New Climber and Grip Strength

Brand new climber over here, and I was just curious if I should incorporate grip strength exercises into my routine. Started out a few days ago and I’m just curious because when I am bouldering I am having a really hard time (which is to be expected!!), so I’m curious if I should just keep climbing and get a grasp of the basics or could I do both as in climb and other grip strength workouts etc? Thank you for any feedback you may give!

Just climb for now, it will come. Too much, too soon, will lead to finger injuries. 

You grip strength is not what is holding you back, it is your footwork.  Practice your technique, your grip strength will increase with time.  Eventually, you may want to work on that specifically, but there are other things that will pay much greater dividends for a beginning climber.

Really good advice above. 

Climb every week. 

Your grip comes with forearm strength too.  Work the whole body and practice frequently.   Be patient.  Your numbers will climb.

Some day you will be old and the numbers don't matter. Just the beauty of climbing.

Thank you all for the great advice! My gut feeling was to stop thinking so much and climb haha. Will work on the footwork aspect. Thank you all very much!

Nicholas Stanich wrote:

My gut feeling was to stop thinking so much and climb

This is a good time to trust your gut.

I got a blue silicone blob in a silver fist shaped case. Great for pushing my thumb into. Never liked the 1940’s spring thing.

But back in the beginning yes I did use the silicone, chouinard donut, and a pull up board. I believe it made a difference.

Since I’m a has been tryin to get back in da gaime I believe I should use this kind of stuff to get stronger faster. 

Oh yeah, and stretch!  Even if you’re young. Eventually your pencil thin forearm muscles will turn into Popeye guns and you won’t have to be as careful.

I did tons of pull-ups on door jambs and my finger board, impromptu buildering between classes, all lubricated with coffee and beer in my first couple years and paid the price of tendinitis for years. 

Rice bucket workouts are (were for me) an amazing warm up and will burn out your forearms faster than you believe.  Your issue will not be building strength, it will be preventing tendon injury. Focus heavily on workouts that do the opposite of what you do when you climb. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/ultimate/comments/6kpsng/rice_bucket_workout/

Footwork and mileage advice are dead-on. A few tips on footwork: 

Practice silent feet. It sounds silly, but climbing in such a way as to make no noise down there will force you to be more precise.

Traverse a lot at the gym or bouldering area.

Practice downclimbing. This will definitely improve footwork, and it just might save your life when you start pushing your grade outdoors.

Shift your focus from cruxes to rests. Aim to find as many good rests on a route as you can, even when bouldering. Rests are usually a matter of footwork..and patience.

But here's one tip related to the hands: try to avoid full crimps. An open-handed grip is a lot less likely to injure you, and if you train it enough, it can be awfully strong. Plenty of diagrams and such online...just don't get suckered into the fingerboard yet.