A Three-Part Series on No-Hang Training

Written by Nate Drolet

From beginners trying their first problems to seasoned veterans working long-term projects, every climber eventually feels like this sport would be a lot easier if their hands were stronger. With countless training methods available, no-hang training has rapidly risen in popularity, but what's behind this recent boom, and is it the right tool for you?

Throughout this guide, we’ll primarily use the term "No-Hang Training" to describe this method of finger strengthening, though you may also see it referred to as "Edge Lifting" in some contexts. These terms can be used interchangeably—they both describe the same fundamental approach of lifting weight off the ground using portable climbing holds to strengthen your fingers. It's worth noting that edge training is actually a subset of no-hang training, as edges represent just one type of grip position you can work with in this system. Whether you're gripping an edge, pinch, pocket, or any other hold type, you're engaging in no-hang training. 

In this first article of our three-part series, we’ll explore how finger training evolved over time and led us to today’s no-hang methods. Understanding the history and benefits of no-hangs can help you make smarter training decisions—and hopefully put you on the right path to reaching your climbing goals.

Part 1: Chasing Finger Strength 

The Search for Stronger Fingers 

Finger strength is the primary physical foundation of harder climbing. 

While I could hem and haw all day long about how climbing is a technical sport, heavily influenced by tactical and strategic skills, underpinned by an overwhelmingly unappreciated mental game, and buttressed by a well-rounded set of physical strengths and fitness attributes, at the end of the day, after all of that blustering, I’d still have to admit that finger strength plays a critical role in this sport and that having a reasonable approach for improving your finger strength is beneficial for hard climbing.

Do you need to train your fingers off the wall? No.

In a perfect world, you would have all the free time you could ever want, and your climbing would have the appropriate volume, frequency, intensity, recovery, and variety of grip positions to sufficiently improve your finger strength all while improving your actual skill at climbing. Unfortunately, most of us don’t live in a perfect world, and we might not have the time, facilities, know-how, or resources to make that happen. When perfect isn’t possible, we need to supplement our climbing with a little training to help ensure that we continue to see consistent progress.

Finger Training Over Time 

Many fads have come and gone in the past few decades since training for climbing became popular. This has included board climbing, campus boarding, system walls, hangboards, and much more. Some had flaws right from the start and disappeared as quickly as they showed up. Some tools looked terrific on paper, but struggled to deliver results in real-world application. Certain methods, like board climbing, boomed in the 90’s and early 00’s, nearly disappeared for more than a decade, and then made such a great return recently that we have to wonder how we ever abandoned them. 

As methods have come and gone, we’ve been able to take away lessons from each of them and improve our approach. One flash-in-the-pan method that had tremendous promise, but was never able to fully catch on was hangboarding with the assistance of a pulley system. Using a pulley to take weight off seemed like it would correct all of the issues traditional hangboarding had. This system allowed you to train on more strenuous grip positions or hold sizes than you could hold with your full bodyweight. Using a pulley made for an ideal method for rehabbing a finger injury because you could meet your injury where it was at with the exact amount of weight it needed. A pulley also allowed you to do longer endurance workouts, one armed hang training, and it provided a safe entry point for people new to finger training. It might be hard to believe we would ever stop using a system with so many benefits.

Unfortunately, pulley assisted hangboarding had a wealth of downsides. It turns out, pulleys are a hassle. The set up is a whole song and dance every session, and if you were traveling then you couldn’t really bring it with you. Every pulley set up was a little different between how it was placed in relation to the hangboard, which board it was under, and how much friction was in the system. This was also at a time when many gyms didn’t have many weights so you might have to sling together a couple of dumbbells making the system even clunkier.

Not to mention, the optics weren’t great. If you were a strong climber, it didn’t feel cool to have to take weight off to do hangs. If you were new to finger training and a bit intimidated by it, a big elaborate system of ropes, pulleys, and weights would only draw more attention to you, making it feel less welcoming than normal hangboarding. While pulley assisted hangboarding offered a lot of promise, it brought so many hurdles that it never took root. Maybe its greatest success was showing us that we should be asking more out of our training methods.

