How To Climb More Often Without Getting Injured | Tried and Tested Recovery Methods

One of the first things coaches tell climbers who want to get better is to climb more. But they also tell you to be careful about how often you climb, because figuring out how to climb more often without getting injured is the whole trick.

Sure, you could climb every single day for 5 hours at a time, but your odds of getting hurt are pretty high compared to someone who only climbs 3 to 4 days per week for 2 to 3 hours a session.

Over the last several weeks, I tested 18 different methods to help my body handle more climbing. They covered everything I do before, during, and after a session. 

• 3 of them actually prevented me from getting pumped and helped me get more out of my climbing sessions
• 3 helped me prevent tendon injuries and build up my tendon strength
• 3 methods to decrease muscle soreness 
• 3 methods to improve muscle rebuilding
• 2 methods for overall muscle, tendon, and body health
• 2 methods for skin repair
• Plus 2 things that get marketed heavily but are more hype than they are helpful

Prevented Pumping

Getting pumped is that swollen, can’t-hang feeling in your forearms. The usual explanation is lactic acid building up when your muscles aren’t getting enough oxygen, though the real story behind the pump is more complicated than that. A common way climbers deal with it is dropping their arms toward the ground so gravity helps circulate fresh blood from your heart back to your forearms and hands. Honestly, it doesn’t do much, and most of us are still too pumped to keep climbing even after shaking out. If forearm endurance is your limiter, it’s worth reading up on climbing endurance for muscle, skin, and mental training. 

Supplemented Oxygen, Boost Oxygen

This was an interesting experiment. I grabbed canisters of Boost Oxygen, which are meant to be used while exercising, and puffed on them while climbing. After each route, I’d inhale a gust of oxygen from the canister. If a route looked especially powerful or energy-hungry, I’d also take a hit of oxygen before pulling on.

I was pleasantly surprised by what happened in the sessions where I used it.

It felt like the extra oxygen made it easier to keep my forearms fed, and I didn’t get as pumped while climbing. To be clear, this is my own experience and not a proven physiological effect, so take it with a grain of salt.

For the first few sessions I figured it might be placebo. After repeating it over several sessions, though, I came away convinced the oxygen was doing something for me. Your mileage may vary.

Cooling Cuffs

The cooling cuffs were another fun one. I didn’t expect much when I tried them, but I was really happy with the results. They’re basically little icepacks that strap to your wrists. After warming up, I put them on and climbed with them the whole session. 

The idea is that the cold on your wrists nudges your body to send more blood to the area. Whether that’s exactly the mechanism or not, my forearms did seem to circulate better and stay fresher.

I used the cuffs on a bunch of sessions and kept noticing I wasn’t getting as pumped with them on. I even did a hangboard challenge while wearing them and hung on about four minutes longer than usual, not from any magic strength boost, but because my circulation felt so much better.

Thorough Warm-up

If you walk into the gym and pull hard right away, you’ll pump out fast because your body isn’t ready for that kind of work yet. The fix is getting blood moving out to the ends of your limbs first. That way, even with your arms overhead for a long pitch, you can still get oxygenated blood to your fingers.

A good warm-up gets your whole body going and especially your fingers. I like to spend a solid chunk of time traversing the easy kid’s section of the gym. When there aren’t any kids around, I’ll go back and forth without stepping off for 10 minutes straight, which also preps my hips and hamstrings for flagging and drop knees. If you want a full routine, here’s my 5 to 10 minute warm-up for climbing.

Keep in mind you’ll still get pumped if you’re really pushing, even after a great warm-up. What a warm-up does is delay that pump and buy you a longer, more useful session.

Prevent Tendon Injury

Tendon injuries aren’t unique to climbing, but how often we tweak our finger and elbow tendons kind of is, because the sport is brutal on them. That’s why it’s worth putting real effort into protecting your tendons and building slow, patient strength with grip training exercises for hand strength.

If you caught the mini-series I did with Eric Horst about tendon care, you’ll recognize a few of these recovery ideas.

