Finger strength in climbing

To push oneself up a climbing wall, one basically pushes the toe part of the shoes really hard into footholds (or the wall itself), and then grab the next handhold.  Grip it hard so one can move the body to the next position. During this transition, one should suck in the belly to activate the core so the body is tense when moving from one handhold to the next foothold or handhold. 

I had no clue this was how climbing worked in the first year. I had weak arms, no hand strength, weak back, weak core, and poor balance when I started. I would get "stuck" on super easy boulders. Moving a hand or a leg would result in me falling off the wall. The next handhold was often out of reach. It was often baffling to me what to do next half way through a boulder problem.

First my core got stronger, then the back and shoulders, and now I can feel my hands firming remaining on a hold even as I shift my body and foot around, snaking/reaching/swinging my way to the next foothold. As long as I have the grip, it is possible to try a move, fail, but still stay on the wall (due to that hand still hold me to the wall). Believe it or not, it's actually more tendon strength than muscle strength (I rarely get forearm pumps when I boulder). 

Recently, each time I climb, I reach that chi flow stage where I can seem to try one boulder problem after another and not feel sore. I usually bang my knees into the wall several times (because I am sloppy), and I just ignore it, and it doesn't affect my climbing. I have no soreness in the body (maybe slight shoulder soreness in the back of the armpit). I feel like I can go on climbing forever. The only signal forcing me to slow down and gradually boulder easier problems to cool down is my achy hand skin. The pain in the skins make it harder for me to grip the handholds precisely and strongly, so I know the session is coming to an end. 

Now that I have had a few hours rest, I feel the shakes in the shins/calves, in the back (the lats), in the abs, in the neck (as always). I will really feel it tomorrow. Last time I bouldered I felt sore for a whole week. Let's see how long this one lasts. I'm happy I am slowly building endurance though. This allows me to stay on the wall to work on tricky boulders. Before, I could only try a hard boulder once. If a move was too hard, then that problem would stay out of reach. Now my hands (and shoulders, and back, and core) are strong enough for me to try alternative moves. Very exciting!