From V0 to V5 in His First Month of Climbing... Is it Safe? | Viewer Questions
Hooper’s Beta Ep. 62
Viewer Question Ep. 9
Intro
The longest viewer question video yet! 16 minutes?! Well, that's just what happens when you guys ask a bunch of great questions!
Below, you’ll find this weeks questions and written answers! Thanks again for watching!
Questions
Viewer: Martin R
Question: I remember Dave MacLeod saying (I think in his "how to hangboard" video) that you're fine with 45-90sec rests for 7-10sec max hangs because time under tension is low and you activate only a relatively small muscle group, compared to e.g. 5 weighted pull-ups that take at least 30sec and require the whole upper body to go almost max. effort. I personally do quite well with 60sec rests so far, but my hangboard experience is admittedly limited. Is there some research that tells us that the standard 3-5 min breaks of max strength workouts should also be applied when hangboarding?
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Video in Reference: How to TRAIN ON THE HANGBOARD AND CLIMB on the SAME DAY (for max gains)
Answer:
There has been research related both to general physiology of max efforts and with hangboard protocols such as with Dr. Eva Lopez. Our physiology tells us that if we are producing an effort that will cause failure around 10 seconds, we are using an energy system (the phosphocreatine system otherwise known as our alactic anaerobic system) that will take longer to recover. We also know that to promote the best adaptations we want to load as much healthy force as possible. Loading the tissue when it is not at it's optimum may not produce optimal results. So, if you are not resting long enough, you may not be producing optimal force, which may mean less than optimal results. Now, this research out there is good, well known, and not disputed, but everyone is slightly different. I still strongly support the rest time I state of 3-5 minutes, but the only way to truly tell is if you were using a crane scale and measuring your force production with the variable being the rest time. Are you actually pulling as hard with only a 60 second rest, or do you need longer to get that max effort? If you don’t have those resources available to do your testing, it’s hard to just rely on subjective answers because you may feel good, but not be producing the optimal numbers. Trust the science.
Viewer: nbka8rs
Question: Is it best to put pre-habilitation exercises for elbows on climbing days or non-climbing days? Currently I do them on climbing days based on the assumption that those tendons are being used anyway, then I do complete rest days of those tendons on non climbing days allowing for real recovery. I have however also heard of training plans that put prehab work on non climbing days. Any thoughts on this?
Video in Reference: Is Knuckle Cracking HARMFUL for ROCK CLIMBERS?
Answer: A lot of this will depend on what works / is available for you, your schedule, your time allotment, etc. But, here are some thoughts to help guide your training.
If you are doing your pre-hab exercises on climbing days there are two factors to consider. If you do them before climbing, then you need to look at that day as a training day for climbing (technique, movement, etc) and not limit bouldering as you won't be able to climb as strongly since you have already allocated some of your energy to prehab. If you do the pre-hab exercises after climbing, then there are some other factors to consider. You will likely be fatigued (say the wrist flexors, for example) to the point where you may not be generating enough force to cause strength changes, but rather are just targeting more specific muscles/tendons to help increase blood flow. If you’re goal is to work on strength, you want to be able to load that tissue when it is not super fatigued. If the goal is to work on the endurance of the muscle groups, and you are going to follow it up with a great rest day, then doing it after climbing is fine. Also, if your prehab involves working an alternate muscle group that isn’t a prime mover for climbing and rather is a stabilizer (say, pronators and supinators) then doing your exercises after climbing is fine, as they won't be as "worked" from climbing.
On the flip side, the benefit of training on an off day is that you will use those pre-hab tools to work on improving strength as they are more rested. Personally, that is what I do. I climb hard Saturday (or at least I try to), Hangboard and climb on Monday, and then I work on my forearm and shoulders Tuesday. I do big body work Wednesday (deadlifts) and THursday + Friday are my recovery and rest days to get healthy and fully recovered again for Saturday.
Side Note: I have had a lot of questions recently about how to incorporate training into climbing so I will be working on a video for that in the future!
Viewer: txelcat
Question: Heyo Dr. Hoops! What's really going on when I wake up a day after an intense finger session and I feel my fingers stiff (but not painful)? Is it better to take a rest on such days? Today I woke up with that feeling, but one finger was feeling particularly stiff (maybe even a bit painful on the A2-3 pulley area). Although 5 minutes after waking up all my fingers felt normal again.
Video in Reference: Is Knuckle Cracking HARMFUL for ROCK CLIMBERS?
Answer: Great question. This stiffness that you get early in the morning after a hard day of climbing is generally because of increased interstitial fluid, (swelling). That’s not necessarily a bad sign that. That can be a sign of healing. When we work hard, we cause micro trauma to our tissue. That is totally normal and part of the training process. Remember, strength training is a process of progressively overloading tissue which causes break down and then we rest and rebuild the tissue stronger. The process of breaking down tissue will cause some mild inflammation and accumulation of fluid in the area. When we are moving through our day to day it's not as bad because we are like sponges. Movement contracts tissue and compressions / decompresses joints which allows for better fluid mobility. When we sleep, we don't move much, so the fluid accumulates more which causes the stiffness in the AM. The great sign, is that you said “5 minutes after waking up all my fingers felt normal again”. This means, most likely, that you are returning the fluid levels back to normal and so it’s just part of your normal healing, no harm no foul. As for the second part of your question, is it better to take a rest on such days, use the intensity to help measure this. The more intense it is, the more you are likely healing / recovering. We don’t really want to train on injured and recovering tissue. So, my recommendation would be to use that as gauge for your rest days. If it feels really stiff, you should definitely consider a rest day, or just a technique day where you aren’t climbing at your limit.
