Hangboard training: what the studies tested

Short blocks of 4–8 weeks, and the load decides what you build. · 2 min read · Updated October 1, 2026

In short: Three of the four hangboard studies in experienced climbers used two sessions a week, for 4–8 weeks. Near-maximal hangs built maximal finger strength; lighter intermittent hangs (repeaters) built stamina and grip endurance. There’s no tested rule for rest days, and the injury evidence is observational.

How we made this guide: we built it from the research below and checked every number against it: López-Rivera & González-Badillo, hangboard programs (2019); Devise et al., hangboard intensities (2022); Levernier & Laffaye, finger training in elite climbers (2019); Medernach et al., fingerboard in bouldering (2015); Quarmby et al., overuse injury systematic review (2023); Miro et al., pulley injuries review (2021).

Hangboard advice online is full of precise protocols. The published studies are fewer and shorter than that advice suggests, but they agree on a few useful things.

The four studies

Study	Who and how long	Result
López-Rivera & González-Badillo, 2019	26 advanced sport climbers, 8 weeks	Repeaters raised grip endurance 45%, max hangs 34%, both combined 7%
Devise et al., 2022	54 experienced climbers, 4 weeks	Hangs at 100% and 80% of max built max strength; 80% and 60% built stamina
Levernier & Laffaye, 2019	14 elite male boulderers (about 7 per group), 4 weeks	Max finger force up 8%; rate of force development up about 28–32%
Medernach et al., 2015	23 advanced male boulderers, 4 weeks	Fingerboard group gained grip strength and hang time; bouldering-only group did not significantly

What they have in common

Mostly two sessions a week. Three of the four programs hung twice a week (the schedule for the fourth, Medernach, isn’t in the abstract). López-Rivera’s climbers also climbed six days a week.
Short blocks. Four to eight weeks. None of these studies ran longer than 8 weeks.
The load decides the result. In Devise’s study, the heaviest hangs built maximal strength, and the lightest built stamina without raising max strength.

What two of the protocols looked like

From the López-Rivera study (advanced climbers): max hangs were 3–5 sets of 10-second hangs with 3 minutes’ rest. Repeaters were 3–5 sets of four 10-second hangs with 5 seconds between hangs and 1 minute between sets. Those climbers also climbed six days a week, so this was added on top of a lot of climbing.

What the studies don’t tell you

How many rest days you need. We found no study that tested it.
Whether hangboarding prevents finger injuries. A systematic review of overuse injuries (Quarmby et al., 2023) found lower finger strength was associated with injury risk, along with high intensity, bouldering, crimping and previous injury. That’s an association, not proof that training your fingers prevents injury.
Whether warming up protects your pulleys. A review of pulley injuries (Miro et al., 2021) says warming up is thought to help, and the Quarmby systematic review above found no association between warming up and overuse injury. It’s still sensible, just not proven.

These studies used advanced, experienced or elite climbers; Devise’s required no hand injury in the previous 6 months. If you’re newer to climbing, the climbing itself is already loading your fingers.

Track the block

A 4–8 week block only tells you something if you write down the loads and hang times each session. We built My Track Record so a session is one spoken sentence: say the sets, reps and added weight, and it’s logged.

General information for healthy, experienced adult climbers, not medical advice. Stop and get assessed by a physiotherapist or doctor if you feel finger pain, a pop, or swelling.

Log every hangboard session in one sentence.
Get My Track Record on the App Store

By Andrew, founder of My Track Record. Andrew has been active all of his life across a variety of sports and continues to stay active through climbing, swimming, weight training, golfing, snowboarding, and more. He built My Track Record so logging food and training takes one spoken sentence and can support any activity. He puts these guides together from published sports science research cited on each page. About Andrew

Sources

López-Rivera E, González-Badillo JJ. Comparison of the effects of three hangboard strength and endurance training programs on grip endurance in sport climbers. J Hum Kinet. 2019;66:183–195. Source
Devise M, et al. Effects of different hangboard training intensities on finger grip strength, stamina, and endurance. Front Sports Act Living. 2022;4:862782. Source
Levernier G, Laffaye G. Four weeks of finger grip training increases the rate of force development and the maximal force in elite and top world-ranking climbers. J Strength Cond Res. 2019;33(9):2471–2480. Source
Medernach JP, Kleinöder H, Lötzerich HH. Fingerboard in competitive bouldering: training effects on grip strength and endurance. J Strength Cond Res. 2015;29(8):2286–2295. Source
Quarmby A, et al. Risk factors and injury prevention strategies for overuse injuries in adult climbers: a systematic review. Front Sports Act Living. 2023;5:1269870. Source
Miro PH, et al. Finger flexor pulley injuries in rock climbers. Wilderness Environ Med. 2021;32(2):247–258. Source