Ok folks, this article has been a work in progress because we wanted it to be purrrfect for you. After much deliberation on what questions we thought you might like, we ended up settling on the very best 8! I am sure they need no introduction but our guest interviewees are Alister Murray or The Lab (our resident Exercise Physiologist) and Trina Lat, physiotherapist and climbing expert.
So i hope you enjoy this piece, we will also be adding mp3’s of the interview shortly! Stay tuned.
He said/She said
Q. Can exercise be used for rehabilitation or should it be avoided when injured?
Trina: Yes, the question is what exercises are you allowed to do when you do have an injury. For example if you have a knee injury that worsens when running, you have to do certain exercises to strengthen weak muscles such as your quads and hamstrings, and do exercises such as squats and lunges. But then avoid running as an exercise until symptoms subside or you have corrected muscle imbalances that have been causing you knee pain. So its just like going back to basics really.
Alister: yeah I definitely agree with that, and I think that exercise is important to aid in the recovery but if it’s done wrongly, like Trina suggested if you have a knee injury and you do a 10k run, then you could potentially do a lot of damage. So the exercise has to be specific for the injury and as long as it’s done with correct technique, then you should be able to optimize your recovery time with exercise involved.
Q. I want to improve my climbing, should I consider taking supplements to help my training?
Alister: I don’t think supplements are going to help training too much unless the training program is very specific and your checking all the boxes in terms of your frequency and duration of training first. If you are someone who climbs yellows and you want to be climbing blacks, there are a lot more things you can be doing in terms of the technique improvement before even thinking about taking supplements. If you do however want to take supplements or want more information, you should see an EP at The Lab because we can let you know what kind of things are appropriate dependant on your dietary requirements and your training requirements too.
Trina: Supplements are there for muscle growth and strength, but it does not mean it will improve your climbing. So climbing more plus taking supplements may aid you in training but it does not mean it will get you climbing black routes, and taking only supplements with no extra climbing training will not make a difference. A combination of climbing, the right technique training, strength training and supplements as an aid, may see you having improvements.
Q. I am having shoulder pain when I climb, should I see a physiotherapist or an exercise physiologist?
Trina: A physiotherapist can diagnose you or give you an impression of what the problem is or an assessment of the biomechanics of your shoulder and directly address the problem. Then I think as your symptoms such as pain or lack of range of movement subside, and as you get stronger you may want more training for a higher level of activity, especially if you are an athlete. I think then is the best time for you to see an EP.
Alister: I agree, if the shoulder pain you are having in climbing is very acute then seeing a physiotherapist is a great way to get a diagnosis and thorough assessment. As your injury rehab progresses, especially if you are looking to remain active, an EP can definitely play a role in that as well, because that can be programmed into your rehab so that you are able to maintain some activity despite the limitations that you’re getting. Aside from that if you are experiencing pain you should see either one first up, the EP will be able to give you a bit of an idea as to the cause or be able to even refer to you a physiotherapist. So if you are able to see either one for a bit of advice then you can definitely get in front of the right person from there.
Q. I spend all day sitting at a desk, and I suffer from neck pain. What can I do about it?
Trina: Sitting at desks for prolonged periods of time can be contributing factor to neck pain. So postural problems or ergonomic problems, meaning how your desk is set up can be contributing factors. With this in mind you may think that there would be a result in weakness of certain muscles, by compensating in each other, which will results in neck pain. A physiotherapist can assess your neck, biomechanics and shoulder, some physiotherapists specialize in ergonomics to assess your work stations. I think it would be good to go see someone who can assess this and relieve you of your pain.
Alister: I think this is very important as your neck muscles are very attune to tightness because they tend to go into protection mode for your brain. So if pain has been there for a period of time I would suggest getting it checked out because you can get pretty nasty injuries that can be long lasting. Going on from what Trina said, a lot of the postural issues that are around these days are caused from the work in front of a computer. The bottom line is the body likes to move, so if it is sat in one position for too long it can just get tired and fatigued. So the tension you’re getting can be from sitting in that position, but also it can be from weaknesses through the mid shoulder blade area, sometimes just some strengthening in that area can relieve the pain in the upper neck. But if you are suffering from that pain come to see an EP or a physiotherapist to see what you can do to prevent your tensions.
Q. In your profession, what advice can you give to climbers, to help them improve performance?
Alister: I think one of the biggest things for improving you performance is making sure that you have a solid plan. Set goals and being really specific so you know what is in front of you, and get a plan so you know how to get there. You plan will involve really structuring your training and making sure you utilize your time to the best of your advantage. So we need to make sure that when you do get time to climb that you utilize it the best you can and we are actually doing things that are specific to what you want to achieve. That way, we will have better quality training sessions and be able to get to our improved performance faster. So I think having clear goals and a structured training plan will make it a lot easier.
Trina: Alister is right about having goals and a plan, but I think to be a good climber it is important to identify your weaknesses and strengths. For example, if you have a history of dislocating your shoulder or a weak shoulder that means you are very lax, and that means you have weakness in your rotator cuff muscles. In climbing it is very important that you can reach up or lock off without it popping. In my profession I would say having specific exercises for your rotator cuff using therabands and tubes, and do exercises to strengthen it specific to climbing, this would improve your performance. Another example is if you are short or little, flexibility in your legs is important. You need to high step more and therefore will have to be quite flexible. So being able to identify weaknesses and addressing them specifically will benefit you and improve your performance as a climber.
Alister: climbing is such a multifaceted sport; you need flexibility, strength, endurance and you need to have good decision making skills and be sharp mentally. So because there are so many facets you need to cover it is important to identify all the strengths and weaknesses, so try to bring in the help of as many people as you can in that. You can ask the staff at Urban Climb for help, even take one of the courses available to help improve technique and hone your skills.
Trina: climb with someone you don’t normally climb with and climb with someone that is maybe better than you so you can learn from them.
Q. Can or do EPs and Physio’s work together?
Alister: One of the big things that comes out of performance management, especially when it comes to athletic development of any kind, is that a multidiscipline approach tends to have the best outcomes when it comes to improving performance. That means working with not only one person but a team of people. So EPs and physiotherapists definitely work closely together and each profession can add a different viewpoint to the situation. So whether it is improvement or rehabilitation, they can work together to help solve the problem.
Trina: In addition to that, it is not only EPs and physiotherapists that work together but also climbing instructors that can help give technique skills, sports psychologists can help the mental aspects and even yoga instructors to help. Working with different professionals in different fields will yield a better outcome because you are targeting every facet of the sport.
Alister: And that extends to life coaches, nutritionists and dieticians, all of the above.
Q. Who’s better, an EP or a physio?
Alister: they work together closely in various facets, here’s an example – so let’s say that your climbing quite well as a result of seeing an EP or climbing instructor, but all of a sudden you get an injury, you would want to see a physio.
Trina: So if you do get an injury it would be best to see a physiotherapist to get it diagnosed and if you need to get MRI’s or X-rays, physiotherapists are the best people to get that for you. And then you can go back to climbing with the same strength and technical ability.
Alister: I think that when you’re back at that level you can then work with an EP to get back in shape and improve performance.
Q. If an EP and physio were in a bare knucle fight, who would win?
Trina: The physiotherapist of course, I would go straight for the gut and he would be out cold an unable to get me because I’m too fast and too small!
Alister: Yeah but I have a solid steel six pack from my intense EP training and she wouldn’t make it past my razor sharp stomach. But seriously though I’ve been on the table of a physio and those guys have seriously strong hands!
***If you want to get in touch with either Trina or Alister just shoot us an email to info@urbanclimb.com.au and we will get you in touch with them.***