Average gains during Hangboard Phase

[tango]

    I realize that answers will vary widely, but I'm hoping to get some rough idea of gains that people experience in their hangboarding phases.  Obviously gains are dependent on a number of factors (experience, individual physiology, number of training cycles completed, etc), but I haven't seen any information on even rough gains that people experience during their Strength phases.
    This isn't meant to be a source of bragging; just a general source of anecdotal numbers to share amongst hobbyists.  :-)

    I suppose I'll start it off:    
    I'm on my first training cycle (following the Beginner's Hangboard Routine), with six hangboard workouts under my belt.  I'm averaging about 20lb gains across all grips.



    So how about it?  Your training cycles and strength gains?

[rob]

I just finished my third HB phase, using the intermediate level protocol (10 sessoions). This is how much weight I have improved since the first session on each grip this season:

Small edge half-crimp - 12kg (26.4 lbs)
Small edge open-hand - 11.7g (25.7 lbs)
Shallow two finger pocket - 14kg (30.8l bs)
Small Campus rung half-crimp - 8kg(17.6 lbs)
Small Campus rung open-hand 15.5g (34.1 lbs)
Medium edge - 10kg (22 lbs)
Large edge - 20kg (44 lbs)

Total improvment = 91kg (200 lbs)
Average improvement = 13kg (28 lbs)

The average is largley swayed by the 20kg (44lbs) improvement on the large edge grip I use, though overall i'm pretty happy with these stats and it's actually quite nice to work them all out and write them down!

[joev9]

Advance protocol (six grips, 3 sets each). This is my advancement (includes body weight change of +2.8 lbs over the 10 workouts) for the 3rd set for each grip (this is in the order of grips).

Right side of LVDER: 47.8 lbs
Microcrimp: 32.8 lbs
2f-MR: 27.8 lbs
Middle SVDER: 22.8 lbs
Wide pinch: 27.8 lbs
3F-IMR: 22.8 lbs

Total improvement: 181.8 lbs
Average improvement: 30.3 lbs

[kerwinl]

Another useful data point would be the resistance totals from the last cycle, as compared to the starting resistance of the current cycle.

If one is not maintaining strength from cycle to cycle, the hangboarding will appear to be super effective, but in reality a portion of those gains are only recovering strength from the previous cycle. Having a way to compare resistance totals from cycle to cycle is critical to see if your training is actually progressing.

[joev9]

Jun 15, 2015 10:46:42 GMT -7 kerwinl said:

Another useful data point would be the resistance totals from the last cycle, as compared to the starting resistance of the current cycle.

If one is not maintaining strength from cycle to cycle, the hangboarding will appear to be super effective, but in reality a portion of those gains are only recovering strength from the previous cycle. Having a way to compare resistance totals from cycle to cycle is critical to see if your training is actually progressing.

Good point.  I actually PR'd on all the grips for weight added but not for total weight hung (TWH) as I had lost about 7lbs since my last cycle.  I PR'd on the LVDER and Microcrimp (first 2 grips) for TWH but missed my PR's for TWH on the next 3 grips by around 2lbs and missed on the 3F by about 7 lbs.

When I set my starting weights for a new cycle, I plug my PRs into workouts 6, 7, or 8 (later for later grips) and work back from there.  This gives a couple of "easier" workouts (HB1 and HB2) to build momentum from some early success and then hopefully PR right around the time the plateau effect kicks in.

[jessebruni]

I switched all the grips around between my first and second cycle so the only data that's really relevant for me is the improvement in my half crimp, sloper, and wide pinch since those didn't change. I don't think theres much value in judging "improvement" except in PR's between cycles personally. So I'll post some data for the rest of my grips after my next cycle which should be over by the end of July. Anyway, FWIW I'm doing advanced protocol, 6 grips + 2 set warmup on innermost portion of the LVDER. On the sloper I improved by 10 lbs but when adjusted for increased bodyweight it was only 5 lbs. I don't have the data in front of me but I improved a ton on the half crimp which I do on the innermost portion of the SVDER, something like 25 or 30 lbs between PR's. I expect a much lower improvement next season, I'd be pretty psyched to see 10 lbs. For the wide pinch I went from -15 lbs PR to a bodyweight PR (bodyweight dropped by 5lbs so a net gain of 10 lbs), but it's such a condition dependent hold it's hard to tell how much stronger I actually got on it.

[jessebruni]

Okay, data from season 3 is in and the results are less than stellar. Bear in mind I had a minor wrist injury on my left wrist throughout this entire hangboard season which affected my workouts I believe. All grips are done on the RPTC.

• Full Crimp (Thin/Crisp Crimp): Season 2 PR = -5lbs ; Season 3 PR = -5 lbs.

• Adjusted for bodyweight S2 = 133.4 lbs; S3 = 134.8 lbs; 
• Difference = 1.4 lbs

• Wide Pinch : Season 2 PR = 0 lbs; Season 3 PR = +10 lbs;

• Adjusted for bodyweight S2 = 139 lbs; S3 = 148.2 lbs;
• Difference = 9.2 lbs

• Half Crimp (Largest portion of SVDER) : Season 2 PR = +30 lbs; Season 3 PR = +25 lbs;

• Adjusted for bodyweight S2 = 169.2 lbs; S3 = 164.8 lbs;
  
• Difference = -4.4 lbs
  

• RP (Done in MRP deep slot) : Season 2 PR = -10 lbs; Season 3 PR = 0 lbs;

• Adjusted for bodyweight S2 = 129.4 lbs; S3 = 138 lbs;
• Difference = 8.6 lbs

• IM (Shallow Pocket) : Season 2 PR = +2.5 lbs; Season 3 PR = +5 lbs;

• Adjusted for bodyweight S2 = 141.9 lbs; S3 = 143.2 lbs;
• Difference = 1.3 lbs

• Sloper : Season 2 PR = +55 lbs ; Season 3 PR = +55 lbs;

• Adjusted for bodyweight S2 = 194.4 lbs; S3 = 193.2 lbs;
• Difference = -1.2 lbs

As you can see the gains were modest for the Full Crimp, and Shallow Pocket, and while the Wide Pinch and RP both saw spectacular gains they were offset by losses in both Half Crimp and Sloper positions.