Viewer: hehe xd
Question: Great video! Can I ask about your titles laid out in the beginning? What do the abbreviations stand for? I am having trouble trying to transfer/translate them to equivalent ones in my native language.
Video in Reference: Is Knuckle Cracking HARMFUL for ROCK CLIMBERS?
Answer: I believe you are talking about the titles in my name? If so: let me just go ahead and talk about myself for a second here.
PT = Physical Therapist
DPT = Doctor of Physical Therapy
OCS = Orthopedic Clinical Specialist
SCS = Sports Clinical Specialist
It's sort of weird here in the states. PT & DPT together is sort of strang.. The PT part indicates that I have passed my national exam and am a licensed PT. The DPT part means I have graduated from an accredited school with my clinical doctorate. The OCS and SCS are advanced board certified certifications that are achieved later with work experience and testing.
Viewer: Steven Lewis
Question: Hi recently discovered your channel after Emil name dropped you [woot woot! Thanks Emil!]. Pretty sure I've binged all your vids in a week and really appreciate the detail you provide. A few questions, me and my flatmate have started doing this stretching routine everyday as we're currently locked down at home working at desks all day and developing bad backs. I noted in stretching 101 you said around 7.5 mins per week per muscle group is enough to see improvements but then in a q and a you said you should be stretching 2 even 3 times a day to see improvements? Seeing as we're immobile for large parts of the day should we consider doing this routine twice a day? Also would you consider our bodies ready for pnf style stretching post this routine?
Video in Reference: Lower Body Stretch Follow-Along Routine for Rock Climbers (INSTANT GAINS!)
Answer:
Yes, that’s such good news right? it really doesn't take much to see improvements. It just takes consistency. And yes, I also have recommended stretching multiple times a day. The reason for that is, as you said, we are often immobile for large parts of the day. That immobility can make you feel stiff and uncomfortable. It can cause pain and make you feel discouraged about your mobility and your body in general. Breaking up these hours of immobility with some gentle stretching can help you feel healthier throughout the day and can break up hours of sitting preventing chronic pain such as lower back and neck pain. Like with the research noted in this video, it doesn’t even have to be too long to be effective. Just take breaks from your sitting and go through a few of these stretches to keep your body happy and health. Finally, yes! You can do PNF style stretching after you do this routine as long as you are doing it correctly. Great questions!
Viewer: Alain George
Question: How fast is it safe to progress? If you’re climbing V5s with thin holds and finger pockets after your first month climbing is it okay on your tendons or are you asking for injury?
Video in Reference: Is Knuckle Cracking HARMFUL for ROCK CLIMBERS?
Answer: OK so this one was harder for me to answer, because honestly initially it made me cringe. Let’s be real, every situation is unique and every individual is different, so it’s hard for me to just shut this down, but in general, that feels like an unsafe progression, and I don’t believe any of my other professional colleagues would disagree. Pockets and small crimps apply a lot of force to tissue in a new ways and can definitely lead to injury. If I'm being honest, I hate being the one sitting here waving a theoretical cane in the air yelling at people to slow down and get off my lawn, because there are those few people out there that just have great genetics, great technique, or unnaturally strong tendons? But, I can’t say that is the normal, in fact, ultimately I see the opposite. I've seen people progress really quickly like this end up getting injured far more often than not. My recommendation, if you are progressing this quickly, really make sure you are getting plenty of rest time. Don't let the stoke of progressing quickly cause you to create an overuse injury. Allow your body a chance to adapt to these forces and fully recover to help reduce the risk of injury. This will also afford you the opportunity to listen to your body: is pain developing in the fingers? Or do you feel as strong as ever? Thanks for the challenging question, though!
Viewer: T Erha
Question: About the cracking.. usually I get a slight discomfort (can't really call it pain) in my ringfinger of the right hand, and ring+middlefinger of the left. Then I have to crack them to release the pain. This helps for a while until I have to crack them again. I can't really crimp with them when they're not cracked because that actually hurts. Is that weird?
Video in Reference: Is Knuckle Cracking HARMFUL for ROCK CLIMBERS?
Answer: So, the biggest hint for this is what you mentioned last, you can’t really crimp with them when they yare not cracked. What may be happening with this is that your joint mobility may be limited and as such when you go to crimp you are increasing the compressive force on the joint and/or the joint is simply not moving perfectly in a biomechanical sense which causes the pain. After cracking it, you are likely improving the mobility and possibly even the biomechanics of that joint which means less pain as a result. The other possibilities include the placebo affect in that it usually simply feels good to crack your joints and or the inhibition effect that cracking has on the surrounding muscles which can reduce discomfort.
Disclaimer:
As always, exercises are to be performed assuming your own risk and should not be done if you feel you are at risk for injury. See a medical professional if you have concerns before starting new exercises.
Written and Presented by Jason Hooper, PT, DPT, OCS, SCS, CAFS
IG: @hoopersbetaofficial
Filming and Editing by Emile Modesitt
www.emilemodesitt.com
IG: @emile166
