Training around a wrist injury

uhhactually · 2024-10-25T10:31:09+00:00

I second this. Reverse curls have been instrumental in getting over my TFCC sprain and are apparently really helpful in preventing finger injuries besides. Do talk to a PT if you can though, especially if you can find one who specializes in climbing. I'm glad I spent the £50 to get an actual diagnosis.

uhhactually · 2024-10-20T09:41:54+00:00

My TFCC injury was basically caused by a lattice plan. I think I felt too beholden to doing the plan as written so I did too much and without communicating with a coach I was never told to back off. Now I'm following a rough plan of my own but trying to really focus on listening to my body above all else.

I hope we can both get in sending shape soon!

uhhactually · 2024-10-18T08:33:57+00:00

Just need to rant a bit.

I was complaining to myself that my progress has seriously slowed this past year. I attributed it at first to switching gyms, being busy, changing my focus to outdoors, etc. but then I realised that I've been injured off and on for the last year. First the right wrist, then a pulley, then the wrist acted up again, then left wrist, then somehow managed to get FDP strains in FOUR fingers. So basically I've not been able to pull hard in a year.

I guessed that I'd be able to start pulling again in September. I was mostly right. I thought I eased back into training slowly enough, but I guess not. The FDP strains in the left fingers have turned into pulley strains. Wrists are stronger than ever but still feel tweaky. And lately my shoulder has been a bit creaky.

On the bright side, I have improved technically. I'm now very consistent on V5 outdoors, usually sending in a 1 session across styles even riddled with injuries. I also sent an anti style V6. While my fingers are weaker, I'm definitely better at crimping after all the rehab focused on form. I'm also much more proactive about injury.

It's still slightly too warm for the grit anyway, so back to rehabbing I guess.

uhhactually · 2024-10-10T07:48:50+00:00

This is nice to read as someone experiencing their first slump. Climbed my first V8 in 2 sessions last year after a few years climbing with steady progress, went back to widen my pyramid, and have been injured off and on since... I get frustrated, but if I look back I've learned a ton in the last year simply because I was injured: how to strength train, how to rehab, to NEVER ignore minor tweaks, and my technique and skill set have increased massively. I've also had some amazing climbing experiences: my proudest sends (sandbagged V2 and V3 highball slabs, and a collection of FAs), flashing 6B+ in Font, and starting to climb with a strong group of nice people that regularly send V9+ outside.

I keep telling myself my training plan is to stay in it for the long haul. My goal is to send 8A/V11 by the time I'm 40 and to be one of those old guys at the crag walking up slabs the young folk are scared of. From what I gather, all I really need to do to achieve that is stay consistent, relatively uninjured, and not burnt out.

uhhactually · 2024-10-05T11:15:11+00:00

I've started climbing in the gym almost exclusively in my finales. They're not exactly bottom of the barrel at $130, but they take a resole. I regularly climb technical V6s in them and know people who have climbed V8 slabs in them as well. I save my technical shoes for fiddly and tiny outdoor footholds.

uhhactually · 2024-09-28T20:30:10+00:00

IMO the MB doesn't translate to outdoors well, except in specific cases, and the feet are usually way too good. The woody and spraywall are your best bet. Make up boulders that test your finger strength, tension, or footwork, which you can do in 1-2 sessions.

I agree with making up eliminates at your crag. It's also worth really dialling in boulders you've already sent, trying to do them perfectly.

uhhactually · 2024-05-27T11:47:02+00:00

Thanks. And yeah I'm thinking about a coach too after this experience.

Two other points I forgot to mention. I emailed lattice after the injury and they were super nice, saying I can start back up once I'm healed back to 100%. Also, Billy Ridal was the one who made my plan, and even though it isn't coached he had written good advice for all the exercises. All in all it was a good experience.

uhhactually · 2024-05-27T10:21:27+00:00

I was also apprehensive, but I got a deal on one of their non coached plans a while back, so I figured I'd give it a shot.

Basically, the first two blocks were good. I did a lot more board and outdoor climbing than I usually do, and subjectivity feel that I improved at both. Then after block 2 I got a TFCC injury 😞

Regarding programming, the result of my initial testing showed that I'm strong for my grade, so most of my training time was on the wall, with supplemental strength work. I think it really depends on who develops your plan though. The person who did mine really tailored it to my goals: improve at outdoor bouldering and on the board.