Collagen

Collagen is a key building block of your tendons. Some studies suggest that taking a collagen supplement shortly before climbing may support tendon health and help protect against tendon injuries.

For this experiment I tested two different collagen supplements. First PhysiVantage, which is built with climbers in mind, and then a collagen I picked up from GNC. 

Every day I drank a serving of collagen 15 to 20 minutes before climbing. For about 15 sessions I used the PhysiVantage collagen, then for another 15 sessions I used the one from GNC. 

Both brands seemed to help, but I liked the PhysiVantage one more. My tendons felt smoother and healthier on the sessions I used it. That might be the extra nutrients they add, since the company has done a lot of research on which ones matter most.

Massage Fingers

Massage is a great way to boost blood flow, which is how your body carries nutrients to your tendons. You can grab a finger massager pretty cheap at your local climbing gym or online. 

In my experience, use them before your session and throughout the day, not right after climbing. Your skin is usually tender after a session and these aren’t exactly gentle on it.

Massage Arms

Besides your finger tendons, targeted massage can help your elbow and shoulder tendons too. Friction massage, where you use a tool to scrape along the muscle and tendon, is common among physical trainers who work with climbers. Hoopers Beta did a whole video on it that I’d recommend watching.

For this experiment I used a massage gun. I got it for Meg last Christmas, and it turned out to be the best gift I’ve ever gotten her, at least for me.

After digging into it, I learned that working the forearm, then the bicep and tricep, before massaging the tendon area around your elbow is a great way to get blood flowing and break up any fascia buildup that might strain your tendons. You can do the same for your knees, but climbers don’t usually have knee issues, so I left that off this list.

Decrease Muscle Soreness

Muscle soreness is your body telling you it isn’t ready for another session yet. The good news is there are ways to bring that soreness down and get your muscles ready a little faster than if you just let them recover on their own. If you’re wondering whether to climb through it, I broke that down in is bouldering when sore bad?

Warm-Cold Showers

As part of a cool down, some studies suggest that going from a warm shower to a cold one is a nice way to wind down and get blood moving through your body.

The idea is that you start warm or at room temperature and then switch to cold. It’s a little different from a straight cold shower because you get a moment to settle in before you turn the knob to cold. 

I’ve found it a bit easier and more pleasant than jumping straight into cold, and the reported benefits are about the same. 

Acupuncture 

Acupuncture has been used for thousands of years to help with soreness and pain. The rough idea is that hitting specific pressure points signals to your body that it isn’t in danger, which can dial down how sensitive those nerves are. 

Real acupuncture is usually pricey and needs a professional. Luckily I found this bed of nails, a mat covered in thousands of hypoallergenic plastic points. They don’t break the skin, so you just lie down on it for a similar effect.

My first time on it hurt quite a bit, but after a few nights I actually found it comforting and it did help my soreness. I’m not sure it’s the ideal way to use it, but I found that putting the mat on my bed and lying back on it got my lower back better and gave me more even coverage. It wasn’t as intense that way, so maybe it isn’t quite as effective as using it on a hard surface.

Even so, it worked plenty well for me. One time my psoas was so sore that standing up or lying flat on my back made me sick to my stomach from the pain. I spent the whole day taking ibuprofen and Tylenol and stretching, with no relief. Finally I lay down on the bed of nails, and that was the moment I realized how much it helps me, because I actually started feeling better. 

Cupping

Cupping is said to pull stagnant fluid toward the surface and bring in fresh, nutrient-rich blood. It’s also meant to give a gentle, sustained stretch that loosens tight muscles and connective tissue, and some traditional practitioners say it clears “heat” or inflammation. Just know a lot of these claims come from traditional practice rather than strong clinical evidence, so treat them that way.

I was sent a cupping device to test, and after a few uses I figured I’d share it, since it did seem to help me recover faster with less effort on my end.

Usually when you see a professional, they use either glass cups with fire or plastic cups with a pump that you pump just enough and then leave in place for a while.

This machine does it electronically, and depending on the mode, it’ll suck, decompress, then suck again over and over for a nice massage. That pattern would be really hard to copy with fire or a hand pump. You can also use it the traditional way, where you set the pressure you want and it holds tight for the length of the session.

