[tdpurnell]

Hi all, looking for some advice if anyone can help, would really appreciate it!

About seven years ago I was at my peak with bouldering having achieved some pretty cool feats. I did well in some competition leagues (second in a couple), achieved a 7b+ in font and 7c on grit as well as some really wicked dynamic bouldering routes and deliverance (my favourite route in the peaks!). Unfortunately I dislocated my shoulder climbing and fell hurting myself, mainly my finger and after an operation which didn't quite correct it fully I left the bouldering world for a bit to focus on career and family. Marriage, two children and a good carreer later I have found myself thinking about bouldering more....

I have recently tried some bouldering again and the passion is coming back and taking to it well without any pain in my old injury (yay). I have quite a good memory of how I used to train, rotate exercises, diet and mix both indoor and outdoor. My real unknown however is how to I get back into bouldering and training effectively after such a long break.

I am a little scared that my muscle will come back quick without the finger strength and I risk jnjury so looking for some advice. I am pretty sure if I put my mind to it (which I think I will, I am that type of person...) that I will end up doing a lot of training and really push myself so don't want to risk spoiling it. Would be great to get back to a similar level and get out again!

Any advice you can give as I get back into it would be great or any specifics on finger and tendons to support would be great too. Many thanks.

Tom

[tdpurnell]

Oh and if interested based in Bristol and just started training at Bloc. Thanks

[Muenchener]

Welcome back, be careful. I had a longer break than you (~15 years) and was at a lower standard pre-break (E1/2 traddie), but still: when I started training again, my mind remembered being able to do more than my body could actually do. I got my first (and up to now only, touch wood) only serious pulley injury a few weeks after starting back into training. It's all been good since then though.

[tomtom]

Similar length break for me.. Finger strength comes back fairly quickly - but like Meunch I ended up doing a few pulleys fairly quickly (though - touch wood - very few in the last few years).

Main difficulty might be managing expectation - as you'll climb differently from how you used to... maybe not worse (after while to catch up) but your body will have changed in the meantime. For me this meant less strength, but much more technique developing (I used to lank and thug up stuff - and learnt how to knack my way up things...)

[SA Chris]

Don't go at it too hard, get loads of easier volume in initially, concentrate on climbing smoothly and well, rather than pulling hard.

7 years older now than you were (how old are you now?) you will find you need to warm up properly and warm down and will be more prone to injury, so listen to your body and be aware of niggles before they get bad.

Good luck it's a fun route back if you ignore what you used to do.

[tdpurnell]

So I am 29 right now, still young!

My current plan is just doing a variety of lower grade bouldering routes and getting back into the swing of it. Then to focus on weaker areas once I know them better with targeted training sessions to try and get more rounded (dead hangs, core, etc.). I fully expect it will take a while and always do stretching to help limber up and warm down but want to plan for success. Once I get back to speed I will mix in sessions on campus rungs, circuit training and strength to support further as well as sessions outdoors. Thanks for the feedback and advice!

[SA Chris]

Mere youth!

A bit of coaching might be useful to concentrate on area of weakness.

[benno]

All of that sounds reasonable with the exception that the current wisdom holds that static stretching before exercise isn't a great idea, as it reduces strength and coordination for an hour or two. Thorough stretching once you're done will definitely help you get back up to speed without crocking yourself, though.

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/fitness/Pages/Do-I-need-to-stretch-before-or-after-a-run-or-sports-and-exercise.aspx

[tdpurnell]

Thanks for the feedback guys. May well look into a little coaching to help too from someone experienced. Thanks

[J.Kydd]

I train at Bloc too. I'm there every Wednesday evening

I had a finger injury a year or so ago and took me some time to get over it fully. The key really will be to always warm up fully before getting on anything too crimpy/finger-y, and try to open-hold as much as you can. Avoid full crimps on anything for a while. Perhaps tape the previously injured finger for a while once you start introducing full crimps again.

[shark]

All of that sounds reasonable with the exception that the current wisdom holds that static stretching before exercise isn't a great idea, as it reduces strength and coordination for an hour or two. Thorough stretching once you're done will definitely help you get back up to speed without crocking yourself, though.

