Tips for breaking through 6 year plateau / regression as a climber prone to finger injuries.
For context I am a 29 y/o guy who has been climbing for about 8 years regularly with some random months off here and there because of constant finger injuries.
I am 6’0 and 195lbs, but don’t look or feel particularly overweight. I have almost no belly fat / can see abdominals, so it’s hard for me to lose weight. Though I might be able to lose 10-15lbs, I just haven’t tried yet.
I’ve been pretty psyched on indoor and outdoor climbing since I first discovered the sport.
In my first week indoor I sent v5 and within my first year I sent v8. Everyone around me commented how good my progress was, which was validating as I’ve never been particularly good at sports or much of anything.
Into my second year I was regularly projecting v7 and 5.11/5.12 indoor and outdoor. Which is around the time I first injured myself in a pocket. It was a bad lumbrical injury and FDP strain. Fast forward through the last 6 years it has been one injury after another. I’ve injured both ring and middle finger A2, A4, and am very prone to lumbrical strains.
I can’t remember the last time I felt confident in the health of my fingers. About 2 years ago my performance peaked and I was projecting lots of 5.12s and V9s and even sent a few gym V9 and one outdoor. But even then my fingers always felt fragile and on the verge of catastrophe. These days I go to the gym and climb 5.11 and boulder v5-v7. Anything harder (requiring finger strength/ contact strength) feels incredibly intimidating because of my fear that’ll just injure myself.
I have tried hangboarding and no hangs off and on over the years, and currently use Emil’s no hang protocol via the crimpd app before every climbing session and sometimes on off days. I climb every other day for 1.5-2.5 hours including warm up. When I feel particularly tired I’ll take a second off day. I also deload often as I travel for work or I get particularly busy. I probably average a deload week once every other month. I’ve recently adopting icing my fingers daily, and I try to stretch them, and do tendon glides in hot shower. I supplement with protein powder, and try to eat healthy.
I try to just enjoy climbing without thinking about improving, but to be honest I really want to get better and see that reflected in my grades.
Over the last month I was starting to improve again until yesterday when I aggravated right middle A2 again. I feel like I’m stuck in a loop of constantly hurting myself, and my psych for climbing is starting to diminish.
Looking for advice from people who have been stuck in a similar loop and finally got out.
I apologize for the rant/ lack of structure in my post. Thanks to anyone who can share anecdotal experience / advice. I’m ready and willing to try anything.