EP 256: Stian Christophersen Returns

January 20, 2025

Stian Christophersen is a physiotherapist, coach, author, and world-class climber. He returns to the podcast to discuss his new book about managing injuries. We talked about whether two days of hard climbing per week is enough to get stronger, the Japanese method for building technique, load management, how to rehab a ruptured pulley, why optimist is important for recovery, training for tweaky holds and moves, growth plate injuries, mindset tips, and much more.

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Show Notes:

Related Podcast Episodes:

EP 255: Dave MacLeod Returns

EP 243: Fundamentals — How to Recover From an Injury

EP 143: Matt Heyliger

Follow-Up: Matt Heyliger (Pulley Rehab Series)

EP 207: Paul Houghoughi

EP 222: Paul Houghoughi Returns

EP 122: Jared Vagy

EP 119: Carrie Cooper

EP 32: Natasha Barnes

References: 

No One Mourns the Wicked V17 FA by Nathaniel Coleman

Soudain Seul 9A/V17 FA by Simon Lorenzi

Buy Stian’s New Book:

The Climbing Bible: Managing Injuries (Adventure Books)

The Climbing Bible: Managing Injuries (Amazon)

Stian’s Links:

Instagram

Climbing Injuries Podcast

Books


Nuggets:

00:00:00 – Intro

00:02:09 – Stian’s finger injury, & why medical professionals are cautious

00:07:40 – Practicing board climbing

00:11:55 – Outline of topics

00:15:18 – Most common climbing injuries

00:18:13 – Rules for preventing injuries

00:20:39 – How much hard climbing is reasonable

00:29:13 – Lifting weights

00:31:04 – The Japanese approach

00:43:43 – Finger training to prevent finger injuries

00:52:05 – How frequently should we change our finger training protocols?

00:56:01 – Cluster sets, & best pulling exercises to prevent shoulder injuries

00:59:25 – When to do extra strength training

01:01:47 – Sleep, nutrition, stress, & identity

01:06:45 – Regaining confidence after injury

01:09:45 – Optimism & discovery

01:20:42 – Is there an ideal way to rehab pulley injuries?

01:25:52 – How to rehab pulley injuries

01:35:14 – Loading & adapting from within

01:43:50 – The good news with pulley injuries

01:45:59 – Is surgery ever necessary for pulley injuries?

01:48:20 – How to reintroduce climbing after a pulley injury

01:51:20 – Reintroducing crimps & hard climbing

01:53:59 – Preparing for tweaky holds

02:01:08 – Individual finger training

02:05:57 – Training for hard shoulder moves

02:07:20 – Growth plate injuries

02:10:58 – Injections for finger pain

02:13:20 – Mindset tips

02:16:06 – Tall climbers, tendon strength, & talent

02:20:49 – Where to buy Stian’s new book

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EP 255: Dave MacLeod Returns