In this Episode, Neely Quinn interviews “The Climbing Doctor” on the Training Beta Podcast to discuss rock climbing injuries.

Concepts Discussed:

• Finger injuries
• Elbow injuries
• Shoulder injuries
• What we’re doing wrong on the wall and in daily life to cause these injuries
• How to properly warm up before climbing

The proper warm-up is an important concept discussed in the episode. A proper warm-up increases blood flow to muscle, tendons, ligaments, and joints and prepares you for climbing.

The three main types of stretches are described:

• Static stretching is when you hold a single position to achieve a stretch. Common hold times are 30 seconds. An example is bending down to touch your toes and holding.
• Ballistic stretching is when you bounce in and out of a position to achieve a stretch. Common hold times are less than a second. An example is bending down to touch your toes and bouncing several times at the bottom of the stretch.
• Dynamic stretching is when you smoothly move through a full range of motion spending equal time in each phase of the stretch. An example is bending down to touch your toes while counting to three and coming back up to standing while counting to three.

“The Climbing Doctor” then goes on to discuss how the research supports sport-specific dynamic stretching prior to climbing. He talks about the importance of performing warm-ups on the ground that mirror how climbers move on the wall. He describes the most common climbing movement patterns that can be mirrored on the ground in a 10-minute warm-up. These movements include:

• Sideways flag
• Reverse flag
• Drop knee
• High Step
• Spiderman
• Rose Move

Climbers can use the warm-up to perform these movements on the ground to prepare them for when they get on the wall.

Below is a video of the climbing specific warm-up that was discussed in the episode.

If you enjoy this episode, make sure to check out other Training Beta Podcast Episodes at the link below.

Click here to view the Training Beta Webpage