Self-Assess #4: Your Injury Risk

Regular self-assessment is a powerful tool to determine your personal assets and liabilities so that you can accurately design a training program that works. This is the fourth in a series of self-assessments adapted from my book, Conditioning for Climbers.

Check back each month for a new self-assessment–you can compare your scores to previous month’s assessment, thus enabling you to identify the two or three areas most holding you back (these would be the lower scoring assessments). Similarly, survey your answers question-by-question to identify specific liabilities that you need to address.

Evaluate Your Injury Risk

1. I perform a warm-up activity and some stretching before climbing or training.

1—seldom or never, 2—occasionally, 3—about half the time, 4—often, 5—always

2. I climb hard (maximally) on three or more consecutive days.

1—every week, 2—often, 3—a couple times per month, 4—once per month, 5—seldom or never

3. When climbing, I experience elbow, shoulder, or finger pain.

1—almost always, 2—often, 3—occasionally, 4—infrequently, 5—never

4. I engage in regular training of the antagonist push muscles.

1—never, 2—infrequently, 3—a few times a month, 4—once or twice a week, 5—twice a week, religiously

5. I stop climbing or end a workout prematurely if I experience unusual joint or tendon pain.

1—no, 3—sometimes, 5—yes

Analysis
Add up your scores for each question, then use the scale below to assess your level of climbing experience.

23 – 25: Congratulations: Your injury awareness and risk mitigation practices make you less susceptible than average to a climbing injury.

20 – 22: Kudos to you, too, for doing what it takes to reduce injury risk.

15 – 19: You are at near-average risk of a climbing injury. Just a small commitment to warm-up activities, planned recovery, and antagonist muscle training will significantly lower your risk.

10 – 14: You are at above-average risk for overuse or acute climbing injuries. Strive to be more proactive with injury prevention.

5 – 9: You are at high risk for an injury while training or climbing. Review each question to determine what actions you can take to lower your risk.

Set Goals
Review questions on which you scored 3 or less, then set a specific goal for improvement in each area. Write down what actions you plan to take along with a time frame for attaining this goal. For example, if you scored 3 or fewer points on question 4, commit to training your antagonist muscles twice per week.

Copyright 2010 Eric J. Hörst. All rights reserved.