On to the exercises!
Repeaters are the most commonly practiced exercise on a hangboard, however, they give you a “pump”, thus activating power/endurance system – that is not the aim of these protocols. These exercises will NOT give you a proper pump, if you do then you are doing it wrong!
Rule of thumb, when finishing each session, you want to feel like you could do more.
“Minimum Edge” Protocol (for beginners) – by Eva Lopez-Rivera (2012)
Start by finding the right holds:
Aim: improve finger strength. If you have never hangboarded before, you will see significant progress. Make sure that you rest the full 3 minutes!
Find holds that you can hang on for approximately 15 seconds (Actual training hangs should terminate a few seconds before failure of the grip).
Exercise: Hang for 12 seconds: start by training the half-crimp or open-crimp grips. If you feel that it is necessary, you can eventually add in some open-hand pocket and pinch grip training (Eric Horst, “Training for Climbing: Third Edition 2016”)
What to do:
- Do a series of 5; 12 second hangs with exactly 3 minutes rest in between sets.
- Rest between sets: always rest five minutes between sets.
- Each hang should be near maximal (9 out of 10 on a self-perceived scale of effort). Don’t hang to failure.
- The number of sets: 2- 5 sets.
- This exercise will produce little or no pump.
*Remember, these are NOT fingerboard repeaters, which exercise power/endurance.
Choosing the correct grips: choose holds that you cannot hold for more than 15 seconds.
Minimum Edge Hangboarding:
| Hang | Rest | Hangs (per set) | No. Sets | Rest in-between sets | Intensity |
| 12 seconds | 3 minutes | 5 | 2-5 | 5 minutes | At your limit |
When it becomes too painful or you do not feel like you are working hard enough, move to “Maximum weight” protocol.
Maximum weight “7 53” protocol – by Eric Horst
Aim: larger, more comfortable holds, but with added weight to create sufficiently high intensity for maximum-strength adaptations.
Hold size: The ideal size edge for weighted fingerboard hangs is between 14mm and 20mm (⅝ to ⅞-inch), or a little less than one finger-pad depth—this moderate depth lessens skin pain, reduces strain on the distal (DIP) joint, and has been proven effective to develop maximum-strength gains that will carry over to different-size edges on the rock (Eric Horst, “Training for Climbing: Third Edition 2016.”)
What to do:
- Choose a weight that would cause failure at 10 seconds.
- Grip options: open crimp and half crimp.
- Hang for 7 seconds and rest for 53 seconds in between hangs.
- The number of sets: 2-5.
- Rest in between sets: 5 minutes.
- Intensity must be at your limit but it must not bring you to failure.
- Reduce weight if you cannot complete the hang or you cannot complete the exercise.
Maximum Weight “7 53” protocol:
| Hang | Rest | Hangs (per set) | No. Sets | Rest in-between sets | Intensity |
| 7 seconds | 53 seconds | 3 | 2-5 | 5 minutes | At your limit |
How-to: Hang and hold the RIGHT WAY
Eric Horst. Training for Climbing ©
• Shoulders back & looking forward
• Slight bend in elbows
• Open or half-crimp
• Engaged
Right: Bad hangboard technique:
• Hunched
• Straight arms (i.e. hanging on your skeleton)
• Fully Crimped
• Unengaged and pap!
For more information about healthy shoulders read: HANG RIGHT: SHOULDER MAINTENANCE FOR CLIMBERS by Esther Smith
Read Part 3 for the Mobility and warm-ups: Watch this space!
For customised online and in-person training programs and assessments go to
Kai Fitchen Training: Train Smart
Follow Kai: @kaifitchen
So on the “Minimum Edge” protokol, 1 set takes 5 hangs x12s+4 rests x3min = 13min ?
So one serie of 4 sets takes 4 sets x13min + 3 rests x5min = roughly 1h15
what the hell do you do during all the 3 min rests ? read a book ? or mix with exercise on other body parts like core ?
cheers !
Hi Marc, so you will, for 1 set/round, do 5 hangs in total. Each hang will be 12 seconds (at your max effort) then you will rest for 3 minutes before your next hang. In between sets, you will rest 5 minutes. It requires a lot of rest. Try and do stretching and mobility in between hangs and sets to keep it interesting. You can definitely do core, but don’t exhaust yourself. the quality of your hangs needs to be at 100% effort. Strength requires more REST than anything else. I personally do plenty of mobility during rest periods and some antagonist exercises, but no pull-ups or climbing drills. Train Hard! K
It says “Open Crimp” in the bullet points under Horst protocol, then shows a picture of “Open Hand” are they the same thing?
Yes. it’s the same
I disagree. There are two types of full crimp: Open crimp is a full crimp without the thumb whereas close crimp would be with the use of use the thumb.
Warm-ups in part 3!?!? Should started with those…