Climbing is hard on our fingers. No matter how careful you are or how diligently you train your fingers, finger tweaks can happen. Finger pulley strains are by far the most common of these, but that doesn’t mean we just have to sit back and let them happen.

Luckily, to help all of us prevent and treat pulley strains, Dr. Jared Vagy, The Climbing Doctor, has released a new product as part of his Rock Rehab Pyramid. This comprehensive protocol outlines both injury treatment and prevention protocols for finger pulley strains. You can purchase the new Pulley Strain Protocol right here at TrainingBeta. He’s also written protocols on the following injuries for us:

To go along with this new finger pully strain product, Dr. Vagy wrote an article for his blog that outlines some of the prevention strategies included in the Rock Rehab Pyramid protocol.

“In addition, the overdevelopment of the finger flexors can lead to weakness of the finger extensors, which help to stabilize the fingers while climbing. Given this imbalance, it’s important that you perform finger extensor strengthening exercises to prevent pulley sprains.” – Dr. Jared Vagy

Finger Pulley Strains – Prevention Tips

The finger pulley strain prevention tips he covers focus primarily on strengthening the extensor functions of the fingers. The idea here is since climbing relies so heavily on pulling with our fingers, it’s easy for us to over-develop the flexor functions in our fingers and forearms. This kind of strength imbalance increases the risk of injury.

The exercises Dr. Vagy outlines in this article require very little equipment. In fact, most only require a rubber band. Additionally, Dr. Vagy outlines exactly how to do these exercises and make them more effective by making them as climbing specific as possible. Check them out for yourself by clicking through below. If you like what you see, be sure to check out the complete Rock Rehab Pyramid Pulley Strain Protocol as well!

Rock Rehab Pyramid – Pulley Strain Protocol

The Pulley Strain “Rock Rehab Pyramid Program” is a step-by-step rehabilitation and injury prevention plan designed specifically for rock climbers who have pain in the front of their finger. The goal of the four-phase process is to take you from the pain, inflammation and tissue overload stage to gain full mobility, strength and eventually pain-free climbing movement.

How to get out of pain

How to unload tissue with tape

How to strengthen the area

How to avoid injury again

(photo courtesy of theclimbingdoctor.com)

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TrainingBeta is a site dedicated to training for rock climbing. We provide resources and information about training for routes, bouldering, finger strength, mental training, nutrition for climbers, and everything in between. We offer climbing training programs, climbing training classes, nutrition classes, regular blog posts, interviews on The TrainingBeta Podcast, personal coaching for climbing, and nutrition for climbers.