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Reducing recovery time in forearms

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 agour 14 Sep 2016
Hi all!

Just wondering if there are any good ways for reducing recovery time.

My forearms are tiring way before the rest of my muscles, to the point where a few days later my grip can still be quite reduced.

Does anyone have any good tips on minimizing the recovery time?

Cheers!
 Ban1 14 Sep 2016
In reply to agour:

Keep getting in the miles. Just do as many routes as you can. If you hit the gym auto belay, go up a route you know you can do. Get to the top. Release repeat with as little rest as you can. Normally 10 seconds
1
 afx22 15 Sep 2016
In reply to agour:

I used to get various aches and pains in my forearms (tendonitis/tendonosis) and fingers. I'd climb (mainly indoor bouldering) until I was completely wasted, then need three days recovery.

I'd tried lots of stretching, ice packs, Theraband Flex-Bar with only a minor improvement at best.

Now I do shorter sessions but climb more often. I found I get more climbing done overall and I feel better both when climbing and when not climbing. The trick is having the composure to pack in before I overdo it.

"Just one more climb!".
 springfall2008 18 Sep 2016
In reply to agour:

I suspect you might be over gripping, try to only grip as much as is required and also keep straight arms as much as possible.
 UKB Shark 18 Sep 2016
In reply to agour:

After the session try spraying your forearms with cold water from the shower head or under a tap for a couple of minutes. Helps speed recovery.
 bouldery bits 18 Sep 2016
In reply to ukb shark:

> After the session try spraying your forearms with cold water from the shower head or under a tap for a couple of minutes. Helps speed recovery.

Yeah, agreed. Cold drinks can rolled up and down forearms also good.

Stretch those forearms out too. Press ups!
 alx 18 Sep 2016
In reply to agour:

To be fairly candid, what are you doing to make them so tired?

I mean, are you climbing or bouldering? How long are your climbing sessions?
When do you eat after climbing/bouldering?

Do you mostly crimp or use a variety of holds?

Also it may be helpful for is to understand your climbing CV, how long you have been climbing for and what your current redpoint and onsight grade is.
 springfall2008 18 Sep 2016
In reply to ukb shark:

> After the session try spraying your forearms with cold water from the shower head or under a tap for a couple of minutes. Helps speed recovery.

The only downside of this is it reduces the benefit from the training in terms of gaining muscle strength.
 UKB Shark 18 Sep 2016
In reply to springfall2008:


> The only downside of this is it reduces the benefit from the training in terms of gaining muscle strength.

New one on me. Where did you hear that from ?
 springfall2008 19 Sep 2016
In reply to ukb shark:

> New one on me. Where did you hear that from ?

Podcast from "stuff you should know" actually. Basically the swelling in the muscles caused by micro tears causes them to grow stronger. If you reduce the swelling with cold it doesn't hurt as much but also they don't grow as much.

Best to put up with the pain!
 UKB Shark 19 Sep 2016
In reply to springfall2008:

Is this a climbing podcast? Have you got a link?

It strikes me as surprising. Pro rugby clubs invest in cold chambers and many athletes have ice baths after training to promote recovery
 jack_44 19 Sep 2016
In reply to springfall2008:

Could you post a link please? Will be interested to see if there is any scientific research/reasoning behind this. Personally, I wouldn't take this advice.
 springfall2008 19 Sep 2016
In reply to jack_44:

I can't find the original link right now, but there is some info out there e.g:

http://share.upmc.com/2016/02/using-ice-exercise/
 springfall2008 19 Sep 2016
In reply to jack_44:

"Journal of Sports Medicine in January 2012, it may not be the best treatment for aching muscles — in fact, it could even be detrimental to recovery."
 UKB Shark 19 Sep 2016
In reply to springfall2008:

Thanks for the links. The way I read it was that icing may delay recovery but it wasn't conclusive on the subject of reducing strength gains compared to non-icing (except in the 20mins after icing)

So to the OP maybe icing isnt a good idea after all

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