If you think you’d like to increase your finger strength for rock climbing by incorporating a hangboard workout into your training program, there are a few things you should know before you start—or, rather, before you get frustrated.

Increased finger strength is not a steady state.

One fascinating aspect of hangboard training is that finger strength ebbs and flows dramatically. Finger strength builds quickly. After 10 sessions over the course of a month it’s possible to max out your hangboarding gains.

I’ve started a hangboard training cycle with 40 pounds of body weight removed on certain grips and after a month been able to safely add 20 pounds. A 60 pound shift in strength in just a month is pretty amazing when you think about it.

But as with anything that comes quickly, it slips away almost as quickly. At the end of the outdoor climbing season, everything you’ve gained will be gone.

As you climb outside, your fingers are actually getting weaker.

Last year I trained hard and when I went outside I managed to get my first FA of a hard sport route, a bouldery 5.13d, and sent my second 5.14a. It was difficult to leave real rock and go back inside to train, but I was feeling pretty good about training and I was excited to see what I could do.

Imagine my surprise when, on my first hangboard session, starting at almost the exact same point as I had in the last cycle, I got shut down. I didn’t understand what was happening; my brain couldn’t comprehend the objective reality. I had been crushing outside, which must have meant that my fingers were still strong, and here I was, unable to do the easiest hangboard training routine.

But! Finger strength increases quickly during hangboard training.

It was slow to start, but by the third session, things started to pick up. By the tenth session, I had achieved new highpoints on every grip. The exact same thing happened again this year: I came, I crushed, I conquered, and when I went home to hangboard I got shutdown. This time I knew what to expect, and kept right on with it.

I feel like anyone interested in training for rock climbing, especially hangboarding, needs to keep in mind that the process is going to be frustrating at times. Training and climbing are often two steps forward, one step back. To be successful, you’ll need to learn this rhythm and get comfortable with it.

No one had ever warned me about this phenomenon, but I want you to know about it and prepare for it. If you go into your hangboard training not knowing what to expect, it can feel very defeating to come back inside to train, feeling as strong as ever, yet also feeling like you’re starting all over again.

My hope is that now that you know a bit more of what to expect, my next few posts about hangboarding will find you both excited to add it to your climbing training schedule and ready for the inevitable ups and downs.

Have you run into the same frustrating phenomenon? Share your tip for keeping your psych during hangboarding training in the comments section below.