The “why” of the way you move may need further investigation. It could cause a sudden or, with repetition, gradual injury such as a shoulder subluxation. Adding additional weight not only further worsens this poor form but creates more load with an already stressful movement. You are unaware that you already have poor form with body-weight pullups, and are excessively stressing the shoulders or elbows. Let’s say you’ve heard that those are good for increasing pulling strength. A simple example would be trying weighted pullups. Increased load to a joint or tissue plus abnormal movement create the perfect storm for injury. Finish your training or climbing session with enough energy to maintain some semblance of good form. The left joint shows a healthy cushion of cartilage between the bones, while the right joint has severe cartilage detoriation resulting in bone-on-bone contact. Osteoarthritis is a result of wear and tear and repeated bouts of inflammation that can be caused by less-than-ideal climbing techniques and injuries. However, I would recommend that intermediate and seasoned climbers focus more on strengthening in positions specific to the demands of the sport (i.e., on hangboards or slopers). Performing wrist curls is a fine, isolated way to gain strength in the wrist flexors, especially for novice climbers who do not have a broad foundation in usage. Hanging on slopers can help develop strength in the wrist flexors. We can improve our finger strength with hangboarding using open-handed and half-crimp positions on edges. Becoming stronger on open-handed grips can decrease our reliance on crimping, saving our finger joints from the compressive and shear forces that arise in using crimps-especially when a foot pops and we stress that position unexpectedly. Wrists and Fingersįrom a training standpoint, having better strength and endurance in our wrists and fingers may help prevent abnormal movements, such as chicken winging, especially as we become pumped or try crux moves. A poor body position may result in using a different grip position and/or gripping harder to stay on, causing avoidable stress on muscles and tendons. The sloper is harder to hold, since a sloper is often easier to stay on when you pull straight down on it. Imagine the placement of your wrists and fingers on a sloper if your butt is sticking out away from the wall. Try to keep your hips close to the wall, which can also help direct the line of pull on the wrist and fingers. On slopers, try to protect your wrists by keeping them straight versus bent. We can only take so many withdrawals until nothing is left. Think of overuse as being like a bank account. ![]() However, we can minimize how often it occurs. Of course, most of us chicken-wing a bit when we get pumped or struggle. When you pull down, keep your elbows close to the wall/rock and in line with your trunk-minimize chicken-winging. An example could be that a lack of hip mobility, whether passive or active, forces you to move more from the lower back, stressing the joints and discs there. Weakness in certain muscles, inability to control movement (such as decelerating or downward moves), or lack of mobility in one area may cause us to compensate elsewhere, creating excessive stress to joints and tissues at the end of the kinetic chain. For example, habitually climbing with our elbows flared out can place excessive strain on the elbow and shoulder joints. So-called “overuse” can be caused not just by overdoing it in climbing, but from repetitive poor form. ![]() The way we move influences the stress on our joints and tissues. Here are top tips for maintaining healthy joints: Section divider I. So pay attention to recurring bouts of swollen fingers (aka synovitis), a common ailment among climbers! Even though science is hard at work for solutions to regenerate cartilage, our best defense is prevention, or changing the things we can. Studies such as one on inflammation and osteoarthritis published in Therapeutic Advances in Musculoskeletal Disease (2013) tell us that even if your joints are currently in decent health, chronic inflammation is a major driver of degenerative changes down the road. Although a certain amount of joint stress is key to maintaining cartilage health, too much too often-through impact, compressive, or shearing forces-can lead to degenerative changes. Our joints take a beating with climbing, which can wear away the precious two to four millimeters of cartilage that act as a cushion between our bones. ![]() When an old swelling in the finger joints or aching in the shoulder returns, you shrug it off, thinking, I just need a rest day. You are three days into the last week of your climbing trip, repeatedly trying a fingery project or that tweaky shoulder move.
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