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Post by Evan Marlatt on Jun 23, 2015 7:47:47 GMT -7
Hey guys,
I recently injured my A2 Pulley on my right index finger and am taking a few weeks off to let it heal. I was wondering what types of exercises I should be doing so I do not lose my base fitness but also don't mess with my finger.
Thanks for your time,
Evan Marlatt
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Post by jessebruni on Jun 23, 2015 10:37:02 GMT -7
Evan is that the same finger that you injured like 6 months back?
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Post by Evan Marlatt on Jun 23, 2015 10:58:29 GMT -7
It sure is!
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Post by jcm on Jun 23, 2015 11:54:14 GMT -7
It somewhat depends on the severity of the injury, and whether you can hang from a gymnastic ring. For minor tweaks that you expect to be able to heal from in a few weeks, you can keep up a good level of fitness for when you return to climbing. For a severe tear, I don't have advice. Reccomended protocol for staying fit while rehabbing a minor injury:
1. Gymnastic Rings and/or TRX work: Core, lockoffs, weighted pull ups, assisted 1-arm pull ups, etc. Keeps the big muscles strong (or gets them stronger) while the finger heals. Honestly, the finger injury can actually be a good opprotunity for focus in on core strength, which can help a lot in the long term.
2. Additional core and antagonist work in the weight room. Standard "supplemental excercises" sort of stuff.
3. Hangboard for rehab. Start very very light(lots of weight removed), and progress as your finger heals.
4. Light ARC traversing on jugs. Go really easy, and wait to start this until a little ways into the healing process. Big holds, vertical traverse terrain in the gym. Or go do some easy slab climbing outside. This is more just to keep the body moving, as opposed to being a "workout".
I had really good success with this method about a year ago. I developed a minor stress fracture in my left ring finger, and took 3 weeks off from climbing to let that heal. During that time off, I did a lot of work on rings to build body-strength. Lots of core work and weighted pull-ups, mostly. This 3 week strength phase gave signficant gains in pull strenght and core strength. Upon returning to climbing, I spent 2 weeks rebuilding power, and then had my best sport climbing performace period to date, only a little over a month after the finger injury. Notably, the routes I did during that period were of the steep jug-haul variety, which meant that the increased "body strength" from the rings was very useful, and any remaining weakness in the finger did not cause and issue. If I were trying to climb crimpy vertical routes, this may have been different.... When coming back from the finger injury, choosing routes that allow you to work around the weak finger may be a good idea for the first few weeks/months.
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