What each test measures
What the three tests measure and why they matter for climbing: max strength, endurance, finger strength, the speed of a pull, and when a change is real.
Checked with app version 1.0.64 Last updated
On this page
Each test measures one skill of your fingers: Max strength is the hardest you pull with one hand, Endurance how well you keep your force when tired, Finger strength the hardest each finger pulls alone. The Test tab compares each one with your own best. Trust a change only when it holds over two or three tests.
Why these tests
Two qualities of your fingers count most for climbing: how hard they can pull, and how long they keep pulling when tired. In a study of 307 climbers, max finger strength explained about two thirds of the differences in grade that the strength and endurance tests explained, and intermittent endurance most of the rest. Strength counts on every climb. Endurance counts most on routes, where you keep gripping for minutes. The speed of your pull (RFD) comes on top: it is what separates the best climbers. See What Predicts Your Climbing Grade?.
The three skills
| Skill | Test | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Max strength | Max strength test | The hardest you can pull on one hold, with one hand. What counts is that force for your body weight. |
| Endurance | Endurance test | How well you keep your force when tired: critical force, and the sustainable force you can hold for minutes |
| Finger strength | Finger strength test | The hardest each finger can pull, alone |
Each test’s page lists every number it gives and how to read it.
“Your profile”
The tile Your profile draws the three skills on one shape.
- Each skill is compared with your own best, not with other climbers. 100% means your latest result is the best you ever had. 86% means your latest result is 86% of your best.
- Once one of your skills has results on two different days, a dashed shape shows your results nearest to three months ago.
So the shape does not say you are strong or weak. 100% on every axis means each skill is at its own best, not that the three are in balance.
Under each tile of the Test tab:
- The change, for example “+14% since July”: your latest result against your first result of the last three months. The month is the month of that first result.
- The age, for example “Tested 6 days ago”.
- Test again, when the result is more than 28 days old.
The speed of a pull (RFD)
RFD means rate of force development: how fast your force goes up when you start to pull. The max strength and endurance tests both give it. The app measures it over the first 200 milliseconds of the pull, in your unit per second, for example kg/s.
- It needs a quiet moment before the pull. If you were already pulling or moving, the app cannot count RFD, and shows nothing for it.
- It depends on your intent: a slow start gives a low RFD that says nothing about you. Start still, then pull as hard and as fast as you can.
Elite climbers differ from advanced ones more in RFD than in peak force. See Rate of Force Development for Climbers.
When a change is real
- Results move from day to day, even when nothing has changed. In a study of the 4-minute endurance test, peak force varied by about 6% between two days, and the force at the end of the test by about 21%. So one test that is a little up or down says little.
- Look for a change that holds over two or three tests, made on the same hold, after the same warm-up, rested.
- A gap between your two hands is common. Watch a gap that grows, or a hand that drops.
- Test again at the end of a block of training, or when the Test tab reminds you after 28 days.
What the numbers do not say
- They are measured on one hold. Change the hold and the numbers change, and the tiles of the Test tab do not separate holds: see Take a test.
- They depend on the day. A tired day gives low numbers.
- They are not a diagnosis. If a finger hurts, see a physiotherapist or a doctor.
Related
- Take a test: how to start each test.
- Follow a training plan: train from your results.
Go deeper in Train
- Finger Training for Climbing How to build finger strength: why it matters, how heavy max hangs should be, weight or smaller edges, extensors, monos and speed of force.
- Climbing Endurance and Forearm Pump How to train against the pump: aerobic base below critical force, repeaters above it, how to fit them into a week, and what blood flow restriction does.
- Finger Strength Tests for Climbers Test finger strength: maximum force, critical force and rate of force development, making results repeatable, how often to retest and which device to use.
- How to Test Finger Strength Three finger strength tests climbers can run at home or in the gym: maximum force, critical force and rate of force development, and how to read results.
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