Dave MacLeod new book on injuries: Make or Break
|
I think Dave MacLeod gives the deepest insights and most careful analysis of English-language writers about climbing performance. His new book exceeded my expectations ... because unlike "9 out of 10", he delivers a fairly complete coverage of the topic. |
|
I loved his book. Think the large section he dedicates to improving movement habits / posture / injury avoidance etc to help prevent a lot of problems before they start is something that is barely mentioned in the climbing community. |
|
sachimcfarland wrote:I remember being somewhat surprised he doesn't sound super keen on the various types of massage.I noticed that too. I guess it's because: (a) It's not easy to find well-controlled studies where massage helps with recovery time or quality from specific injuries. (b) Just because massage is successful to reduce pain does not imply that it improves recovery time or quality. (c) The mechanisms by which massage is supposed to help recovery could be achieved by other therapeutic approaches. (d) Massage did not seem to help him with his own most significant injuries (though he does not say this explicitly). Interesting also that I seem to remember MacLeod once had a video recommending the ArmAid - (though perhaps more as a mid-workout refresher than for injury rehab?). My own feeling is that while the ArmAid helped me (and taught me), I've found more effective self-massage tools since (esp. the BoDo), so I don't use it any more. Ken P.S. The good news is that the Placebo effect works: So if you believe in a particular massage device or technique, it might really help with recovery time or quality, even if the physiological mechanisms cannot be found. |
|
What's a Bodo? The Placebo effect is awesome. But I believe massage is beneficial to healing. To each their own I suppose. |
|
The more I read the book, the more impressed I get. |
|
I'm going to get around to a re-read at some point. I've read 9 out of 10 about 5 times now and something new always jumps out. Placebo effect aside, surely there must be some science behind deep friction massage, trigger point therapy etc? Even without climbing for a week my forearms were literally knotted masses of tissue that was hard to the touch, since using an armaid with the meanest nastiest roller the tissue is noticably more pliable and hurts a hell of alot less. |
|
sachimcfarland wrote:indifference to the whole massage thing.Well every modern English-language book on training for climbing is fairly indifferent to massage. I recall one book mentions like half a page about it (with no particular insight). I'd say it's fair to conclude that top climbers have not found clever use of massage to have made much impact on their climbing success or injury-recovery. I do lots of self-massage to deal with post-workout pain, and it definitely helps me get sleep without taking any painkillers. And I sort of think that it shortens my recovery time from hard workouts -- but I would not know how to prove that. Even for myself, I've never made a comparison of how fresh and effective I was for my next hard workout after losing sleep time to do self-massage versus just taking Extra-Strength Tylenol and getting to bed earlier. It's harder to do well-controlled clinical studies on "soft" muscle + tendon injuries -- and on non-surgical non-chemical recovery techniques -- because it's tricky to measure the before / after, tricky to categorize degree of severity, tricky to define and consistently apply the "correct" kind and intensity of massage -- and not much monetary payback for finding which massage techniques work or don't work for which kinds of injuries. So maybe MacLeod just decided to focus his careful analysis and writing on aspects of rehab that he thought he could offer perspective and advice more likely to have a definite benefit to more climbers. (and maybe he'll get around to giving more attention to massage in the Second Edition). Ken |
|
In regards to the topics covered by MacLeod, does he talk at all about shoulder surgery? I have a SLAP tear and would appreciate opinions on biceps tenodesis compared to direct repair of the tear. |
|
R. Moran wrote:What's a Bodo?description + photos in this MP thread |
|
I've reviewed Make or Break here on ukbouldering |