No-Hang Training 

It is my belief that the reason no-hang training has become so popular so quickly is because it provides nearly every benefit of pulley assisted hangboarding while eliminating almost every negative aspect. No-hang training is the modern answer to all of the promises that pulley assisted hangboarding tried to make.

What Is No-Hang Training?

For those who aren’t familiar, no-hang training essentially entails portable climbing “holds” that you can use to lift weight off the ground in order to strengthen your fingers. Their designs can range from elaborate arrays of different hold types to a singular edge to a blank mounting plate that you can bolt climbing holds onto. The options are vast, and increasing at a remarkable rate. 

While picking weight up off of the ground with your fingers has been around for decades with implements like pinch blocks, the Metolius Rock Rings, and early niche products like “The Gripster,” its rise in popularity remained a slow burn for many years. Even as products like the Tension Block became more popular, these tools were mostly used as a supplement for warming up for outdoor climbing and occasionally mixed into training by people seeking novelty.

No Hang Tools' Rise in Popularity

A few events nudged no lifting into the level of popularity it’s currently receiving. There are several coaches and clinicians who have spent years putting out quality information on how to use no-hanging for training, rehab, and testing purposes. The groundwork that those people laid allowed climbers to have a direction to look when they decided to start using this implement.

We also saw the influence of Arm Lifting (the competitive sport of lifting heavy weight off of the ground using different grip implements) continue to push this training method beyond the fringes of early adopters and into the mainstream. Seeing elite climbers like Yves Gravelle excel at both arm lifting and climbing gave the training method more credibility. Finally, I believe that the convenience of no-hang training became so apparent that it solidified this method into common use. 

PORTABILITY: Portability makes training your fingers something you can do anywhere, anytime. This gives you better training options while you travel, yes, but it also opens up what time of day you train when you aren’t traveling.  Your finger training is no longer confined to the space where your hangboard lives. As simple and obvious as this might seem, it means that your ability to train consistently throughout the year is greatly improved. 

SCALABILITY: Scalability allows you to train as light or as heavy as you’d like compared to traditional hangboarding that starts at bodyweight. 

AFFORDABILITY: Even the most premium no hang tools are reasonably priced when you consider how long they will last you and how often you’ll be able to use it.

EFFICIENCY:  Because you don’t have to warm up your shoulders or the rest of your body like you would for hangboarding or climbing, no-hanging makes for an incredibly time-efficient finger training workout. In my opinion, this is one of the greatest advantages of no-hanging for most people.

SHOULDER FRIENDLY: It lets you train around shoulder injuries because having your arm at your side tends to be a less strenuous position for people.

HIGHLY MEASURABLE: Because the weight you use doesn't include your body weight, you don’t have to account for fluctuations over time. This makes comparison from month to month and year to year more consistent. With the inclusion of digital strain gauges, such as the Force Board by PitchSix, we are afforded even greater levels of measurability than with any training method before it.

• This opens up a whole world of collecting finger strength metrics that you can track over time.
• You can train with the rate of force development in mind.
• You don’t need to have weights to use it. This can make for the ultimate lightweight travel set up.

SAFE & CONTROLLED: Climbing is incredibly complex. Because of this, it can be challenging to learn how to try physically hard while still focusing on moving well. More rudimentary methods of loading your fingers such as hangboarding or no-hanging allow people to learn how to produce a greater amount of force through their fingers in an environment that feels safe and controlled. For many climbers, this can be a great method for learning how to unlock higher levels of exertion.

CONS OF NO-HANG TRAINING 

IT'S NOT CLIMBING: The further we get from climbing, the less specific the exercise is. Just like with traditional hangboarding, it can be a lot of fun to see our strength numbers go up when our climbing performance has become stagnant for months or years. This flaw isn’t specific to no-hang training, but it’s good to be reminded that chasing training gains for their own sake is an easy rabbit hole to fall into. 

IT NEGLECTS OTHER MUSCLES: One bonus benefit of doing heavy hangboarding is that it also develops the muscles around your shoulders, elbows, and wrists. Many people find that their climbing feels more “connected” from their hands through their shoulders when doing heavy hangboarding compared to edge-lifting or no-hanging.

