When training in a gym for a specific sport, there’s a piece of equipment for everything, ‘cept this:
The upper body strength most needed for rock climbing is in the lats and the fingers. For lats, there’s a lat pulldown machine. The exercise performed on this machine is like a chinup with several possible variations. Besides these variations, what makes this better than a chinup for training is that you aren’t confined to lifting your own weight. You can train correctly with weights both heavier and lighter than your own.
For finger strength, there’s a training board, a.k.a. finger board, a.k.a. hang board. I rarely see these at regular gyms, sometimes at climbing walls. On these, there are shallow finger slots of various dimensions to hang from, pull yourself up with, etc. However, like chinups, you have no weights with which to train appropriately, only your own weight.
The finger bar is a standard lat pulldown bar with a variety of matching finger slots built into both ends of the bar. It’s two exercises in one, or you could do finger pulldowns as a separate exercise. Either way is an improvement.-- Shz, Aug 25 2005 Lat pulldown http://www.myfit.ca...able=exercises&ID=6 [Shz, Aug 25 2005] Training boards http://www.metolius...ingboards-rungs.htm [Shz, Aug 25 2005] [Picturing Shz with fingers as wide as Unabubba's thighs.]-- DrCurry, Aug 25 2005 But not as furry, I hope.-- Shz, Aug 25 2005 <picturing UnaBubba with furry thighs as wide as Shz's fingers> Hahahahahha <pUwftawaSf>-- DesertFox, Aug 26 2005 Ah, the sharp sting of disappointment, and the yet unquenched thirst of all those fingers looking for a dark, air-conditioned place to get a drink...-- normzone, Aug 26 2005 I go to the gym to blast my flexor digiti minimi brevi.-- Texticle, Aug 26 2005 why anybody would want to climb a mountain by their fingers is mystifying.-- benfrost, Aug 26 2005 I can see more than one use for strong fingers :p-- Pericles, Aug 28 2005 Really stubborn boogers?-- DrCurry, Aug 28 2005 Oh, THAT too.-- Pericles, Aug 28 2005 guitar too. maybe they can make finger-weights like small ankle-weights that you wear while you play on your strum hand.-- IcarusByNight, Aug 28 2005 random, halfbakery