Minor injury during training cycle - resume or skip ahead?

[DSY]

Hi,

I've been climbing for 9 years and I've greatly enjoyed the Rock Climbing Training Manual.  I've been mostly motivated by outdoor climbing so avoided  structured training (except for intermittent hangboarding).  I'm now in a situation where my access to outdoor climbing is limited, so I figured I might as well train in the gym.

I'm at Hangboard workout #5 of the bouldering training cycle and I tweaked my index finger PIP joint a tiny bit.  I'm definitely planning on taking off at least a week to make sure that this injury doesn't nag me throughout the winter climbing season (I'm in Southern California).  When I resume the training program, should I start again at Hangboard workout #6 or skip ahead to Hangboard #8 (or even to the power phase if it takes that long to go away).  I'm curious because I'm trying to plan my winter trips and Yosemite Valley is definitely not amenable to showing up without reservations.

Any insight the Andersons or anyone else can provide would be great!

Thanks,
Dou

[MarkAnderson]

If I were you I would pick up where you left off, unless you end up resting for more than a week, in which case I would start over. Even if you rest "only" a week, you'll probably have trouble hitting your goals on the next HB workout. It would be a good idea to back off the resistance a bit once you resume.

[DSY]

Thanks for the reply Mark!

In the case of starting over - should I start over with the base-building phase or start over with the strength phase? Also, how much is too much to back off the resistance? I'm already taking off 15-20 pounds for my baseline, should I take off 35? pounds?

Thanks,
Dou

[MarkAnderson]

That depends on how long you take off. If you take off more than two weeks, start over completely.

You will have to figure out for yourself how much to back off the resistance, but it's always better to be too conservative than too aggressive.