Finger Tweak? You’re Going to Want to Follow This Rehab Plan
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Injuries do happen, unfortunately. In this video, coach and climber Maddy doing a reflective look back on her recent rehab strategy for a painful finger. Maddy had suffered a tweak in her index finger—not a full-blown injury—here’s how she’s dealt with this setback and what methods she’s used to getting fully back on track.
Step one
Maddy makes an assessment of where she’s at (what hurts, what pain levels are and what aggravates it) .
Step two
She puts in an immediate action plan. A rest week to find a baseline!
Step three
In the following week there’s an action plan for loading on the injured side (as well as the uninjured side)–but it’s very carefully moderated! Lifting devices are especially convenient and efficient for this.
Step four
Testing the intensity again. Maddy then starts to assess the ongoing progress in rehab on both the climbing wall AND the fingerboard.
Step five
As her rehab progresses, the intensity very slowly increases and still a variety of grip positions are explored in these sessions. Remember, that rehab is a constant process of feedback and iteration of training load!
Step six
Maddy integrates the harder fingerboarding into the de-load week and if successful, then the next cycle will then include the normal structure of more intense climbing AND fingerboarding in combination.