All Loads Have Risk
I’m psyched that more climbers are getting into weight training to supplement their health.
It’s the simplest and safest way to increase muscular recruitment, modify tendon properties, and build resilience for better climbing practice.
The downside is the additional load on the fingers.
In particular, the arc of stress (distal A2 pulley, A3 pulley, proximal A4 pulley) with barbell lifting is already put under a lot of stress with climbing, especially in the middle two fingers.
Something I see quite often on ultrasound is chronic degenerative changes to the tissues around the PIP joint. These are like arthritis in the back and neck. They are a byproduct of living a life that puts gravity on your tissues. However, for climbers, repetitively grabbing holds and twisting the joint are the primary causes of this response.
In the image above, I’ve photoshopped an ultrasound image from a climber with a bone spur that has developed under the volar plate (purple is tendon, green is a volar plate, white is bone with a bone spur, black is fluid).
This isn’t a common finding in the finger, but I often see persistent cyst formation and bruising above the tendon and pulley due to the addition of heavy lifting. I don’t think the heavy lifting caused the fluid accumulation (they were climbing way more), but it’s another load they must manage (climbers’ hands are strong).
In those cases, eliminating those movements is necessary to get better.
Important reminder: it doesn’t matter whether the exercise looks like your sport.
Compound movements (multi-joint) are the most common because they are the most efficient (total time) for gaining adaptations.
If your finger is sore from deadlifting, do a back squat. If it’s sore from weighted pull-ups, do a landmine row while grabbing the end of the barbell. If climbing jugs hurts, stop it. If you’re using the big campus rungs, you shouldn’t be on the campus board anyway.
All exercises have risks. Some more than others. But none of them will help your climbing practice if your finger is sore!