Comments on: Jesus, My Hand Hurts http://gumbydiaries.com/?p=26 Just another WordPress weblog Sun, 05 Sep 2010 02:30:16 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Will http://gumbydiaries.com/?p=26&cpage=1#comment-6 Will Wed, 25 Feb 2009 20:08:54 +0000 http://gumbydiaries.com/?p=26#comment-6 Thanks Doc :), All good points that I will employ religiously. Traversing and off-route climbing haven't occurred to me. I hadn't thought of the benefits that can come from not pulling up on everything. Thanks Doc :),
All good points that I will employ religiously. Traversing and off-route climbing haven’t occurred to me. I hadn’t thought of the benefits that can come from not pulling up on everything.

]]> By: Sara http://gumbydiaries.com/?p=26&cpage=1#comment-5 Sara Wed, 25 Feb 2009 19:59:16 +0000 http://gumbydiaries.com/?p=26#comment-5 Will - Here's Dr. Sara (not a real doctor's) warm up prescription for you... Get on the treadmill, or, stationary bike, or, barring either of those, go for a good 15 minute walk before you even touch a hold. Just enough to get ya loosened up. A little heart rate increase is a good thing. Then, I'd steer clear of dead hangs or pull-ups on the finger board, entirely. I'd hold off on any of those sport-specific training methods until your fitness is back up where you want it to be. Instead, if you've got healthy elbows, consider a long tie-in of climbing up and down on easy terrain (5.6/5.7 or even, off route -- just make sure it's holds that aren't going to hurt your hands and that the wall angle isn't too steep). A couple routes is good; a nice long burn at sub-pump is better. I sometimes do 30 minutes on one tie in. The downclimbing can be VERY hard on elbows, though, so be super careful and listen closely to your elbows. I think my last bad round of elbow tendinitis was triggered by those long tie-ins with lots of downclimbing. An alternative, if your gym is set up for it, is to traverse to warm up. I prefer a traverse warmup over any other warmup, since it gives my shoulders a break from their typical pulling and works range of motion in a way that I don't usually work it (this advice isn't mine - it's courtesy the great <a href="http://verticalworld.com/content/view/45/31/" rel="nofollow">Brian Burdo</a>). That way, you can choose holds appropriate to your fitness level and increase the difficulty as you get warmed up, but it saves your elbows (less downclimbing). I love traversing. I can stay on a traverse, usually, for a good long time... I feel like I get a better warmup traversing than any other way -- and it's less repetitive than just pull-pull-pull. Better full-body warm-up, I think. Just be careful -- sometimes gyms aren't set up great for traversing, so if it's slap a nasty sloper or grip an awful pinch before you're warmed up, downclimb off and pass the hard section until you're properly warmed up. To your last point -- when the problems you are climbing are "easy," then warm up off route! You can make "easy" climbing easier by not following routes... I do it all the time! Will -

Here’s Dr. Sara (not a real doctor’s) warm up prescription for you…

Get on the treadmill, or, stationary bike, or, barring either of those, go for a good 15 minute walk before you even touch a hold. Just enough to get ya loosened up. A little heart rate increase is a good thing. Then, I’d steer clear of dead hangs or pull-ups on the finger board, entirely. I’d hold off on any of those sport-specific training methods until your fitness is back up where you want it to be.

Instead, if you’ve got healthy elbows, consider a long tie-in of climbing up and down on easy terrain (5.6/5.7 or even, off route — just make sure it’s holds that aren’t going to hurt your hands and that the wall angle isn’t too steep). A couple routes is good; a nice long burn at sub-pump is better. I sometimes do 30 minutes on one tie in. The downclimbing can be VERY hard on elbows, though, so be super careful and listen closely to your elbows. I think my last bad round of elbow tendinitis was triggered by those long tie-ins with lots of downclimbing.

An alternative, if your gym is set up for it, is to traverse to warm up. I prefer a traverse warmup over any other warmup, since it gives my shoulders a break from their typical pulling and works range of motion in a way that I don’t usually work it (this advice isn’t mine - it’s courtesy the great Brian Burdo). That way, you can choose holds appropriate to your fitness level and increase the difficulty as you get warmed up, but it saves your elbows (less downclimbing). I love traversing. I can stay on a traverse, usually, for a good long time… I feel like I get a better warmup traversing than any other way — and it’s less repetitive than just pull-pull-pull. Better full-body warm-up, I think.

Just be careful — sometimes gyms aren’t set up great for traversing, so if it’s slap a nasty sloper or grip an awful pinch before you’re warmed up, downclimb off and pass the hard section until you’re properly warmed up.

To your last point — when the problems you are climbing are “easy,” then warm up off route! You can make “easy” climbing easier by not following routes… I do it all the time!

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