[ashtond6]

May have been asked before, my general views of power training is either limit problems, fingerboards or moonboards/woodies.

All of these basically mean jumping/falling from the top which is destroying my back (could barely walk on thursday, at 29 this is not good)

Any other ideas?
I can't reverse the moon board and I ain't paying 8£ to use a fingerboard

Thanks

[nai]

Any other ideas?

get your back sorted?  What's the problem with it?

[tomtom]

Is it the falling and landing that’s doing the damage? I can’t do too many high landings on the hard mats at bouldering walls.. so climb down where possible.

Or only do problems where the hard bit is a sensible distance from the deck..? Aren’t there 900 kazillion problems on the moon board nowadays?

[moose]

...I ain't paying 8£ to use a fingerboard

Can't you fingerboard at home?  There are mounts that can be fitted into doorways without having to drill into walls.

[cheque]

When I used to get lower back pain after falling/ jumping off from high up I realised that I was tensing my back when I fell. Consciously staying relaxed on impact really helped with it.

Interested to hear any advice on this topic though as I can’t land at all any more unfortunately.

[TobyD]

All of these basically mean jumping/falling from the top which is destroying my back (could barely walk on thursday, at 29 this is not good)
Any other ideas?
I can't reverse the moon board and I ain't paying 8£ to use a fingerboard

See a physio. You'll probably find you can self refer to an NHS service but depends on where you live.

[ashtond6]

My Mrs is a highly trained physio, she says climbers are dicks for our repeated back impact, which is true!
If you jump from 6m, 10 times a session, 3 times a week, 30 times a week is bound to fuck it up!
 

Fingerboarding doesn't really sort the other muscles imo.

Best idea so far is the one to pick low cruxes!
Thanks for the interest and advice so far

[tomtom]

When lagers was recovering from his ankle injury he used to fall (on mats) with a parachute roll at the end. I sometimes do that when dropping off the top of some wall problems.

[Coops_13]

When my bruised heel was particularly bad, I just climbed on the moonboard. Only falling off the top hurt it so when I got to the top, I got a mate to push a box jump box under me to step off on to.

[webbo]

I have had reoccurring back problems for many years. I often got a stiff/ sore back when using bouldering walls a lot. Some walls the matting seemed to give me a whiplash effect when jumping off.
I built a board at home 40 degrees 8 inch kicker 12 foot overhanging board. So when you drop off it’s only a foot or two. I no longer get back problems in the same way, obviously if I come off and go arse over tit. I might get an issue or two.

[nai]

If you jump from 6m, 10 times a session, 3 times a week, 30 times a week is bound to fuck it up!
 

To train pure power Limit problems should be just a few moves long, three max?  Start from a sit and you can just step off at the end.  Don't worry if there's more problem above, ticking the lastest green swirls problem isn't the goal.

you didn't mention campussing? Would have thought that'd be a decent bet.

Obviously jumping from 6m x 30 a week isn't going to do anyone any good but walls genreally aren't that high are they. I've had back issues for the last decade off and on.  Managed to keep it under control at various points with yoga, pilates, callisthenics, self massage & streching and more recently by exercises focussing on the Glutes, hamstrings and lumbar area.

[abarro81]

As mentioned above, just do 4 move sit-starts. Although the Moon board isn't exactly high, so if dropping off that is screwing your back then that sounds like there's an underlying issue.

[Duma]

My Mrs is a highly trained physio, she says climbers are dicks for our repeated back impact, which is true!
If you jump from 6m, 10 times a session, 3 times a week, 30 times a week is bound to fuck it up!

6m?? what walls are you going to? the moonboard is 4m from the top if that. do you do any other stuff  to strengthen your back?

Fingerboarding isn't training power surely?

[reeve]

Hi johnny

Echoing what most other people have said, I think the best plan is to get your back sorted. And perhaps analyze how you are landing. For someone as tall as you, your feet can only be 1.5m from the floor if you drop off the top of the moon board. You've got a lot of climbing years ahead of you so it really isn't worth avoiding whatever the problem is with your back. FWIW I always down climb at least a couple of moves before jumping off.

