Injuries
are a part of any sport. They are inevitable and common so you had better
know what to do when you get one; or at least have some people around you that
can give you some good advice about how to deal with it. They always seem to
come, at least for me they do, when you feel your best. It has been about
3 and a half weeks since I initially did the damage and since then have done
some pretty good rehab, taken some time off, and really looked into why it
happened in the first place.
What
happened?
I have
been bouldering pretty well lately and pushing myself to get a bit better.
I was climbing on some decent sized pinches and was transitioning my body
weight from one hand to the other with outstretched feet when all of the sudden
I heard a “POP!” I knew instantly it was
bad. It definitely ended my training for
the night and I knew I would be out of the gym for a few weeks. My finger swelled and within just a few
minutes wasn't able to hold on to even the biggest holds without a significant
amount of pain. The night wasn’t a total
loss though. It gave me time to have a
few beers with a good friend.
What
did I do?
After a
week of no climbing I finally got in to see my doctor. I strained the major tendon in my right
middle finger and a partial tear in the pulley that allows the tip of the
finger to bend. As a climber, this is a bad one. It is very
difficult to climb anything without putting weight on your fingers. I was
told to stay away from training in the gym and putting any weight on my fingers
or even moving the tip of my finger as best as possible. So with significant amount of tape on my
fingers I did what the doctor said.
Two weeks
later I went back to the doctor and was given the all clear to take on really
light lifting and pulling on the finger.
It still hurts but not nearly like it did at first. In fact, I was able this week to get back in
the gym and climb on sloped holds. I
attempted some bigger crimps but had to back off due the amount of pain. All-in-all it’s healing. I just need to be patient and focus on other
areas of training.
What
did I learn?
Soon
after any injury, I try to look back on the incident to figure out if there was
anything I could have done to prevent it.
1)
I’m too heavy. I’m 6’ tall and about 175-180 lbs. Not terribly heavy but about 10 – 15 lbs.
lighter and I would reduce the risk of doing this type of thing again.
2)
I need to stretch more. This particular week was a really stressful
week and I carry all my stress in my shoulders, neck and upper back. To say I should have stretched for 10 minutes
before working out is an understatement.
In reality, I should stretch for 10 minutes or so before every workout,
but even more this particular week.
3)
I need to work on my core
strength. A tighter core would have kept
my feet on the wall a bit better and would have taken more of my already heavy
body weight off of my hand.
What do I do now?
Well, now that I am injured, I
definitely see things a little differently.
I am doing what I can to put the habits into place to train with more of
a purpose. I installed a hangboard in
the garage, and am getting ready to start P90X3 to gain some overall strength,
as well as start some more climbing specific exercises on the hangboard.
That is why I started this
blog. I want to document my progress to
keep myself accountable and see where this leads. I’m 38 with a wife and almost 3 year old
daughter. I don’t have a ton of time on
my hands, but this is something I want to do.
Let’s see where it leads.
