Super pumped forearm and increasing weakness.

I’ve been noticing my left forearm has been getting pumped really quickly recently (often on the first or second climb) and I’ve definately lost strength with that arm too? It’s super frustrating as any progression I’ve made is hurtling down the drain and also it’s getting pretty painful when climbing.

I was wondering if anybody else has experienced this and has some remedies or knows what it could be? Or if there are any physio climber types who can recommend ways to reduce this and still climb?

I’m alright when on slab routes and but as soon as I do any sort of overhang it aggravates it. Gripping on tightly when leading (fear of falling) can also increase any symptoms.

I have a climbing trip coming up in the fall and I’d like to kick this in the butt before I fly out.

I am going through the exact same situation Francesca!  It is super frustrating.  I have tried putting multiple rest days between sessions but it seems like a longer rest may be needed. 

I know it may sound counter intuitive but have you tried training them with weights? It may not be a recovery thing but an actual development issue.

Also arm-aid after climbing had helped me with forearm recovery.

Sounds like tendinitis to me.  Resting your climbing muscles and strengthening your opposition muscles is your best bet.  Reverse wrist curls are a great exercise to work your opposition muscles.  Also, make sure to warm up slowly, and listen to your body.  

I do minimal warm ups and warm downs, so should try to figure out a decent warm up/ warm down. I tend to have quite a juvenile mindset with this; firstly the wanting to get straight onto the rock and then the tiring myself out and not being bothered to warm down.

With the wrist curls, will just a light amount of weight suffice?

I’ve actually managed to locate a local physio who is a climber, so I’m hoping this will also give me an insight into what to do/ what is causing this.

Was really hoping not to hear tendonitis, I’m terrible at resting!

Thanks for the response :)

It's uncommon, so it's unlikely to be the cause of your problem, but just in case, make sure your physio is familiar with chronic exertional compartment syndrome.

https://pamelashantipack.com/2012/04/10/injuries-chronic-exertional-compartment-syndrome-cecs/

there are a bunch of articles on tendonosis/tendonitis in climbers and how to treat/prevent it. If you can afford it best to see a doctor. If not, try the exercises in the articles you dig up on the internet

Francesca, light weight on the reverse wrist curls is best.  Something like five pounds to start out.  I like to hang a weight from a three foot long cord connected to a two foot long piece of pipe or a cut off broom handle.

 I had the tendonosis really bad, and the plain reverse wrist curls did approximately nothing to help. I ended up finding a couple really good exercises in a rock and ice article that cured mine, but it took 6 onths to entirely recover. But if your arm issues are minor enough for the reverse curls to work then hey, problem solved

If you’re not warming up, it could just be a good ole fashioned flash pump...did this happen before, or is it new?  Have you started getting on an unfamiliar/different style of climbs?