You must take care of you body.  You only get one and its expensive to fix once you go past the breaking point.

Lets start on the surface with your skin:

Now how many people out there have seen the older generation looking like lizards because they failed to wear sunscreen and a hat?  The easiest way to protect your face is by putting a freaking hat on!  Not only is this a form of protection but can also be used as an expression of personality.  Another good way to protect your skin is by having a sun shirt.  This is a lightweight/synthetic white shirt that has long sleeves and could have a hoodie (I am hoodie biased, I love them).

Living outside and climbing all the time will cause you to scrap yourself up.  Its inevitable.  I am a strong believer in salve.  Salve is expensive these days (soon to change due to the release of my line “Salv’ation”), so I make my own. This is how:

Take some Olive Oil and infuse herbs into it (you choose) either by using a stove top or throw it in a mason jar and put in the sun for a couple of weeks, shaking daily.  Strain the herbs and melt beeswax into the oil, (about a 1 to 4 ratio is a good amount to start with). Add some Vitamin E and essence oil.  Put it in a jar, give it to your friends and never leave home without it.

Body Maintenance:

A healthy body will allow you to be a stronger and resilient climber.  The biggest mistake climbers make is not stretching.  Stretching is good because it makes us stronger.  We increase our range of motion which in turns allows our muscles to develop better.  Have you seen the stiff boulderer in the gym or the boulder field?  They walk around like stiff football players.   Its only a matter of time before something snaps.

My sister, Julie, showing off her moves in Seward, AK.

Yoga.  The best way to stretch.  There are infinite types out there (especially if you live in Asheville, NC).  There is a style that matches your personality.  My favorite is Bikram.  I get intensity, cardio and a deep stretch all within 90min.  Last fall, I signed up for the introductory week because my elbows were hurting. By the end of that week, my elbows stopped hurting and have been good ever since.  I am now using Bikram to break up the scar tissue in my ankle from an old ski injury I have.  But Bikram is intense and not for everyone.  Try a simple Vinyasa or my other favorite is Ashtanga.

Protect your shoulders.  Dont deadhang from your joints, always keep those muscles engaged when climbing, even when shaking out.  Keep this in mind when you do your hangboard exercises.

Get some theraband.  You can do several simple rotator cuff exercises with your band just outside your van, no house or fancy equipment needed.  Here’s a link to a pdf file with some to do: http://orthodoc.aaos.org/jessmkirby/Rotator%20Cuff%20Strengthening%20Exercises.pdf

Buy a theracane.  This will help release those tight muscles in your back and shoulders without having to rely on another person to do it for you.  I saw them at EMS the other day, they are on the internet and also at some stores.  If you want to really learn how to use it effectively, buy a book on Trigger Point therapy.

Feet:

Keep your nails trimmed.

Lets talk about the fungus, as in nail fungus.  I just found out about this shit and its actually more common than I ever thought.  When you wear too small of shoes for long periods of time, it can damage your toes and nails.  One or two nails may begin to grow in thicker than the rest.  Thats the nail fungus.  Go to your local CVS pharmacy or something like it, and pick up some over-the-counter medication for it.  Its the most economically and effective way of fighting it.

This is what my feet looked like after climbing a mountain in rental ski boots. Not worth it.

I have these weird spurs on the back of my heels from wearing rental ski boots.  They freaking hurt!  I have yet to figure out what to do about these, but I know that western medicine would simply cut them off via surgery.  I have seen people with this done and it looks painful.  Not interested.  I am going to try acupuncture and see if the Chinese have a better, less painful, solution.

To all those boulderers who wear their shoes so small they have hammer toes.  STOP! I have met many people in the previous generation that now have arthritis in their toes from these shoes!   If you must wear your shoes this small, only wear them for small periods of time. When I buy climbing shoes, I size them to where my large toe can lie flat, the rest of them can curl inwards.  I have the egyptian toes where my second and third toe is longer than the first.  I also have one larger foot than the other… which kind of sucks.  But maybe Ill blog about that later : )

In closing, just remember: If you take care of your body, your body will take care of you.

Lucky the Dog is saying that you better check yourself before you wreck yourself!