How to Avoid Tendonitis from Climbing- Targeted Opposition

Tendonitis.

It’s an awful word. It’s awfully painful to experience.

Unfortunately, it’s fairly common if you’re a climber…

“Like it or not, if you’re an avid climber, at some point you’ll feel that deep, dull ache in your elbows or shoulders, a sign of inflamed tendons. The constant tugging is what does us in — using loads of pulling muscles (lats, shoulders, biceps, forearms) while neglecting the pushing muscles (pectorals, anterior deltoids, triceps), thus placing unidirectional strain on your tendons.“

-Stacy Mccooey, MSPT, DPT

But fortunately, this article from climbing.com explains a few exercises you can be doing to help prevent tendonitis. The stretches and weight routines shown in this article should be helpful at balancing out your pushing and pulling muscles while increasing mobility.

The exercises described include: forearm supination/pronation, finger/wrist flexor stretch, pec fly with shoulders on physioball, a latissimus dorsi stretch, and reverse butterfly.

Hopefully this helps you avoid tendonitis so you can keep training as hard as you want to and climbing as much as you want to….