Rehabbing my finger 'in a blender' injury with a micro-cycle

[jetjackson]

Just under 3 weeks ago I had a kitchen incident with a blender that I was lucky to get out of without losing the tip of my MF. Was bummed as I had just come off a weekend out where I sent a 5.12b second shot and was feeling primed for my goal to project a 5.12d this season.

I was not able to climb much for the first 2 weeks, resorting to weird training in the gym that involved using handlebar jugs on that hand and then super crimps on the other. Over the Easter weekend I got in a couple of easy half days where I climbed mostly 5.10s.

Here is the progression of the injury/healing - imgur.com/a/cUTPO

Last hangboard session, of last workout was 5 weeks ago. I had done a few limit boulder sessions and was about to move into the power endurance/performance phase when the injury happened. I had original wanted to do a micro-cycle very late in my season, as a way to bump up some fitness before a trip I have in early June. Instead I've decided to pull that back to now.

Last night I taped my finger up and did a hangboard session with 5 grips - no 2F pockets or full crimp, and at this seasons hangboard starting weights - I wanted to see how the finger would handle the edges - there was a little bit of pain, but not too much. However, I don't want to risk busting open the scar tissue on the tip. I'd think with a normal micro-cycle with 3 hangboard sessions, you would start at your PR minus 3 sessions, so you're hitting PR in the final HB session of the micro-cycle. Thoughts here on that thinking? Mark? - I'm kind of following your Micro-Cycle post, but I couldn't see there what weights you did in the micro-cycle vs. the main HB cycle? You mention before at getting back to PR 'in a couple of workouts'? Anyone else that has done a Micro-cycle could comment?

Anyway, because I want to baby the injury, I went for starting weight. I'm only going to take a day's rest due to the lower volume, and then tomorrow night hit the HB again for the 2nd session, but thinking this time I'll introduce the full crimp at starting weight to see how it goes, and I'll take the other grips to PR-2 sessions, before 2 days rest and trying to ramp up to PR on the 4 grips. Is that too ambitious? No pockets - as not necessary for my target projects this season, and I don't think my finger will quite take that pocket brutality.

On the 3rd HB session, I'll add in PE, and then go into hybrid LB/PE sessions before As I've mentioned here before, power is not my most limiting factor - target projects this season are PE style.

docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1czf4NgXSR4sdTi5hoNOwWLJWQ4gAVUasqA-Z4GlhFMY/edit?usp=sharing - see 2018 rolling training plan for my plan, warning - it's very busy - I use it to manage my work/climbing life balance so I can plan around a job that involves a fair bit of interstate travel. 

[jcm]

What were you doing with that blender?

[jetjackson]

Was cleaning stick blender, pulling a stuck vegetable out of the end of it - it was still plugged in at the wall - I bumped the on button on the counter and it went off. Pro tip - always unplug the blender before you put your fingers near the blade.

[MarkAnderson]

Pro pro tip: don't put your fingers in the blender. Use a stick, use pliers, if necessary, throw out the f-ing blender and buy a new one.

I usually figure out starting weights by deciding where I want to end up, counting the number of workouts I have scheduled, and reverse engineering it from there. That may result in a starting weight that is too hard or too easy for a given grip, but I find it's pretty easy to adjust during the first workout. Usually by the second workout I have the weights right.

Anyway, if I were you I'd make sure that thing is fully healed before I did any crimping. I know people who seem to get chronic splits because they didn't allow a split heal to enough in the past. I'm told it takes 21 days for a bottom layer of skin to reach the surface, so you should be pretty close to fully healed, in theory. I think there's a lot of transference between open and closed edge grips, so you can just train in the open positions until you're sure the skin is healed.

Edit to add some philosophy:

-When injured remember to take the long view.  Getting back into training two weeks earlier is not worth a lifetime of weakened middle finger skin!

-This is a great opportunity to learn how important your skin is and how easy it is to fuck up (thus ruining your climbing season).  Fingers are precious to climbers, so treat them that way.

[Chris W]

Apr 5, 2018 9:29:19 GMT -7 MarkAnderson said:

Anyway, if I were you I'd make sure that thing is fully healed before I did any crimping. I know people who seem to get chronic splits because they didn't allow a split heal to enough in the past.

Skin that is scarred (or any tissue, really) from a full thickness lac will never, to my knowledge, regain 100% of it's original strength. I agree with making sure it's fully healed. 

I sliced my thumb open when I was 6 with my very first pocket knife. Fortunately, I rarely have issues with splits, but when I do get one, it seems to happen right along that scar line. 

[jetjackson]

Indeed, I did think about throwing the blender out, but my wife suggested I should just be more careful.

On starting weights, that's good to know. It would be cool to develop though, a chart of some sort where it showed say number of weeks since last HB workout vs. % strength loss. There is a 1 rep max calculator that a lot of weight lifters use - and I'm thinking something along the same lines. I guess that's unrealistic though. For yourself Mark, you're significantly more trained than most, so you probably lose strength as a % of your peak a lot faster than someone who is a beginner. I've read that in regards to strength anyway, that well trained athletes will lose it as a % of total strength, faster than the beginner and intermediate trained athlete, who is starting off a lower base. So perhaps it's too specific to the athlete.

Valid point re: the full crimp. I'll avoid that. Typically though, I include that grip because of the RPTM detail around strength gains being specific to +/- 30 degrees of grip angle, as well as the more recent commentary around pulp adaptations for the full crimp. In the grand scheme of things though, it can wait.

That's good intel on the 21 days. I had read that fingernails grow at around 3mm per month, so I probably won't have the fingernail all the way back for another 6 weeks, but at least in another 2 weeks the skin should be a lot thicker.

I think the micro-cycle is a good thing to be aware of, not just as a way to extend a season, but in case of minor injury, to salvage a season. Could also work if you need to say, take 2 weeks off mid season for work or family reasons etc.

[Chris W]

Apr 5, 2018 19:51:15 GMT -7 jetjackson said:

Indeed, I did think about throwing the blender out, but my wife suggested I should just be more careful.

Wives are silly like that

[MarkAnderson]

Apr 5, 2018 19:51:15 GMT -7 jetjackson said:

It would be cool to develop though, a chart of some sort where it showed say number of weeks since last HB workout vs. % strength loss. There is a 1 rep max calculator that a lot of weight lifters use - and I'm thinking something along the same lines. I guess that's unrealistic though. For yourself Mark, you're significantly more trained than most, so you probably lose strength as a % of your peak a lot faster than someone who is a beginner. I've read that in regards to strength anyway, that well trained athletes will lose it as a % of total strength, faster than the beginner and intermediate trained athlete, who is starting off a lower base. So perhaps it's too specific to the athlete.
 

It may not seem like it, but I'm actually trying to encourage performance-oriented climbers to think MORE, not LESS.  I've noticed increasingly that my best intentions have backfired spectacularly, and the more information I provide, the less people want to think for themselves.  It's just a matter of time before somebody asks which shoe they should put on first, because they've lost the ability to figure it out themselves.  Let's all try to break this cycle.  Use your brains!  You have to carry them around anyway, might as well get something for the effort.  Your best guess for you is going to be far closer to "correct" than somebody else's best guess for a generic climber.  And the great thing is, the more "best-guessing" you do, the better you will get at doing it, thus improving the accuracy of your guesses over time.

[jetjackson]

I'm aiming to think less in order to atrophy the brain and improve my strength to weight ratio

Point taken though.