How Does 30 Years of Climbing Affect Our Shoulders?

In this episode, Kris and Paul discuss a topic that every climber has to consider during their career - shoulder health - as examined in the study:

Impact of 30 Years High-Level Rock Climbing on the Shoulder: an Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study of 31 Climbers

authored by Silvan Beeler, MD, Torten Pastor, MD, Benjamin Fritz, MD, Lukas Filli, MD, Andreas Schweizer, MD, and Karl Weiser, MD; published in the Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery in 2021.

They’ll attempt to determine whether or not we are truly trashing our shoulders more than others, and if so, what kind of impact this damage could have on our climbing performance. Tune in to find out if every iron-cross move is a potential trip to the operating room, or if there’s a good chance our shoulders just might be able to withstand the wear and tear.

*Additional studies/resources mentioned in this episode: Physiological Bone Responses in the Fingers After More Than 10 Years of High-Level Sport Climbing: Analysis of Cortical Parameters authored by Frederik Hahn, MD, Matthias Erschbaumer, MD, Philipp Allenspach, MSc, Kaspar Rufibach, PhD, and Andreas Schweizer, MD; published in Wilderness & Environmental Medicine, 2012.

Ep. 153 of the Power Company Climbing Podcast: Pain Science for Climbers with Dr. Natasha Barnes

New episodes drop on Wednesdays. Make sure you’re subscribed, leave us a review, and share! And please tell all of your weak-shouldered friends who insist that every shouldery move is going to result in surgery, that you have the perfect podcast for them.

Breaking Beta is brought to you by Power Company Climbing and Crux Conditioning, and is a proud member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective. Find full episode transcripts, citations, and more at our website.

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Our music is from legendary South Dakota band Rifflord.