Does wrapping your thumb over your index finger make you cringe?... You may be missing out on some serious pulling power
Crimping... you shouldn't full crimp, right? Its dangerous... Tell that to virtually any climber trying hard and pushing themselves. This concept is outdated and needs to be revisited.
“The full crimp is a valuable part of a climbers toolbox”
The reality is, the full crimp &/or closed crimp is a valuable part of a climbers toolbox. It allows you to: pull harder on smaller holds, pull your hips into the wall, bend your wrist so you can move past your hand, and sometimes is just simply the most comfortable way to grab a hold (especially outside). So what's the big problem? Early climbing research has shown that the full crimp position puts the most stress (or force) through your pulleys and tendons when compared to other standard grips like half crimp and open hand. This is definitely true. No argument here. In fact, I did a presentation on this topic and how it may relate to finger injuries years ago in my undergrad! Back then, my conclusion was: to best avoid injury, use the full crimp only when a climb requires it. This opinion has definitely evolved...
Let me ask you this - if your goal was to compete in powerlifting, this means on competition day you must deadlift as much weight as you can, right? But, deadlifting puts a lot of stress through the spine. So, to avoid injury, you should only deadlift on competition day, right???
Obviously not. We need to build our bodies up to withstand the ways in which we choose to use them.
“build up our strength and resilience to the full crimp position in a methodical and controlled manner”
For climbing, this means building up our strength and resilience to the full crimp position in a methodical and controlled manner. Typically this means using a hangboard 1-2x/week with a slow and steady progression. Building the robustness of the structures in our hand that the full crimp stresses takes patience, consistency, and time. We are talking months to years. In reality, it should be a career-long objective. But yes, if you have never hangboarded before, you will experience pretty quick strength gains. These gains are mostly your body learning how to effectively execute the new exercise - not structural changes. Therefore, if our goal is to build up resilience safely, don't rush to increase the difficulty or volume of your training. Mitigation of injury risk is primarily achieved through well managed training intensity, frequency, volume, and recovery - not by avoiding 'dangerous' climbing techniques.
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The following is an example of a full crimp loading progression (video demonstration below):
***DISCLAIMER - if this is painful, consult a regulated health professional. Climbing & training come with an inherent risk to your health, proceed with caution***
Full crimp pulls (feet on ground)
Stand on the ground and engage your hand in a full crimp position. Then, pull as hard as you are comfortable with. This is a great place to start getting comfortable with grip positions since you have ultimate control on how much you load the hand. And, it's so simple, with no equipment required! I do this when warming up where ever I am - gym, home, or the crag. Then, progress this by simply pulling harder (up to maximum effort) and longer (3s up to ~30s). You can also add in some full crimp variations, like front-3 and back-3.
Full crimp hangs (with foot drag)
First, choose a comfortable edge size to hang on in a full crimp position. Then, hang on he edge with your legs relaxed but still resting on the ground. With this progression, force through the hand and fingers is again, easily controlled and is therefore a great transition toward a full hang.
Full crimp hangs
Finally, lift your feet off the ground! I find edges that are just slightly rounded but still have a little bite feel good to practice this on. Then, progress to smaller edge sizes, hanging longer (up to 30s), or adding weight. The Transgression hangboard is perfect for progressing to smaller edge sizes, or, another idea is using edge blockers.
Watch the video below and get your mind blow... but, keep in mind - this is something like 20 years in the making. In all seriousness, if this is the goal, you will want to bridge the gap with assisted 1-arm full crimp hangs.
Just a little anecdote - I'll always remember when I was testing Ethan Salvo... he was setting up for measuring a full crimp pull, and once he wrapped his thumb over, he said something to the effect of "yes!!, now that feels good" and proceeded to pull heinously high numbers very close to his standard half crimp pull (which was also on a larger edge btw). No, I am not saying let's all do exactly what Ethan does, but that did have an impact on me. If we want to push ourselves hard, especially outside on 'gross' holds, then we need to push our bodies to be prepared and comfortable with the full crimp!
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Drop any questions, comments, or thoughts below