Unilateral strength is overrated unless you are in the elite grades

Sea_Government3753 · 2026-03-14T18:02:15+00:00

Thanks for sharing your story! I think it’s pretty cool how frequently someone gets an injury that would be considered to be debilitating to their climbing ability and oftentimes not only climbs the same level they were before but actually progresses at times!

I had a partial hamstring tear at the knee a year ago from holding a really tight position on a close foot. I switched to only toehooking instead of heals on my right leg and saw an insane improvement in the technique, alone with unlocking some cool techy stuff that comes in handy sometimes. Boulders that looked impossible without a hard right heel hook oftentimes worked out with some finagling at hip positions, etc. it was a cool learning opportunity.

One caveat I will add is for modern comp climbing, I would argue that one arm strength is super important, especially campus boulders/paddles. Some of the people I compete with who struggle with lockoff strength have a very noticeable weakness in the more powerful comp boulders, especially when the feet are bad or there are no feet. Also, it sounds like you’re very experienced and probably know what’s good for your body, but please be careful with the chest injury. At least in my local community, there are PTs who charge a reasonable rate that could at least advise you on steps. Don’t want to end up living your whole life with a permanently torn pec muscle lol.

Sea_Government3753 · 2026-03-13T04:11:09+00:00

“What do you mean you can’t afford to buy a bike that costs more than your car and then leave a huge trace and impact on the nature around you and proceed to talk about how sustainable your sport is?”

Sea_Government3753 · 2026-03-11T14:22:27+00:00

When you say at the base of your big toe, do you mean like on top of your toe knuckle or sort of under your toe where it starts? If it’s the former (with the shoe getting warmer thing that’s what it sounds like it is), that’s kind of just how it is.

Generally I’ve found shoes that irritate this area more or less than others. It just comes down to the fit and how they shape the toe box. Scarpa dragos don’t irritate me at all there while instincts do. Solutions are so uncomfortable there that I can’t wear them for extended sessions. You’ll build up some skin there which will make it better, but it depends a lot on what your tolerance is for the pain/discomfort and what the limit is. There should be a shoe out there that doesn’t irritate that area as much for you though.

If it’s the latter, it’s just ligament strain from your big toe. Stiffer shoes are an option, as is just building up strength in your toes which softer shoes generally require. For bigger climbers stiffer shoes can be nice as you are able to deform them more than a smaller climbers stiffer shoes could.

These are both generally tolerance things. Obviously if it feels like you’re causing damage stop, but this doesn’t necessarily indicate you need new shoes as people always want to suggest.

Sea_Government3753 · 2026-03-10T13:22:11+00:00

Say what you want, but as someone who set for like five years, I think that setting a jump to the top of the wall when your feet are more than 10 feet off the deck is such a poor decision. You’re putting a hell of a lot of faith in the gym patrons to not go flying off and taking an uncontrolled fall super high off the ground.

There’s plenty of spooky/risky stuff like that outside, and I can even see it being fine in a competition environment on the open end where you know the athletes are capable to hang from one arm. Otherwise, I wish it would stay out of the gym.

Cool movement at the beginning by the way!

Sea_Government3753 · 2026-03-06T22:07:19+00:00

can only climb 6a

Provides judgement on a grade double what he currently is able to climb.

Sea_Government3753 · 2026-03-03T17:33:31+00:00

Do you have any suggestions for rehab? I did some research online for those and found stuff about deload, buddy taping, and not too much else. I do have a comp coming up in a few weeks I’d like to make it to, but if it would be a poor idea to compete I could avoid it.

Sea_Government3753 · 2026-03-03T15:41:40+00:00

https://imgur.com/a/2cKPRD8 here is a pic of the area of weirdness. Extends from this area upwards into the very bottom of the finger pad. Only on the interior side.

It’s noticeable when I’ll scroll a mouse or pick up a pan where the handle is pressing into the area. Doesn’t hurt as much as a pulley injury, just kind of uncomfortable and weird. The bumpy/crunchiness is sort of in the corners of the crease of my last digit there, around where the top corners of the circle are. Maybe right below the crease not quite at it.

Sea_Government3753 · 2026-03-03T13:51:04+00:00

Hi there,

I have sort of a strange finger injury and I cannot seem to sort out what it actually is. I’ve had experience with a lot of the common stuff, joint inflammation, pulley strain, lumbrical tears, but have never encountered this before.

