Should you use bands to load painful tissue or joints?
Tissues don't have a preference.
I typically (there are some exceptions) tell clients that it doesn't matter how they load a painful tissue or joint (eccentric, isometric, isotonic). What matters more is the following🔽
The painful tissue is being loaded. Especially for tendon pain.
The individual believes that the exercise will be helpful (buy-in).
The exercise builds confidence, reduces fear, and looks and feels like their individual goals.
The downside of modern rehab and its marketing is the excessive value placed on the tools themselves. This takes attention away from what I consider more critical, the athlete's training program, which has many layers.
✔️Dietary habits
✔️Training volume
✔️Training frequency
✔️Periodization/variation
✔️Sleeping habit
✔️Mental well-being
etc.
But these tools can be helpful when we need them. We just need to be cautious with how much value we give them. The same applies to strength training, campus board, fingerboard, chicken sacrifice etc. In the right place and time, everything "works" 🪄. But that doesn't mean that they "always work" for everyone.
Using a heavy band is a simple method to load a sore wrist before climbing. It's portable, easy to set up, and stresses the joint from multiple directions. I typically suggest doing the more intentional loads at the end.
simple example:
General (2 sets w 2-min rest between)
1. 90-degree pull-up isometric 7on:3off x 4 reps
2. 90-degree chin-up isometric 7on:3off x 4 reps
3. 90-degree neutral grip isometric 7on:3off x 4 reps
Intentional (2 sets with 2-min between)
4. Wrist extension (tension across midline) x 30-seconds
5. Wrist flexion (tension away from midline) x 30-seconds
6. Wrist ulnar deviation (band above you) x 30-seconds
7. Wrist radial deviation (band below you) x 30-seconds
Let's assume this special recipe reduces / "fixes" your wrist pain. That's great! Stop doing it then. The idea that it will continually help forever doesn't make sense. At some point, it could become a source of stress.