Physical therapists who work with climbers have likely heard or experienced some version of this story: Your patient, a climber, has spent several weeks rehabbing a shoulder injury with your guidance. The progression through the plan of care has been emotional. Some days are positive and some days your patient feels like they will [...]
When I found rock climbing, let me tell you I fell in love. This sport and the community it provides is something I recommend to everyone. Sometimes when I do recommend it, I get told by others that they don’t want to destroy their bodies or get arthritis in the next 5 years. I [...]
The passion for climbing leads us to admire and venerate the lumbrical muscles. But in this human physical story, there's an equally vital and fascinating supporting actor: tendons. This connective tissue, often sidelined in comparison to muscles, plays a crucial role in our ability to perform various movements, whether static or dynamic, allowing [...]
Most of us climb because we love it. Maybe it’s the peace that we get from being out in nature. Or the joy of using our bodies to do strenuous moves elegantly. Or the strong sense of belonging we get from being part of the climbing community. The fact is that for most [...]
There is a benefit of high-intensity interval training (HIIT exercises) to enhance cardiovascular fitness (CV fitness) for longer/multi pitch climbs. Imagine you’re at the top of a long climb. Your forearms are exhausted and you are frustrated with how out of breath and fatigued you felt during the climb. You put in many [...]
How neurocognitive training can improve your performance and help you rehab smarter. Finally, your obsession with beta has science to back it up. We have all seen videos of Adam Ondra in his dreamstate, flat on his back, arms and legs flailing in the air as he rehearses intricate climbing sequences with manual [...]
In recent years there has been an increase in popularity of rock climbing, leading to an increase in the number of climbing related injuries. According to an article by Chang et al, approximately 9 million Americans participate in some form of rock climbing each year.¹ As of July 2019, over 4300 athletes under [...]
In the world of rock climbing, a delicate dance unfolds between two opposing forces: agility and power. Picture this: a climber, muscles coiled like springs, propels themselves upward with explosive force, defying gravity in a burst of sheer power. Yet, just beside them, another ascends with a different rhythm, a dancer on stone, [...]
So you want to get better at climbing. You spend hours looking up hangboard routines and finding the latest and greatest grip strength devices, but what about your lower body? There’s a reason why beginner climbers are told to climb with their feet. Our lower bodies are the unsung powerhouse of climbing. Heel [...]
Introduction Every sport has its characteristic injuries. In climbing, finger and shoulder injuries are often the first that come to mind, among many others. But with the recent rise in popularity of rock climbing, more information is emerging regarding lesser known conditions that can plague climbers. Just in the past year, several professional [...]