Youtube Instagram
Youtube Instagram
Youtube Instagram
Log In

The best hangboard endurance training for rock climbing – Pyramids

Endurance Repeaters Pyramids – Contents

Endurance Repeaters Pyramids - Introduction

So far, in my articles, I've been explaining how to perform finger strength and forearm endurance tests for rock climbing 12. Having reliable test results is great for identifying your weak spots and benchmarking your climbing progress.

However, the main power of performing finger strength and finger endurance measurements is that they allow you to design your targetted rock climbing training plans. In my future posts, I'll explain planning finger strength and endurance training cycles in detail. But before you can design a complete training cycle, you need to know the training drills that are the building blocks of your training sessions.

I covered many basic protocols in my early articles, like the MaxHangs, IntHangs, Bechtel's Ladders, and Endurance Repeaters 3456. However, over the years, as I gained experience in coaching climbers, I've developed my versions of the protocols, which I've found to be even more effective and time-efficient. I want to share this knowledge with you, and in this post, I'll start by explaining my version of Endurance Repeaters, which I call Endurance Repeaters Pyramids.

Premium Content

Buy a Premium Subscription to unlock!

Endurance Repeaters Pyramids - Summary

The Endurance Repeaters Pyramids is a very flexible exercise for building aerobic and anaerobic endurance required for high-level sport and trad climbing.

By appropriately controlling the training load and training volume, we can target the following:

  • Lactic capacity
  • Anaerobic threshold
  • Maximum oxygen consumption
  • Aerobic threshold

I've been successfully using the Endurance Repeaters Pyramids training method with my clients for years, obtaining significant improvements in Critical Force, which translated directly to sport climbing performance. Please try this technique and let me know your results!

  1. J. Banaszczyk, StrengthClimbing – Finger Strength Measurements For Rock Climbers Made Easy!, Feb. 17, 2023. (link)
  2. J. Banaszczyk, StrengthClimbing – How To Test Rock Climbing Finger Endurance – Simple Guide, Feb. 17, 2023. (link)
  3. J. Banaszczyk, StrengthClimbing – Eva López MaxHangs Hangboard Routine For Finger Strength, Apr. 29, 2019. (link)
  4. J. Banaszczyk, StrengthClimbing – Eva López IntHangs Strength Endurance Fingerboard Protocol , Apr. 24, 2019. (link)
  5. J. Banaszczyk, StrengthClimbing - Steve Bechtel’s 3-6-9 Ladders hangboard finger strength training, May 18, 2019. (link)
  6. J. Banaszczyk, StrengthClimbing – Endurance Repeaters – Forearm Aerobic Endurance Hangboard Routine, May 2, 2019.(link)
StrengthClimbing Tools

Performance Assessment Tools

Assess finger strength, endurance and monitor your progress over time.

Performance Dashboard View your progress
Tindeq Calculator Assess finger strength & endurance
Finger Strength Analyzer Analyze maximal finger strength
Featured Program
ABEP Aerobic Base Expansion Program
Strong fingers — but still getting pumped?
Get ABEP Lifetime Access
All premium site features included Lifetime access and updates

Strong fingers — but still getting pumped?

Fix Your Endurance

Instant access • Premium included
Lifetime updates

About the author

Subscribe to StrengthClimbing

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

17 thoughts on “The best hangboard endurance training for rock climbing – Pyramids”

  1. moritz leitempergher

    Hi, i use a tindeq and my Cf ist about 30/35%.
    which of the stimuli (anaerobic/treshold/max o2/ aerobic treshold) do i use if i want to improve my CF? a mix of anaerobic treshold and max/O2?

    Best Regards, Moritz

    Reply
  2. Ryan Smith

    Just a practical question – it feels cumbersome (and possibly dangerous) do be counterbalancing 75% of my weight for these exercises. Would it also be acceptable to either stand on a scale or use a hangboard that is measuring the weight (like beastmaker) to achieve the target tension? Or is this problematic because it’s difficult to achieve the target tension in such short time durations?

    Reply
    1. Jędrzej

      That’s perfectly acceptable – the Tindeq Progressor would also work well for that. Out of curiosity, what is your bodyweight and measured CF?

      Reply
      1. Ryan Smith

        BW 90kg, CF 9kg. I’ve been training climbing for 5 years (sport/trad), climbing at v2/5.10 outdoors

        Reply
        1. Jędrzej

          Hi Luke,

          Thanks!
          Q1) W’ stands for “energy store component”. It’s all the work that can be done above your CF. Once W’ depletes, you’re theoretically only left with CF. It can be used as a measure of anaerobic endurance and also as an indicator of your potential to build aerobic endurance.
          Q2) Everything is explained in this video
          Q3) No, it’s 7 seconds hold, 3 seconds rest. Please refer to the video from Q2.
          Q4) Yes, it can be done with arm-lifts and the Tindeq Progressor. You may extend the test time and hold time, make it active or passive. There are lots of variables and lots of different outcomes.
          Q5) I think this is for the test where you have the hold overhead? It means you should try to hang by shifting the load from your feet to your fingers. Like leaning into the hold. Now, I prefer to run the test with the hold fixed to the ground.
          Q6) CF/PF > 50% means CF is greater than 50% of PF.

          Yes, the 4-minute test will be helpful to assess your anaerobic endurance. Be sure to decide if you’re taking the test in the passive or active version – it makes a difference.

