UKC

So, I tend towards easily injuring. To be honest it's beginning to get on my nerves. I can't be the only person who has crappy joints/muscles/tendons. I warm up properly. I do my best not to overdo things.

Anyone got any ideas/suggestions of stuff I can do to minimise injuries. Yoga maybe?

In reply to mattrm:

I also break regularly (managed to shake/knock a toe and a wrist joint partially out of alignment in separate 'normal' falls off bouldering walls!). I'd suggest Pilates rather than yoga for strengthening things, particularly your core to support your back.

In reply to mattrm:

Dave Mcleod discusses exactly this here

http://onlineclimbingcoach.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/another-good-injury-story...

"I also went through a long (5 year) period of having one finger injury after another.
I learned that I needed to take care of my body better, and started eating and sleeping better...
A big part of this was simply being very careful climbing in warm or humid conditions when the risk of injury was much higher. "

I've only quoted the bits that seem generally applicable rather than specific to him.

In reply to mattrm:

Worth trying cod liver oil.

There are other supplements.

http://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,15359.0/all.html

In reply to i.munro:

A big part of what Dave Mac also says is about climbing style that contributes to different inuries. Fingers can often be due to poor footwork ( feet slipping=shock loads fingers ) and static style = poorly elbows.

I was static and had bad footwork and had lots of injuries. The elbows are still hurting but not had a pulley inury for ages.

In reply to biscuit: true but I thought that discussion was best left to Dave on the link as its a complex issue. For all I know the op s problems could arise from being too dynamic and not crimping enough. I just picked out the bits that seemed generally useful.

In reply to mattrm: Plenty of sleep and some protein straight after training works for me - tend to get injured with alarming regularity when I don't do that.

In reply to mattrm:

without knowing the type of injuries its hard to say . if they are not related to something such as a fall then get a biomechnics assesment

In reply to mattrm: My overall body sgtrength and condition has improved no end since i started training with kettlebells. If you do it properly it will change you ina big way.

This is not the finger tendon injuries but i had quite a few big things like shoulder problems, and a semi dislocated wrist, no end of neck problems, the list goes on. Just doesn't happen anymore.

HTH.
Dave

In reply to mattrm:

I think the take away from the Dave Mac and Nat Berry blogs is that everyone gets injured and the thing is to learn how to cope with it. It just seems like pros are always on it cause you don't see the injury.

shark - Might try the cod liver oil. Interested to read the BMJ article about gluocsamine/choronditin.

dave - quite like the idea of stuff like kettlebells. Had been looking at Mark Rippetoe's 'starting strength' plan.

mrchewy - like the idea of that. I guess you have protein shakes or similar?

In reply to mattrm: the becoming bulletproof ebook is also really worth a read.

Cherrs.
Dave

In reply to mattrm:

You could probably write a book on this with chapters including:

Warming up and hydration
Strength (prevents injury)
Muscular imbalances
Posture
Stretching(is a waste of time!)
Varying your grips
Varying your climbing and training
Listen to your body
Getting professional advice
Complementary exercises
Supplements

In reply to mattrm:


There is no need to supplement protein if you have a balanced diet. Aim to get about 0.8-1g of protein per kg of body mass in your diet. Pretty easy to do and you probably get more than that anyway.

In reply to shark:

>You could probably write a book on this

Someone already has. A pair of German doctors/surgeons in fact, who specialise in sports injuries, one of whom also climbs F8b. "One move too many ..." by Thomas Hochholzer and Volker Schoeffl edited by Sam Lightner Jr. published by LOCHNER-VERLAG, Ebenhausen, Germany (2nd ed., 2006). This edition is in English btw, though the original was in German.

In the stretching chapter they say "In the isolation room of a World Cup climbing event, pretty much everyone is stretching so as to get the maximum performance when their time comes. However, for some reason the average weekend-climber still hasn't incorporated stretching into his/her training routine." Perhaps most weekend climbers get their training advice from internet forums ...

In reply to Siderunner:

Yes I've read parts whilst in the reception of a physiotherapists - make of that what you will.

I was a bit disappointed as Schoeffl has done some good work re studies on the effects on kids who climb but some of his preventative recommendations seem outdated.

Re the questionable advatages of stretching covered here http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=297457 and other threads

In reply to Martin1978: Aye - a balanced diet is the way forward but the actual time you consume the protein is important too. After a hard session, for decent recovery, you need a protein hit quickly. For some people this may be a glass of milk, others have the time to eat a meal and others choose a protein based shake. It all depends on your lifestyle I guess.

In reply to Siderunner:

Sadly seems rather expensive on amazon. £95 is probably a bit much.

The ebook suggested however seems a bit cheaper.

I do stretch, but only after a decent warm up. Doesn't seem to make much difference, but there we go.

In reply to shark:
Just had a quick look at the UKB thread on supplements, I think a few of those are mine (sorry):

Don't bother with combined fish oils and Glucosamine/Chondroitin, you are paying for the packaging (and some bored chemist who spent a few weeks trying to get the stuff to pump properly and not sediment when you turn off the mixer). If you want EPA/DHA and Glucosamine/Chondroitin/MSM then take oil capsules and the rest in tablets.

Quality of fish oils varies hugely as does the manufacturing process. A few general rules:
The main difference between liver oils and fish oils is the Vit A&D content, try not to overdose on A&D as it isn't a great idea.
Research is fairly divided on EPA/DHA as to which is most important and I honestly haven't got a clue.
If your fish oil capsules stink, have a lot of mishapes or are really sticky then the capsules probably aren't great. Poor capsules means oxidised and useless fish oil. Maybe try another supplier although most of them are produced by contract agencies.

In reply to mattrm:


S'funny because the ting that jumped out at me was the temp/humidity thing. Forehead slapping moment when I realised that all my recent injuries occurred in exactly those conditions!

More importantly the realisation that it's so easy (& cheap) to address that everyone can do it instantly.

Addressing posture or climbing style issues is hard (I've been trying ) & requires advice from a physio or good coach respectively. Supplementation is an expensive minefield.
Fixing the temp/ humidity for indoor training is as simple as opening a window & costs nothing.

In reply to mrchewy:

Totally agree. A lot of folk get caught-up in consuming more protein than they need, when actually timing is the crucial thing for recovery as you say.

In reply to mattrm:

Warm up properly, light stretches AFTER warming up!

if you don't warm up, you'll strain pull muscles, tendons etc.