Rest phase, new "injuries"?

[mclay]

I've had a curious experience in the past two weeks - my rest phase. I ended the cycle feeling stronger than ever and seemingly with minor injuries in the rear view mirror. I had a minor finger and shoulder tweak that had bothered me in Jan-Apr. A few years ago, when I first started in climbing, I had some bad tendonitis in both elbows. 

I was looking forward to resting and building on the foundation that last cycle had given me. However, in the rest period it seems like some of the old problems are cropping up. Soreness and stiffness in fingers that have previously been tweaked; occasional aching in the shoulder that had given me problems a few months back; even a hint of elbow tendonitis. And I haven't been doing any climbing! I did yoga a few days, a long hike with the family, and messed around the yard on a mountain bike (less than 5 km total riding). 

This was surprising and a little worrying. I'm about to go hit my incredibly thrilling little garage wall for the first ARC session of my next cycle, but I was wondering if anyone has had a similar resting "regression". Any ideas as to why this might have happened?

[thor]

I have experienced the same sensations. After 4-5 days of rest I start feeling old injuries creeping back... When it has happened it has gone away once I started climbing again though.

[MarkAnderson]

This is why I always shake my head when people recommend "a bunch of rest" as an injury treatment. It doesn't work! Soft tissue needs regulation stimulation and recovery to stay strong and healthy. That's why the Arthritis Foundation (and everyone else) advocates regular exercise. Use it or lose it, as they say.

All that said, there's nothing wrong with taking a couple of well-earned weeks off between seasons. Just expect that you might feel a bit "creaky" when you start back up. Once you get into the swing of things, you will (most likely) forget you had all those little nags. It's the same with taking a break from any type of exercise. You will feel soreness, aches and discomfort when you start back up again. This gets worse with age

[korduroy]

^^ well said Mark. I too get the creaks and aches after about 2 days of complete rest. However, when I know I am going to rest for 1-2+ weeks, I usually start doing gentle yoga after the Day 2 mark. it really helps with mitigating those aches, while not stressing any of the muscles or tendons I am trying to rest.

yoga, it does a body good

[mclay]

I'm a week into the Base Endurance phase, and, as predicted, those particular ailments have subsided. However, I'm trying to get as much Endurance training on real rock this cycle, and it seems like the fate of those of us beginning later in life is to always have these little aches creeping in. Just got back from a weekend outdoor mileage trip and my other shoulder is sore, but I think it is a good sore (try-hard-sore), not an injury sore.

For this 30-something weekend warrior I think extensive yoga might be the only way. It's just hard to balance time and schedule with the normal training for climbing and fitting in full yoga sessions.

[korduroy]

I don’t think you need to do FULL yoga sessions/classes. If you are fairly keen on yoga positions/poses/etc, id say find your favorite 10-15 poses and do them 2 or 3 times a day. I find the simple sun salutation to be plenty of warmup and stretching for my shoulders and other climber achy spots. I usually blast out 2 sets of that right when I wake up in under 5 minutes. Do another set on my lunch break, and then do a couple during my cool down stretch after climbing. Then, on a rest day, I will generally do more with more poses. My usual quick circuit of yoga poses is:
Mountain
Forward fold
Plank
Updward dog
Downward dog
Warriors 1,2 and 3.
Then I sit and do glute bridges
Butterflies
Shoulder stand into plow

I can usually blast 3 of these out with slow controlled breathing and movement in under 5 minutes. Toss in some shoulder circles and youll be good as great. You just need that little bit of movement to keep the blood going in there. Save the full yoga classes for rainy rest days

[mclay]

I'm going to try this. I guess I'm kind of an all-or-nothing sort of guy. I take some of the prescribed routines in the RCTM as edicts to be obeyed to the letter of the law! Same thing with yoga; I was only thinking of doing the whole class/session.

[erk]

Ditto what korduroy said. It usually takes me longer to warm-up when I have taken two days of rest vs. one day. Even though the warm-up is always a little more creaky I usually have a much better workout with the two days of rest.

[mclay]

I'm through the Base Endurance phase and I tinkered with the scheduling of workouts. I climbed 4 days straight (ARC/outdoor easy bouldering/ARC/boulder) and then took 2 rest days. I did 30-45 mins of yoga on the rest days. I also added some yoga poses and active stretching to the normal warm-up on climbing days. It has really worked out well for me.

[jcun]

I'm 6 days into my rest phase in between seasons and feeling aches not going away. One old injury that I received climbing in Thailand on a tour (middle right finger). And overuse injury to my left forearm. I'm going to take 2 weeks off and will train some breakdancing and cardio/core during the rest of my rest phase.