# How to develop finger strength for cubing



## fanwuq (Aug 24, 2009)

See video. 
Things to work on: 
1. Gripping a bar with weights or bodyweight
2. Gripping bricks
3. Fingertip Pushups
Results:
Never clumsily drop your cube again! 
Faster turning speed!






My form is not perfect, but you get the idea. That's why I'm not the fastest.
I would like to see a video of Chris Hardwick warming up for cubing.


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## rahulkadukar (Aug 24, 2009)

rofl .


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## StachuK1992 (Aug 24, 2009)

rahulkadukar said:


> rofl .


My thoughts exactly.


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## fanwuq (Aug 24, 2009)

rahulkadukar said:


> rofl .



This is actually supposed to be some what serious. I'm interested in the results of this workout. I suspect that it should be beneficial for cubing.


Edit:
watch the whole thing and give me real feedback.


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## jms_gears1 (Aug 24, 2009)

fanwuq said:


> rahulkadukar said:
> 
> 
> > rofl .
> ...


rofl


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## StachuK1992 (Aug 24, 2009)

Real feedback: rofl




jk
Umm...I have bunkbeds. So what I'll do, is every night before I go to bed from now on, hang my feet on the bars connecting the 2 beds, and do like 100 upside-down pull-ups. Then I'll eventually tell you my progress.


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## fanwuq (Aug 24, 2009)

Stachuk1992 said:


> Real feedback: rofl
> 
> 
> 
> ...



By the way, we are on a cubing forum. If you want to using correct terminology, use ROF2L, not rofl. ROFL if you only solve 2x2x2.

If you can do hand stands, it would be nice too, but I can't do them.


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## StachuK1992 (Aug 24, 2009)

nah...I can't do handstands.
Unfortunately, I'm also in the middle of switching methods, so my time progress will be quite skewed...

Edit:
actually, I'll try handstands against a wall, but I have a headache today, so that won't be happening soon.


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## rahulkadukar (Aug 24, 2009)

ROFL after watching it again


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## amostay2004 (Aug 24, 2009)

You need _finger strength_ for cubing? Silicone sprays exist for a purpose, you know...

Maybe for OH..but practice alone gives you enough strength


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## Escher (Aug 24, 2009)

Nice idea, though I can't say I'll ever have the effort to try it...
I've always been able to turn fast on 3x3, and I reckon it's down to playing guitar for about 9 years. Perhaps another way of strengthening hands would be to learn some simple piano scales and practice getting fast at them with good technique.

Perhaps getting some of these might be good too:
http://www.gripmasterpro.com/bodygm.html

EDIT: @ amostay: perhaps it's finger stamina you need, rather than strength?


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## fanwuq (Aug 24, 2009)

Escher said:


> Nice idea, though I can't say I'll ever have the effort to try it...
> I've always been able to turn fast on 3x3, and I reckon it's down to playing guitar for about 9 years. Perhaps another way of strengthening hands would be to learn some simple piano scales and practice getting fast at them with good technique.
> 
> Perhaps getting some of these might be good too:
> ...



Nice ideas!


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## brunson (Aug 24, 2009)

You have to types of muscle fibers, fast and slow twitch. I think lifting weights like that would develop your slow twitch muscles, I doubt it would do much for the fast twitch.


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## fanwuq (Aug 24, 2009)

brunson said:


> You have to types of muscle fibers, fast and slow twitch. I think lifting weights like that would develop your slow twitch muscles, I doubt it would do much for the fast twitch.



That's for grip.  I think the push ups work quite well for triggers.
That is a good suggestion. Can anyone think of any other exercises involving fast twitch finger muscles?


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## JLarsen (Aug 24, 2009)

Solving bigger cubes makes turning a 3x3 a piece of cake.


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## ConnorCuber (Aug 24, 2009)

fanwuq said:


> brunson said:
> 
> 
> > You have to types of muscle fibers, fast and slow twitch. I think lifting weights like that would develop your slow twitch muscles, I doubt it would do much for the fast twitch.
> ...



