I have now completed 4 weeks of my daily fingerboard protocol experiment and can report a few things I have observed.
First and foremost, the one thing I really noticed is that my fingers feel way more "solid" ad stable. I no longer get the weird nagging and odd twitches I would every now and then so only for that I would definitely recommend the protocol.
At start, I noticed my fingers getting quite swollen, as if they were overworked but that disappeared after the first week and everything went pretty smooth from then.
There was the odd day where I did the protocol only once but 90% of the time I stick with the twice a day and even did during some weekend days when I felt my fingers were fresh. I have now incorporated the protocol as part of my fingerboard & outdoor warm up.
The best way to incorporate this into your life is to make it obvious and easy. I do this first thing in the morning as I have coffee and at night when I am cooking or during work meetings - with the camera off :-D It your fingerboard is hidden or placed at an inconvenient location the odds of you sticking to it are pretty minimum.
I probably have gained (some) strength but I did not have a good baseline beforehand so hard to prove that in numbers. The thin edges do feel easier although I am also doing a fair amount of climbing and finger boarding so it is hard to attribute that only down to the protocol and not the everything combined.
Where do I go from here?
I believe that as any other protocol, this is something you want to cycle and modulate.
This week I will be taking a break from the twice a day approach although I will be using the protocol as part of my fingerboard/outdoor warm up routine.
From next week I plan to measure my grip strength on a variety of edges and, with real numbers, start another 4-week cycle so I can measure it again after a good month of training.
I will be changing some grips as well and slightly breaking the 11 minutes "rule" since I am missing a few grips and I feel that I am now ready to increase things a bit. As before, I will keep track and report :-)
The new "11'" Daily Protocol (@ Beastmaker 1000)
All grips are done w feet on the floor unless indicated otherwise, @ 10s On / 50s Off.
1. Half Crimp @ Deep Edge (1x, no feet)
2. Pinch (2x, no feet)
3. Half Crimp @ Lwr Edge (3x)
4. 3-Finger Drag @ Shallow Pckt (2x)
5. Mid 2-Finger Drag @ Pckt (1x)
6. Mid Inner 2-Finger Drag @ Pckt (1x)
7. Mid Outer 2-Finger Drag @ Pckt (1x)
8. Mid 2-Finger Half Crimp @ Pckt (1x)
9. Mid Inner 2-Finger Half Crimp @ Pckt (1x)
10. Mid Outer 2-Finger Half Crimp @ Pckt (1x)
11. Pinkies Drag @ Pckt (1x)
22. Ice Axe Hold (2x, no feet) - only if I have time
Total= 15 to 17'
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