UKC

Hello all,

After at least 5 years with no climbing, I'm going to get back on it. 

When I stopped, I had severe muscular inbalances (office job, terrible posture, no other strengthening exercise done outside of climbing).  

These days, I don't work in an office or with a computer, I do regular functional training and surf ~5 times a week, leaving me with a much more balanced and all-round stronger body.

I am looking for advice on specific exercises I can do to condition myself for a return to regular climbing, to avoid injury (specifically shoulders and elbows where I've suffered a lot in the past).
 

Any tips much appreciated.

Cheers

Welcome back to it Owen!

Here’s what I do, having had both issues in the past.

Shoulders:

- dumbbell shoulder press (lightish, 10 reps). Sometimes one arm at a time for more core.

- dumbbell lateral-to-front raise (light weight, straight arms, slow w good form, 10 reps)

- pressups, widish 

Elbows:

- theraband external rotators (elbow by side, bent at 90 degrees, rotate from fist on stomach to fist just beyond body).

- reverse wrist curls (lightish dumbbells)

I find that to be enough, any more and it rarely gets done. I typically do two sets of all at least twice a week after training; three sets if I have a lot of time and didn’t have a hard session, one if I’m beasted and/or time strapped.

Having said all that, a big part of returning to climbing without injury is moderating volume and intensity. If in doubt with niggles, an extra rest day is better than an injury and often lets you climb more strongly.

HTH, good luck with the return!

Start slowly - you don't want to bugger your fingers with a combination of your better all round strength and memories of past glories.