No more excuses: Train hand and finger strength without a hangboard, on the road, or away from the gym with the Sic Grips GString. Hang ’em over a closed door, on a standard pull-up bar, or from a tree branch in base camp with the strategically knotted 5mm polyester static cord.
“This board trumps all other boards,” said our injured tester who has been relegated to hangboardonly training for the past few months. It’s a beast at 32.5” x 11”, and every square inch is utilized with valuable edges and shapes. Two standout features: variable pinch sizes and rounded edges on all ledges and pockets. Multiple pinch sizes mean you can easily train no matter your hand size, and you can dial in the difficulty by choosing whatever width you need.
Pull-ups are the standard climber’s exercise, but a plain, straight bar doesn’t do much to simulate a real climbing situation. Add the Power Balls to your training regimen, and those 40 boring pull-ups might turn into four targeted and climbing-specific workouts. We tested them as a supplement to regular hangboard training, and found great results for lock-offs, slopers, pinches, open-handed exercises, and core workouts.
With an Editors’ Choice Award in 2012, the original Blank Slate was simple yet ingenious: a hangboard that utilizes a doorway leverage system and doesn’t require a single drilled hole. Now they’ve made a smaller version to fit in even more locations. The setup takes about 15 minutes (even for the assemblyimpaired), and you can mount your training tool of choice to the 29.5” x 8” wood board, which fits a medium to small hangboard or up to eight separate climbing holds.
Stonelick Yose - The only thing worse than hitting the ground while bouldering? Landing on your pad and still hitting the ground while bouldering. Thanks to an innovative hinge design from a new company, this just won’t happen anymore. Stonelick’s “step hinge” eliminates dead spots around the fold, saving your ankles and body from deep impact. The Yose is Stonelick’s medium-sized pad (36” x 48” X 4.5”), and the foam is top-quality.
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