Indoor Bouldering=harsh on body

[Jens]

Any tips on for me here...

 

I find that whenever I boulder indoors for more than a couple of nights a week, the repeated jumping/ falling off problems is hard on my body (and all my buddies too). Even some of the gyms that I have climbed in back east that feature top out boulders, repeated falling off trying a hard problem seems to beat me up. An hour or two is fine once every ten days or so for me, but as a routine of 2-3 hours a session a couple of times a week would really shorten my climbing career inmho. Adam Ondra who is currently the best rock climber in the world made some of the same comments in regards to his knees and back and he is only 18 and thus is bouldering far less indoors. I've fallen on pretty much every conceivable mat and or padding surface. As for downclimbing easier problems, if you are truly climbing at your limit, that isn't going to always be possible. Do I need gymnastic foam pits or more spotters? I think the solution for me is to stick with shorter bouldering walls indoors and save the radical shredding for the roped leads.

[genepires]

is outdoor bouldering not as harsh? If yes, then maybe look at why this is so and make your indoor more like outdoor.

[Frankazoid]

Indoor bouldering has always been harsh for my body, in many ways. I find I give problems that are at my limit way more go's when inside. Or other problems that are just below my limit- I think I climb too many of them. My last straw was the worst wrist tendonitis ive ever had from going a twice a week. Im done with indoors. Thats my solution.

[Rad]

Hmmm. For a variety of reasons most of my workouts are indoor bouldering. I have come to love it as I find more creative movement than most roped routes. I know you're a very experienced climber, but some basics still apply (like listen to your body and rest). Here's what works for me (may or may not work for you).

 

1 - Warm up. Traverse. Multiple easy routes (climb up and down). Stretch all parts (back especially important).

 

2 - Set a goal for your session and stick to it. It might be to do all the routes under a certain grade, or to try a target problem at your limit, or to do a certain number of routes at a target grade (1-2 levels below limit). Many other options are possible, but don't allow yourself to do a huge number of routes and then do a lot of attempts on your hardest problem.

 

3 - Be willing to say no to a problem. I won't do routes at my limit where the hardest moves set you up for injury. For me, this might mean hard moves that put your body in an awkward position way above the pads. Or moves right down near the ground where there's no time in the air to adjust yourself. Or moves on vertical or slab routes where you can get hurt hitting other holds. It might mean certain holds or hold positions that seem likely to cause finger, wrist, shoulder, or other injuries (you'll know these after one attempt). Sometimes routes are just shitty. It's not worth injuring yourself just to prove you can climb it.

 

4 - Downclimb from the top when possible on easier holds. This is almost always possible - or at least you can get lower and control your fall/landing.

 

5 - Fall/land properly. Land on two feet whenever possible and never land with straight legs or put out a straight arm to stop yourself (think martial arts falls). Absorb fall energy by couching down toward fetal position. Roll if necessary, but watch out for others.

 

6 - Some gyms are better than others. I find that VW Seattle has the hardest landings in the area. The pads you pull around the room are a joke and there are often unruly kids underneath you wanting to get squashed. SG has better padding.

 

7 - Listen to your body. I don't climb more than two days in a row or 4 days a week because it is hard on the system. Your body needs time to rest between workouts otherwise you won't be getting stronger. The exception to these is if you're just doing endurance workouts. If you feel a shoulder or elbow is on the edge of tweakage avoid routes that aggravate it. Ditto any other hand/finger/wrist situation. Don't ride ibuprofen to get through as it will set you back in the long run.

 

When you're old like me staying healthy is hard work!

 

I could probably ramble on but I'll stop.

Have fun!

Rad

[Rad]

Reading your post again, it sounds like the landings from unexpected falls on routes near your limit are what's causing stress to your system. Some of my comments above are not relevant to that. Here are two more quick thoughts then:

 

- Before you climb a route, figure out where a fall is likely and pad the landing as much as possible. If it involves an awkward body position imagine/plan how you will fall safely. There is a fine line here, because you don't want to visualize failure. At the same time, you don't want to be making your falling plan when you're airborne.

 

- Get tips from veteran boulderers about how to fall and not get hurt. Watch them too.

 

- Skip problems that have higher impact or dangerous falls, or only do them when you're fresh.

 

- Shorten your workouts. Perhaps the biggest danger in bouldering is climbing too much. Because you aren't swapping with a partner, tying in and out, lowering, and can go straight to the hard moves, bouldering trends toward higher intensity, shorter duration workouts than roped climbing. I can get a better workout in 45 minutes of bouldering than 2 hours of roped climbing.