After a difficult day at work, you drag yourself to go climb. You’d rather go home and sleep, but your friends expect you to join them. As you walk into the gym, the staff call out warm greetings. Lively music, cheers, and grunts of effort fill the air as you pass through in search [...]
I first subluxed my shoulder almost thirty years ago during my freshman year of high school soccer. A subluxation is where the head of humerus, the ball of the upper arm bone, partially moves out of the shoulder socket and then back in. I used my shoulder carelessly to body check an opponent [...]
Some time ago, you were out climbing. You tried this limit move a few times in a row, and on the last go, you heard the infamous POP. Fast forward a little bit, maybe you consulted a professional, maybe you did some exercises your friend recommended to you, and your finger is feeling [...]
By Stacey Castaldo, SPT, CSCS It was just another day at the climbing gym, I’d done a couple warm-up routes, and now I was just starting up a new 5.12 in a shallow corner. I high-clipped the second bolt, and began reading my next move; it wasn’t immediately intuitive. The next hand was quite [...]
You’re at your local sports store eyeing all the beautiful climbing shoes you probably don’t need (but definitely want). You quickly envision yourself climbing in new shoes – climbing better than you’ve ever climbed before and perhaps, even sending your long-term project. You try on an aggressive shoe, down-turned and stiff [...]
Saturday morning—finally time to get back on your project. You stretch out in bed and slowly open your hands. They feel stiff and sore, you look at your swollen finger joints wondering what's going on. For the last couple of months, you’ve ramped up your training to be ready for your project. You’ve [...]
By Andrew McClure PT, DPT We all wish we could climb as much and as hard as the pros. However, most of us have to maintain a full-time schedule with jobs, family, school, and the other challenges of life. It can be tough to stay in shape, let alone see improvements. Knowing optimal strategies [...]
When we think about climbing and training, most of the time, you’ll hear “go hangboard and get those fingers strong” or “do some weighted pull ups.” Yet we don’t really hear anything about training our hips, except maybe some stretching. Have you experienced difficulty maintaining tension with your feet constantly slipping during a climb? [...]
Have you found yourself using one of these ~excuses~ to account for poor climbing, poor performance, or just feeling stagnant? We face many obstacles when it comes to achieving what it is that we want – in personal lives and climbing careers alike.
Imagine being on a roof climb where you’re bicycling with a hard toe-down and toe-hook to maintain tension in the feet to be able to make the next move; or maybe you need a drop knee to get your hips closer to the wall to match hands; or a heel hook around a [...]