Injured? Train Your Core!

I have a recurring elbow injury. I know how to fix it, but how can I stay strong while it’s healing? I am keen to do more core-stability work but am getting bored of base-building and doing easy laps immediately after it heals. To what extent can you cut this short and move on to training power?

—Alan Barnow, Glasgow, Scotland

The right response is indeed to increase the level of core-stability training. I have seen spectacular examples of injured elite-level competition climbers
maintaining their performance with this approach. There seems to be some weird, unexplained phenomenon here, and most coaches agree that doing high
levels of non-specific training will help you hang onto your specific strength and fitness during a layoff. Better yet, these climbers often return
to a higher level after resuming just a few weeks of specific training. Now is your chance to make a real difference in your performance by turning
yourself into a proper athlete.

[Also Read How to Lose Weight for Climbing]

With core-stability work you need decent recovery time to make the best gains. Start by training day-on, day-off, and start with endurance sessions for
core, then switch to strength after two or three weeks. Do three or four sets of 20 to 30 reps for endurance and five or six sets of six to eight reps
for strength. After a month you will be able to recover sufficiently to consider training two days on, one off by doing strength sessions for your
core on day one and endurance on day two. Pick your exercises carefully and avoid ones that hurt your elbow. A variety of floor exercises be OK for your elbow provided you do them with your palms flat on the floor and not on your fingertips.
Exercises such as sit-ups and dorsal raises are the best for not aggravating climbing injuries, so stick to these alone if you experience any elbow
pain. You can also train your antagonist muscles in the same session (antagonists are the oppositional muscles commonly not worked in climbing). For
example, do push-ups or dips for the chest, shoulders and triceps, but only twice a week. These sessions will reduce the chances of future injury and
you should endeavor to keep them going once you resume climbing training. The ideal combination is to do core and antagonists in the same session on
one day and then cardiovascular and flexibility training the next day, then repeat.

Regarding your return: You are tempting fate by proposing trimming down the base-building phase. I know repeating routes can be tedious, but try giving
yourself a series of technique prompts such as “silent feet,” “straight arms,” “relaxed grip,” “twist-in” and “steady breathing.” Not only will they
help you stay engaged mentally, but it can make a massive difference to your technique.