Pinch training

I was looking into various training equipment to be able to train my pinch strength. I needed it to be portable above all else so I was gonna spend the $40 on "The Block" from Tension although I'm sure that would have worked amazingly I decided to make my own super cheap version and figured I'd share. Basically, I just took all the free sample wood flooring tiles from home depot and drilled a hole through all of them, strung a sling through them all and done! Best of all I can add or subtract blocks from the system to train various pinch's. Ended up costing me $6 for the grip tape I got, not bad!

Consequently I wont be able to train mono's and what not like I would have been able to with tensions "block" but my hang board at home will do just fine.

Anyone have any recommendations for a training schedule/regiment of some sort with what I've made? from what I gather, I've been told to find an appropriate weight I can hold for 10-13 seconds rest 3 minutes between each of the reps for a total of 5 on each hand.

Any input on doing more or less than what I said above?
does less weight +more time= better endurance or do I just have this all wrong?

any input is appreciated!

Grip tape is aid :-)

Nice set up

Go with repeaters if you want endurance.

I find pinching with fingers straight is good for slopers. Have been experimenting with just pinching with finger tips and I think it’s more specific for climbing pinches.

Definitely vary the width of the pinch block when you train. 

some of the stuff here might help, a lot of good forearm and hand strength stuff

Agreed - grip tape is aid. At lease from a training perspective, you're reducing the force required to get adequate friction to hold the weight. Consider a second set with just wood face. I've found this method really useful for developing pinch strength.

training is aid.

FosterK wrote: Agreed - grip tape is aid. At lease from a training perspective, you're reducing the force required to get adequate friction to hold the weight. Consider a second set with just wood face. I've found this method really useful for developing pinch strength.

Hey, I appreciate the response, however, although  I agree that I'm reducing the required force to hold the weight, by simply shifting the "workload weight" to a higher amount that should make this factor irrelevant. 

Even If I removed the grip tape and lowered the weight I use this should have no difference in effect so long that what I log for my training is all on the same equipment.

Does this make sense or is there some factor that I'm skipping over?

Jeremy B wrote: some of the stuff here might help, a lot of good forearm and hand strength stuff

Seems like a very under developed site. Not very trust worthy....

Nice setup and I think your workout plan sounds pretty good! I also think with grip tape or without you'll get a great workout. The benefit of no grip tape is you will likely achieve the same level of exertion with less weight. I personally find too much weight to just be annoying to deal with. Same reason why I don't hangboard on big edges with a lot of weight. I would rather use a smaller edge or do one handed hangs with no weight.

Stephen C wrote: Nice setup and I think your workout plan sounds pretty good! I also think with grip tape or without you'll get a great workout. The benefit of no grip tape is you will likely achieve the same level of exertion with less weight. I personally find too much weight to just be annoying to deal with. Same reason why I don't hangboard on big edges with a lot of weight. I would rather use a smaller edge or do one handed hangs with no weight.

I totally understand your angel. I'm actually heading to the store to exchange the weight plates I bought because they ended up being too light and I don't want deal with a ton of plates, so I'll just buy something heavier to begin with. I could get around this by using the boards without the grip tape.

Maybe it's my unconscious hubris talking but lifting more weight with the grip tape makes me feel like I'm getting more out of it even though I get that's just not the case.
Either way, happy climbing thanks for the input! I'm also thinking of doing more reps, 5 seems to be so little that it's hard to tell there is improvement happening. I'd love to hear from someone who knows what they're talking about to understand if increasing the reps is going to be too much strain on my hands or if it should be just fine. For reference, I've been climbing regularly now for just over a year and casually for a year before that.

Seems like the grip tape would just hurt more (rip skin) when you reach the point of failure and the blocks slide out from under your fingertips?

Everybody's skin is different, but if you are going to be climbing and training much, you will get less unnecessary skin wear from bare wood.
Pinch blocks and hang boards.

If you want more training volume, you could do multiple sets with different widths.
Looks like you have 5 or 6 blocks, do for example, 3 x 10 sec reps per set on one block, then the same with two blocks, then with three and so on until you can't get your hand around the thing.
Your rest interval is probably longer than necessary.
Experiment and see if you can rest one or two minutes and get sufficient recovery to maintain the same intensity.
Two minutes works for me, but Horst has a 7 sec work/53 sec recovery protocol. Whatever works for you.

If you aren't recovering between workouts, decrease the volume or lengthen the recovery intervals.

Cris Garcia wrote:

...5 seems to be so little that it's hard to tell there is improvement happening. I'd love to hear from someone who knows what they're talking about to understand if increasing the reps is going to be too much strain on my hands or if it should be just fine. For reference, I've been climbing regularly now for just over a year and casually for a year before that.

i think you have the right idea with holding the pinches for around 10 seconds as you want to train strength not local forearm endurance. Adding more reps is fine and shouldn't hurt your hands (most acute finger injuries are from shock loading), but listen to your body. If you start to experience pain during workouts then stop. Small muscles like forearms do tend to respond well to a high number of quality reps.  

mark and Stephen, thanks for the advice, very much appreciated. Also, the grip tape does not seem to be tearing at my hands, I was afraid of that very thing but have found my hands are doing just fine. I will also now be experimenting with pure wood grips. not with the free samples I got from Home depot though, they have a slippery glass finish that seems to not help haha  a quick sandpaper job to them should take care of the issue.