Indoor Weekly: Simple Finger Injury Prevention Exercise

Dr. Jared Vagy, DPT, demonstrates how to use a carabiner to perform an easy finger injury prevention exercise.

The muscles in our forearms extend into long narrow tendons as they reach into the fingers.

The tendons run through sheaths and are anchored to your bone by pulleys that keep your tendons gliding flush.

There are five annular pulleys (A1 to A5) that sling around the bone and four cruciform pulleys that form a cross over the bone to secure the tendon.

When excessive strain is placed on the finger tendons, the pressure exerts an outward force on the pulley which may strain or tear it.

Dynamic moves to and from small edges are the moves that most commonly cause injury. And pulling too much with your fingers on small holds and the repetitive use of full or closed crimps.

You should be aware of dangerous movements that can increase the stress on the carpal tunnel and eventually lead to pain and injury.

By keeping your fingers conditioned for climbing can help you prevent injury. There’s nothing worse than hearing your pulley go Pop!

The exercise involves pushing one finger on the gate of a carabiner while extending your other fingers down and away to work the extendors.

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