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boulderbrad
Dec 29, 2014, 7:59 PM
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Hi,
About a month ago, I was bouldering in my local gym and after a difficult sloper V5 problem my elbows started to throb and ache. I tried the problem again and the pain became unbearable so I stopped climbing. I took two days off and the pain went away pretty quickly. So I've continued to go to the gym every other day for the next month when the pain came back after trying a balance-y problem.. It's not even that much strength involved. Has anyone else experienced this pain? Is there anything I can do to prevent it? There's no warning signs, it just hits me and ruins my day at the gym. I only got 3 climbs in today before I had to leave. I posted a video of the problem I got hurt on. I didn't get hurt in the video... it occurred a few days later after trying that problem a 2nd time. Maybe it's the type of problem? I'm not too sure. I've only been climbing for 4 months and climb V4's/V5's and the odd V6 at my gym so I'm still quite a new/amateur climber.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL3fULgt8mM
(This post was edited by boulderbrad on Dec 29, 2014, 8:10 PM)
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marc801
Dec 30, 2014, 4:04 PM
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boulderbrad wrote: Hi, About a month ago, I was bouldering in my local gym and after a difficult sloper V5 problem my elbows started to throb and ache. I tried the problem again and the pain became unbearable so I stopped climbing. I took two days off and the pain went away pretty quickly. So I've continued to go to the gym every other day for the next month when the pain came back after trying a balance-y problem.. It's not even that much strength involved. Has anyone else experienced this pain? Is there anything I can do to prevent it? There's no warning signs, it just hits me and ruins my day at the gym. I only got 3 climbs in today before I had to leave. I posted a video of the problem I got hurt on. I didn't get hurt in the video... it occurred a few days later after trying that problem a 2nd time. Maybe it's the type of problem? I'm not too sure. I've only been climbing for 4 months and climb V4's/V5's and the odd V6 at my gym so I'm still quite a new/amateur climber. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL3fULgt8mM
Probably tendonitis of the elbows. You're likely pushing too hard too fast. Your muscles are getting very strong but your tendons - in particular their attachment points - take a lot longer to develop. At your rate there is the possibility of you needing to stop climbing for 6-12 months if you don't back things down a bit. I'm guessing you're going to the gym frequently and usually working hard problems. Are you warming up and cooling down properly? Are you going to the gym excessively (> 3x /week)? Are you spending little time on easier but more problems per visit or focusing on the V5's and above?
Search the forums and you'll find hundreds of similar posts/questions from newbs climbing really hard really fast and injuring themselves.
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funk
Dec 30, 2014, 7:10 PM
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very insightful video! i totally understand your ailment with assistance from your visual spraydown. you need to switch hit. simple answer to a simple problem.
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boulderbrad
Dec 31, 2014, 12:12 AM
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marc801 wrote: Are you warming up and cooling down properly? Are you going to the gym excessively (> 3x /week)? Are you spending little time on easier but more problems per visit or focusing on the V5's and above?
I do warm up with some V0's/v1's before getting into the more difficult problems. I go to the gym every other day so 3-4 times per week. I spend most of my time on challenging problems because I find it more fun and rewarding than doing something I can easily flash. Thanks for the input. I'll do some more research on the forums here.
funk wrote: very insightful video! i totally understand your ailment with assistance from your visual spraydown. you need to switch hit. simple answer to a simple problem.
Thanks.. but what is a switch hit? I tried googling it but couldn't find anything except for with the boring sport, Cricket. haha
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6pacfershur
Dec 31, 2014, 3:11 AM
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when you get tired of interwebz jibberjabber, go see a health care professional before you really fuck yourself up....
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marc801
Dec 31, 2014, 10:54 PM
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6pacfershur wrote: when you get tired of interwebz jibberjabber, go see a health care professional before you really fuck yourself up....
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onceahardman
Jan 2, 2015, 11:47 PM
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As marc801 said, this is probably tendinitis. There are many threads here about it. You have applied tensile forces to your tendons in excess of the tensile strength of the material. You have damaged your tendons. They need to heal. If you continue to apply the same forces, i.e., try to "train through the pain", you are very likely to make it worse.
Rest for a week or so, then start up with VERY EASY (VO-) climbing. Better yet, go climbing outside. Indoor holds are murder on fingers and elbows, because they are repetitive, and load the tissues the same way, again and again.
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artsylady567
Jan 3, 2015, 2:52 AM
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I would agree that it is tendinitis (tennis elbow). When I started climbing, I got a tightness in my left wrist. Ended up being due to poor climbing posture/technique with my whole left arm. Worked on becoming aware of my posture in relation to climbing and that seemed to help decrease its occurrence.
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nobelium106
Jan 16, 2015, 6:48 PM
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I just want to add, having had the same problem myself, I found that a big part of the strain that leads to tendonitis came from overgripping. The combo of time off and then stressing over getting solid grips on the holds can be a bad combo.
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