LESS STABILITY THAN HANGBOARDS: 

• No matter what the design is, there will be an added level of instability compared to a hangboard that is mounted to a fixed structure like a doorway. Instability reduces the amount of force we can produce (like doing squats on a bosu ball), which has the potential to reduce the strength training results we get. That said, most modern designs are being created with enough stability that this shouldn’t be a real concern for users. This is something that should be considered for designers of these tools though.
• A lack of stability means it is harder to replicate exact form rep to rep. If your tool is tilted slightly more towards your pinky or your pointer on one set compared to the next then it might seem like you are feeling better or worse when in reality it’s just a change to how much stress is going into each finger.
• The lack of stability makes no-hang tools worse at small-edge training than hangboards or micros. Regardless of the training device, using holds that are 10mm or less becomes more dependent on minor details like conditions, skin, and putting consistent force into the tool. Because no-hang devices can wobble a bit and are prone to tilting (making the hold more slopey), they are worse for training tiny edges.
• There is a much greater room for error with exercise technique compared to traditional hangboarding (opens can of worms)

Who is No-Hang Training For? 

 With its extreme portability, short warm up time, efficient workouts, and its scalable difficulty, there are certain people who will be 

• People who want to train fingers at home in a short amount of time.
• Those who travel frequently and don’t have access to a climbing gym but still want to keep their fingers in shape.
• Someone who is rehabbing a finger injury and needs to be able to reduce the amount of load on their injured hand.
• Someone who is training around an elbow or shoulder injury and still wants to strengthen their fingers without making their elbow or shoulder worse.
• Someone who has been training for a long time and is looking for some novelty to spice things up. 
• A climber who wants to warm up for their outdoor project that doesn’t have easier climbs near it.
• A sport climber who wants to get their fingers fully recruited before trying a hard route. 
• Sport climbers who mostly focus on endurance routes and need to supplement their finger strength since the climbs they spend time on likely won’t sufficiently make their hands stronger.

No-Hang Training has quickly emerged as one of the most popular training methods for climbers because it makes consistent, targeted finger training accessible to almost everyone—regardless of schedule, skill level, or training background. But identifying why no-hang training is valuable is only the start. Now, it’s time to move from the theoretical to the practical.

In Part 2, we’ll dive into exactly how you can integrate no-hang training into your climbing routine. We’ll discuss recommended training workouts, optimal timing, frequency, and technique guidelines to make sure you get the most from your no-hang sessions.

PART 2: How to Train With No-Hang Tools

In Part 1 of this series, we explored why no-hang training has emerged as a valuable tool for so many climbers. Whether you’re a frequent traveler, rehabbing an injury, or simply busy and looking for an efficient training option, no-hang tools offer portability, convenience, and versatility. Now that we've covered the why and who, it’s time to tackle the how.

In this second installment, we’ll provide practical advice on when and how to incorporate no-hang training into your existing climbing schedule, share recommended workouts, and outline exactly what great form looks like, so you can confidently add this effective method to your training routine.

Here’s what we’ll cover in Part 2:

• When and How to Integrate No-Hang Training into Your Training Schedule
• Recommended No-Hang Workouts
• Essential Tips for Proper Form and Injury Prevention

Let’s get into it.

Integrating No-Hang Tools Into Your Training

Let me start by saying that everyone’s life circumstances are different. Some people climb five days a week, and some people are lucky if they climb once a week. The amount of off-the-wall training that you do for your fingers will greatly depend on what your own specific situation looks like. 

It’s important to keep in mind that while off-the-wall finger training is a valuable addition to many people’s climbing schedule, it doesn’t (and most likely shouldn’t) be a large addition to that schedule. If you are climbing regularly (at least 3 days/week), trying climbs that are challenging for your hands, trying hard on those climbs, and recovering well between sessions then you might only need to train your fingers off of the wall as little as once a week and be able to see consistent strength gains. 

  When integrating no-hang training into your existing routine, take your time. Add it in and then give it at least three to four weeks before starting to assess how it’s going. Your body needs time to adapt, and if you jump to conclusions too quickly and decide to change things up then you won’t get the benefits and you won’t know how you would have responded to the training had you stuck with it. You lose out in every way. 

