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I’m skeptical of the recommendation to climb on a complete A2 rupture with a custom splint.I’m not against splinting, an...
09/08/2026

I’m skeptical of the recommendation to climb on a complete A2 rupture with a custom splint.

I’m not against splinting, and I’m definitely not against early loading. The problem is treating those things as evidence that climbing right away is appropriate.

We have evidence that a specific pulley protection splint can reduce bowstringing. We do not have evidence that every custom splint does the same thing, or makes immediate climbing safe.

Even the published pulley protection splint protocol waited 3–4 weeks before introducing easy climbing.

There is plenty we can do before that: maintain motion, progressively load the finger flexors, and control force, grip position, volume and loading rate.

Climbing makes all of those variables harder to control, with the added possibility of an unexpected foot slip or eccentric load.

Could someone climb immediately in a custom splint and do fine? Probably.

That is very different from suggesting it improves healing or is the better rehabilitation strategy.

Early loading makes sense. I’m just not convinced early loading needs to mean immediate climbing.

PMID: 27067301, 35915476, 42241601

I’m not anti-flexibility at all. I think it’s more important than the research suggests because my mobility is quite lim...
09/07/2026

I’m not anti-flexibility at all. I think it’s more important than the research suggests because my mobility is quite limited personally.

The current literature suggests flexibility as a secondary and highly task-specific performance factor compared with strength, endurance, and power.

And yes, I know flexibility and mobility are not the same thing, and mobility is best trained with full range loaded movements.

If you genuinely can’t access specific climbing positions, work on those ranges (most importantly the hips). Once you have it, get strong there and practice using it on the wall.

The point is to suggest that you don’t need to dedicate much, if any, of your time training generic flexibility, because it’s not likely adding much to your climbing performance.

📸 Beatrice Milanesi | Climbing coach 🤘



PMIDS 39216626, 11049146, 37486001, 37229362.

I still see people spending a ridiculous amount of time rolling out their tissues before and after training.If you like ...
09/04/2026

I still see people spending a ridiculous amount of time rolling out their tissues before and after training.

If you like how it feels, have at it. There is some evidence that foam rolling can temporarily increase ROM and reduce how sore you feel.

But the performance literature is underwhelming. Strength, power, jumping, and long-term performance don’t meaningfully improve.

And the temporary ROM increase doesn’t mean you “released” your fascia or structurally changed the tissue. Changes in pain/pressure sensitivity and tolerance provide a much less exciting, and probably more reasonable, explanation for at least part of what you’re experiencing.

So if foam rolling feels good, have at it. But if you’ve been convinced to roll before your training sessions because it’s improving performance, you’re wasting training time.

You can just warm up for the thing you’re actually about to do.

I’ve seen this paper thrown around as evidence for Abrahangs, particularly around improving tendon health and making the...
09/02/2026

I’ve seen this paper thrown around as evidence for Abrahangs, particularly around improving tendon health and making the fingers more resilient to injury.

I think that’s getting well ahead of the data.

This was a retrospective analysis of self-selected training users of the Crimpd app. Training wasn’t randomized, duration varied from 4–16 weeks, total climbing and finger-training volume weren’t controlled, and the actual load used during Abrahangs wasn’t measured. Even the “Climbing Only” group came from a cohort selected for having completed substantial Abrahang training, just not enough.

According to their data, Abrahang users improved 2.5%, Max Hang users 3.2%, and people doing both 5.8%. But ultimately, they did more finger training.

But the study only measured strength. It did not measure tendon adaptation, pulley adaptation, tissue capacity, pain, finger health, or injury prevention. The authors themselves say those questions require prospective studies.

So I’m not arguing that Abrahangs can’t work. I’m arguing that this study doesn’t demonstrate most of the things people are using it to claim.

UPPER EXTREMITY REHAB FOR CLIMBERSVitaBeta_Quarrybay 2-Day Course for Healthcare ProvidersTreat climbers and want a more...
09/02/2026

UPPER EXTREMITY REHAB FOR CLIMBERS
VitaBeta_Quarrybay

2-Day Course for Healthcare Providers

Treat climbers and want a more confident, evidence-informed approach to assessment and rehabilitation?

This course covers:

💥 Climbing-specific biomechanics and injury mechanisms

💥 Common shoulder, elbow, wrist and finger injuries

💥 Climbing-specific assessment and clinical reasoning

💥 Force, rate of force development and capacity testing

💥 Modifying climbing and training during rehabilitation

💥 When education, passive care, bracing or imaging are appropriate

💥 Practical testing, training progressions and case studies

Day 1: Shoulder & Elbow
Day 2: Wrist & Fingers

Move beyond protocols. Learn how to apply principles of load, tissue stress and progression to real climbers and real clinical situations.

If you treat climbers and want to improve your outcomes, this course is for you.

Comment REHAB for ticket information.

chacwybao chalky 🤘

Climbing recently republished an article claiming that a single technique is responsible for 20% of climbing knee injuri...
09/01/2026

Climbing recently republished an article claiming that a single technique is responsible for 20% of climbing knee injuries.

