Hangboard Warm-Up Routine for Climbers
Updated 4 min read Plan your training Félix Bourassa-Moreau
On this page
Warm up for about five minutes: a minute of cardio, finger mobility, four light hangs at 20 to 30% of your maximum, a little specific work, then easy climbing built into a pyramid. Before max hangs, add a ramp of two or three harder hangs. Warming up improves performance in most studies; its effect on injuries is unproven.
What does the warm-up look like?
| Step | What to do | Dose |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Cardio | Raise your pulse: animal walks, modified jumping jacks or a team game rather than a treadmill. A steep approach to the crag or the ride to the gym already does the job | 1 min |
| 2. Finger mobility | The five tendon glide positions below | 3 times through |
| 3. Finger warm-up | Pull on grips for 10 s, rest 5 s, at roughly 20 to 30% of your maximum: an effort you could hold well past 10 s. Without a force plate, if you feel like you are gripping, you are too high | 4 pulls |
| 4. Specific work | One-finger hangs and dynamic contact-strength moves at low load, to visit the positions and speeds of the session, not to train them. Keep single fingers very light (training for monos). Wake up the fast end before bouldering; stay calmer before endurance | A few minutes |
| 5. Climbing pyramid | Easy climbs, then progressively harder ones, each confirming you are ready for the next | Until you reach session level |
| 6. Ramp, before max hangs or hard repeaters | 2 to 3 progressively harder hangs on the edge and grip you will train: about 50%, then 70%, then 85% of your maximum. Before limit bouldering, the pyramid does this job | 5 to 10 s each, 1 to 2 min rest |
| When to stop | A finger that hurts: don’t load it. If the pain lasts, see a physiotherapist |
On rest days and mornings, a three-minute version is the daily training routine.
How do you do the tendon glides?
The five positions come from hand therapy. They move the finger joints through their range without load:
- Straight hand: fingers extended, knuckles flat.
- Hook fist: bend the two end joints, keep the knuckles straight.
- Full fist: close everything down.
- Tabletop: bend at the knuckles only, fingers straight.
- Straight fist: tabletop, then curl the middle joints, leaving the fingertips straight.
Pay attention to the range of motion and to each finger. If one feels different from the others today, you know before you load it. Shoulders, hips and ankles can get the same kind of mobility work in this slot.
Should you stretch before climbing?
Not with long holds. A 2016 systematic review found that static stretching reduced performance by about 4.6% when held 60 seconds or more per muscle, against about 1.1% under 60 seconds. When dynamic activity followed the stretching, no clear performance effect was seen, and static stretching had no clear effect on injuries (Behm et al.). Keep any static hold short, save the long ones for after the session, and before climbing move the fingers through their range instead.
Why ramp up before max hangs?
The light pulls of step 3 top out far below the load of a max hang or a hard repeater; the ramp closes that gap on the edge and grip of the work sets. It is standard coaching practice (Lattice Training, Eva López, Tyler Nelson), not a protocol tested in a climbing trial.
How sure are we?
For performance, a systematic review of 32 high-quality studies found that warming up improved performance in 79% of the outcomes examined, with little evidence that it hurts (Fradkin et al., 2010). For injuries, there is no climbing trial showing that a warm-up prevents them. The rest is practice, not tested protocol: the five-minute length, the 20 to 30% load, the tendon glides (no climbing trial shows they prevent injury), and the pyramid as the part worth keeping when you are short on time, because the first hard move of the day otherwise lands on cold fingers.
Do this in Entralpi
The max strength test measures your max; keep it with one tap at the end of the test, or type it in Settings (Profile, then Settings, under Physical Profile, Max strength), and a load in % max becomes kilograms. Then use a workout from the Train tab or build your own with four hangs of 10 seconds on and 5 seconds off. Without the plate, the timer runs the intervals and you use the feel test.
Sources
- Fradkin AJ, Zazryn TR, Smoliga JM (2010). Effects of warming-up on physical performance: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 24(1).
- Behm DG, Blazevich AJ, Kay AD, McHugh M (2016). Acute effects of muscle stretching on physical performance, range of motion, and injury incidence in healthy active individuals: a systematic review. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 41(1).
Was this helpful?
Thank you. It tells us which articles to improve.
Sorry this did not answer your question. Write to us if you need an answer, or try the search above.
Thank you. It helps us improve this page.
