UKC

How do you deal with injury? I just wrote a blog about my own method... Not entirely based on science! Give it a read and let me know what you think.

Anyone else been dealing with an injury/currently dealing with one? How does it affect your goals and motivations?

http://atouchofgnar.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/the-injury-space.html

In reply to MischaHY:

To me, the most important factor in managing the psychosocial effects of injury is to have a plan. Nothing is more harmful to mental and physical progress than not knowing a) where you are and b) where you are going.

I've dealt with a pretty big bunch of very varied injuries in the last five years. It's been especially difficult because I work as an infantry officer, and, well, if we can't be physically active in every sense, we're pretty useless. I broke my fibula, tore my radius apart, tore all the ligaments in my wrist and thought I would lose the use of it, slipped a disc and developed spinal arthritis.

Throughout this period I can only repeat how I opened. The darkest periods have been when I have not had a clear plan moving forwards - even if that included elements of permenant capacity loss, or long blocks of convalescence.

Above all, I agree with you - be adaptable. I broke my arm, and I started road cycling and weightlifting. I hurt my back and have taught myself to swim.

In reply to neuromancer:

Nice! Great to see that I'm not the only one with that method of managing things. Obviously my injuries were a little less serious than yours... Excellent effort recovering!

In reply to MischaHY:

Good effort.

I cope with injury by eating biscuits.

In reply to bouldery bits:

Sounds like a strong tactic! :')

In reply to bouldery bits:

Very NICE.

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:

Ha, fantastic :')

In reply to MischaHY:

Thanks. Good blog blog BTW.

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:

Cheers mate! Glad you enjoyed it.

In reply to MischaHY:
Excellent blog! Very much enjoyed it.

Had a similar experience, was going strong some years ago and going for my first 7a/7a+ when due to overtraining and a torn ligament left me out of the game for 6 months.

Devastated at the time, however, it taught me the most important lesson in training I've learned so far - training is just degrading your body and you only get stronger when you recover.

6 months forward I came back to climbing, gripped out of my mind on 6as. Gradually increasing the load and allowing sufficient rest, I ticked 6b within a couple of weeks, a couple of 7as within 2 months and about 6 months later my very first 7b+.

More importantly, being off kinda made me appreciate how much I really want those routes.

Actually, rehab was incredibly rewarding and taught me the power of really trying your best with technique, constantly mixing up your climbing so that you spread the stress, and allowing sufficient rest to allow you to improve. I am pretty sure I would not have learned that, had I not had to stay at home for some time reading Dave Macleod's blogs on injuries and later his book.

Also now, I kinda look forward to sipping coffee and enjoying life for the obligatory week or two off every few months after a hard training cycle.

In reply to MischaHY:

Really nice blog, I like your writing style.

I need a plan when I'm recovering, if I can't follow a plan then I get despondent, fast.
Last year I had a lot of tennis elbow issues and the worst thing about it was that it didn't respond predictably to rehab, it would get inexplicably better or worse with no apparent respect for my painstaking efforts to help it, so I couldn't plan my rehab.
That got me really down until the elbows improved a little (tennis elbow is a self limiting issue, your body will fix itself given chance) and I was finally able to do things methodically. I think I'm unusual in that I don't care what kind of climbing I'm doing as long as I'm climbing, so if a rehab plan calls for lots of indoor stuff, so be it, as long as its on the plan.

In reply to MischaHY:

Accept that being pissed off isn't going to make anything better, so there's no point being pissed off.

I've found this approach useful, since I've not climbed anything since Oct 2011 (shoulder issues, including surgery).

In reply to zmv:

Glad you enjoyed it! I completely agree about rest being super crucial - when I first properly engaged with climbing after 11 years of being mildly engaged but not really doing much more than the occasional indoor bimble, I definitely had the usual issues - tendons getting strong slower than muscles, ruined skin from masses of climbing without any idea of skin care... After a few hard lessons I learnt!

I'm really stoked to see my fitness coming back rapidly now - a few weeks ago I couldn't even manage a single 7a+ route on a 15 metre wall without getting majorly pumped - yesterday's training session at Awesome Walls Sheffield comprised of 7a+, 7b+ and 12 x 7a (done in doubles), all on the big comp wall. Feels amazing to be trying hard again!

I evidently need to embrace the rest psyche more

In reply to Dandan:

Ahh, the old enemy! I used to have loads of problems with the elbows when I got into climbing. Stretching seems to have sorted that out now... Fingers crossed!

I definitely had a plan... It just so happens that my plan involved trad slabs and ice cream

Many thanks, it's nice to hear good feedback on my writing.

In reply to MischaHY: Having had medial tendonitis in one arm and carpal tunnel in the opposite wrist as a result of overtraining last winter, I've found that following the recommended medical advice, plus advice from those with similar injuries has really helped recover. The injuries aren't fully recovered and I have climbed all the way through, just altered what I did.

From trying 100% every session, I went from a phase of high volume very easy problems, to intermediate problems, then working a long stamina route to finally being able to pull somewhere near my previous level. This was combined with the exercises to help the elbow recover.

It's taken nearly 6 months from the initial onset of the injuries (which I ignored and kept training, after 28 years climbing I should know better...) to get to where I am now. I can hang on the fingerboard without pain, just not with body mass +23kg that caused the injuries in the first place.

Its been a long learning process and taught me to properly listen to my body. And build up a bit slower next time...

Andy F

In reply to MischaHY:

Brilliant. A topic I can finally have some worthwhile input into!

Main injuries - being diagnosed with a form of arthritis at a young age and adapting my climbing and lifestyle to it. At the start I was quite down about it all and it affected my state of mind for a year or so, eventually I got my head around it and worked out my new limits rather than pushing up against what I could do previously, and failing short, which just compounded my problems.

My advise to anyone battling a chronic injury or illness would be to assess what is possible with the new you and adapt to it, you'll be surprised with the results - since being diagnosed I've climbed my hardest ice, raced my bike better than before and I've started to enjoy climbing a whole lot more as I had to take a step back.

Karl

In reply to andy farnell:

It's definitely all about the steady progression - not that I committed to that in the slightest! Good effort on healing that up, carpal tunnel is a nasty one.

In reply to MischaHY: The worst bit was waking up 3-4 times a night with my arm feeling like it had the worst pins and needles on the planet. Well that and crimping causing extreme pain in the joints of my right hand. And I like crimping. On the bright side, not relying on power (well what little I have) meant focusing on technique, so being injured has actually made me climb better in the long run.

Andy F

In reply to andy farnell:

Sounds awful O.o Glad its healed up now!

In reply to ro8x:

Sounds pretty crazy... But really inspiring that you found a way to work around it!