Throughout my career, I have treated athletes of all levels and disciplines, both in the field and in clinic. I have worked with a wide variety of sport teams (football, hockey, soccer) and individual athletes (professional and recreational) including climbers, runners, CrossFitters, dancers and combat athletes. Having played many of these sports myself and being an avid climber, I understand how an injury can affect many different spheres of our lives. With this in mind, I have prepared a series of articles that address key concepts related to rehabilitation and injury prevention.
In this first article, I discuss the quantification of mechanical stress, a fundamental concept to good training habits and optimal rehabilitation. When used properly, the quantification of mechanical stress allows us to become stronger and better adapted to our daily lives and sports.
The human body is an incredible machine that can adapt to daily stressors, that is, the accumulation of our everyday movements. When we demand a precise effort from our body, it will overcompensate during the recovery phase, and as such improve to better reach that effort.
For example, runners will see specific adaptations as they progress in their sport:
Yet, there is a limit to how much stress our body can endure during a certain amount of time. If you stress a structure (ligament, muscles, bones…) more than it’s used to, it could potentially get injured. This type of injury can occur with an excessive load, an overly repetitive movement, a movement beyond the flexibility limit, a lack of rest, or a combination of these factors. It's the famous saying “too much, too fast”! Fortunately, the human body is well-designed and will usually send us some warnings: discomfort, pain, swelling, morning stiffness, and decreased performance.
For example, climbers often wonder if the discomfort they feel in their fingers while gripping small crimps is normal. If the discomfort is mild, you are in an area where you may be able to push a little harder, but keep in mind that you are approaching your limit. On the other hand, if the discomfort is severe or persists after holding the crimp, chances are that your tendons and ligaments in your fingers are not yet ready to crimp a hold that small.
In short, what helps us get stronger is also what can injure us. The secret lies in pacing our trainings and ensuring a progression of the quantification of mechanical stress.
“Slowly but surely” will take us much further than "no pain no gain".
Quantifying mechanical stress may seem quite simple, but doing it right can be a real challenge. I consider that 90% of the injuries I evaluate in clinic result from poor stress quantification, and I use these principles with almost all of my patients to help them recover. In light of this, I have developed some key concepts and tips to properly pace your workouts.
From one day to the next, our body doesn’t have the same tolerance to effort; it’s affected by our fatigue level, our diet, our stress level, and our general health. We must not forget that our body undergoes all of our daily activities!
Plan your training around your daily activities. As examples, you could schedule big workouts on less busy days, adapt to your menstrual cycle and associated energy level, and reduce your training during busy periods.
Beware of days when everything is going too well. On days when you feel stronger and have more stamina, it's okay to take advantage of it. But, I recommend the use of caution and to not double your climbing session, for example.
The speed of adaptation is not the same for each of our structures (muscles, tendons, ligaments, skin, bones). For example, our muscles adapt faster than our ligaments and therefore tolerate stress variations more easily.
Adopt a good biomechanic/athletic technique that exerts stress on more tolerant structures. These techniques include avoiding full crimping all holds, adjusting heel hooks so the foot is in line with the knee, and avoiding chicken wings when pulling or hanging.
Climbers who specialize in multi-pitches don’t develop the same build as those who specialize in bouldering. Overdeveloped muscles take a lot of energy to drag up the cliffs, but can be essential to sending a hard bouldering project.
Be careful when switching between disciplines. Bouldering and route climbing each have their own prerequisites, and the feeling of effort is very different in maximum strength (bouldering) versus endurance (route climbing). While getting better at bouldering will help us perform better on routes, if we haven’t climbed routes in a while, our body won’t tolerate a long session. While doing so, we might risk discovering an injury only once our body has cooled down.
We each have different anatomical variations and predispositions that determine our strengths and weaknesses. Some people never stretch and can do the splits, while others stretch four times a day and can never do it!
Develop a workout plan that will specifically target the strengthening of your weaknesses (without hurting them). Thus, I don’t recommend following a training plan that is not tailored to your needs.
Our bodies adapt to our daily lives. If, for example, we train less for a certain period of time, we will have a decreased physical capacity.
After a pause in training, I recommend a gradual return (general rule of thumb: the longer you stop, the slower and more gradual the return should be).
The best tool to help you reach your training goals while staying healthy is to train in the right amount and according to your needs. Learn to listen to the signals your body sends you. If you have any questions or injuries, don't hesitate to consult a physiotherapist.
Enjoy the process! I look forward to meeting you on the wall or at Café Bloc!
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