NICROS - Training Center

The finger-training exercises frequently detailed in the Training Center inevitably stress the tendons and other connective tissues. Given enough rest, such training will actually strengthen the tendons and joints. It's important to understand, however, that tendons adapt and strengthen at a slower rate than the muscles do, and so a regular schedule of aggressive training can eventually lead to tendon strain and injury. It’s therefore beneficial to rest more than you feel is needed based on muscle soreness and to take a week off from training every couple of months. If you always return to the rock or gym on the first day that your muscles feel ready--and worse yet, train year-round--you will gradually open the door to a variety of tendon injuries. (Look around and observe all the climbers with finger and elbow tendinopathy, and you will see the proof of what I'm saying.) To help you avoid this outcome and hopefully climb at a high level for many years, here are five tips for reducing your risk of injury.

1. Don't climb to exhaustion.
Many acute injuries occur toward the end of a day of maximal climbing. Do you really need to lap (or flail on) that "training route" or project again? Rather than risk injury on a final burn—one foot-pop, while climbing in a fatigued state, is all it takes to tweak a tendon—decide to climb the route mentally one or two more times. Such mental training is the ultimate in smart training!

2. Don't climb and/or train more than 4 days per week.
Overtraining will get you injured, so plan your rest days and then follow your plan. Taking enough rest days is a sign of a mature climber, whereas engaging in daily social climbing will soon make you one of the mass of walking wounded.

3. Maintain muscle balance by training the antagonist muscles of the arms and upper torso.
Performing light push-muscle training two days per week is a great insurance policy. Furthermore, mild stretching of the forearm and shoulder muscles is an essential part of the warm-up process that prepares you for the stresses of maximal bouldering or projecting.

4. Regularly vary the type of climbing to vary the wear and tear on your body.
Specialists tend to get injured most often--this is especially true for beginners who focus primarily on bouldering or steep sport routes. Diversifying your climbing not only varies the stresses placed on your joints and tendons, but it’s also a great investment in your technical and mental abilities (which will only become fully developed through exposure to a wide range of climbing types and situations).

5. Focus on improving technique and mental skills over developing maximum strength and power.
Among the mass of climbers, it’s mental and technical skills—and not physical fitness—that best discriminates climbing ability. The notion that “getting stronger is the master key to climbing harder” is a false. You can only become so fit (and no fitter) as determined by your unique DNA. The best climbers--those who eventually come to realize their full potential--put the complete puzzle together by training their mind, body, and technique.