Hey Old Fogies

[EWolfe]

 

Frayed Broccoli?

 

[whidbey]

i'm now feeling much younger... my shit aint broke yet!

[Geek_the_Greek]

stay off straight arms as much as possible

 

That's very interesting. I was thinking of this recently. Newbies are taught to avoid hanging on bent arms, because you get tired quickly; hang straight-armed, as your joints and bones are much stronger than your muscles. But then you get tendinitis and other problems.

 

Joseph - do you think you (or anyone) would have less joint problems in later years if you climbed more "muscley"? This does seem a bit counterintuitive - like telling someone to climb with poor technique. Or is it just a matter of spending more time on slabbier routes, where you don't have to hang very much?

 

I guess this belongs in the fitness forum. Oh well.

[Blake]

stay off straight arms as much as possible

 

That's very interesting. I was thinking of this recently. Newbies are taught to avoid hanging on bent arms, because you get tired quickly; hang straight-armed, as your joints and bones are much stronger than your muscles. But then you get tendinitis and other problems.

 

Joseph - do you think you (or anyone) would have less joint problems in later years if you climbed more "muscley"? This does seem a bit counterintuitive - like telling someone to climb with poor technique. Or is it just a matter of spending more time on slabbier routes, where you don't have to hang very much?

 

I guess this belongs in the fitness forum. Oh well.

 

 

I was wondering about the exact same thing... anyone care to elaborate?

[JosephH]

Well, my earlier years of climbing in the '70s were all about very strenuous overhangs and flat roofs. We had rests/hangs from every conceivable body part down to a science - particularly no hands and straight arm hangs. Here's a shot of one of them I put up in '75:

 

http://rockclimbing.com/photo/photo_show.php?id=46917 (w/ text)

 

http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/500/6299Fiddler800.JPG (larger w/o text)

 

Most of these roofs have no hands or no feet hangs for major rests and minor rests on straight arms with various heel/toe hooks. That, in combination with some very specific lunges pretty much did my shoulders in. I have generally suspected that on vertical terrain, which our hollows didn't have the toll would be much less - roofs are pretty dependent on shoulders. I have since been reputably assured that relentlessly hanging on your joints is a bad idea, period. So that adds to the balancing act: don't rest on muscles for short-term gain and long-term loss OR rest on muscles for short-term loss and long-term gain. This is obviously another case of either there is no god or she's really f#cking with you. Me, there isn't a roof FA I'd trade to have my shoulder back, had we known, however, I would have tried to climb differently. As a sidebar, my main partner from those days also did rings in college before climbing and he has pretty much the same issues, but throw in neck and elbow problems as well (he still climbs .13a fairly casually)...