Avoid the Rock Climbing Hunchback Introduction It is difficult to avoid the dreaded climbers hunch back. Years of climbing takes its toll on the body. You get lazy while belaying and round your shoulders. You sit slumped while watching your friends boulder. You slouch in your chair while working at your desk. The [...]
Spine Mobility You are standing at the base of a route at your climbing gym. You notice wide stemming moves, high heel hooks and large step throughs. Looking up at the intricate sequences, you start to think maybe the route was set by a Cirque de Soleil performer. But you decide to give [...]
Photo Credit: Jesse Peters Professional Climber Josh Levin shows you the best way to tape your shoulder back into a better alignment. But remember, the taping is just temporary to align your shoulder blade and decrease pain. Click on this link to learn the best exercises to strengthen your shoulder blade [...]
Photo Credit: Eddie Fowke Nerve Mobility Imagine that you are belaying your climbing partner and they are stuck at the crux. They keep climbing up and down-climbing but they aren’t going anywhere. You look at your belay device and you see the rope glide back and forth, gaining either more tension [...]
Photo Credit: Jensen Walker Professional Climber Sasha Digiulian shows you the five best antagonist exercises to prevent climbing injury. It is important to strengthen the antagonist muscles in your body to increase strength, improve body symmetry and prevent injury.The Importance of PostureClimbing is a sport that develops many of the muscles that hunch [...]
Photo Credit: Cameron Maier Professional Climber Jonathan Siegrist shows you the five best stretches to prevent climbing injury. It is important to stretch the stiff muscles in your body to increase flexibility and prevent injury. The Importance of Daily Prevention You may feel that injuries aren’t going to happen to you. But [...]
Photo Credits: Ari Kirsch and Stephen Gross Dr. Jared Vagy DPT shows you how to modify your finger strengthening exercises to improve their rock climbing specificity. The Importance of Finger Extensor Strength The forearm and fingers contain two types of major muscle groups: flexors on the palm side, and extensors on [...]
SLAP’d with a Shoulder Injury? Karen Hsu Physical Therapy Karen Hsu, PT, DPT Image: unsplash.com Introduction In recent years, rock climbing as a sport has experienced a large increase in popularity. As more people have started climbing, so have injury rates grown. Today, the nature of these injuries are mostly due to overuse and [...]
A Pain in the Back Karen Hsu Physical Therapy Karen Hsu, PT, DPT unsplash.com Introduction Are you having back pain after climbing for hours on end? Or, maybe you get back pain intermittently when you are in certain positions, after you’ve done multiple sit starts, while bouldering, or high stepping. You are [...]
Long Term Athlete Development I am honored to be involved in the development of Canada's Long Term Athlete Development document for Sport Climbing. Although my role was mostly consultative, I am extremely proud of the work. The document is the foundation for athlete development in both recreational and competitive indoor climbing. Climb for Life [...]