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/fitness/Pages/Do-I-need-to-stretch-before-or-after-a-run-or-sports-and-exercise.aspx

Yes. Warming up should entail tying your shoelaces and doing some easy problems though Steve Mac misses out step one.

[dave]

I train at Bloc too. I'm there every Wednesday evening

I had a finger injury a year or so ago and took me some time to get over it fully. The key really will be to always warm up fully before getting on anything too crimpy/finger-y, and try to open-hold as much as you can. Avoid full crimps on anything for a while. Perhaps tape the previously injured finger for a while once you start introducing full crimps again.

Why would he want to avoid crimping? It's perfectly natural (go and watch some kids climb, you won't see kids passively dragging incuts). If you avoid it, you'll become weak at it, and hence be more prone to getting injured when you do inevitably have to crimp in anger.

[J.Kydd]

Why would he want to avoid crimping? It's perfectly natural (go and watch some kids climb, you won't see kids passively dragging incuts). If you avoid it, you'll become weak at it, and hence be more prone to getting injured when you do inevitably have to crimp in anger.

I know a fair few otherwise pretty strong climbers who have terrible open-hand strength, thus meaning they have to full crimp on everything. Surely increasing the likelihood of over working the pulleys - non?
I use a full crimp a lot, where it's required - but do try and open hold or half-crimp as much as possible where a full crimp isn't necessary.

[shark]

http://onlineclimbingcoach.blogspot.co.uk/2009/10/to-crimp-or-not-to-crimp.html

Crimping is indeed the riskiest grip position for the fingers and the more systematic your training of it, the risk of picking up a pulley injury, or just inflamed and swollen PIP joints gets really high....In my experience, crimping is needed to get strong at crimping. So the idea that some support that you can avoid it altogether and still get strong on crimps I feel is incorrect....the vast majority of climbers crimp far too much and would seriously benefit (in both performance and injury risk) in developing their openhanded grip to a point where they use it more often than crimps and are at least as strong openhanded as crimped....Mini case study: I used to be one of those who crimped too much, and averaged about 3 serious pulley injuries per year for 5 years until I finally was forced to get strong openhanded...Since then I’ve had one very minor pulley tweak (needing only a slight drop in training intensity for a few weeks) in the past five years.

I'm sure both camps will be able to pick what they want out of that 

[petejh]

I inferred I should leave my current job and move house to live in the same street as the school room. 

[dave]

Good idea until you wake in the small hours finding some hooker being banged over the bonnet of your car.

[mctrials23]

I injured my A2 from crimping so I focussed on climbing open handed a lot. Just as the A2 was pretty much healed I got an injury from open handing too much. Can't really win sometimes but the general wisdom is to open hand when you can and half crimp when you can't. Its not good to ask too much of either grip if you don't train it specifically.

[tomtom]

Good idea until you wake in the small hours finding some hooker being banged over the bonnet of your car.

Open handed?

[dave]

Nobody leaves the schoolroom open handed.

[moose]

So I am 29 right now, still young!

I didn't start climbing until I was around 25-26 y.o - and from a pretty dissipated and low base (no exercise at all since I was 16 y.o, necking two bottles of wine a night for several years). Starting again at your age, with previous experience, should not rule-out making good progress. 

My most rapid rate of progress came a fair few years after I started climbing, during a period of unemployment.  I had the time to boulder around 4 times a week.  Climbing often but mainly outdoors, and leaving something in the tank for the next session seemed to keep injury at bay.  Indoor bouldering made me burlier but knackered my elbows (my current salary-man lifestyle of climbing intensively as I can both Sat and Sun has left me in a near-permanent state of knack). 

So, I suspect that unless you have cutting-edge ambitions, climbing as often as you fancy and keeping avoiding injury in mind should suffice for a decent rate of improvement.  I personally reckon that the important factor for ticking stuff is not what exactly you do, rather, the key is effort and enthusiasm - try really hard when you feel you can but listen to the complaints of your tendons!