Training Method

Before jumping into the meat and potatoes, it’s worth mentioning that the finger training recommendations below will all be isometrics. Isometrics are exercises where the joint angle doesn’t change throughout the duration of the exercise. Specifically, this article gives training advice based on yielding isometrics which is what most people will be familiar with already because it is the way we’ve traditionally trained our fingers in climbing for decades. The two most common isometric methods currently being used in training for climbing are yielding and overcoming isometrics. Yielding isometrics are about resisting movement (i.e. not letting your hand open on a crimp) ,while overcoming isometrics are about trying to move an immovable object. To go further in depth into yielding vs. overcoming isometrics as well as how and when to train with them goes beyond the scope of this article, but it is something we plan to cover in the future. 

Warm Up

Warm up. Do it. Even if you’re in a time crunch, don’t skip your warm up. Warming up reduces the risk of injury and prepares you to lift heavier weight than you could without warming up. Also, warm ups with no-hang tools are much shorter than with traditional hangboarding so it’s not a big time drain either way.

There are no good reasons to skip your warm up.

Training Frequency

There is currently very little existing research on finger strength training for climbing, especially when taking into account what an optimal amount of training is while coinciding with regular climbing. You might hear people recommend finger training volume that ranges from once a week to nearly every day. It’s tempting to try and throw as much at your body as possible and toe the line of what you can handle before you break. 

My recommendation? Start small and simple, and wait to see how your body responds before adding more. You might be shocked to learn how little direct finger training you need to be able to see consistent results. If you climb consistently then your fingers are already receiving a significant stimulus to get stronger. They might only need a little extra nudge to get you to a sufficient training volume. For people who climb consistently and try hard, doing supplementary finger training twice a week tends to be a good sweet spot for frequency. Some people do great with only once though. 

Optimal Timing

Do your no-hang lifts before your hard climbing.

You can get away with doing them at the end of your session if you’re good about ending your session early while you still have plenty of energy left over, and plenty of coaches would argue that higher skill work (aka climbing) should come first and basic strength training should come next. While that’s a perfectly fine approach, on paper, it doesn’t always shake out as well in real life. 

First, if gaining finger strength is important, you want to make sure you’re doing it consistently and at a high quality. By placing your hangs right after your warm up, you are guaranteeing that your no-hangs get done each session. If they are at the end of the day, it becomes the easiest thing to skip if your climbing session runs long or if you’re a little tired from too much climbing. The second benefit of doing them between your warm up and hard climbing is that your hangs can serve as a final warm up for your fingers. A good hangboard workout should leave your fingers feeling fully recruited and ready to try hard. The exception to this would be long and extensive repeater workouts, but those tend to be done in place of a hard training session rather than in addition to it. 

If you are doing so much finger training before your climbing that your hands are too exhausted to try hard, you’ve likely done too much, and you should consider reducing your volume next time. 

Grip Positions

Every protocol will be different here, but a good starting point is 1-2 grip positions.

A half crimp grip tends to be a good starting point for most people as a first grip position. It has good carryover to most climbing styles, and if you had to choose only one grip to train, this is a decent choice. 

If you’re going to go with a second grip position to train, my recommendation is to choose an open-hand position. People tend to have a personal preference as to whether they use a front-three open hand or a four-finger open hand (often referred to as chisel), when they climb. This likely comes down to a mix of finger lengths and what style of climbing that person usually does. Many people who climb in very pocketed areas develop a strong front-three open hand grip. Another option for a second grip is to choose something specific to your local climbing or your goals. 

Effort Levels

For hangboarding, we want to be trying between a 7 and 8 out of 10 effort. More isn’t necessarily better. Our goal should be to add a little weight to our lift each session or each week. In order to do that, we will need to start a training program a bit on the lighter side so that we have room to grow. 

It’s a common misconception that we only get stronger when we are trying as hard as humanly possible and pushing ourselves right up to failure. In reality, this isnt always true and can make us more tired for our climbing sessions without bringing meaningfully better results for our finger strength. Also, if your finger training is leaving you too exhausted to climb well afterwards, it’s very possible that your climbing performance won’t see a significant improvement because of it. 

Progressions

If your goal is finger strength, our primary goal should be to add more weight to our lifts over time while maintaining good form with our grip position. Volume can be increased a little bit over time, but if your volume starts to get so high that your climbing is suffering from it, then you need to consider what your goals are with this program. 