That number came from a case series of injured climbers. Out of 77 acute knee injuries, 13 occurred during a drop knee. But there was no exposure data, so the study cannot tell us how “risky” a drop knee really is.

The article overtly focuses heavily on the MCL (Medial Collateral Ligament), even though meniscal injuries were more common in the drop knee group. And of course, no study has directly measured MCL strain during a drop knee.

The exercises suggested are “specialized” leg exercises, no different than many others, none of which have been demonstrated to prevent MCL injuries in any sport.

I agree that drop knees can injure a climbers knee. But that doesn’t mean the proposed mechanism, “warning signs”, or prevention plan have any credibility.



References

Lutter C, Tischer T, Cooper C, et al. Am J Sports Med. 2020;48:730–738.

Ramírez C. ScienceBank. 2026. DOI: 10.61340/CLIMBKNEE.

Wilson WT, Deakin AH, Payne AP, et al. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2012;42:345–351.

Stoller DW, Markolf KL, Zager SA, et al. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 1983;174:172–180.

A great paper 🫶 comparing grip positions in younger and older climbers.The older climbers used less PIP flexion, less av...
08/31/2026

A great paper 🫶 comparing grip positions in younger and older climbers.

The older climbers used less PIP flexion, less available PIP ROM, and more osteophytes. The study also did not detect a difference in maximal finger force.

The authors suggest that the more open grip position may be protective.

That seems intuitive, but the data prove show that. It could simply reflect the ROM the older climbers had available. Age and decades of climbing experience are impossible to separate.

The takeaway is not that everyone should avoid crimping.

It is that reduced PIP ROM in a strong, functional older climber is not automatically a problem that needs to be fixed.

UPPER EXTREMITY REHAB FOR CLIMBERSMile End Climbing Wall2-Day Course for Healthcare ProvidersTreat climbers and want a m...
08/28/2026

UPPER EXTREMITY REHAB FOR CLIMBERS
Mile End Climbing Wall

2-Day Course for Healthcare Providers

Treat climbers and want a more confident, evidence-informed approach to assessment and rehabilitation?

This course covers:

💥 Climbing-specific biomechanics and injury mechanisms

💥 Common shoulder, elbow, wrist and finger injuries

💥 Climbing-specific assessment and clinical reasoning

💥 Force, rate of force development and capacity testing

💥 Modifying climbing and training during rehabilitation

💥 When education, passive care, bracing or imaging are appropriate

💥 Practical testing, training progressions and case studies

Day 1: Shoulder & Elbow
Day 2: Wrist & Fingers

Move beyond protocols. Learn how to apply principles of load, tissue stress and progression to real climbers and real clinical situations.

If you treat climbers and want to improve your outcomes, this course is for you.

Comment REHAB for ticket information.

I remain skeptical of generic “balance” testing for climbers.There is a small group of studies showing climbers outperfo...
08/27/2026

I remain skeptical of generic “balance” testing for climbers.

There is a small group of studies showing climbers outperform non-climbers on Y-Balance, Star Excursion, force-platform, and similar tests. That’s cool. But when researchers compare higher-grade climbers with lower-grade climbers, the relationship becomes weak.

More importantly, when balance is studied during actual climbing, better climbers don’t simply minimize movement. They intentionally move their center of mass and redistribute force between contacts. Zampagni’s study of elite climbers actually had more lateral COM (center of mass) movement than controls.

So, I’m not at all convinced that supporting the body on one leg or arm and reaching farther tells anything useful about what a climber needs to climb harder.

If the problem is balance on the wall, train it on the wall.

Upper Extremity Rehab 4 Climbers Mile End Climbing Wall 2-Day Course for Healthcare ProvidersThis 2-day course is built ...
08/26/2026

Upper Extremity Rehab 4 Climbers Mile End Climbing Wall

2-Day Course for Healthcare Providers

This 2-day course is built for physicians, PTs, chiropractors, and massage therapists who treat climbers and want a clearer, more defensible approach to injury assessment, diagnosis, prognosis, and rehabilitation.

We’ll cover:

-Climbing-specific biomechanics and injury mechanisms

-The most common shoulder, elbow, wrist, and finger injuries in climbers

-Client intake and clinical reasoning specific to climbing

-Functional testing: force, rate of force development, and capacity

-How to modify climbing and training

-When education, passive care, splinting/bracing, or imaging actually makes sense

Format

Day 1 AM: Shoulder & elbow injuries (didactic)
Day 1 PM: testing, training progressions and case studies

Day 2 AM: Wrist & finger injuries (didactic)
Day 2 PM: testing, training progressions and case studies

This course is not about protocols. It’s about understanding load, tissue stress, progression, and applying that understanding to real climbers with real constraints.

If you treat climbers and want better outcomes, this course is designed for you.

Comment REHAB for ticket information.





Address

631 West 3900 South Suite B-1
Salt Lake City, UT
84123

Telephone

+18015564900

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