It also has different strength settings, so you can start light on a spot and work your way up.

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Increase Muscle Repair

BCAAs

BCAAs are essential amino acids that make up a large share, around 35%, of the essential amino acids in your muscle protein. You’ll find them in food and supplements, and they help your muscles grow and recover. You can grab BCAAs at just about any grocery or supplement store, and a few climbing-specific brands make them too.

Basically, they’re a solid way to help your muscles recover. Every time I use BCAAs, I seem to bounce back faster than when I just go to bed after climbing.

Even with the benefits I’ve noticed, I struggle to use them consistently. I’ve tried 3 brands and they’re all so sweet, probably from the amino acids, that I have a hard time getting them down.

To actually drink my BCAAs, I turned it into a game on my dog’s walk. I’d bring the little bottle along, and every time she squatted to pee, I’d take a swig. Sometimes she squatted a little too often, but hey, it got me through the bottle.

That said, I know plenty of people who love the flavors and swear by the candy-style ones. Maybe someday I’ll come around.

Protein Drinks/Smoothies

One of the cheapest ways to recover your muscles is drinking protein before bed. Plenty of people swear by whey, and there are multiple studies backing it up. Unfortunately I’m allergic to whey, so I can’t drink it.

I’ve tried a handful of vegan proteins and found a couple I really like. This one from Nutrilite is probably my favorite. It has a bunch of added amino acids that help connective tissue and not just muscle, so I’d recommend it.

Recovery Tea

One thing I came across while looking for recovery ideas was getting a little collagen in before bed. Taken shortly before climbing, collagen is easier to route to your tendons. But when you aren’t loading your tendons and are just sleeping, some research suggests collagen may help bring protein to your muscles and support recovery.

I actually found a tea that pairs melatonin with collagen for better recovery while you sleep. I usually only reached for it when I was extra sore, but I do seem to recover faster when I use it. Plus the melatonin helps me sleep better.

Overall Health for Your Body, Muscles, and Tendons

A lot of what’s in this article targets specific parts like your tendons and muscles, but your whole body climbs, and there are two things I’ve found that help your overall health.

Water

This article wouldn’t be complete without the easiest but most necessary recovery tool of all. Water flushes waste out of your body, carries nutrients into your cells, and helps regulate your temperature and pH balance. It also helps with muscle soreness and tension.

Drinking enough during your session isn’t enough on its own, though. You need to be well hydrated before and after too. The water you sip mid-session does surprisingly little in the moment, which is exactly why you want to show up already hydrated.

A good target is 67 ounces of water per 100 lbs of body weight. So if you weigh 140 lbs, you’d multiply 140 by 0.67, which comes out to about 94 ounces per day.

Stretching

Stretching is something I struggle to stay on top of, but I always notice a difference in how I feel when I do it. It can help reduce muscle soreness and stiffness, improve posture, and lower stress, and it’s often recommended to help prevent injuries. All of that matters for your climbing and your general wellness.

There are a few schools of thought on the type of stretching, like dynamic versus static. As long as you’re doing either one safely, my take is that both help.

I lean on dynamic stretching before I climb and save static stretches for after, while my muscles are still warm. I notice a performance bump on days I stretch beforehand, and a lot less stiffness when I stretch after climbing instead of going straight home to the couch.

Skin recovery

Especially for newer climbers, skin can feel like more of a limiter than muscles or tendons. But even advanced climbers know skin can cap how much you’re able to climb.

Skin Cream at Night

Over the last couple months I’ve been testing different skincare routines for skin recovery. My favorite for skin repair has been Rhino Skin Care, along with their performance cream. 

The performance cream is made to toughen up your skin and is recommended 3 to 4 times a week depending on how much you climb. Since I was climbing daily, I used it closer to five times a week.

The repair cream is made to speed up skin recovery. Compared to the performance cream, it keeps your skin more elastic, which is key to healing. Repair is what I reach for if I get a tear or cut, especially after climbing outside, since that’s where I pick up the most little random nicks.