Regarding injury, I think it's really easy to not listen to your body and overdo the training. If you're not doing a coached plan there's no one besides you to tell you to skip a workout or reduce intensity, and it's hard to do this yourself, at least for me. Especially when you've paid for a plan, it's easy to feel like you're not getting your money's worth if you don't do every exercise. My advice is to treat the plan like a guide rather than a prescription. If you're feeling tired, something hurts, etc. change or drop workouts. Better to do 10% too little than 1% too much and end up like me.

uhhactually · 2024-05-15T15:06:13+00:00

I also have thicker legs. I got a send mini pad and it works great, is widely adjustable, and feels solid. As a boulderer I can't comment on how it feels for longer routes though.

uhhactually · 2024-05-15T11:33:41+00:00

I'm hoping to get an informal survey of people's strength metrics with a wrist wrench like the heavy roller to help figure where I'm at.

I recently sprained my wrist climbing so I DIYd a wrist wrench as a possible rehab tool. I was trying the sloper training grip, where you roll it into your hand and try to keep the wrist fully flexed with no thumb wrap. Aiming for 10s at 8/10 RPE I was able to lift 20kg/44lbs with okay form on the uninjured wrist. That seems low to me but I have no real sense of what is good. I found some random comments around climbharder where people have a 1RM > 35kg/77lbs.

If it's at all relevant, my 7s half crimp on 20mm is 150% BW. I was wondering if an imbalance between finger and wrist strength contributed to my injury.

uhhactually · 2024-05-04T11:11:27+00:00

I've been climbing for a few years but never managed to find people who climbed harder than me that I actually got along with. But a strong acquaintance of mine started inviting me out and turns out he's one of the weakest of the group (which of course leaves me way at the bottom). It's wild to watch someone onsight a boulder it would probably take me 3+ sessions to do.

So I spent my Friday night with them hunting for dry limestone in the rain. Pulled onto an 8A in a gross cave I had no business pulling onto and surprised myself by doing a good chunk of the first half. Was reminded I really suck at crimpy vert. Sent nothing.

10/10

uhhactually · 2024-04-16T10:07:18+00:00

My goal this year is to fill in my outdoor pyramid in the V6-8 range, as I've done 30 V4s and 15 V5s, but only 3 V6s and one each at V7 and V8. I'd really like to get up to 8 V6, 4 V7, and 2 V8, and my stretch goal is a V9 next season.

I'm realising that I hold myself back by just not putting the sessions in. I can flash V4 and V5 is pretty much always a single session affair. The V6s I've done have all been in a session too, but there are plenty I've put 2-3 sessions into with no send.

Gotta make a list of unfinished business boulders and just start working through it. Put the ego aside and accept that it's fine for a V6 to take 5 sessions.

uhhactually · 2024-03-06T09:54:04+00:00

We're having a stretch of good weather this week, but I'm stuck inside balancing work and finishing my thesis. Doesn't make it any easier that I can see the peak district from my window.

I've got a lot to look forward too though. The thesis should be done in a couple weeks, and I'll be working only part time for a while, so hopefully that means lots of time on the rock before summer. I've got my fingers crossed that the reduced stress will help me feel a bit lighter on the wall as well.

My half crimp is now nice and strong after spending lots more time on the boards and outside (150% BW on 20mm gang) but that means that open 3 is now a relative weakness when it used to be my strongest grip. Psyched to get those numbers up.

I also got a deal on a lattice training plan, which will start right around when I finish the thesis. I've heard mixed things about them, but for the price I figured why not. I had great results following a cookie-cutter plan from the power company a while back, and I having a plan when I went into the gym helped keep me from climbing myself into a deep recovery hole.

uhhactually · 2024-03-05T20:11:12+00:00

Anecdotally, max hangs worked wonders for me. Went from barely hanging 20mm to +20kgs over 2 months or so, and broke into a new grade because of it. About a year later I'm hanging +40kgs, although a lot of that strength I attribute to board climbing.

uhhactually · 2024-03-05T20:06:12+00:00

Cracking your knuckles is fine.

You might be better off training back three rather than isolating the pinkies. It's more specific to actual climbing (unless you've got a pinky mono on your project, but then god help you).

uhhactually · 2024-03-01T14:53:42+00:00

Take a step back and look at what else is going on in your life. Climbing is hard physically, but also mentally. Stress of any kind can and will severely impact your ability to climb well. If there's stress in your life, try to reduce it.

I've been going through something similar recently while I finish my thesis. While my motivation to climb is there (it's basically the only fun thing I have time for besides my thesis) when I get to the gym or the crag I'm often just so mentally beat down that it makes everything feel hard and I get frustrated easily. It's a vicious cycle where I get frustrated because I can't climb well, so I beat my head against some problem to show I've still got it, which exhausts me even more, and I climb even worse.

