly high. Keep going on the repeaters consistently for 6-9 months and see if you get results. Spoiler alert you will. Take two rest days before a projecting day outside, and ignore any performance results that don't follow adequate rest - those were just social sessions or pleasure days, important but not diagnostic for your endurance work. Don't delude yourself that you're building endurance by climbing tired for hours on easy stuff. Don't obsess about tweaking the protocol every few weeks then give up after three months, or make it complicated because you're bored.  Don't max hang or add max hanging and stop using the word max hang. Stick with this very reasonable repeater system and don't think about the weight or the hand position too much. Stress the forearms, regularly and consistently for more than 6 months. Keep the weight and holds such that you can complete the exercise with a few seconds left in the tank every time. This may mean dropping or adding weight on random days. It's fine. You're looking for a feeling of managing pump, not an external numerical benchmark.

When y'all say "CARCing" is that as simple as squeezing a grip trainer while walking/hiking?