Possibly one of those stress balls? If you squeeze, and release fast, then it will be working fast twitch muscles (I think, I am not 100% sure)


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## vgbjason (Aug 24, 2009)

the thing with the bricks is way harder on arms than fingers

and i laugh at the essence of your post

push-ups on a wall. . .wow


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## piemaster (Aug 25, 2009)

rofl


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## guitardude7241 (Aug 25, 2009)

For pushups, body needs to be straight, and you need to feel a strain on the abs.


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## cmhardw (Aug 25, 2009)

I like the powerball for finger and forearm strength, I feel it has potential to help with cubing.

Here is the home workout I do. When warming up for cubing I basically rotate between doing the parts of this workout that don't involve weights, or I do the same thing only minus the weights. I find this works especially well when done 30-45 minutes before competing.






Wuqiong, I like your idea. I wonder also about the fast twitch and slow twitch muscles. I wonder which workouts will help the most with cubing? I assume mostly the fast twitch muscles are used, but also there is some endurance to longer solves (BIG cubes) or longer cubing sessions. I like your idea of holding the bricks, or some thing, with fingers as long as possible.

Chris


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## dannyz0r (Aug 25, 2009)

Try scrolling your mouse really fast and trying to get to the same spot you started on. Fast twitch+finger control.


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## MW1990 (Aug 25, 2009)

May I suggest: http://www.criticalbench.com/images/gripmaster3.jpg If I'm not mistaken, I saw on Syu's blog something of this nature. I play guitar as well, and I use all my fingers (minus the thumbs), so 8 finger playing is fun, builds finger strength, and sounds cool!


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## Kiongku (Aug 25, 2009)

Hmm your video shows a very bad idea of lifting a weight.
You should not bend down with your hips to lift the weight but rather bend your knees and lift it up with your back straight.

This will help to avoid back injury if its very heavy... Just a note..


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## luke1984 (Aug 25, 2009)

Weight training is awesome, I love it, but I don't think it'll make a difference as far as finger speed goes. Finger speed has much more to do with motor skills, dexterity.


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## CuberDude (Aug 25, 2009)

luke1984 said:


> Weight training is awesome, I love it, but I don't think it'll make a difference as far as finger speed goes. Finger speed has much more to do with motor skills, dexterity.


Lifting weights is good for breaking in store bought cubes.


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## JLarsen (Aug 25, 2009)

luke1984 said:


> Weight training is awesome, I love it, but I don't think it'll make a difference as far as finger speed goes. Finger speed has much more to do with motor skills, dexterity.



I agree it doesn't take that much "strength" to have high tps, as much as it does control, and speed. The best way I see to improve tps, is to cube. You cube, you get better at cubes. Ya know?

Oh. Another thought. TPS isn't that important either, people should be working on their look ahead more than anything.


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## zosomaniac (Aug 25, 2009)

Take steroids. They may help for developing strength.


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## fanwuq (Aug 25, 2009)

zosomaniac said:


> Take steroids. They may help for developing strength.



ROF2L!!! That will only make getting +2 and breaking magic strings easier.

Chris,
Thanks for the insightful post! I'll try that. What is the powerball?

Kiongku,
Thanks for the tip! I don't have any more weights, but I'll try to get better form.

MW1990,
Good idea, Escher also mentioned it.

Pandaman,
What you said is all very true. Of course the best way to get faster at cubing is to practice cubing. But I often see people getting nervous and dropping cubes, lockup, etc. during competition (including myself). I think it's because of weak fingers. If you have stronger fingers, you would have more control over your cube and not shake or mess up when you are nervous. I think doing such exercises can make you calmer so you can focus more on the lookahead.

dannyz0r,
No.

Thanks for the comments, everyone!


I think Tetris would help with your look ahead and finger speed, but I don't really like it much because it is more of a video game that a physical exercise. It transitions well into cubing, but not for other everyday activities.
Juggling is a very good activity. It trains hand control, look ahead, and endurance if you can juggle for a long time. I can't do it yet, but I'll work on it eventually.


