Max hangs (added weight)
5 hangs of 10 s on a 20 mm edge with added weight, 3 min rest. Add 2 kg once all 5 are clean.
- Slot
- Strength
- Focus
- Finger strength
- Time
- 16 min
- Intensity
- Max
- Injury risk
- High
- Intervals
- 5 × 10s on, 3:00 off
- Equipment
- Hangboard, Edge 20mm, Added weight, Timer
How to do it
Eva López's MaxHangs method, the standard protocol for finger strength. After a full warm-up (easy climbing, then 4-6 lighter hangs), hang from a 20 mm edge in a half crimp, feet off, shoulders engaged, with enough added weight that 10 seconds is hard but clean: roughly the load you could hold for 13 seconds. Do 5 hangs of 10 seconds with 3 minutes rest. When all 5 feel controlled in two sessions in a row, add 2 kg. Sharp pain in a finger or elbow means stop, not push through. Twice a week at most, 48 hours or more apart. Not for beginners: climb regularly for at least a year or two first.
High injury risk. Only do this fully warmed up, rested and injury-free, and stop at the first sign of pain in your fingers or elbows. Training is at your own risk.
Who it’s for
The standard finger strength protocol, for climbers with at least a year or two of consistent climbing and no current finger problems. If you’re still improving quickly from climbing alone, this adds risk without adding much.
Common mistakes
- Hanging to failure. Ten seconds at a load you could hold for about thirteen. Failing hangs add injury risk, not strength.
- Adding weight every session. Two kilos, only after five clean hangs in two sessions in a row.
- Sliding out of half crimp. Same position for all five hangs, or the load isn’t comparable.
- Doing them at the end of a climbing session. Fresh, after a full warm-up, or not at all.
How to progress
Weight, in small steps, on the same twenty millimetre edge. Twice a week at most with at least forty-eight hours between, and stop the session at any sharp finger or elbow pain rather than finishing the sets.
When it fits
The training periods this exercise fits into in Blok Sessions.
- Strength Stronger fingers and pulling, with weight you control.
- Power Explosive moves, momentum and coordination.
- Performance Peak for a trip or a comp: focus, reading problems, trying hard.
Related blocks
Start with a ready-made block
A six-week strength plan with a deload, as a file for the app, and seven short emails on how to run it.