KehityAre you ready to hangboard?
Start once you have climbed regularly for at least a year and climb around 6B / V4 boulders or 6a+ routes. Newer climbers get stronger fingers fastest by simply climbing more: the moves themselves are still the training.
Not sure fingers are what holds you back? Measure first with the Max hang test and the finger strength calculator, which compares your hang with the grades that strength typically supports.
The progression
1. Build the base: beginner hangs (6–8 weeks)
The Beginner hangboard workout: 6 × 10-second hangs on a big edge with 50 seconds of rest, feet on a chair until 10 seconds feels easy. It should feel almost too easy — the goal is to get tendons used to the load, not to fail.
2. Choose a strength block: max hangs or repeaters
Once you can hang a 20 mm edge for 10 seconds at bodyweight, pick one block for 6–8 weeks:
- Max hangs — 5 × 10-second near-maximal hangs with 3 minutes rest. Peak strength, for bouldering and hard crux moves.
- 7/3 repeaters — hang 7 seconds, rest 3, six times per set. Strength-endurance, for routes and long boulders.
3. Test, then repeat
Retest your max hang at the end of each block, on the same edge and at the same time of day, and log the result. A lighter week between blocks lets fingers catch up before the next one.
How to fit it into your week
- Two hangboard sessions a week, never on consecutive days.
- Hangboard before climbing, right after a 15-minute warm-up.
- Keep your climbing volume steady when you start a block; add load to one thing at a time.
- Stop a session if anything in your fingers feels sharp or pinchy.
Every protocol on this site comes with the free hangboard timer, which counts you into each hang and out of each rest with audio cues.
Questions
How often should I hangboard?
Twice a week on non-consecutive days, alongside your climbing. Fingers need about 48 hours between hard sessions; more hangboarding than that adds injury risk faster than strength.
How long until hangboard training works?
Most climbers notice a difference after 6–8 weeks of consistent sessions. Tendons and pulleys adapt more slowly than muscles, which is also why the load goes up in small steps.
Should I hangboard before or after climbing?
Before, right after a thorough warm-up, so your fingers are fresh. Hard hangs on tired fingers are the classic way to get hurt.
Which edge size should I use?
Beginners use a big edge of 25 mm or more. Max hangs, repeaters and the max hang test use 20 mm, the standard edge most strength figures refer to.
Max hangs or repeaters?
Max hangs build peak finger strength for bouldering and hard crux moves. 7/3 repeaters build strength-endurance for routes and long boulders. Pick one per training block.
Is finger strength really your limiter?
Kehity compares your max hang with the grades you send, the styles you avoid and how often you try climbs at your limit.
Find my limiter — freeNext: build the rest of your week with the climbing training plan.