The finger strength test

Pull with one finger at a time, each of the four on each hand, and go up slowly. The app shows the best pull of each finger, which finger is lowest, and whether your two hands are even. A pale pinky is normal.

How to start a test, choose your hold and find old results is on Take a test.

What you do

• The test has eight finger setups: each of the four fingers, on each hand. The briefing lists the pulls of each.
• On each pull, you pull with one finger only. The top of the screen shows it, with its name.
• The app does not ask which hand: the test covers both. So you choose two edges, one for each hand.
• The app waits for each pull. The briefing lists every pull under Overview.

Go up slowly, and stop at the first pain. One finger alone is fragile, the pinky most of all. This test asks for a strong pull, not for a pull at any price. If a finger hurts, let go, and leave the test. After a finger injury, test only once a physiotherapist or a doctor says you can.

Right after the test

The app shows Finger Profile Results:

• A drawing of two hands, with the best pull of each finger. The finger with the lowest pull is the palest.
• The total for each hand: the sum of its four fingers.
• Your lowest finger and its value. Tap a finger on the drawing to see its value and its rank among your fingers.

If you see No per-finger force was recorded, the plate recorded no force for any finger. This happens when the test ran without the plate.

In the Test tab

The tile shows the average of the fingers you tested, taking for each finger the better of your two hands. Under it, four rows, INDEX, MIDDLE, RING and PINKY, each with a bar for the left hand and a bar for the right hand. While some of the eight fingers have no result yet, the tile says how many are tested.

The section (tap the tile) shows:

• FINGER DISTRIBUTION: one pair of bars for each finger, left in blue and right in orange. Tap a finger to choose it. The other tiles then show that finger.
• A tile that compares the left and right of the finger you chose, against the average of your two hands for that finger:
  • BALANCED: the two hands are less than 5% apart.
  • SLIGHT IMBALANCE: they are 5% to 15% apart.
  • HIGH IMBALANCE: they are 15% or more apart.
  • INCOMPLETE: only one hand has a result for that finger.
• The force curve and the highest force of that finger, for each hand.

What a normal result looks like

• Your pinky almost always pulls the least, by far. That is anatomy, not a problem: a pale pinky on the drawing is normal.
• The total of your four fingers is usually higher than what your hand pulls as one. A finger pulling alone gives more than it does when all four pull together. So do not compare the total with your max strength test.
• A small gap between your hands is common. Compare each finger with its own past results.

What to do with it

A finger that is much lower than the same finger on the other hand, or one that has dropped since your last test, is worth your attention, above all after an injury. The tile shows how the average of your fingers changed since your first result of the last three months. To see one finger against an older test, pick that test’s date at the top of the section. This page cannot tell you how to train it: ask a coach, or a physiotherapist if it hurts. Before you train one finger alone, read Mono Training for Climbers: Start Safely.

Your finger test also sets the targets of workouts on one finger. A rep on your pinky aims at a share of your pinky, not of your whole hand, for example “60% of your pinky”. Until you have tested a finger, the app estimates it from the Max strength field: see The max strength test.

Related

• What each test measures: how the three tests fit together.
• Build your own workout, with hangs on one finger.