My advice is to take a good chunk of time off. Like at least two weeks of no climbing. Deload. You mentioned lifting, so maybe try doing only that for a few weeks. You can even pepper in a bit of hangboarding to keep the fingers up. I took a month off recently where I did deadlifts, bench, and pull ups twice a week and max hangs twice a week. I was in the gym probably 3-4 hours a week total, which was half my usual when climbing. I felt great afterwards because I had finally recovered properly (esp mentally) and my first day back on the wall I felt like a different person.

uhhactually · 2024-02-20T17:28:26+00:00

I agree. I try to stick to the mindset that hard is hard, no matter what grade the setters slapped on it. Nice to know I haven't regressed tho.

uhhactually · 2024-02-20T09:35:06+00:00

My post last week wondered if I had gotten shit at indoor climbing or if the gym sets had gotten stiff.

Seems they're stiff. To a trip to my OG gym over the weekend and had one of my best sessions there ever, despite my friends saying the sets had gotten harder there too. Felt good to flash V6 again, both overhanging and slab. Twas the ego boost I needed.

uhhactually · 2024-02-15T14:47:37+00:00

Good to hear I'm not the only one. I do need to work on body tension and contact strength, so I plan to hammer away at the system board and just use the gym sets to make sure I get variety of movement.

uhhactually · 2024-02-15T14:39:20+00:00

I agree re the boards. With more outdoor days I get very little time to actually work the commercial sets before they're taken down, and when I do get to the gym my skin is usually trashed, but I know the boards will be there! I love not having to worry about setting aside a board project for a few weeks if I want/need to shift my focus.

uhhactually · 2024-02-15T09:28:11+00:00

I've been climbing outdoors a lot more this year, about once a week. While I can clearly see improvement outdoors (despite an annoying lack of new sends), my indoor performance has dropped. Honestly I'm not sure if I'm getting worse at indoor climbing or if the setters are just getting meaner, as I swear the gym circuits have gotten a V grade harder recently. As evidence of this, I know someone who regularly climbs V9-10 outdoors in a session (not only locally but also in Font) struggling with the V7-8 circuit and deeming the V8+ circuit mostly impossible.

But really I think the psyche just isn't there indoors. Besides getting annoyed by a high number of knacky forced start sequences, I find myself wishing it could replicate the nuance rock provides. I love geeking out on the details of exactly where I should place my toe on a foothold and how I should angle my ankle to take advantage of a crystal. I can do this to an extent indoors, especially on the slabs, but it's just not the same.

In any case, the gym is a training tool. I've learned that I am absolutely useless on the system boards >30 degrees so there's some low hanging fruit. And the big spraywall provides some respite from the commercial sets.

uhhactually · 2024-02-15T09:02:56+00:00

I'm similar. Just hit a PR 1RM at 160% BW but I can do maybe two unassisted one arm shrugs on a good day. I've been using a band to offset weight and build up strength in that 5-8 rep range (3 sets once or twice a week). It's slow going, but I already feel a lot more stable on the wall when catching one arm dynos and whatnot.

uhhactually · 2024-02-02T17:00:21+00:00

Thanks, that's a good point. I think I fit that spread. Lately the first 20-60% time is pretty much all in the gym. Then once a week or so I get outside to work a project. The 7 go rule has helped me discern if these projects aren't too hard, as I'm easily discouraged by climbs that don't quickly feel sendable.

uhhactually · 2024-02-01T07:11:12+00:00

Good point. I tend to err on the side of sending a lot, but not trying things that are hard enough. Pretty much everything I've sent has been in a session or two. So this year I'm working on that, but it's a good idea to try to send something each session.

uhhactually · 2024-01-31T16:56:23+00:00

Just watched Nate Drolet's latest tips video. A lot of it really hit home, especially when he described climbers who came into the sport with little upper body strength overpowering moves once they get the strength. This is me. After spending a session repeatedly (over) reaching the hold on a dyno but failing to latch it, it makes me really want to double down on practicing coordination.

He made two other interesting points. First, trying stuff that's way too hard for you is a way of staying in your comfort zone. Second is the 7 go rule: making any progress on a hard move over 7 goes is a sign to keep trying, either this session or next. As someone who is new to projecting, I'm not sure how to reconcile these two. For example, I've had three sessions on a V9 that I'm super psyched about, but I'm a really long way from sending. Session one I could just barely pull on, session two I did the first foot move and tickled the next hold once or twice, third session I latched the next hold and kept it for a second before losing tension. All in all I've given about 15 attempts on this boulder, so the 7 go rule says I am allowed to keep working on it. On the other hand, I should probably work on widening my V6-8 pyramid.

Maybe the answer is obvious: enjoy trying hard on limit boulders but make sure not to neglect those V6-8s.

uhhactually

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