Any physios or gym rats have advice? How do you decide when to rest or when to push through some discomfort? Been climbing for a few years now, but started doing it more frequently and intensely over the last 6 months - made a lot of progress in climbing harder routes after having plateaued for a long time. Climb around 2hrs per session, twice a week, with 1 or 2 30min hangboard sessions in between. Haven't had any injuries, but got used to climbing with sore forearms. I stop if there's pain in my elbows, but most of the time it's just a "tired" type of soreness in the forearms that didn't seem serious. I typically climb to exhaustion and feel 80% recovered by the next day. If I wait till I'm completely free of any soreness I'd prob. end up only climing twice a month, and I read that it's better to do some activity and not completely rest. However, it's been a week since my last climb (which felt ok at the time), but I haven't recovered and my forearms and elbows remain completely shot. No pain if there's no load, but very weak and very sore if I carry anything over a few pounds. A bit freaked out as I've never had this before, and got me thinking about how conservative I should be when managing pain/soreness in future.
https://www.climbing.com/skills/recover-faster-how-to-perform-a-healing-self-massage/ https://www.climbing.com/skills/how-to-rest-for-redpoint-attempts/
find a good yoga studio for those off days. NOT hot yoga. A good Yin or Restorative class is a good counter and will help your mind and body.
It might be worth making sure it's not a true injury - so seeing the Dr, because if it's an injury vs pain it's not going to get better without changing routine or maybe even focusing on different exercises for a bit (and possibly ice/anti-inflammatory med, PT, there might be something like a tendon/ligament creating problems with the recovery). If it's truly muscle and you're doing everything correctly, massage is next step and then there's obviously more from there. There's definitely better more detailed examples but here's just some quick points: https://blog.theclymb.com/out-there/5-common-climbing-injuries-fix/ and again there's definitely more than this site but some quick examples. Right now for me... I'm having to work on stabilizer muscles in the back/neck, obviously not your issue here and of course I knew better... , but me ignoring it didn't help, PT has been a pita. So... It's probably a good idea to get a Dr to examine you vs us/Dr Google. I mean I had a good feeling what it was and exercises needed, but wanted that mri and xray to make sure it wasn't something really bad.
Soreness is good. Means you are gaining strength. After 1-2 days rest, do a similar activity but less stressful to work out the soreness. Pain is not good. If you feel any sort of sharp pain, esp in joints, then rest for a week or two and then try again at 50% effort to test if the pain is gone. If it's still a sharp pain, go see a doctor. Or just go see a doctor and stop looking for internet advice.
I workout 3, or sometimes 4 times a week...I foam roll after any intense workout on Sunday I’ll do 20 minutes of nothing but stretches and foam rolling...I want to age like Vince Carter
Damn, that sounds really painful. Back and neck is no joke. I'd asked a doctor previously (b4 it reached this state); he said i had mild golfers elbow, which is common for activities that grip things. His advice was just to rest and stretch; got the sense he was being very conservative to be safe. Interestingly he also said latest studies showed that icing didn't help, but no harm trying post- exercise.
Yeah man, it sucks (to put it lightly)... PT is fortunately working so far. Glad you saw Dr, I hope you start doing better soon.
I had similar issues with constant pain as I ramped up to heavier weights in my workouts. What helped me was an Airrosti provider. It’s a sports therapy chiropractor. Instead of cracking your back, they work on muscle issues. Most of the time it’s due to improper form/posture or an imbalance in working out muscle groups, meaning your back isn't getting enough attention or something along those lines It only took two visits and I was almost pain free. These guys aren’t looking to bilk you out of a lifetime of fees. They want to help you and be done. https://www.airrosti.com/
@saitou Long story short: Active recovery is far superior to passive recovery. Active recovery gets your heart rate up and pumps blood (and therefore nutrients) to your areas in need. It also builds your appetite, and you need to feed your sore muscles with lots of nutrient rich food to lock in those gains. From your post, with long term soreness like that, your problem is almost definitely a nutritional one. Climbing is so intensive, you really need to give your body ample nutrients to fuel and recover. Aim for nutrient dense, healthy foods. Complex carbs for energy (sweet potatoes, oatmeal, whole grains, etc), and high protein foods for muscle growth and recovery. My favorites are lentils, beans, and greek yogurt. Healthy fats are key too to lubricate your joints and make sure your muscles always have an energy source. Almonds, avocados, healthy oils, etc. Hydration is also key during recovery. Aim for a gallon+ per day. Do low impact work, avoiding use of sore muscle groups. Stretching/yoga, cardio, light weights etc. Passive recovery (doing nothing) when sore makes those sore muscles really tighten up (as in stiff/inflexible). Hope this helps.
Between work and the weather, I’m feeling pretty stiff these days. Important thing for me is just to be proactive, not aggravate anything and know it will pass. Yoga is great but even at that, a 190 lb man with general hand soreness doing some downward dogs just isn’t the play.
A week with no recovery is a nutrition issue? I don't think this is good advice. There's something physiological going on. I would bet money that it's form/posture and/or muscle imbalance, @saitou
Thanks for the advice everyone, will check/try them out, esp non arm related exercising to get blood flowing. Unfortunately have no access to airrosti, it looks interesting though. Technique can be improved, but in this case it may just be a case of the body struggling to keep up with increasing difficulty of the routes - as difficulty increases they unavoidably put more stress on fingers and muscles that grip, holds get smaller and crimpier.
Sorry to be clear there's definitely a physiological issue, and don't think changes to current nutrition or form will help much, but no harm trying to improve in both areas too.
So your body is struggling to keep up, and what you eat literally becomes your body.... But you don't think changing what you eat will help much? Try a quick google search of "importance of nutrition for climbers."
Key word was in this case, i didn't think it would help much because I thought I already ate fairly healthy and balanced. I did as you suggested and did a search, you may have a point - there could be a timing issue as I've been fasting intermittently (16hrs) and like to climb on an empty stomach and have my meal after I climb. Will definitely try eating a bit pre- climb and more carbs in general too. What do you eat for healthy fat?