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## Carrot (Aug 25, 2009)

Fanwuq, I do train my forearms with some light weights too prevent injuries from too much cubing (I have had an injury in my left forearm, so it gets injuries very easy >.<)

(just googled it and found the exercises: http://www.leehayward.com/exercises/forearms/index.htm the first two exercise  and btw. I use about 20-30 kgs repeated about 50-100 times for the first one, and about 10-20 kgs repeated about 30-50 times with number two)


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## JLarsen (Aug 25, 2009)

Interesting theory Fanwuq, although certainly you agree that it is nerves that causes these lock ups. I do wonder if strengthening them would reduce the nervous shake of the hands.....

I mean....when was the last time you saw some HUGE guy, shaking?


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## fanwuq (Aug 25, 2009)

Sn3kyPandaMan said:


> Interesting theory Fanwuq, although certainly you agree that it is nerves that causes these lock ups. I do wonder if strengthening them would reduce the nervous shake of the hands.....
> 
> I mean....when was the last time you saw some HUGE guy, shaking?



Right. Dan Cohen never shakes during competition; that's why he just keep on breaking WRs.  His fingers are like twice as thick as mine.

Odder,
Nice exercises!


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## fanwuq (Aug 27, 2009)

cmhardw said:


> Here is the home workout I do. When warming up for cubing I basically rotate between doing the parts of this workout that don't involve weights, or I do the same thing only minus the weights. I find this works especially well when done 30-45 minutes before competing.



Just watched the video. A reduced version is great for cubing warmup, but I fail to see how it could be anything just that. Any increase in overall strength is impossible. That guy did not get any stronger, he simply lost a layer of fat.

http://www.beastskills.com/tutorials.htm
Can't do any of these yet, but I'm working on Pistol, L-seat, and handstand progressions (and failing quite badly).

Like everyone said, cubing is not really about finger strength. I was inspired by Chris warming up for his solves. I also remember discussions about whether cubing is a real sport. My idea was to pretend it is a sport and actually do physical exercises to train for cubing like for other sports. The exercises I randomly came up with are probably overkill and not necessarily helpful (so the video is somewhat of a joke), but I think this is an aspect of cubing that requires more exploration. Some of the suggestions in this thread are translate much better into cubing than my original ideas.

I have also seen posts here by kids complaining that people make fun of them for being cubing nerds. If they do these exercises and tell the other guy they have strong fingers that can strangle people to death, maybe they won't get picked on. (Violence is not recommended.)


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## cmhardw (Aug 28, 2009)

fanwuq said:


> Just watched the video. A reduced version is great for cubing warmup, but I fail to see how it could be anything just that. Any increase in overall strength is impossible. That guy did not get any stronger, he simply lost a layer of fat.



My legs got quite a bit stronger by doing the jump squats with dumbbells. Also, I do sets of 30 elevated pushups with resistance bands like the guy in the video, but I used to have a hard time doing 30 pushups *period*. That's not to say elevated pushups, or even with resistance bands. So I guess you could argue that I have more upper body strength than I used to.

Granted, I don't look anywhere near as cut or fit as the guy in the video, but I feel much more fit.



fanwuq said:


> http://www.beastskills.com/tutorials.htm
> Can't do any of these yet, but I'm working on Pistol, L-seat, and handstand progressions (and failing quite badly).
> 
> Like everyone said, cubing is not really about finger strength. I was inspired by Chris warming up for his solves. I also remember discussions about whether cubing is a real sport. My idea was to pretend it is a sport and actually do physical exercises to train for cubing like for other sports.



Actually the only reason I do exercises before my events is for blindfolded. I had heard many times over that the memory sports experts recommend to exercise to improve your memory. I don't know if this has an effect on memory per se, but I think the increased blood flow to the brain has a positive effect, and this is why I warm up before my events.

I will continue to exercise because I think it is a good and healthy thing to do, but I also thing it helps my BLD cubing. Whether or not this is a placebo effect or not I can't prove, but still there is a positive outcome that comes from my exercising. For that reason alone I will keep doing it.

