How To Avoid Injury When You Are At Your Best With Climbers In Mind

I often meet with climbers who are injured again and again, and usually, the injury occurs in the same place. As athletes, we have a more v...

I often meet with climbers who are injured again and again, and usually, the injury occurs in the same place. As athletes, we have a more vulnerable area and susceptible to injuries, where discomfort, tendonitis, or contractures are repeated frequently, and it is hard for us to overcome them.

If you're one of those who never hurt yourself, then this post is not for you. Although the truth, as climbers, we are exposed to suffer an injury at some point due to the high levels of physical, mental, and emotional demand that we have to sustain.

So, the injuries are there. They are part of the climb, and they are an excellent opportunity to detect something that does not work and improve it.

Are you frustrated with having to stop climbing or stopping your workout periodically due to injuries?

What usually happens is that when you train and scale regularly, your condition and physical preparation increase a lot. You feel strong, physically, and mentally. It is at this point that we have to see more!

At this moment you believe that you are capable of everything, strong and invincible. Your confidence and personal security increase, and suddenly, it seems that everything works. We can say that at this moment, you are focused on the needs (or deficiencies) of your mind and not on what your body needs.

HOW TO AVOID INJURIES WHEN YOU ARE AT YOUR BEST TIME

When you are at your best, it means that you are training and climbing regularly. You are chaining, trying new routes, difficult and demanding up to the limit of your level.

In this sense, your body is much more exposed to muscular overloads in specific areas and is susceptible to tendinitis, contractures, and injuries of the shoulders, back, forearms, fingers, among others.

First of all, you need to learn urgently to listen to your body with all your attention to detect any signal that something is not working. For this you need to improve your body awareness and to practice mindfulness will help you achieve it!

Often, as climbers, it is hard for us to stop when we feel a slight pain somewhere in our body. We are so stubborn, and we believe that it is not serious and what will happen with time.

Another thing I would say is that you take care of your body's flexibility and rest. Climbing is a sport that induces you to repeat a movement pattern continuously, especially when you are training to get a concrete result or when you are repeating a form of your maximum level to get to the chain.

In this sense, the pattern of movement will end up creating structural decompensations. Therefore, it is essential to know them and know how to prevent them from avoiding injuries derived from overloads. That's why you need to rest and practice yoga from now!

The tendons and the musculature, in general, are strengthened after an intense session of rock climbing or after training, with adequate rest. This helps to relax the muscles, while yoga sessions (stretches) help to increase the flexibility of the joints.

Also, the tendons, in particular, need a more abundant blood supply to recover than the muscles. This irrigation is favored with a rest that often does not occur. The practice of yoga helps and accelerates this period of recovery.

In this sense, and due to the lack of attention in their health, the overload injuries occur at the moment when they feel stronger, after a heavy load of training or climbing.

In summary, these are the four tips to avoid injuries when you are at your best:

1. Listen to any sign of pain in your body. To do this, help yourself with mindfulness that favors your bodily awareness.

2. To climb or stop your workout against any pain you detect.

3. Rest to support the recovery of overloaded tendons and muscles.

4. Practice yoga to increase the flexibility of your joints and avoid injuries.

So, when you feel healthy, take care of yourself more!