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Head and neck injuries with Asana gym mats?

J Q · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2012 · Points: 50
mediocre wrote: People go the gym to climb risk free and perhaps push the limits with the idea that there is massive pad beneath them. Here within lies the problem. With bouldering you need to know your comfort zones, ability and have risk assessment skills. Part of the risk is the landing zone. Acting surprised when you take a bad fall onto a hard mat and get hurt is being deficient in at least on of those skills.
Sooo, you think it's a problem when people want to train without the risk of danger? Eventually you will grow up and realize that the gym ain't rock climbing, it's just a place to train or have fun. Not everyone is there to compare the size of their shlongs, some just want to practice the hardest movement they can without getting hurt.

Maybe you and the tard roper should take turns putting random objects under climbs like benches, ceramic statues, and giant wood dildos so you can get really good at assessing risk in landing zones. Plus, it would prove how manly you are, in a first world sort of way :0
M Mobley · · Bar Harbor, ME · Joined Mar 2006 · Points: 911
J Q wrote: Sooo, you think it's a problem when people want to train without the risk of danger? Eventually you will grow up and realize that the gym ain't rock climbing, it's just a place to train or have fun. Not everyone is there to compare the size of their shlongs, some just want to practice the hardest movement they can without getting hurt. Maybe you and the tard roper should take turns putting random objects under climbs like benches, ceramic statues, and giant wood dildos so you can get really good at assessing risk in landing zones. Plus, it would prove how manly you are, in a first world sort of way :0
cheese with that whine sir? I hear knitting helps with dexterity.
mediocre · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2013 · Points: 0
J Q wrote: Sooo, you think it's a problem when people want to train without the risk of danger? Eventually you will grow up and realize that the gym ain't rock climbing, it's just a place to train or have fun. Not everyone is there to compare the size of their shlongs, some just want to practice the hardest movement they can without getting hurt. Maybe you and the tard roper should take turns putting random objects under climbs like benches, ceramic statues, and giant wood dildos so you can get really good at assessing risk in landing zones. Plus, it would prove how manly you are, in a first world sort of way :0
This has got to be a troll right?
Train without danger? What is manliness in a "first world sort of way?"
grog m · · Saltlakecity · Joined Aug 2012 · Points: 70

Yeah train without danger. Bouldering in the gym is completely different than climbing outside. When I climb at the gym I expect the pad to prevent injury from a reasonable fall, the original poster said that they landed on their feet.

Question? Do you ever push your limits at the gym? Or is it always a no fall situation?

reboot · · . · Joined Jul 2006 · Points: 125

I'm a bit ambivalent about this. If the bouldering wall is 15 ft or higher (& I tend to agree that bouldering walls probably doesn't need to be that high), then a thick & relatively soft pad is warranted. But I feel like the way you land on those are completely different than how you'd typically land outside, where you do need to break the fall instead of flopping like a dead fish.

ON the other hand, a man's got to know his limitations, even in the gym. You can still get your training in without going for the last couple holds.

M Mobley · · Bar Harbor, ME · Joined Mar 2006 · Points: 911
s.price wrote:I would like to thank JQ and top roper for putting 20 bucks in my pocket just now. I bet my climbing partner this thread would not make 2 pages without you two children fucking it up. Ka Ching!
no prob lol
Josh Kornish · · Whitefish, MT · Joined Sep 2009 · Points: 800
SPOTTER
Mark E Dixon · · Possunt, nec posse videntur · Joined Nov 2007 · Points: 974
grog m wrote:Not really sure you are qualified to discuss safety and risk in the gym: your profile picture is you climbing jugs in the gym with a helmet on...
I think I may be the only person who wears a helmet leading in the gym. Which kind of damages my credibility as a pro-danger advocate. Weirdly, I don't wear it while using the auto-belay which statistically is more likely to kill me.

As for gym legal liability, I would think that it would be worse if a standard existed and wasn't met than if no standard existed and a best effort toward safety was made.
Stagg54 Taggart · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2006 · Points: 10

spend a few years studying judo. You'll learn how to fall and not get hurt.

Bjrbferd B · · Washington DC · Joined Nov 2015 · Points: 0

Peter Beal- thank you for sharing your experience and the links! I was looking for actual information on different types of flooring, feedback and science behind different choices. The article that included the section about choosing flooring was interesting:

"I think floors perform a lot differently for people under 100 pounds than over," Fairfield says, explaining that a larger person with more surface area will distribute their weight more evenly across a landing surface, but "a child landing on an adult bouldering floor won't activate it and it will feel too hard."

While I'm not a child I'm not very big either, and I wonder if this is part of why these pads feel like hitting I am hitting a sack of flour. I wonder if height contributes as well since a shorter person would travel farther before hitting the mat, thus accelerating slightly more? Perhaps the difference is too small to matter. It's really incredible how different the experience is from the old mats, which I never had any problems with over the years. (The old brand started with a "t" but I forget the name). I am sure falling correctly, preparing etc has something to do with injuries, but this is just such a difference it's really bothering me.

