Hangboard and finger training · Skin is gear

The board builds tendons. It also eats tips.

Ten-second hangs on a 20 mm edge, repeaters, campus ladders. Training loads the same strip of skin on every set, and the pulleys take the rest. Here is how to keep tips thick and fingers healthy through a training block.

Pack the training bag Find your way in
Fanny GibertMichaela KierschAnak Verhoeven
3 on the crew · see who
Skin is gear
Why boards thin skin

Same edge, same spot, every set.

A hangboard edge doesn't move, and the skin on it never gets a break. Week one feels fine. By week three the pads are thin, the edges are polished, and a session ends because the tips hurt before the fingers give out. The pulleys are doing their own quiet accounting the whole time.

A training block works when recovery keeps up with load. Tip Juice twice a week keeps tips tough. Repair every night keeps the new skin flexible. Massage Cream and a finger ring keep the forearms and fingers moving between sessions. And if a finger starts to hurt sharp instead of tired, stop. That's the part of training nobody posts.

A training block, week by week

From the first hang to the deload.

Where training goes wrong across a block, and what goes on at each stop.

Week one · BaseStart the skin early.

Tip Juice twice a week from the first session. File any lifted edge flat before you hang.

Tip Juice80/100 Skin File
Every session · Warm-upWarm before you load.

Massage Cream on the forearms, the finger ring on each finger, five easy minutes before the first max hang.

Massage CreamAcupressure Massage Ring
Week three · PeakTips thinning.

Thin chalk, brush the edge, Hydrate if they go glassy. Tape a tip that is getting raw instead of pushing it to a split.

HydrateRhinos' Own Adhesive tapeImpact Chalk
Every night · RecoverGrow it back.

Repair on the pads every night. Split stick on any crack before it becomes a split.

RepairSplit
Deload · RestLet the pulleys catch up.

Massage Cream, cups on the forearms, the roller on the shoulders. If a finger hurts sharp, see a physical therapist.

Massage CreamWave Tool - Dual Style Cupping set (6)RAD Roller - Helix
Find your way in

Tell us what happens. We'll point.

No score and no wrong answers. Pick what sounds like you, and every answer opens another door: a fix, a page, a longer read.

The pack

What's in the training bag.

Everything that keeps a training block on schedule. Full sizes; you'll use them.

Power Company Performance Kit
All of it, one boxPower Company Performance Kit

Toughen, grip, close, recover. The training kit in one box.

The whole routinePower Company Performance Kit$66.75$56.95
11 items · pick a size, hit Add
Twice a weekTip Juice$12.95
Before you hang80/100 Skin File$2.00
Every nightRepair$8.95
Cracks before splitsSplit$4.95
Glassy edgesHydrate$8.95
Thin and evenImpact Chalk$19.95
Warm-up and recoveryMassage Cream$8.95
Every finger, every sessionAcupressure Massage Ring$5.00
The tweaky oneRhinos' Own Adhesive tape$3.95
Forearms on rest daysWave Tool - Dual Style Cupping set (6)$39.95
Shoulders and backRAD Roller - Helix$49.00
The crew

The people who test this on the board.

Comp climbers and projectors in a training block. They tell us what held up through week six.

Fanny Gibert
Fanny GibertCompetition, Rhino athlete
Michaela Kiersch
Michaela KierschSport, Rhino athlete
Anak Verhoeven
Anak VerhoevenSport, Rhino athlete
Seen in the woodie

Show us the board.

The garage wall, the timer, the chalked-up edges. This wall is yours.

Bouldering@rhinoskinsolutionsSkin abuse@rhinoskinsolutionsSkin after a hard day@rhinoskinsolutionsChalked climber's hands — skin care tips from the Rhino Skin Solutions blog.@rhinoskinsolutionsClimber Anak pulling through a roof section — Rhino Skin Solutions athlete.@rhinoskinsolutionsClimber Selena bouldering in Hueco Tanks — Rhino Skin Solutions athlete community.@rhinoskinsolutionsClimber on Chacal — sport climbing action photo from the Rhino blog.@rhinoskinsolutionsClimber caring for worn skin at the crag — Rhino blog skin tips.@rhinoskinsolutionsClimbing in the Lofoten Islands, Norway — granite walls above the sea.@rhinoskinsolutionsBouldering in Hueco Tanks — Rhino Skin Solutions blog photo.@rhinoskinsolutionsClimber on Kachoong, the classic roof route at Mount Arapiles, Australia.@rhinoskinsolutionsTag us
#SkinIsGear

Post it, tag @rhinoskinsolutions and #SkinIsGear. We pull the best ones onto this wall every week.

Watch

Straight off the feed.

Clips from our Instagram and the crew.

Hangboard session
Training
Tendon glides
Field reports

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