How to retest your climbers at the end of a training block

Keep everything the same

A retest only tells you something if the only thing that changed is the climber. Write down how the first test went and repeat it exactly:

• the same edge, the same depth, the same hand position;
• the same warm-up, ending with a couple of easy hangs;
• the same time of day, and a similar day in the week;
• after a light week, or at least two easy days;
• bodyweight on the day, so loads compare as a share of bodyweight.

If the first test was on the gym's hangboard, don't retest on a home board. Edges differ more than people expect.

What to test

Test	What it shows
20 mm hang, half crimp	Max finger strength in the position most hard holds use
20 mm hang, open hand	The same, kinder to the pulleys
2-rep max pull-up	Pulling strength
Max hang for time	Finger endurance at bodyweight
Bodyweight	Makes the others comparable
A test of your own	What this block trained: a board benchmark, a circuit, a lock-off

With a Tindeq Progressor the same tests give more: peak force, how fast they reach it, left against right, and critical force from a repeater test.

Read the change next to the training

• A clear rise after a strength block is what you planned for. Keep the next block's finger work similar and change the focus.
• No change after a block with good attendance: the dose was too low, too high or too short. Look at how many finger sessions they actually logged and how hard they rated them.
• No change and half the sessions missed: the plan didn't fit their week. Fix that before the load.
• A drop: check sleep, illness and a heavy last week before you blame the plan.
• Small differences either way are noise. Look for a change you'd still believe if you tested again.

Write the next block from it

Test results are where the next plan starts. Write down what moved, what didn't and what the climber noticed on the wall, and plan the next block around the weakest link.