And thanks for not reminding me to man up! Haha

Bjrbferd B · · Washington DC · Joined Nov 2015 · Points: 0
J Q wrote: Holy shit that article is right on. I just saw a gym transition from overhanging bouldering that was safe and you could circuits on to exactly the wall you are describing, and myself and a bunch of the other older climbers have stopped bouldering as a result. While most of the comments in favor of the new tall bouldering wall are full of male bravado as you describe, some setters believe the progressively setting more difficult moves makes for better training routes, but their point is ridiculous when no one wants to try the last move for fear of an out of control fall up high. About six months ago I saw some nasty stuff. A 10 year old climbed to the top, released, and tried to soften his fall with an arm. This ended in a double compound fracture on his right arm (yes you could see the bone broken into three pieces, it was absolutely amazing). Here is another piece of insight to this padding/high ball problem: Friction. The gym put in a new and soft pad, but the cover is made out of rubber and has tons of friction, so it doesn't matter how soft the pad is, the friction on the top of the pad can give you a compound fracture! BarbJ, My wife has had similar problems with what you describe, and, well, she had to stop bouldering at our gym because of it. It's a shitty solution but one made out of self preservation.
JQ,
I am definitely thinking I may avoid bouldering at this particular location. I get the most out of roped climbing but you can't always find a partner, especially if you go several times a week regularly. They have some areas that are completely overhung and low to the ground that I can focus on. It's hard to cut a boulder problem short because it feels incomplete, but I know a few excellent climbers who do this as well so that could be an option.
nathanael · · Riverside, CA · Joined May 2011 · Points: 525

New pads are always really stiff, but they'll break in after a while, a few weeks or even months after first installation. If the pads are too soft you'll roll your ankle every other fall. It's a balance. Climb with care until they soften up.

M Mobley · · Bar Harbor, ME · Joined Mar 2006 · Points: 911
Nathanael wrote:New pads are always really stiff, but they'll break in after a while, a few weeks or even months after first installation. If the pads are too soft you'll roll your ankle every other fall. It's a balance. Climb with care until they soften up.
Thread killer!
Peter Beal · · Boulder Colorado · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 1,825

BarbJ, I find that those who claim to "man up" or advise others to do so, especially those who tell women to (LOL), tend not to climb very hard nor have very long actual climbing careers.

Insert name · · Harts Location · Joined Dec 2011 · Points: 46

Climbing is dangerous.

Should the gym be at fault if your belayer gives you to much slack and you deck?

It isn't about "manning up". It is called you climb with common sense as no world can be made 100% safe, nor is it the job of the gym. Their job is to provide you with a safe area and for YOU to assume when it is safe or unsafe.

If I try a high move that I feel I will fall awkward on, I drag a second pad onto the area or have someone spot me.

When You are performing any sport or life activity, it is you responsibility to assume your ability.

(Just because you climb v10 doesn't mean you can fall properly)

M Mobley · · Bar Harbor, ME · Joined Mar 2006 · Points: 911
Peter Beal wrote:BarbJ, I find that those who claim to "man up" or advise others to do so, especially those who tell women to (LOL), tend not to climb very hard nor have very long actual climbing careers.
Oh Peter, pulling a JQ "I climb so hard" now, nice work! I've only been at it for 20+ years with no injuries from climbing besides a finger or two. I love highball bouldering and always climb within my personal ability. You obviously need to just stay close to the ground so I have an idea- stay close to the ground or get your bro JQ to spot you at they gym! I know you guys wont do that because it wouldnt look cool and looking cool is very important to JQ.

If you dont like it dont climb it, its really that easy.
highaltitudeflatulentexpulsion · · Colorado · Joined Oct 2012 · Points: 35

I tend to not do things that hurt me.

J Q · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2012 · Points: 50
T Roper wrote: If you dont like it dont climb it, its really that easy.
LOL, kinda like, if you don't like the way America is run get the hell out?

Very nice logic my little tardroper, the tradlodyte logic runs strong with you.

Here here! All those who dare to call themselves hard-men: accept the shit you are dealt with, there will be no improvements, only manly chest beatings.

My grandma only took baths twice a year and so shall you.

Any suggestions to improve will be dealt with through sever online wang-slappings!
M Mobley · · Bar Harbor, ME · Joined Mar 2006 · Points: 911
J Q wrote: LOL, kinda like, if you don't like the way America is run get the hell out? Very nice logic my little tardroper, the tradlodyte logic runs strong with you. Here here! All those who dare to call themselves hard-men: accept the shit you are dealt with, there will be no improvements, only manly chest beatings. My grandma only took baths twice a year and so shall you. Any suggestions to improve will be dealt with through sever online wang-slappings!
Some people are in the gym to train for highball bouldering, I guess you feel that they should suffer because of what you long for. It's the same shit johnny boy, get over yourself.
Frank Stein · · Albuquerque, NM · Joined Feb 2012 · Points: 205

Wait a second, crappy floor padding in a gym equals training for highball bouldering? Really? I guess it could teach you how to deal with broken bones and sprained ankles...Never thought of it that way. Interesting.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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