Pain

No-hang training should not be causing you pain during your training. There is sometimes the urge to train hard through oncoming finger tweaks and ignore them. This approach is often short sighted and results either in an injury that is more severe than it would have been or a tweak that lingers longer than it needs to. 

The only exception here is if you are rehabbing a finger. Even then, that process should be overseen by a physical therapist. 

Recommended No-Hang Workouts

There are countless workouts that you can do with no-hang tools, and the number is constantly growing. The nice thing about no-hangs is their versatility, but that’s also one of their biggest drawbacks. There are so many options that it’s hard to know where to start. For diving into the nitty gritty of what to think about when selecting your finger training workouts, I highly recommend Will Anglin’s post on the subject Hangboarding: A Way.

If you’re looking for a good workout to start off with, I recommend the “Single Hangs.” Once you’re in the habit of using a no-hang tool and have used this method long enough that you stop seeing results, you can start to explore other options.

If you’re traveling or replacing a climbing workout with no-hangs then I recommend something like the 6 & 10 repeater workout. While it’s a great workout, I find that it’s too exhausting to mix with normal climbing workouts. However, it can go a long way to make the most of periods where you aren’t able to get into the gym or out to the crag often enough and want to keep seeing strength gains. 

While these two workouts are not an exhaustive representation of all the ways you can train with a no-hang device, they are a straight forward jumping-in point for most people, and will often keep you seeing progress for many months or even years.

From Will’s Article:

SINGLE HANGS

This is primarily a neuromuscular workout that also does some good things for the connective tissue. Leading up to a performance phase, I’ll program this so I don’t fail on the hangs, but leave about a 2-3 second buffer to failure. In season or immediately before a trip, I’ll actually go to the point of failure. This isn’t something I usually recommend to people until they have been climbing regularly for a few years and have also done a few cycles of “repeater” style workouts (like the ones above), but do as you will.

• 6 seconds on : 2-4 minutes off.

• I program this for 4-8 hangs. I usually perform half of the hangs in half crimp and the other half in open crimp. If there is a special grip type that need to be trained for a certain goal (full crimp, pocket pair, 3 finger drag, etc.) I trade in two of the open crimp and/or half crimp hangs to make room for two of the special grip hangs.

• 6 seconds for the hang is a flexible guideline. If you prefer 4 second or 8 seconds, whatever. As long as it is consistent and not too long, you’re good to go. I typically think of 10 seconds as the longest amount of time you’d want to hang for a workout like this, but I tend towards the 4-8 second range in favor of using a higher load.

6 AND 10

This is my workhorse workout. I use this more than any other throughout the year. It is mostly tailored for structural adaptations, but it exists somewhere towards the middle of the spectrum.

• 6 seconds on: 10 seconds off x 5 repetitions. ~2-3 min between sets.

• I program this for 4-6 sets. Each set is dedicated to a single grip type. I usually perform half of the sets in half crimp and the other half in open crimp. If there is a special grip type that needs to be trained for a certain goal (full crimp, pocket pair, 3 finger drag, etc.) I trade in two of the open crimp and/or half crimp sets to make room for two of the special grip sets.

• The goal here is to apply a load to each set so by the 5th repetition you are right up to the point of failure, but don’t actually fail. If you were theoretically to try to perform a 6th repetition, you would fail.

• I like to modify the intensity in 2.5-5 pound increments. With this protocol, I like to be conservative and would rather lean towards a workout being a touch too easy rather than making it too hard and failing on or before the 5th repetition.

Form and Technique

Why should we care about our form with no-hang training?

• Good form helps to ensure we are getting the best benefits for our time
• It reduces strain to the rest of our body
• Good form creates a level of consistency from rep-to-rep and workout-to-workout that allows us to better gauge progress and appropriately increase weight over time for ideal results.

