6 Practical Tips on How to Prevent Climbing Injuries

Climbing is a skill sport that requires every part of the body aside from hands, fingers, shoulders and arms. Some climbers dedicate time to train and exercise their muscles to get in shape and ready. During their training, some climbers will agree on this, they caught minor injuries due to overdoing their workout. With proper training, enough rest for muscles, you will prevent injuries when you go climbing. To avoid climbing injuries, we listed down six practical tips that might help you in your future climb.

1. Relax, Don’t Overdo

You don’t want to push yourself to the limit when it comes to climbing. Since it is an intense activity, muscles need to recover when they are tired. Relax, don’t make it hard for your muscles to recover. Let the fatigue and burns ease before you head for climbing.

2. Use Support 

Many climbing gear shops sell support stuff that you might want to use for your future climb. One of the most vulnerable body parts is tendons since they are prone to deterioration and injury. Use tape strips to support your finger tendons since this part of the body carries the weight when climbing. This is also a support that prevents you from getting finger cramps. Take note that our primary responsibility when climbing is to take good care of our tendons, using such support gear will mobilize our movement smoothly and will lessen our stress about getting injured.

3. Be Flexible

Remember that you don’t do the workout just to strengthen your hands, fingers, shoulders and arms, you also need to work out the rest of your body parts in order to get in shape and climbing-ready. Cross-training is another way to get in shape, aside from trekking and hiking, why not try other fields of sports like mountain biking, cycling, skiing and even try badminton, tennis or basketball. In this way, you exercise other muscles in your body. 

4. Quit If You Must

Yes, you heard it right. Tendon injuries are not a joke and it could take months, years or more to recover. If you have pains that are agonizing for a long period of time, never hesitate to see your sports doctor. We all know how extreme this sport is, and we do not want to discount the fact that there is a risk of getting injuries whether you are climbing indoors or on an actual climb. Rest if possible, quit if recovery is impossible.

5. Smart Climbing

Learn simple techniques that can get you through when climbing. Always keep this in mind for you to avoid future injuries: push or move with your feet, maintain good posture as always, arms straight, and crawl. Smart climbers know when to stop and when to proceed. If you feel the pain, stop and let your ache subside. Remember that you do not work on your physiological aspect only, you must be mentally prepared for whatever will arise before, during and after climbing.

6. Variation Helps

Mix your climbing habits by trying other movements. Do not get stuck on your usual routine, you can try bouldering, climbing on different rock types that require different movements and other footwork enabling you to save your elbow from getting torn. But remember, don’t push yourself too hard, rest if you must and take one step at a time.

There are climbing related articles online that you can read more on how to prevent injuries when climbing. Always remember to be knowledgeable about other injuries that you might get when climbing and how to prevent getting it. 

For beginners, it is better to stick with the basic movements and training first. Do not move to the next level of difficulty. Your pace and time are important for climbing. Soars and getting injured is inevitable at times, there are non-traumatic and traumatic injuries. But if you follow these practical tips and other precautionary measures, you will have a high percentage of preventing yourself from harm. 

Listen to climbing experts, learn from their experiences, in this way, you can also get a glimpse of what it is like to be prepared ahead of this extreme sport. Always remember, prevention is way better than cure, and becoming physically fit will surely help. 

Advice For A New Climber

Take rest days and listen to your body. The most common rookie mistake is people will climb too much in the beginning and get an overuse injury. The tendons aren’t strong enough in the beginning. If you’re a beginner and you’re having pain that lasts after climbing and is worsened when climbing, it’s a good indication to seek medical help.