Putting your time in at the gym or on the rock, most likely you will come face-to-face with some of the most common climbing injuries:

• A finger tendon tear/rupture (pully or flexor tendon)
• Elbow tendonitits
• Shoulder subluxation (instability or dislocation)

As it stands, statistics in climbing have shown nearly 85% of 5.12 climbers had experienced an overuse injury– with finger injuries as the most common. Looking at the relationship between a climbers ability and frequency of injury, climbers who train hard, and want to keep training hard should do everything to minimize their chances for injury. These are some of the top ways to keep yourself healthy and off the IR.

1. Don’t climb to exhaustion. Many small body tweaks happen near the end of your climbing/training.

2. Don’t climb and/or train more than 4 days per week. Overtraining is the best way to become injured. Taking enough rest days is a sign of a seasoned climber.

3. Develop antagonistic muscle groups in arms, upper body and mid-section. Two days per week of light “push muscle” training is a great start. Proper warming up is necessary– starting with light cardio and active stretching for most bigger muscle groups.

4. Change the style of your climbing to avoid the wear and tear on your body. Focusing on one specific movement on a problem is one sure-fire way to become injured.

5. Work on Technique versus Power. Obsessive training will end in injury (see Tip #2). Also, developing proper technique will enable you to make the most of the strength you already possess.