Treating finger training like a separate sport (not just hangboard before climbing) actually changed my progression at V8
Been climbing about 6 years, sitting solidly at V8 with a few V9 sends. For most of that time I treated hangboarding as warm-up filler or something I tacked on after a session when I had energy left. Which meant I almost never actually did it, and when I did it was garbage effort.
About 10 weeks ago I flipped it. Finger work first, separate day, treated like its own thing. Not a climbing accessory. I'm doing max hangs on a 20mm edge, half crimp, with added weight. Tested my rough MVC7 at around bodyweight plus 20kg. Currently working sets at about 75% of that, 6 to 8 sets per session, 3 minute rests. Session is done in 40 minutes and I leave.
The weird part is how little volume it actually is. I kept waiting to feel like I wasn't doing enough. But my contact strength on crimpy V8s and V9s has noticeably improved and I haven't tweaked anything in 10 weeks, which for me is almost a record.
I might be totally off base attributing the injury reduction to the lower volume approach rather than just getting lucky. And I genuinely don't know if the strength gains are from the protocol or just from finally being consistent for the first time.
For people who've run proper max hang cycles with real intensity targets, did you also feel like the volume was almost suspiciously low at first? And did you keep finger training completely separate from climbing days or just prioritize it at the start of a session?