“DON’T THINK HANGBOARDING IS FOR YOU? THINK AGAIN”

When I first started climbing I was hooked, immediately integrating it into my schedule. But soon I began experiencing repetitive strain injuries, chronic tightness and soreness, and eventually threw out my back when I fell bouldering. A physio told me I needed to start strength training if I wanted to end what had become a worsening two-year cycle of injury. Without insurance, I couldn’t afford physiotherapy or other regular treatments, but something about strength training felt extremely daunting. I had put it off because I genuinely didn’t believe strength training—like hangboarding—was meant for me. I was ashamed I hadn’t committed to working on my injuries myself. But recently I’ve inquired a little deeper, a little more mindfully, about why I was so reluctant to approach strength training—and I realized it wasn’t so simple as a lack of willpower…