On Monday I climbed with Joe at MCC. The idea was to get some mileage (lots of routes) in. We only had about an hour and half after the warm up. The target was 10 routes. Quickly upping the grades: 6a, 6b, 6c, 7a, I found that my for arms became very painful. Each time I reached up for a hold a stabbing pain would shoot down my forearm. On my return to terraferma, picking up my t-shirt was extremely painful. Joe wasn't fairing much better, his tendonitis flaring up as well.
I knew straight away that I needed to stop, so we called it a day after 4 routes, not even 50% of what I wanted to get done. This was the perfect time to put some of the mental training that I've written about into practice. Rather than seeing this a negative outcome, I had to look at the positive. Firstly, I'm now at a stage that 6b and 6c feel fairly easy and can certainly onsight at the 6b/6c boundary for sure. Also it means that once I'm fixed up a little better, it will really give me make me want to push myself to catch up on the training I've missed. The other aspect which gave me a positive feeling is Dave Macleod blog post.
The meat of the post is about changing ideas about taking a lay-off from climbing while being injured, and that an extended lay-off may cause more damage than good. The injury may require a few days to calm down, but by taking extended periods off we allow the tissue to deteriorate to state which is worse than before. By allowing an injury to 'sort it self out' we risk having an injury that heals in a very non-uniform manner. This can cause more problems when we start training again. The training we were undertaking has got us to that point so why stop? Instead we should analyse the reason why we obtained the injury in the first place. This may well come down to some instability or susceptibility which requires training to being out body in to equilibrium. In order to remedy these problems we should consult someone who know's their stuff: a coach or physio. Perhaps the key quote which made me get up off my arse and sort it was this
'Be clear that despite it’s psychological challenge for keen sports people, lay-off is in fact the easy option compared to the work and discipline of recovering from an injury without lay-off. '
For once I was going to be proactive in getting this sorted, rather than the usual 'I'll have a week off and see how it is then'. This usually results in the problem going away for a few days then returning when increasing the training volume. Tuesday I phoned SportMed and arranged an appointment with Rich. I've been to SportMed before, and Rich, and they really know their stuff. They actually understand how climbing affects the body and can help (plus MCC members get a discount!).
Yesterday I went for a consultation, the outcome being that I have a closed dysfunction in my neck. Due to some areas in my shoulders being under constant tension (a.k.a. knots in the muscle) some of the vertebra in my neck are under compression. This is compounded when climbing, due to the types of move you make (head up and reaching up high with the hands). The compression leads to pinching of the nerve and this is why my forearms are so painful.
After some massaging (the type where you come out with bruises afterwards), traction and taping my shoulder to reduce the compression - I was done. I've been given some exercises to perform to strengthen my posture as well as this won't be helping the situation.
Tried to complete a fingerboard session last night but it was only partially successful. I felt pretty beat up after the physio and got through half the workout. Plus my arms started to hurt again so thought I better ease off.
Climbing this weekend with Hannah. Think we are headed up to hers (lives close to the lakes and has loads of Lancashire limestone on her doorstep) to see some friends. Thinking we will nip to Trowbarrow and bosh out a few routes I've had my eye on for a while. Hopefully get some pictures up, but a post for sure.
No comments:
Post a Comment