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Pulley Training - Guide

Develop strong and healthy fingers

Why a hangboard will not 

prepare you for real rock

Let's be honest: you're pulling 40 kg of added weight on a standardized hangboard in your cellar — but out on the rock you fall off irregular pockets, or worse, you feel a twinge in your finger pulley right away?

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The problem: classic training boards are perfectly flat. Your body is smart — it unconsciously shifts most of the load onto your strongest fingers, while the weaker ones get away easy.

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The rock outside, though, is anything but perfect. Holds are irregular, sloping, or force you into asymmetric grip positions. Suddenly a single finger — one you've been neglecting in training — has to take the full load on its own.

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Wenn dieser Finger isoliert keine Robustheit besitzt, ist die And if that finger hasn't built any resilience in isolation, a pulley injury is practically pre-programmed. Real, injury-free climbing demands that every finger is ready to take the load on its own.

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Safety first:
Your fingers will be thankfull

Finger injuries are the most common injuries in climbing, and most of them don't come from a single accident — they build up from too much, too soon, over time. Stick to a few simple rules:

  • Never start cold. Phase 1 (the warm-up) isn't optional — it prepares your tendons and finger pulleys for the load.

  • Pain is a stop signal, not a training stimulus. A sharp, pinpoint pain in a finger (especially at the A2 pulley) means: stop immediately and let it recover. Never train through finger pain.

  • Progress slowly. Add weight in small steps over weeks, not from session to session. (Use our Trainings-Tracker for this.)

  • When in doubt, go deeper. Even if no-hangs aren't new to you, it's worth using the 25 mm edge — it lowers the risk of injuries and recruits more muscle.

  • Existing or recent injury? Don't experiment on your own. Talk to a physio or doctor before loading the finger.

And the opposite is true as well: consistently training too timidly is a risk factor too — the answer isn't "barely any load," but controlled load that increases slowly.

Übersichtstabelle

Phase
Ziel
Equpiment
Intensität
Übung
Sätze
Dauer
Pause
1 · Warm-Up
Sehnen Muskeln und Nervensystem auf die Lastspitzen vorbereiten
Pulley / Terra-Band / Gewichte
Leicht bis moderat (5-15 kg)
Fingercurls
2
10-15 Wdh. pro Hand
1 min
2 · Symmetrie
Schwächere Finger gezielt in die Last bringen ohne dass die starken einspringen
Pulley / Gewichte
Moderat (50-70% der Maximalkraft)
Half Crimp halten (Zeige- Mittel- Ringfinger)
5 pro Hand
15 s halten
45 s
3 · Maximalkraft
Maximalkraft aufbauen
Power Edge (20 oder 25 mm) / Gewichte
Hoch (90-95% der Maximalkraft)
Half Crimp halten
5 pro Hand
5 s halten
3 min

Download the Trainings-Tracker Excel 

Trainings Tracket

The Pulley Starter - Trainings Protocol

Equipment:

1. Warm-Up & neuromuscular activation

Goal: Prepare tendons and muscles precisely for the load peaks, and rev up the nervous system.

  • Tool:  Pulley,  Terra-Band / weights

  • Intensity: Light to moderate, 5 - 15kg 

  • Protocol:  Finger Curls

    • 10-15 repetitions

    • 90 seconds pause

    • ​3 sets per hand

  • Focus: Use the pivoting system to feel whether all fingers are loading evenly.

  • Bonus tip: Use the time between sets to warm up your whole body and get your circulation going. Good options are:

    • deep squats, push-ups, pull-ups, 5 min of cardio (treadmill/cross-trainer), forearm planks, and mobility drills

2. Symmetry Training

Goal: Force the recruitment of the weaker fingers, without letting the dominant ones step in.

  • Tool:  Pulley,  weights

  • Intensity: Moderate (50-70% of max-load) 

  • Protocol:  hold  in Half-Crimp

    • 15 seconds lift 

    • 45 seconds rest

    • 5 reps per hand

  • Focus: Hold index, middle, and ring finger cleanly in a half crimp (this isn't always possible with the pinky). Make sure the load is well distributed.

  • Bonus Tip: Is the Pulley tipping to one side? That's your honest feedback. Reduce the weight until you can hold the load cleanly.

3. Max strength

Goal: Maximum recruitment of muscle fibers with minimized injury risk.

  • Tool:  Power Edge (20 or 25mm), weights

  • Intensity: High (90-95% of max weight) 

  • Protokoll:  hold Half Crimp

    • 5 second lift

    • 3 minutes paus

    • 5 reps per Hand

  • Focus: Die Finger sauber im Half-Crimp halten, wenn die Form nachlässt Gewicht reduzieren. Bei jeglichen schmerzen das Training sofort abbrechen und die Finger erst auskurieren.

  • Bonus Tip: 

    • If no-hang training is still (relatively) new to you, I'd recommend using the 25 mm edge. It lowers the injury risk while letting you recruit more muscle at the same time.

    • Use the time between sets to train other muscle groups and antagonists:

      • hammer curls, pull-ups, reverse wrist curls, shoulder exercises

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