Skin Cream Before Climbing

If you know you’re in for some skin-shredding climbing, it’s worth investing in something like Climb Skin that temporarily boosts your skin’s durability and tack. When I use Climb Skin, I feel like Spider-Man sticking to everything, and my hands seem to handle more abuse than when I skip it.

One catch with this cream is that you need to put it on about 1 to 2 hours before climbing. The problem for me is I usually hit the restroom right before I climb and wash a lot of it off. Good news is, as long as it had an hour or so to soak in, it still seems to work about the same as if I hadn’t washed my hands.

More Hype than Help

Sometimes the marketing around a product is so slick you start to think you need it to recover from climbing. But some of these turn out to be more hype than help. Here are two of them, in my opinion.

Muscle Soap

I spotted this muscle recovery soap at the grocery store and figured I’d try it. The packaging says you can use it as a bubble bath or a body wash, and that the essential oils in it help with muscle recovery.

I enjoyed the bubble bath, but I had to keep my hands out of the water so they wouldn’t prune and go too soft for climbing the next day, which is a real thing for climbers. So it might not be ideal for us.

On top of that, I’ve used Epsom salts with muscle recovery essential oils that seemed to do more than this bubble bath did.

I ended up using the soap as a body wash for a month and decided I like the smell, but I didn’t notice any real effect on sore muscles. It’s basically a pricey body wash.

It also seemed like most of the essential oils just rinsed off with the soap.

Instead of a body wash, go with a muscle recovery lotion so the essential oils actually stay on your skin.

Ice Fingers

Icing your fingers can drive blood flow to your finger tendons, which helps recovery as long as you’ve got the nutrients in your system for your blood to carry there.

There’s a lot of hype around icing fingers, and a lot of it probably comes from companies teaming up with climbers to push a product that looks like a little ice koozie for your fingers.

The reason I put it in the hype pile is that you can get the exact same result by dunking your fingers in a bowl of ice water for a couple minutes. The difference is a bowl of ice water is basically free, versus the $10 per finger price tag on the ice finger koozie.

How to climb more often without getting injured

At the end of the day, learning how to climb more often without getting injured comes down to stacking small recovery habits, dialing in your warm-up, feeding your tendons, staying hydrated, and being honest about when you need a break. None of these are magic on their own, but together they let your body handle more time on the wall. If you’re still figuring out your ideal frequency, take a look at how many days you should climb per week.

Want a simple way to keep improving between sessions? The free Send Edition newsletter sends you one short climbing drill every week, about 15 minutes each, so you keep getting better without frying your body. Level up your climbing with 15 minutes of training.

Frequently asked questions

How many days a week can I climb without getting injured?

For most climbers, 3 to 4 days a week at 2 to 3 hours a session is a lot safer than climbing every day for hours at a time. The exact number depends on your recovery, but building good recovery habits is what lets you add days without breaking down.

What actually helps prevent tendon injuries from climbing?

In my testing, the biggest helpers were a thorough warm-up that gets blood into your fingers, taking collagen shortly before climbing, and regular massage for your fingers, forearms, and elbows. Patient grip strength work matters too.

Do cooling cuffs and supplemental oxygen really stop the pump?

In my own sessions, both seemed to help me stay fresher and delay the pump, likely by improving circulation. That said, this is personal experience rather than proven science, so treat it as an experiment worth trying, not a guarantee.

How much water should I drink to recover from climbing?

A good target is about 67 ounces of water per 100 lbs of body weight. For a 140 lb climber that works out to roughly 94 ounces a day. Being hydrated before and after your session matters more than what you sip mid-climb.

Which climbing recovery products are more hype than help?

The two that fell flat for me were muscle recovery soap, which mostly rinsed off, and the ice finger koozies, since a free bowl of ice water does the same thing as the $10 per finger version.

Sara Climbing Coach, Climbing Trainer, Writer

Sara is the founder of Send Edition, author of '77 Drills to Help You Climb Better,' the creator of 'Elevate Your Climbing: Training Planner and Tracker,' and climbing coach.

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