How old are our boulderers?

Great discussion, thanks for all the contributions!

I'm 35 which isn't old but i've definetly modified my behavior since I was in my early 20s to try and keep bouldering long term. I'm optimistic and actually feel I'm a lot better at avoiding injury and overtraining now and my elbows, shoulders and fingers feel better overall than they did right after college.

I avoid the gym and either boulder outside or do focussed training on my small garage wall. I use things like max hangs to focus on finger strength without overtaxing elbows or shoulders. This sort of training also has benefits in terms of time commitment as I'm a parent and work full time.

I'm careful about gradually ramping up training by adding weight/volume over time instead of trying to dive in with a big training day after I lay off.

I'm also careful about rest and often take a couple of days either entirely off or switch to endurance activities for a bit to allow complete recovery of an area that feels tender.

I do a lot of prehab/rehab/opposition work using bodyweight exercises, yoga, rings, elastic bands, free weights and kettlebells. I structure my garage sessions so I do a circuit of this stuff between problem tries or max hang repeats and I probably end up spending more time on them then pulling/climbing which is hard to duplicate in a crowded commercial gym.

I've mostly shifted my outdoor climbing focus to exploration and (moderate) problem development vs pushing through the grades on established lines...maybe i'll be the first one to develop an overuse injury from brushing boulders instead of climbing them. Our daughter also really enjoys camping and running around in the woods and exploring so that helps. She climbs and names most of the small boulders we find.

And perhaps most importantly I'm much smarter about how I work projects. I'll try to give each one just a handful of few tries and then move on to recover, train and come back next week. I also try to climb with precise technique and avoid trying to just hold on at all costs. Most of my persistent shoulder/elbow/finger issues cropped up after a session where I just kept trying and failing on the same at my limit move over and over again getting sloppier and sloppier. It's much easier to recover and get stronger if you stop before you do damage that will require significant healing time. It feels like you're giving up in the moment but avoiding injury time leads to more and faster sends overall.

I do have dodgy ankles from a few sprains over the years. Bouldering falls haven't helped but neither has trail running or hiking. I use hiking poles a lot (evan when trail running or carrying crash pads), bring as many pads as I can carry and am looking into better ways to rehab stretch and strengthen my ankle muscles.

I'm definetly curious to hear other tips on what older climbers think has worked to keep them bouldering!

If it's any encouragement to you middle aged kids, I am (slowly) gaining strength, past 60, and am arguably in better shape now, than in many, non athletic (but not complete couch potato) decades. 

What I am most careful of is my hands. Climbing is important to me, my job is hard on my hands, so I want to save them as much as I can!

That said, I do intend to be in the boulder gym a little more, as the overhead stuff is where I could really up my game outdoors, with more strength and technique.

As those who like to throw Lynn Hill in my face would quote, "There are no reach problems, only power problems". Something like that.

Best, Ancient Old Lady (for you creaky thirty something's, lol!)

Jake, I am always sorry to be reminded how young you are. I know it is just what you have been dealt, but still....

ryanb, just don't overdo, eat really super healthy, keep your weight in a reasonable range ((it will creep up if you don't stay on top of it) have a huge amount of fun that involves copious amounts of laughter, don't get sucked into addictions, live passionately and be passionately alive, and, keep at it. Forever. 

I have arthritis, only in the last year or so that I even knew. The best treatment by far, with clinical research to back it up? Stay active and control your weight. Sigh. 

Literally move it or lose it.

Best, Helen

the schmuck wrote:

Peter, I agree with you in principle, but there is the fact that every fall is a ground fall, and sprains and broken bones are linked to arthritis. 

Not only that, if you actually are pushing yourself you will have finger injuries and as you say injuries are linked to arthritis. 

I'm 38 and only boulder unless another climber friend wants to rope up on something. I prefer deep water soloing but the desert of CO isn't conducive to that, so bouldering it is! It's simplicity make it a joy for me. I'm not a detail person so the gear management of trad is not something I gravitate toward. 

T Roper wrote:

Not only that, if you actually are pushing yourself you will have finger injuries and as you say injuries are linked to arthritis. 

The clarification that is needed is which categories of injury are conducive to arthritis. Most climbing finger injuries are annular pulley tears which involve connective tissue that is not directly involved with joint function and would not appear to impact cartilage in the joints themselves.  Perhaps tendon avulsions or joint capsule injuries would be more likely? However those are relatively rare.

Nivel Egres wrote:

You don't think hard crimping is a bit detrimental to the DIP joint cartilage? 

As far as I can tell from what I have read, there is no direct correlation. It sounds like a "Your mileage may vary" situation based on genetics and a myriad of other factors.

Nivel Egres wrote:

Wonder why it's different from large joints like shoulders and hips where there is a definite correlation between repetitive stress and onset of arthritis. 

If this is true, then why is the best treatment for my knees, by far, to be as active as I can manage? Literally move it or lose it? :-)

I'm with the genetics camp, with injuries and perhaps, abuse being part of it.

Still, I am better  than half a year ago, lots, and it's specifically by upping my activity, including climbing.

On the other hand, older bodies do take longer to build strength, recover, and, when parts hurt, you are inclined to slow down.

Which is the chicken, which is the egg, or are we talking about a t rex and a pomegranate?

Best, OLH

Nivel Egres wrote:

Wonder why it's different from large joints like shoulders and hips where there is a definite correlation between repetitive stress and onset of arthritis. 

can you point to a study that clarifies this definite correlation? Repetitive stress could mean a lot of things...

I'll be turning 59 later this year and generally climb a couple of times a week for a couple of hours (I wish I had time for a lot more). Although I've had a number of the same relatively minor injuries most of us have had or will likely experience if they push it (obviously a very relative standard), as long as I'm pain-free, I'll continue to boulder as well as wall and alpine climb. I just try to use reasonable judgement about which moves are worth trying (injury risk v. reward) and I hate falling unroped, so I generally stay away from "extreme" problems (especially with high cruxes). Bouldering helps improve my confidence and move vocabulary, and therefore my ability to handle harder moves on walls, plus it's fun! 

Nivel Egres wrote:

I recall reading something along these lines years ago, but I probably have the reference saved somewhere and will find it when I get home. The study was on ballet dancers if I remember right.

Ballet dancers make climbing look like tiddly winks! That certainly is at the upper end of the scale of repetitive stress...

Nivel Egres wrote:

Well, apparently I remember wrong:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10067-016-3389-4

Interesting abstract nevertheless

Turning 46 this month with no signs of stopping =)

Meredith Davis wrote:

Turning 46 this month with no signs of stopping =)

I stopped serious climbing at 76... you have just started.

USBRIT wrote:

I stopped serious climbing at 76... you have just started.

Haha!

LOVE this!!!!

I prefer to use a rope  , 40+yrs later I've got no gush left Toes, Ankles, knees, & back.

Then after @ least 5yrs of visiting this spot, and others like it. I think the answer to the question depends

How old are your boulder'ers?  

In years - 

or by when they got their 1st ( or since their last?)! trespass charge, some of us never grow up.

I'm 50. I usually try to limit my bouldering to once a week; I could probably do about 1.5 times per week,sustainably, but that's harder to schedule in a routine. I am careful about warming up, not getting too crazy dynamic, and not doing the same problem too many times in a row. If it hurts, I don't do it.

But I'm pretty convinced that it's good for pushing into harder grades and working more whole body strength (in a fun way vice non-climbing exercise) than route/roped climbing. In my mind, routes are harder to train power/intensity and don't generally have the same complexity of movement.

But the bouldering is almost all indoor training; I rarely boulder outside. 

16. Bouldering V6

Really hope so