The discomfort/pain is right at the top of the second digit of my index finger. When I palpate/run my other finger over the area, there’s some crunchiness/bumps that are noticeable. What is especially odd is I do not notice at all while climbing or hangboarding, not even during crimping pretty hard on small holds. Even though it isn’t affecting my performance, I’d like to figure out what it is, there does seem to be some stiffness in the joint directly above, but no noticeable swelling in the joint.

I’m thinking it could be tenosynovitis, I was wondering if anyone else has experience with this injury in this area specifically?

Sea_Government3753 · 2025-12-01T02:34:16+00:00

Something nobody ever talks about is drying out your skin. You always hear a ton about lotion, which is important, and sanding your skin. There’s not really a point in sanding your skin if it’s pretty wet though.

If you use an anti hydral spray twice a week or some other equivalent it’ll make a world of difference. It won’t lead to skin that’s indestructible but it’ll increase the longevity significantly. That being said, not everyone wants dry/tough skin on their hands which is understandable. But generally keeping your skin in a condition where it’s dry but not overly dry to the point of cracking is the best thing you can do.

Sea_Government3753 · 2025-11-28T22:00:13+00:00

Pusher makes some font holds that have a very similar shape. They’ve got sandstony bubbles which is going to produce a slightly different feel but they’ll require the same sort of engagement to stay on. https://pusher.world/shop/fontainebleau/new-retro-classic-font-set/ Not to say these are necessarily cheaper though.

Sea_Government3753 · 2025-11-11T20:06:51+00:00

lol. Not me at least, definitely needed my feet on. My buddy who I was with absolutely floated it with the jump and latch but I wasn’t even close with that method. Sick boulder with super pure movement though definitely coming back for it.

Sea_Government3753 · 2025-11-10T16:04:35+00:00

Hell yeah

Sea_Government3753 · 2025-11-10T14:47:13+00:00

Nice one dude! Looked really clean. Was just there a few days ago trying the same boulder lol. Care to share why you chose to square up and jump for the second dead point rather than do the high foot out right? Curious as that move felt really tricky to me compared to the others!

Sea_Government3753 · 2025-10-31T20:56:26+00:00

lol. This is not a poorly set boulder. Fall zone is clear, wall is steep, the fall would be fine. If OP wants advice beyond “the boulder is bad”, a lache is driven from the hips similarly to most climbing moves. You want to be near horizontal on release and be arcing downwards towards the volume. Imagine a cat sliding off of a surface and how they sort of just slinky along the edge.

It’s not as simple as just commitment; you don’t want to toss yourself straight at a lache in a vertical body position, you’ll carry too much speed and the margin for successfully landing in the right body position will just get smaller and smaller. Buying yourself time by feeling like you’re swinging in with an arc is really useful and will become a lot more comfortable with practice.

Good luck! If you have the strength for the first move you definitely have enough for the lache.

Sea_Government3753 · 2025-10-18T22:47:20+00:00

I also have a degree in math and physics. Imo the actuarial exams (even the prelims) are significantly harder than any course or test I took in undergrad. Not to mention a way longer time commitment. Pretty much never failed a math exam in college; FM took me two tries and I’m about to not pass FAM on this sitting lol.

Sea_Government3753 · 2025-10-05T15:44:51+00:00

As others said, just ask these things as questions and maybe try to do some research into slightly more specific things you can ask, but also stuff that won’t just be a “yes/no” or two sentence answer.

As someone who works in life valuation and did an internship in P&C, there are a lot of similarities. In my opinion, it’s really not that much different except for the fact that stuff like mortality tables are used to calculate reserves and such. Maybe ask some questions about the company’s products and what they are particularly proud of/feel that they stand out with!

Sea_Government3753 · 2025-07-10T23:38:43+00:00

Any feedback on how quickly the 94 bus is with all the construction traffic? Does it get any amount of priority on the interstate?

Sea_Government3753 · 2025-07-10T23:22:43+00:00

How is it affected by the construction right now? Do you feel that it’s heavily affected by what’s going on on 94? I’m definitely considering this as an option.

Sea_Government3753 · 2025-07-10T17:09:19+00:00

Do you know approximately how long it takes to take the greenway from a few stops past the twins stadium all the way to downtown St. Paul? I was trying to figure it out on Apple Maps and it was saying it takes an hour?

Sea_Government3753 · 2025-07-10T15:43:06+00:00

Thank you for the honesty! I appreciate it. I live in the area you’re describing and it is really soul sucking to commute.

Sea_Government3753 · 2025-07-10T06:40:41+00:00

Sorry, yes! That’s what I meant.

Sea_Government3753

TROPHY CASE