What is the difference between a Campusboard and a Hangboard?
As the very first thing in this article, we should mention that training on campusboard and hangboard is a good way to get strong, but it is also a good way to get injured. You need to have been climbing for at least 2 years before you should take these on. Always warm up thoroughly in min. 30 minutes and listen to your body. Does anything feel different in your fingers/wrists/elbows/shoulders? Are you in pain? Having an off-day? Then skip a workout and recover instead. Work out no more than twice a week on a campus board or hangboard. It's very stressful on joints and tendons, which need plenty of time to recover.
What can a campus board do?
A campus board is a training tool for finger strength, upper body strength, dynamics and coordination. The Campusboard consists of a series of campus bars in different sizes. A campus movement is a move with the hands, freely hanging in the air (aaaalllly without legs...)
Campusboard with five different grip types in Aarhus Boulders
What can a hangboard do?
A hangboard is a much smaller installation than a campus board and therefore also makes good home training. A hangboard is a more isolated and static form of exercise that mainly trains your fingers.
Three different hangboards, Tension Climbing Grindstone, Beastmaker 1000 and Beastmaker 2000
How do I choose training equipment?
What would you like to train? Do you want isolated finger training or do you want training that is more like moving on a climbing wall?
Training on a hangboard is very similar to what you do on a climbing wall. Whereas training on a campus board is more like it. You're in motion, you have to coordinate, it demands your precision and it involves more muscles than the hangboard does.
If you are a very static climber, it might be a good idea to try the campus board. Here, the static climber must pay close attention to moving dynamically and not doing "static climbing" on the campus board. The more difficult the exercises become, the more dynamics are needed. And it can therefore be a good idea to include it in your campus training from the start.
Do you have an old injury you want to take care of? If so, the dynamic load provided by a campus board is a dangerous way to train. There is more control over training on a hangboard, which will reduce the risk of injury.
Because the training on a hangboard is so isolated, it also allows you to use grips that are significantly more difficult than those used on the campus board. You learn to hang from smaller holds, but you don't learn to move in them. To get the latter, it's a good idea to supplement by climbing on equally difficult holds on the climbing wall itself.
A hangboard works well at home as a quick and effective way to sneak a workout into your daily routine. Be very careful not only to warm up your fingers on the hangboard itself, but also to warm up your arms and shoulders well before you start.
In Boulders we sell hangboards from both Beastmaker and Tension Climbing in all clubs. Try them and see what you like best.
Good training!