Basic Form

• Place your feet on either side of the weight you’re going to use for your no-hang
• Pick up the no-hang with both hands
• Using one hand to hold the tool in place, settle your other hand into the grip position, aiming to place your fingers in the same spot every time you start the hang.
• Stand upright as much as you can. The height of your weights and loading pin should be such that when the weight is about to come off of the ground, your torso is upright, your knees are slightly bent, and your arm that is holding the tool is straight in front of you with your shoulder stacked directly above that hand.
• Keeping your arm straight, lift the weight by straightening your legs all of the way (like the top few inches of a squat). The weight only needs to lift an inch or two off of the ground.
• Hold the weight for the planned amount of time focusing on keeping your grip in the same position for the entirety of the lift. If your grip starts to open or feels like it is slipping, bring the weight back to the ground. 
• Once you have completed the amount of time you are lifting/no-hanging, return the weight back to the ground by bending your knees. 
• If you are going to do multiple reps, grab the tool with your other hand, reset your hand so that it is in the same starting position in case it slipped a little during the last rep or while you were setting the weight down, and then proceed with your next rep.
  

Once you feel comfortable with the basics above, continue with the tips below for even better results.

Make sure that the tool is parallel to the ground 

• Unless it is intentionally planned for, the no-hang tool should not be tilted towards your pinky or pointer finger or slanted to be slopey or incut. You can physically lift more weight off of the ground with your no-hang tool if you make the device both incut and tilting up towards your pinky because of the added friction, but this vastly changes the grip position you’re using, it reduces the carryover to climbing performance, and the added weight that you’ll be using to hit the same level of muscular effort just means more stress on your wrists, elbows, fingers, and low back without an added benefit to climbing performance. If you’re entering a contest to see who can lift the most weight with a no-hang tool, by any means, feel free to use this method. If your goal is to get great carryover to climbing performance, I’d recommend keeping the tool parallel to the ground. 

• The one exception for making the tool incut is if you are using very small edges (10mm or smaller). While I don’t think no-hang tools currently are the best at training tiny edges, I think it can still have its place, and some people will find that making their edge incut also makes it feel a little less friction dependent. Making it incut does effectively make the edge bigger, but if training a tiny edge with little weight is what your training needs right now, this can be a useful method.

Lift consistently  

• Grab the same part of the no-hang tool’s edge every time to try to keep the load on your fingers consistent. If you aren’t paying attention, it’s easy to move your hands a little to the left or right for each lift which changes how the force is distributed across your fingers. Consistency in training is important. Even down to the smallest details. 

Avoid using the sides of the no-hang tool’s edge to jam your pinky or pointer finger into. 

Have the tool suspended in space just in front of or between your legs.

• Don’t pin the tool against your leg. Pinning the no-hang tool against your leg can take a significant amount of weight off of your fingers. It also makes it hard to effectively progress your workouts over time if you don’t know how much weight your fingers are lifting vs. how much weight your leg is assisting. For better progress over time, avoid this. 
• Avoid dropping the weight when ending your set, and aim to control the weight back to the ground. This will put less strain on your fingers, and it will also keep your device from slamming into the stack of weights.

You now have a solid grasp of when and how to use no-hang tools in your climbing training—along with workouts to get started immediately. But to get the best results, you need the right tool for your individual needs. In Part 3 of this series, we’ll help you choose the ideal no-hang device with a comprehensive buyer’s guide. You’ll learn about the materials, designs, and specific tools available on the market so you can pick the right one for your goals and style.

Let’s take the final step and choose the right tool for you.

PART 3: A Buyer's Guide to Tension’s No-Hang Tools

Welcome to the final installment of our three-part series on No-Hang Training. In Part 1, we explored why no-hanging has quickly become an essential tool in climbing training, and in Part 2, we dove deep into how you can practically integrate no-hang training into your own climbing routine, complete with recommended workouts and form guidelines.

Now, it’s time to take the last critical step: choosing the right no-hang tool. In this guide, we’ll simplify the process by breaking down the most important considerations—edge sizes, materials, comfort, portability, and more. We'll also review some of the top no-hang products available, so by the end of this section, you'll have all the information you need to confidently select the best tool for your goals.

Let’s jump in.

Tool Considerations

If you’re sold on getting an no-hang tool, there are a few considerations you’ll want to keep in mind. I have them ordered in what I consider to be most important to least.

