Jedi Mind Tricks for Recovering from Injury Better, and Faster
Recently in my journey pursuing my doctorate in physical therapy, I’ve explored the idea of “contextual factors in healing”, the unwritten, often underemphasized components of recovery from injury that carry surprising weight. In the setting of physical therapy, contextual factors encapsulate patient beliefs, practitioner beliefs, patient-practitioner relationship, and environment in which we heal. The [...]
Overcoming Fear and Pain in Climbing: A Journey to Rebuilding Confidence
“Nah, that climb is just not my style.” “I’m just not as strong on those types of holds.” “That move is a little sketchy for me.” “I’m never going to be able to climb like I used to.” Sound familiar? Perhaps a sloper led to a nasty wrist injury, or a heel hook led [...]
Pull-Ups for Climbers: Technique, Training, and Transfer
I dropped down to the mat and was swiftly met with congratulations from my friends that brought me along with them down to our local climbing gym. I had just flashed and essentially campused my first V3 climb, which looking back, was meant to be completed elegantly with a drop knee here and a rear [...]
From a Drop Knee To an ACL Injury! Returning To Climbing Post ACL Rupture
It’s your flash attempt on the highly anticipated V5 vert on the new set, you’ve waited patiently cheering your friends in their attempts, and it was finally your chance to send it. ALLEZ! You are pushing your grade as beads of sweat collect on your fingertips. As you fight to the crux, you pull hard [...]
The Case for Taking a Break: The Benefits of Seasonality for Maximizing Climbing Performance and Sustaining Stoke
Climbers often pride themselves on consistency, training year round in gyms, chasing progress outdoors, and pushing limits with little rest. But what if that nonstop approach is holding you back? In the early days of climbing, the end of a season meant rest by default. Today, with gyms open twelve months a year, we have [...]
Common Knee Injuries While Heel Hooking Diagnosis, Rehab, Prehab and More!
Imagine you’re bouldering at the gym at the start of your session, slowly starting to build up the intensity. As you make your way over to the new set you spot a shiny new boulder that seems to revolve around a tough rock over move on a heel hook. As you near the end [...]