Why Does My Shoulder Hurt When Climbing? | Viewer Questions
Hooper’s Beta Ep. 66
Viewer Questions Ep. 10
FUN FACT!
Manatees use farting to help control their buoyancy!!! An adult manatee will eat between 100 and 150 pounds of vegetation each day which means a lot of methane builds up inside. If they want to float to the top they hold it in and if they want to sink they let it rip.
Viewer Questions
Viewer: M. Schyluer Jarman
Question: Low volume, high intensity, so like 3 sets of 5,3, 1-2 reps? Im guessing only top rep matters as long as you are tracking strength gains?
Video in Reference: Should Climbers Weight Train? (MY PERSPECTIVE AS A PHYSICAL THERAPIST)
Answer:
This question is in relation to strength training and the amount of repetitions to perform. They mention 3 sets. The first being 5 reps, second 3, and third 1-2 reps. This format is awesome for strength training. The style of this repetition is to focus on building strength while avoiding hypertrophy, which is great for climbing. My modification, though, is to do 4-5 total sets, depending on how warmed up you are. I like to do my first set of 8-10 repetitions as my warm up, then 5-6 reps as the second set, 3-4 as the third, and the final two are going to range between 1-3 repetitions. This model will help you avoid injury, avoid getting too swoll, while still getting strong!
Viewer: Stan van der Voort
Question: How much force am I supposed to put into the palm crimps? It feels like the only reason it hurts is because I push too hard. Puddy crimps are mostly fine.
Video in Reference: A2 Pulley Injuries: Everything climbers need to know (STRAINS, TEARS, & SURGERY)
Answer: That's a great question and why I eventually like to use things like puddy or farmer crimps, because they are measurable. The palm crimps are more about your self control. You can vary the amount of force you create entirely off of how much force you create lol. The great, positive, thing about this, is that you can produce as much or as little force as needed while NOT producing pain ;) BUT, the hard part about this, is that it is not measurable so it is harder to track your progress. So to directly answer your question: you should only be applying as much force as to create little to no discomfort, but enough to load the tissue so we start to promote positive changes to our healing tissue. Once you can, move on to something that is more measurable and objective and less subjective. That way you can track your progress and really tell if you are improving or not.
Sidenote: this actually brings up a deeper thought of mine relating to these issues. Try and be objective. Really. When we have an injury, the body has a lot of different processes going on, both neurological and physiological. Sometimes, your body can be hard to read and can be confusing and hard to tell if you’re doing better or making progress. You may be getting frustrated, when really you’re doing fine. You may get impatient, when really, you’re healing normally. Try and be objective with your rehab and make it measurable. That way you can feel confident that your rehab is working. That confidence will make your injury feel better, meaning you’ll be less frustrated, more focused, and it will have a positive snowball effect.
Viewer: James Blackwell
Question: Do you think 1 arm pull ups really add to your climbing higher grades or finger strength is more a factor?
Video in Reference: How to One-Arm Pullup (in 16 Levels of Difficulty)
Answer: Overall finger strength and technique would be more important in my opinion. This is especially true as you are advancing through the more difficult grades. Having a lot of upper body strength may allow you to quickly progress through V0-V4-5, but then technique becomes more and more important. Have any of you seen your gymnast friends climb V3 their first day and are basically campusing it? Yeah. Super strong. But eventually, finger strength on those tiny holds becomes a factor.
To add a small sample size of actual evidence, take me for example. I can do a 1-arm pull up, as the video shows. I can do this on a jug, I can do this on a ~30mm edge, but I cannot do it on a 10mm edge. In fact, I have used my Gstrength crane scale and I can generate about 50kg of force, or 110 pounds. I weigh roughly 155 pounds. So, that limitation is absolutely my finger strength. I can’t 1-arm my way through crimps.
Good shoulder strength and stability will definitely help, though! I mean, I’m pretty sure Megos can do like 15 1-arm pull ups on a 6mm edge so…. Maybe that should be the goal.
**that should not be your goal. Megos is a god**
Viewer: Timothy Murray
Question: I generally get this type of discomfort coming on quite gradually during bouldering sessions (less so when route climbing), and the pain can become quite intense, accompanied by a sensation of weakness in the whole arm, shaky hand etc. The discomfort then generally goes away over the next day or 2. Is that duration consistent with bicep tendinopathy? I get it generally on the right side but also occasionally left side, and I've also had it from swimming before, and even once from throwing loads of snow balls one afternoon haha!
Video in Reference: Biceps Pain from Climbing? Here's the Cause & Treatment - Hooper's Beta Ep. 26
Answer: Actually, to be honest, as I was reading that I was thinking "It's probably actually his infraspinatus and/or teres minor". Often times, the activities that cause us pain can give us cues. You mentioned pain with swimming and even throwing. Throwing places loads of stress on the external rotators (infraspinatus and teres minor) as you slow the arm down after throwing. Swimming places constant load on the external rotators as we bring the arm through our stroke, out of the water. Bouldering also places loads of stress on those due to the stabilization required and may be more intense than the route climbing you're doing which may be more endurance focused. If the symptoms don’t necessarily match the activity, dig deeper and see what makes sense. I would check out some strengthening for your external rotators and see if that helps!
Viewer: oi
Question: Is it Smart to implement pull ups in the rests between sets?
Video in Reference: Quick and Effective Hangboard Routine that Anyone Can Do
Answer:I wouldn't recommend it, especially if you're looking at the harder hangs, because you want to fully rest and recover and not take resources away to other parts of your body.
Viewer: Ntherar
Question: How applicable is this for other tendon injuries? Like a TFCC injury for example
Video in Reference: Why your FINGER INJURY WON'T HEAL and HOW TO FIX IT -- Hint: Pain is good
Answer:Awesome question! Pain science can be applied in many different areas, from an FDP injury, to Runners Knee / patellafemoral pain syndrome. It is, of course, case by case. TFCC injuries aren't as applicable as often times the problem is the person continues to re-aggravate the injury with their activity or day to day motions. Understanding pain science is important, nonetheless. Because every injury has both a physical AND a neurological component. So don’t forget that important aspect!
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 Produced by Jason Hooper (PT, DPT, OCS, SCS, CAFS) and Emile Modesitt
IG: @hoopersbetaofficial