          Cheers,
          Jędrzej

          Reply
    2. Ryan Smith

      Also, if I’m only lifting 11kg, would it be roughly equivalent to do arm lifts using a portable hangboard, then just attach the weight to that. I could do two such systems with the same weight, or do it one arm at a time (probably this is less good bc I would not be properly resting)

      Reply
      1. Jędrzej

        Hi Ryan,

        I’m not sure I fully understand your situation – best drop me a line with more detailed results. But, yeah, you can train endurance with arm lifts. One arm at a time is usually fine. But again, if you have more data, let me know, and I’ll try to give you a more detailed answer.

        Reply
  3. Adam Underdown

    I’ve measured my CF on a Tindeq, which was 20kg on one arm, with BW of 72kg. How does this convert to finding the best training zone for repeaters for endurance? Am I just removing weight to train at the 20kg CF value or do I need to double that to account for both arms? Thanks

    Reply
    1. Jędrzej

      Hi Adam,

      Unfortunately, the conversion is not that easy. First of all, the Tindeq test is only 4 minutes long, and it’s been shown that the finger force will keep decreasing after this time, so you could call it 4-minute CF. It carries valuable information regarding your anaerobic endurance but doesn’t correlate with the hangboard passive hang test, which determines the 20-minute, more aerobic endurance-oriented CF.

      Moreover, if you’re doing the Tindeq test in the Active Curls mode, which I believe is preferable from the training efficacy perspective, the result will be different from one taken with a Passive Pulls measurement. The ratio is highly individual, and it oscillates somewhere between 0.75 and 0.85.

      So, it’s complicated to accurately convert the Tindec Active Curl CF measurements into the hangboard Passive Hang measurements.

      Reply
  4. Volodymyr Barna

    What average critical force improvements have you noticed in your client after following this protocol?
    If my CF is around 30% of my bodyweight, can I expect +20% in two months?
    How does it compare with your Endurance Repeaters where you load your fingers for 20mins at CF? Except for the total time duration.

    Reply
    1. Jędrzej

      Hi Volodymyr,
      Thank you for the questions. If you have a good program that develops both your MVC and your CF, then it’s reasonable to expect a 15 – 20% CF/BW in a year and up to a 30% improvement over 2 years. Is your CF really only 30% of your BW? Could you please send me your test results to double check?

      How does the Pyramid Protocol compare with doing Endurance Repeaters for 20 min straight? I really don’t know – you would need to do a scientific study to get a meaningful answer. The Pyramids yield a higher TUT, and it prevents getting a flash pump because the warmup is integrated into the exercise, so I prefer Pyramids.

      Reply
      1. Volodymyr Barna

        Thanks for the reply!
        Yeah, my aerobic endurance sucks. I did a Lattice Remote Assesment to confirm that.
        My stats:
        MVC: 125Kg
        Weight: 80Kg
        70%: 120s (they used 70% instead of 80%)
        60%: 150s
        50%: 170s
        It seems that my body relies only on anaerobic energy system, hence the small increase in TTE time.
        And on a sport route I’m always dead in 1min or 1:30min, no matter the route’s difficulty.
        I did one test on a separate date, and the other two with 30 min rest.
        Results from the test:
        CF: 15.9 %BW (or 10.0 %max)
        W’: 11279.0 %BWs
        I don’t think it’s that low, but it’s definitely pretty bad.
        Tindeq CF is right hand=23.9Kg, left hand=20Kg with a pull from a ground method. But I did it a long time ago.

        I started doing some ARC training on the wall and Endurance Repeaters when I couldn’t get to the gym. I do ARC/repeaters even on the rest days (but not every day). I do repeaters with a weight scale (no very precise but otherwise it would be too much weight with the pulley system). I started with -60Kg, and now I’m doing -50kg. I feel some mild pain in my arms, but no pump. And the pain quickly disappears on 3-sec rest. When I do -40Kg (50% bw) I’m starting to get pumped quickly.

        Reply
    1. Jędrzej

      I usually use a stopwatch and a metronome and count the beeps in my head while listening to the radio or listening to music. But there are a good few apps available for Repeaters training, like Hangboard Repeaters or the Beastmaker Trainer.

      Reply
  6. loic duquennoy

    Hello Jędrzej

    I noticed something: when I use a pulley system it is quite difficult to measure the counterweight probably because of the friction and efficiency of the pulleys. I performed the following test:
    I put 20kg in the counterweight, I weighed myself with a weighing machine:
    – If I make myself light (I don’t try to sit in the harness), the counterweight takes off 10kg instead
    – If I try to sit a little in the harness, the counterweight takes off 30kg instead.

    Have you ever noticed this phenomenon? I noticed that it was reduced a bit by reducing the number of pulleys to 1 (but it is less comfortable). I use a thin cord (5-6 mm)

    Thx for your Work

    Loïc

    Reply
    1. Jędrzej

      Hi Loïc,
      Thank you very much for your comment! It’s best to use low-friction, high-quality pulleys with a diameter of at least a few cm. Otherwise, the error introduced by the pulley friction is significant.

      I use two Camp Naiad pulleys with 90% efficiency; the error is about 5 – 10%. So, for example, when using a 20 kg counterweight, I measure 1 – 2 kg inaccuracy, but that’s decent enough.

      Please let me know if this helps!

      Reply
Almost there...

Get updates on upcoming posts

  • We do not spam. Unsubscribe anytime.