The Difference Between Stress And Overuse
Overuse is confusing.
I often hear clients say overuse is the primary cause of finger injuries, but overuse of what? Most people mean doing too much stuff, but the nuance matters.
Climbing
Finger training
Supplemental training
Work-life balance
Lack of recovery
Nutritional deficit (including fluid)
Other sports
Stress is another word that often carries a negative connotation.
However, in physiologic adaptation, stress is necessary. The body needs stress to build tolerance (capacity). But, as with anything, it has a finite capacity. It's relative.
Often with clients, these conversations revolve around injury management and best practices for training. But, time and time again, it returns to the athlete's training habits.
Did they add something "new and shiny" to their program?
Was their overload (stress) progressive, or did it make a big jump?
Are they used to climbing that many days in a row?
Slide the images above to see how an I level edge creates more symmetry to the fingers.
Takeaways
Regarding finger training and injury risk, grip position is key. I’ve never heard of a pulley "pop" on a hangboard. The pulley rupture is almost entirely a climbing injury (it does happen, though).
My go-to suggestion for rehabbing finger injuries is the 4-finger drape. It puts physical support under the A3 and A4 pulleys while putting a small load on the A2. In addition, intentionally loading all 4-fingers reduces the stress of any single finger/pulley. But remember, a sore pulley didn't happen overnight. It had been brewing for weeks.
But that doesn't mean you can't load it. The stress is relative to the grip position, force direction (blue arrow), and rate (slow). It's still stress, but stress is not one thing.