Consider, climbing to build strength, mobility, and balance in middle age and beyond.

If your impression of climbing is young men with defined muscles grunting their way up dime thin ledges, you are misled. Climbing is for...

How to reduce foot pain climbing We hang on hang boards and do pull ups for upper body strength but what do we do for our feet? If our feet are weak, our toes could be in trouble. Toe joints are pushed to end range extension compressing the joint cartilage and stretching passive structures (ligaments and the joint capsule) often leading to joint hypermobility.  Strong feet reduce end range loading by providing dynamic stability to the joint and improves foot work through bet

Eighty to ninety percent of climbers have foot pain when climbing ( 1,2,3) .  In  those surveyed, climbing with foot pain was considered...

The plan was to spend a week in Squamish, BC, a haven for outdoor sports enthusiasts from across Canadas and the US. Granite walls rise...

Awareness of current research to the effects of stretching is alarmingly low among exercise and health professionals. A survey-based...

Before you get injured understand how to build tendon quality and how this differs for women vs men.

Tendon Training for climbers Climbing places extremely high loads on the tendons of the fingers, elbows, and shoulders. Without proper preparation, climbers can develop overuse injuries that limit training and performance. Tendon training helps climbers gradually build tissue capacity so they can tolerate the demands of hard climbing. Tendons have a high rate of injury in climbers. I have treated my share of finger pulley injuries , climber's elbow , and shoulder injures in c

It was summer, the mountains were out, and Seattle was having a crazy run of consecutive days without rain. In the Pacific Northwest,...

Finger Pulley Injuries in Climbers Finger pulley injuries are among the most common injuries in rock climbers. These injuries occur when the small ligaments that hold the flexor tendons close to the finger bones become overloaded. The A2 and A4 pullies are the most frequently injured pulley because it experiences very high forces when climbers crimp on small holds or make dynamic moves. Climbers often develop pulley injuries when training volume increases too quickly, when fi

It is well known that women are more likely to sustain certain connective tissue injuries than men during physical activities (Jones et...

There is a wide range of healing time given in the literature as to when a pulley is healed and ready to bear heavy loads. The extent of...

For a female, the menstrual cycle is a window into her health. Within a year or two of starting your initial menses it is healthy to have...

Finger flexor tendon pain is the most frequent overuse syndrome in climbers’ fingers. Aggressive and frequent forceful flexion of the...

Tenosynovitis is inflammation in the sheath that surrounds flexor tendons of the hand. This sheath provides nutritional support and...