By: John Crawley, PT, DPT, OCS
The sport of rock climbing continues to grow and expand in popularity and participation. With more climbers comes more injuries. For coaches, trainers, and healthcare professionals identifying the injury profile and mechanisms for injury has become an important topic. Knowing what causes injury and who gets the injuries can help guide educational efforts to modify injury risk.
A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a web-based questionnaire distributed via social media and climbing platforms. The survey gathered 1513 responses from sport, bouldering, or traditional climbers (877 men, 427 women, and 9 not reporting gender). The results showed that over 50% of participants had experienced an injury in the past 12 months. Significant differences were observed in injury sites between genders, particularly in the feet/ankle, neck, head, shoulder, elbow, and fingers.
The study revealed that while fingers have historically been assumed to be the most common injury site in climbing, this ‘truth’ has been challenged by recent research. For women climbers, shoulders were the most prevalent injury site (35%), surpassing finger injuries (33%). In contrast, men continued to experience the majority of their injuries in their fingers (48.3%).
Findings from this study suggest that it may be advantageous to alter training methods or areas of focus to improve injury risk. Evidence brought forward by Grønhaug et. al. suggest that gender should influence training programming. This may mean screening the higher injury rate sites prior to building a plan to ensure the individual has adequate function of the area. If deficits are found then programming should be tailored to address those findings. For example, if shoulder weakness is identified in a climber, they should add resistance training for their shoulders to their plan 2-3x per week.
The study also suggests that the intent of the training may alter injury risk rates. Climbers who focused on improving performance or general fitness had higher injury rates compared to those who climbed simply for general fitness without a specific improvement goal. It could be inferred that those training with a specific goal are more likely to overtrain or sustain traumatic injuries while attempting to perform movements beyond their load capacity.
The study also highlighted a possible rise in knee and wrist injuries, particularly for men’s wrists. These trends are potentially linked to modern indoor route setting, which often involves more dynamic movements, larger holds, and novel movement patterns. If gym climbing is your primary choice of climbing, then working on developing wrist strength and stability could be beneficial.
Evidence provided by Grønhaug et al. Provides further insight into what climbers injure and how those injuries differ between males and females. The takehome message is that training should be individualized to meet the needs of the person. Moreover, to build effective training plans, all factors should be considered and thorough screening should be completed to guide training planning.
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Citation:
Grønhaug G, Saeterbakken A, Casucci T. Painfully ignorant? Impact of gender and aim of training on injuries in climbing. BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med. 2024;10(e001972).