1. Pain Is a Signal — Not an Enemy
Most climbing injuries don’t appear out of nowhere.
The body gives mechanical warnings days or weeks beforehand.
Key point:
Pain = information about load vs capacity, not a threat.
Understanding these signals is one of the strongest injury-prevention skills a climber can develop.
2. The Four Pain Signatures Every Climber Must Recognize
There are only four meaningful pain types in climbing biomechanics:
1. Dull Ache (overload accumulation)
A diffuse, heavy, tired sensation.
Meaning:
You’ve exceeded capacity slightly (micro-overload).
Common in:
- early tendinopathy
- elbow flexor overload
- wrist irritation
- shoulder impingement
Safe to train through?
→ Yes, but reduce load 20–30%.
2. Morning Stiffness (collagen under-recovery)
Stiffness the morning after training shows collagen dehydration + micro-damage.
Meaning:
Tissue is under-recovered.
This is the most reliable predictor of chronic injury.
Safe to train through?
→ Only very light intensity.
If it grows over time → reduce weekly load.
3. Sharp Pain (acute overload)
Local, intense, instant.
Meaning:
Load exceeded tissue capacity right now.
Examples:
- A2 pulley overload
- elbow joint catching
- bicep tendon pinch
- acute wrist collapse
Safe to train through?
→ No. Stop.
One more repetition can turn an overload into a tear.
4. Nerve Pain (irritation or entrapment)
Burning, tingling, electric, shooting.
Meaning:
Nerves are being compressed, stretched, or irritated.
Examples:
- shoulder impingement
- wrist compression
- cervical tension
Safe to train through?
→ No. Reduce load and fix vector/alignment.
Nerve pain is a biomechanical error signal.
3. Yellow Flags: Early Warning Signals You Can’t Ignore
Yellow flags = capacity dropping, not yet an injury.
Common yellow flags
- Dull ache during warm-up
- Morning stiffness lasting < 1 hour
- Forearm pump appearing unusually early
- Wrist or elbow discomfort only during certain holds
- Shoulder clicking without pain
- Weak grip on first few moves
What to do
- reduce intensity by 20–30%
- reduce volume by 30–50%
- increase warm-up duration
- focus on technique efficiency
- add isometrics (static tension)
Yellow flags ignored → chronic injury.
4. Red Flags: Signs You Must Stop Immediately
Red flags = acute capacity breach.
Warning signs
- Sharp, stabbing pain
- Swelling or sudden inflammation
- A popping sensation
- Immediate loss of strength
- Grip loss on specific fingers
- Joint instability
- Numbness or burning nerve pain
What to do
Stop session → move to diagnostic evaluation or rest.
Red flags ignored → acute injury (pulley tear, tendon rupture, shoulder impingement).
5. The Timing Model: When Pain Appears Tells You Everything
Pain timing reveals the injury mechanism:
Pain during warm-up → chronic overload
Tissues not recovered (collagen under-recovery).
Pain during high-intensity moves → acute overload tendency
Capacity matches base load but fails on spikes.
Pain after climbing → volume overload
High fatigue accumulation.
Pain the next morning → under-recovered tendon
Classic tendinopathy pattern.
Pain only in certain vectors → technique error
Joint misalignment (vector = force direction) causing local overload.
This timing model is extremely reliable.
6. The “Curve of Concern”: When You Must Intervene
Use this simple rule:
Pain curve improves → safe to continue lightly
- pain decreases during warm-up
- stiffness disappears with movement
- pain does not intensify during session
Pain curve worsens → stop immediately
- pain increases as you warm up
- movement makes it worse
- strength decreases
- compensation patterns appear
This is one of the strongest injury-prevention tools in climbing.
7. The Two-Day Test: Detecting Early Tendon Trouble
If you feel mild ache:
Climb → rest 48 hours → test mild load.
If pain is lower
→ green light, continue with caution.
If pain is the same
→ early tendinopathy → reduce load for a week.
If pain is worse
→ chronic loading + micro-damage → needs deload + isometrics.
Simple, extremely accurate.
8. Behavior-Based Red Flags (Movement tells the truth)
Sometimes pain is subtle, but movement changes reveal an issue.
Red flags in movement:
- overgripping
- avoiding sidepulls
- avoiding crimping
- compensating with shoulders
- collapsing wrist
- inconsistent foot placement
- pulling with hips far from wall
Movement compensation = hidden injury indicator.
9. What to Do When a Yellow Flag Appears
Immediate actions:
- extend warm-up
- reduce intensity
- avoid aggressive crimps
- avoid dynamic moves
- replace heavy loading with isometrics (30–50% tension)
This restores tissue capacity.
10. When to Seek Help
- sharp pain persists
- swelling or visible inflammation
- nerve symptoms
- popping event
- grip weakness over multiple days
These indicate structural compromise.