RC/PEs with Rock Rings

Since the programming in F1 takes tendon strengthening into account, I thought it would be perfect to add some finger strengthening for climbing in there, and have therefore been doing RC/PE2 with rock rings attached to my gymnastic rings.

 

Here's a picture of a set of rock rings (not mine): http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk144/naitcherboi/RockRings1.jpg

 

I typically do the first set with the bigger rung, the second with the middle rung, and the third (as well as fourth and fifth when applicable) with the smallest rung where only the last phalanges of my index, middle, and ring fingers are pulling my weight. I just finished week 11 of RC/PE2 and so far things are going well; and I don't ever feel that my fingers are even close to their limit (which I a purposely avoiding due to the high risk of injury).

 

My question is are there any downsides to this with respect to my future ability to rope climb? That is, once I get to more advanced levels (eg. RC/PE6), do you guys think that my not using a closed grip on a bar will impact my later ability to hold myself on a rope? I guess what I am asking is whether this kind of open finger grip strength/endurance translates into closed hand grip strength/endurance.

 

I was thinking of maybe mixing it up, and doing one day with the rock rings, and one with the regular bar/rings, but wanted to see what others here thought. Are there any climbers here who have previous experience with this?

 

 

i personally prefer to train my finger strength separately.  finger strength training takes up very little time and can easily be incorporated into your training and seeing as you climb well that in itself should be training for the fingers.  i always used to try and do things like you combining finger training with general strength training but i honestly think its better off doing them separately.  rc pe are for training your pulling ability to be able to do rope climbs and should be treated that way. if you want stronger fingers for climbing then just climb and maybe do some campus board or hang board stuff.

my current training for fingers isnt much except for hanging from 2 hands and eventually moving to one hand building up to over a minute then moving the bar up a joint until i am hanging from the tip of the fingers then i start removing a finger and so on.  right now i am at 4 tips of the fingers with one of my hands and i dont expct to reach 1 finger for many years still.

You need to build closed hang strength as well as just finger strength. If you want to do 1-2 sets with the rock rings, go for it, but use the real deal for the rest of your sets.

Thanks guys. You both make good points.