Chris


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## luke1984 (Aug 31, 2009)

fanwuq said:


> cmhardw said:
> 
> 
> > Here is the home workout I do. When warming up for cubing I basically rotate between doing the parts of this workout that don't involve weights, or I do the same thing only minus the weights. I find this works especially well when done 30-45 minutes before competing.
> ...



I'm not sure what you mean by this, but in those few years I've done weight training I've more than doubled my overall strength, even tripled on some muscle groups. Again, I may be misunderstanding.


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## fanwuq (Sep 1, 2009)

luke1984 said:


> I'm not sure what you mean by this, but in those few years I've done weight training I've more than doubled my overall strength, even tripled on some muscle groups. Again, I may be misunderstanding.



I agree with you. I mean that doing as many different exercises and as many reps as the video recommend is much more of an endurance test than a strength test. Weight lifting is pretty straight forward--you are as strong as the amount you can lift. I only have 90 pounds and the only exercise that it's good for if I want to train for strength is over head press. Although 30 deadlifts would end up being a pretty difficult endurance challenge. 
I think singles and averages of 5 or 12 are about strength; but once you get session of over 20, it's mainly endurance. That's for cubing or any other exercise. 
I think a highly focused average of 12 beats a long session of hundreds of cubes any day.


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## lowonthefoodchain (Sep 1, 2009)

Wow, I brought a Grip Master to US Nationals. Great way to warm up even, especially before one hand.


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## Xquare-1 (Sep 15, 2009)

Does finger strength really makes you turn faster?


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## V-te (Sep 15, 2009)

Turn a new v-cube 6 for hours with only your fingers. That works =)


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## elcarc (Sep 15, 2009)

Xquare-1 said:


> Does finger strength really makes you turn faster?



It probably wont improve your solves that much, but tighter cubes will be much easier to turn. that allows you to set diy's that pop, a little tighter


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## fundash (Sep 15, 2009)

Btw, the video is removed...terms of use violation apparently...


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## fanwuq (Sep 19, 2009)

I guess I haven't failed as badly as I expected. I got some of the exercises right. 
Read this: http://www.dragondoor.com/articler/mode3/528/


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## MW1990 (Sep 19, 2009)

I just did a OH 6x6 solve, it was hella slow, but it will develop finger strength for sure  Downside: Only one hand is used ( I use my left for OH) so unless you are willing to do it with the opposite hand, it's kinda useless


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## Daniel Wu (Sep 19, 2009)

OH 6x6!?!?!?!?!? You're insane.


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## Jake Gouldon (Sep 19, 2009)

Dan did OH 7x7, in like 15 minutes. He has a video of it.


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## MW1990 (Sep 19, 2009)

yup, that was my inspiration (as well as Michael Gottlieb's 6x6 OH)  It sucks that the audio got removed from that video though


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## piemaster (Sep 19, 2009)

This reminds me of the dude that challenged MM&P to the OH 6x6.


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## MW1990 (Sep 20, 2009)

somebody challenged Pi to a 6x6 OH? He's not that good at that  (from what I've seen of his regular 3x3 OH at least...) I would have challenged somebody else like Lofty or some of the other good OH cubers


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## piemaster (Sep 20, 2009)

He fails at 3x3 OH alone. Did you see the challenge? rofl. "You know what? DNF. *breaks cube* Stupid one-handed...


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## MW1990 (Sep 20, 2009)

Lol wow no I didn't  That is a fail haha


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## piemaster (Sep 20, 2009)

want a link?


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## MW1990 (Sep 20, 2009)

that's alright  I'll check his youtube out. Thank you though!


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## Rubenx96 (Oct 14, 2009)

that's actually pretty cool


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## fanwuq (Nov 10, 2009)

Looks like I was more right than I expected. 
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091109/hl_nm/us_alzheimers_risk
Train your grip strength if you want to cube into old age.


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## joey (Nov 10, 2009)

My finger strength is bad, I should actually improve it.


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