In addition to the other advice you could also 'boulder on a rope' i.e. try a route well above your grade indoors and work it. Doesn't sound as convenient as having a better back though!

[mr chaz]

This may or may not be relevant to you ashtond6, but my experience:

I used to suffer with at times quite severe lower back pain, made worse by jumping off problems (current age 26!!).

Turned out to be an underlying issue of a weak core/ lower back, along with very tight hamstrings and poor hip flexibility (I was bending at my lower back rather than hips).

Problems disappeared after I spent time doing a lot of core work, to the point I could front lever comfortably (having been previously nowhere near any kind of lever). At the same time, just adding some simple squats to my warm up helped my hamstrings sufficiently to alleviate that problem. Have had no more back problems now for years.

[slab_happy]

Early on in my climbing, I sprained my ankle quite badly. Before I got to the point when it could take any impact, I'd go to the bouldering wall and do nothing but sit starts, stopping at the point where I could step down off the wall.

I've never got so much stronger so fast.

If you've got access to a Moonboard, that'd be ideal for that; I bet people could give you recommendations for problems with brutally hard starts.

My Mrs is a highly trained physio, she says climbers are dicks for our repeated back impact, which is true!
If you jump from 6m, 10 times a session, 3 times a week, 30 times a week is bound to fuck it up!

Yeah, but most boulderers don't have permanently fucked up backs. Which means it's worth looking for rehab/prehab stuff to make your back stronger and more resilient.

Also, if you do have a weakness in your back muscles (or how they're activating, or your posture, or whatever), that'll be affecting your ability to exert strength and power through your posterior chain. So worth trying to identify and fix it for that reason if no other!

[spidermonkey09]

you didn't mention campussing? Would have thought that'd be a decent bet.

This was my thought also.

[T_B]

Campussing is bloody awful if you have a bad back! You're guaranteed to drop off from quite high unless you're doing 1-2-3.

As others have said, core/glutes strengthening and spikey ball rolling. See a physio, or in my case, a myofacial release therapist (who sorted out my chronic bad back in one session) as your problems may be compounded by something not obvious.

[Fultonius]

I think you're not on the skinny waif end of the build spectrum, right?

Maybe you're just not landing right?  When recovering from my knee surgery I was very cautious of letting my knee bend too far, due to there bring a physical end stop (shorter ligaments). So I landed with "strong" legs and hinged at the waist. This often led to a tired lower back and tight hamstrings. Could you try to focus on minimising the impulse of the landing, by using softer legs and to spread the peak force out a bit?

Also, don;t go to failure. Drop off deliberately when form goes bad. (good for your shoulders and elbow anyway).

Could you take a boulder mat and sit it under the campus board, soften / reduce the landing a bit?

[duncan]

If you jump from 6m, 10 times a session, 3 times a week, 30 times a week is bound to fuck it up!

Same recommendations as above: don't go too high, learn to fall, strengthen the relevant muscles.

On a more general note, I'm a physio. and I try not to treat friends and family beyond giving general advice. It's difficult to be objective and, if things don't go well, it can get very messy. I suggest seeking help from someone who is not your wife, however highly trained she may be!   

[ashtond6]

Thanks all - some really good food for thought here 

I definitely have a weak core so I will focus on this, ask her to work on my back more which is often uncomfortable & not climb to the top when limit climbing!

Building a board in my garage too which should allow me to stack mats at the highest point.

[Toblerone]

Campussing is bloody awful if you have a bad back! You're guaranteed to drop off from quite high unless you're doing 1-2-3.

As others have said, core/glutes strengthening and spikey ball rolling. See a physio, or in my case, a myofacial release therapist (who sorted out my chronic bad back in one session) as your problems may be compounded by something not obvious.

Sorry to hijack the thread but can you recommend a Sheffield based myofascial release therapist? I'm a long sufferer from lower back pain which has got worse recently from having to stand on the jam packed train to and from Manchester.

[shark]

It’s Louise 07872 078335

[shark]

I suggest seeking help from someone who is not your wife, however highly trained she may be!

Ask yourself - whats in it for her to get you back out climbing 24/7? 

[tomtom]

Best thing I did to sort out my recurring lower back issues was buy a Volvo.

To drive that is....