• Edge sizes & hold variation
• Comfort
• Enjoyment
• Materials
• Portability

Edge sizes & hold variation

If you have an idea of what you want to train for, it’s good to have a tool that can check those boxes. Some people prefer a lot of variety, and some people like one good tool that they can do everything with. If you aren’t sure what you like, I recommend trying to find a few different no-hang devices to check out and see if you’re more of a variety or simplicity person. 

There are also modular systems which currently come in two forms. One form is the Pro Edge Platform, which allows you to fully swap out the entire grip from within the device and change it out for something else. This allows for ultimate modularity with grip types and even hold material. The second type of modular system involves small inserts that go into an edge changing its size and shape. While these lower-tech systems can work well for adding variability, not all inserts are made equal, and some might feel like more hassle than they're worth.

Comfort

Finding grips that feel good in the hand is important. Fortunately, most reputable companies are putting out comfortable edges to train with. If you go hunting for cheaper options or go the DIY route, you might end up needing to do a lot of sanding or hold modifications to get it feeling comfortable to use. If a hold is painful, harsh on your skin, or pinches your calluses in an uncomfortable way, you’re going to be less likely to use it. Many people have experienced this with subpar hangboards.

Ask Yourself: Is this a device you’ll enjoy using?

It doesn’t matter how great a tool is if you don’t want to use it. I know people who have made their own ugly monstrosities to train with, that have terrible edge sizes, so-so comfort, are made of cheap scrap wood, and are kind of bulky—but the fact that they made it, and are attached to it, makes them want to use the tool more. If you think one tool is prettier than the other and that feels like a good enough reason for you to want to use it consistently, get it, make it, do it.

Materials

There are four main options currently for materials. The material used mostly comes down to personal preference, but there are a few things to consider:

• Wood: Wood texture “seasons” with time, making it get a bit tackier the more you use it. It is the easiest on the skin of all the options. The wood aesthetic and general hand-feel is appealing to a lot of people. As long as it’s made well and with the right wood, it is very strong.

• Plastic: This is the most variable material. At its best, it can be formed into unique shapes with good texture and wonderful comfort, but at its worst it can feel like a cheap plastic toy. These tend to be the least expensive option, have the most variety in styles, and are a common DIY project for people with a 3D printer or a library card. 

• Metal: There’s just something about the metal aesthetic that really speaks to a lot of people. Myself included. This is currently the most narrow sliver of the market with only a few companies using metal to design lifting edges for no-hang training. There are a few no-hang tools made entirely of metal that have a media-blasted finish for texture. The greatest advantages here are that they are basically indestructible, and that metal looks cool. Both are solid wins in my book. 

• Hybrid: Using mixed media to try and get the best of both worlds. There are currently two hybrid systems that I am aware of: 

• First is: wood tools with rock surfaces for the edges. The idea here being that it might toughen your skin if you use rock edges to hang with. More research is needed to see if statically holding weight for short periods of time is a sufficient stimulus for tougher finger tips. If it works, that can be a useful tool to be able to use on occasion. The downside here is that if it’s going to sufficiently prepare your skin for climbing outside, it’s likely going to do a bit of skin damage and be a little uncomfortable to use.

• The second hybrid system is the Pro Edge Platform. The system is made up of a metal housing that allows for inserts of any material and grip type. It gains the robust benefits of metal devices while allowing for amazing modularity and customization for your needs. The downside is that it’s going to be a bit heavier than normal wood or plastic tools, and if you want a wide array of grip types it will be more expensive than a tool like the Block. That said, the robustness and ability to add new inserts as they are developed over the years makes this the best device for longevity.

• Lastly, it’s worth keeping in mind that this category of training device is still rapidly growing and developing. I can only imagine that things will continue to change and be refined with time.

Portability

Most tools these days are a reasonable enough size and weight that there isn’t that significant of a difference between different tools. Before dedicated edge lifting tools existed, I brought my Flashboard around with me everywhere to train with, and it never occurred to me to complain about the size. Everything currently in existence is a far more reasonable size than that was. That said, if size matters to you, it’s worth making sure that whatever you get isn’t so cumbersome that you’ll refuse to bring it around with you.  

