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What Predicts Your Climbing Grade?

Updated 4 min read Testing Félix Bourassa-Moreau

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Maximal finger strength is the biggest physical predictor of climbing grade: in 307 climbers it accounted for about two thirds of the variance the tests explained. Endurance adds to it, and speed of force separates the elite. These studies show what strong climbers have, not how they got there.

Is finger strength the best predictor of climbing grade?

Yes. The largest recent study tested 307 climbers (185 men, 122 women). Maximal finger strength was the dominant factor: it accounted for about two thirds of the variance in climbing ability that the tests explained, 68% in men and 64% in women. A finger hang test correlated even more closely with grade, but the authors found it mostly measures the same finger strength.

An older study of 205 climbers reached a similar conclusion. A model built on simple hand-arm tests (grip strength, bent-arm hang and finger hang), together with body fat, climbing volume and experience, explained 97% of the variance in grade. Body fat and experience mattered mostly through their effect on strength and endurance, not directly. Read the 97% with care: the sample spanned beginners to elite climbers, and such a wide range inflates variance explained. It does not mean the tests predict an individual’s grade that well, and within a narrow grade band strength predicts much less.

What matters is the flexors. A 2023 study found finger flexor strength correlated strongly with grade (r = 0.68), while finger extensor strength did not correlate at all (r = 0.04).

Does endurance matter too?

Yes, mostly on routes, where you keep gripping for minutes. Intermittent finger endurance, measured with short hangs and short rests, accounted for most of the rest of the explained variance in the 307-climber study (28% in men, 34% in women). In a separate study of 52 climbers, an intermittent test combined with maximal strength explained 46% of lead climbing ability in men and 32% in women.

Does speed of force matter?

Among good climbers, how quickly you produce force distinguishes the best. In isometric pull-up tests on a 23 mm rung, which use the whole upper body and are not finger-only tests, elite climbers had about 40% higher peak force but 75% higher rate of force development than advanced climbers. An earlier study of 57 climbers found no difference between intermediate and advanced climbers, only between elite climbers and the rest, but the larger 2022 study also found advanced climbers ahead of intermediate ones. Rate of force development covers how to test and train it.

How should you compare yourself with others?

Per kilogram of body mass. When finger strength and endurance are expressed relative to body mass, the 2025 study found no significant differences between male and female climbers. A percentage of bodyweight is the fair scale.

What does this mean for your training?

The tests leave out technique, tactics, head game and experience, which are part of every grade. For the physical side:

  1. Finger strength is the biggest lever for most climbers who already climb regularly. Structured work like max hangs targets it directly, and how to test finger strength shows how to measure yours and watch it change.
  2. Endurance is next for route climbers. See finger endurance training.
  3. Explosive force matters at the top end. It responds to short, fast, maximal-intent pulls.
  4. Correlation is not a training plan. Training studies suggest hangboard work builds strength; see does hangboarding work.

Do this in Entralpi

The app’s tests measure your force (Take a test), and What each test measures explains each number, including how the app compares your force for your weight with the range usual for your grade, and why the Your profile tile compares each skill with your own best. Without the plate, the timer runs a session but measures no force.

Sources

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