Passion and greed of climbing
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By Song Sang-ho
We see many artificial rock climbing areas in the mountains and parks these days, with a number of nationwide climbing competitions held every year. Climbing, which only a small number of people enjoyed, really seems to be expanding among diverse groups of people.
Climbing is good for strengthening muscle and improving flexibility. As you use the muscles in the entire body while rock climbing, it is very effective in increasing muscle strength and endurance. Males can have a muscular body, and females can have a resilient and well-balanced body. It is even better as it can be done both indoors and outdoors — rock climbing is not influenced by the weather or the season.
As rock climbing is known to be effective in shedding kilos, the number of female climbers is also increasing. After actress Park Ha-sun lost 10 kilograms by rock climbing, more women are trying a “climbing diet.” Climbing is a type of aerobic exercise. It can help in losing weight because you burn a lot of calories doing it.
However, you need to be careful not to overdo it if you’re a beginner. One of the common mistakes that beginners make is that they try to hold their entire body weight with just one arm as they climb. This easily leads to shoulder injury. You can damage your shoulders when a sudden weight is loaded on one shoulder as you shift your body towards the next rock to hold on to.
The common injury here is called “rotator cuff tear.” Rotator cuff refers to four major tendons in the shoulder, and these structures play a very important role when the arm is lifted and used. However, a tear in the rotator cuff isn’t so painful, and people usually think of it as a simple muscle pain. Special attention is thus needed.
Another common shoulder injury in the young people is “labral rupture.” The labrum refers to the cartilage around the shoulder bone. A labral rupture means that the labrum around the shoulder is separated because of abrupt shock or excessive use. When the labrum is ruptured, arm lifting is difficult, and you will feel discomfort in daily activities.
If you have continuous pain in the shoulder area, and it becomes difficult to do daily activities, it is important to consult a doctor immediately for accurate diagnosis. Shoulder diseases have similar symptoms, and it is difficult to self-diagnose them. Accurate diagnosis by medical professionals is essential. When pain is not properly treated, the damage and pain aggravate, and it can cause other shoulder problems.
In the early stages of shoulder injury, the pain can be treated with medication or physical therapy. However, if the treatments are ineffective and the pain persists, surgical treatment is necessary.
Exotic sports such as climbing involve a great amount of activity, and thus you consume a lot of physical energy. When you’re enjoying sports with a lot of movement, you need to pay attention to knee joint injuries. The cartilages in the knee joint can be damaged as the body weight is loaded on to the knees, and it can lead to degenerative arthritis in severe cases. The knees can also be treated with exercise or medication in the early stages, but when it proceeds into more severe disease and pain persists, surgical treatment through endoscopy may be needed.
The shoulder is the part that has the widest range of motion in our body. The knees are also involved in all our movements. This is why injury in either of these two areas will make it difficult to perform daily activities. Therefore, it is important to warm up before you climb. Thoroughly checking your safety equipment is also very important.
If your passion gets ahead of you too much from the beginning, you’ll be exhausted quickly. Enjoy exercising by gradually increasing the intensity, and the effects will be doubled. If you’re climbing, or planning on climbing, you should balance out your passion and greed.
The writer is the president of Wellton Bone & Joint hospital.