No-Hang Trailing Device Buyer’s Guide

Tension Block

This is the swiss army knife of edge lifting tools. The Block was one of the first popular edge lifting devices on the market, and it remains one of the best jumping-in points to the world of edge lifting. This device gives you multiple edge sizes, pinch sizes, a mono, and a two finger pocket all in a reasonably sized package. If you feel overwhelmed by all the options out there, this is a great device that will serve you well for many years to come. 

Tension Ergo Edge

In short, the Tension Ergo Edge was designed because your fingers aren’t all the same length. When you train on a straight edge, your finger angles vary, which can lead to uneven loading. The Ergo Edge uses varying heights and positions to create a more natural, ergonomic grip—hence the name.

Tension Pro Edge Platform

The Pro Edge Platform is an aluminum frame that allows you to swap in different grip inserts. The greatest benefit here is that this is an incredibly robust system that will allow you to upgrade your training tools over time by purchasing new inserts. Inserts can be made of nearly any material and be shaped to fit many different needs. As the climbing industry continues to innovate around what the best grip types, shapes, and materials for edge lifting are, this device will allow you to keep up with the modern methodologies. For people who like the feel of wood edges but the robustness of metal, this allows for the best of both worlds. 

Tension Flash Board

While this isn't strictly an edge lifting device, I’m including it in the selection because it can be used as one (though it’s a bit more clunky than the other devices), and also doubles as a pull up bar or as a board you can hang off of. While this isn’t my first recommendation for an edge lifting device, I’m sure there are people out there who think this will be the perfect combination of tools.

With training, maybe the most fundamental rule to keep in mind before everything else is, “The best training method is the one you actually do.” It’s fun to hypothesize what the “best” methods might be for finger training, but if we pause and look at what methods have been the most approachable for people and have allowed for the most consistent training, Edge Lifting comes in first place. It’s efficient, portable, arguably the easiest method to adjust to your specific needs, and its ability to isolate the hands from the rest of the body means that it can be useful for training around things like shoulder injuries (a common climbing ailment). Who knows where the future of finger training will take us, but right now, edge lifting is a worthy addition to most people’s program.

You’ve reached the end of our three-part exploration into edge lifting—a climbing training method that, though relatively new, has quickly become one of the most versatile and accessible options available today. We've covered the why, the how, and the "which one" to buy, so now you have everything you need to confidently add edge lifting to your routine.

Remember, the best climbing training tool is the one you’ll actually use consistently. Whether you decide on something versatile like the Tension Block, customizable like the Pro Edge Platform, or ergonomic like the Ergo Edge, the most important factor is choosing something that motivates you to keep training.

FAQs about No-Hang Tools

1. I opened this article thinking it would be a quick read, got overwhelmed by how long it is, and scrolled to the bottom looking for key points. Can you sum this up in under 50 words for me?

Gaining finger strength over the years requires many things, consistency being chief among them. No-hang training has many advantages that allow for greater consistency over other training tools currently available. There are no magic bullets, and no-hangs have their downsides, but it’s a worthy addition to many people’s training regimen.

2. Why shouldn’t I just buy a cheap no-hang device online from somewhere like Amazon? 

I understand this might seem a little rich having the following advice written on Tension’s website, but let me start by saying that I am first and foremost a Tension fan, and only after that am I a contributor to their blog. It’s my belief that if you want to see further development in training for climbing equipment, you should be supporting the people who are innovating it. There are several people and companies out there who are helping to push this aspect of the sport forward, and I recommend that if you’re going to purchase a training device, buy from one of them.

It’s also worth noting that most of those cheaper devices are uncomfortable designs that are poorly made. You aren’t saving yourself that much money by going that direction, and it will only be more expensive if you get something you don’t like and then turn around and buy the device you should have gotten the first time.

3. What should I know about Block vs the Pro Edge? 

In 2024, Tension changed the Block’s material to Maple, which made the device thicker. Also, the Block is primarily a rehab and warm-up too.l It should not be used for maximal loads—that’s what the Pro Edge Platform is for. 

4. My low back gets fatigued during no-hang training, how do I fix that?

There are a few common causes for this. 

• People are holding the weight out in front of them too much rather than having their arm as close to the front of their body that they can.
• People are lifting the weight by bending at their hips, back, or rowing the weight up with their arms rather than bending and straightening their knees.