When you hear the term “climbing injuries,” you may automatically think of people falling down and injuring themselves. The reality, however, is that the majority of climbing injuries do not occur because someone fell. With much modern equipment and special techniques, the risk of falling has decreased significantly. The majority of injuries are categorized as overuse injuries, meaning that climbers push their bodies too far before they are ready, leading to accidents.
With that in mind, what can you do to reduce the risk of any type of injury? Here are some tips you can follow to reduce the risk of climbing injuries:
1. Take breaks in between
It might be enticing to keep trying out climbing challenges, especially when it comes to bouldering. However, excessively climbing will lead to injuries. As such, taking breaks in between each climbing attempt is vital. Even though bouldering only goes up a few meters, it can put tremendous strain on the body, especially if you do not take breaks. Do not forget about warm-ups either, as we will get into the next tip.
2. Warm-up before climbing
As for any other physical activity out there, you need to warm up your body before you participate. This is to prepare the muscle for the strenuous activity ahead, reducing the likelihood of injuries like muscle strains. It also allows the muscles to perform better, resulting in better performance in climbing overall. As such, doing warms up that help to prime your finger tendons, leg muscles, and other parts of your body for activity will reduce the likelihood of injuries when you climb.
3. Reduce the amount of climbing you do
Too much of anything is not good, and this includes climbing. Although it is a good activity to exercise your body, too much of it will cause overuse and overload injuries. Also, the more you climb, the less time your body has to recover, meaning you would not be fully recovered before you head out for another climb. As such, dedicate at least a day or two to rest between each climb.
4. Train on technique along with strength
Although strength training can help with climbing, the technique is another important factor you must never forget. This is especially true if you are trying to take on more challenging climbs, as wrong techniques can put unnecessary strain on your body and lead to injuries. So before you take on bigger challenges, train your technique along with strength. This ensures that you do not put too much strain on weak points of the body. Also, do not rush this process. Technique and strength come with time, and you should dedicate enough training time before tackling new challenges.
Conclusion
In summary, taking breaks, training technique, improving strength, and adequately warming up are just some of the things you must do to limit the injuries you are at risk of when you are out there climbing different obstacles. Remember, climbing is not the safest sport around. There is plenty of potential for injuries, especially for those who are not physically or mentally ready for the activity. Taking the time to train one’s skill and strength is vital to ensure safe climbing. If you do get injured, then be sure to seek medical treatment quickly to get it healed as soon as possible.
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