Rock climbing is a full body sport — however, a lot of the work comes from those powerful upper extremities. The muscles, ligaments, and joints of your shoulders and arms play a key role in effectively moving the body as you scale a rockface.
Unfortunately, this leaves many climbers prone to pain or injury in the limbs, especially in the ever-complicated shoulder joint.
If you’re a climber dealing with shoulder pain or injury, this blog is just for you! Read on to learn more about the major shoulder muscles used during climbing, the most common types of shoulder injuries for climbers, and what exercises can help mobilize and strengthen the muscles for injury prevention and recovery.
The Most Important Muscles for Climbers
There are four main muscle groups that are essential for climbers: the rotator cuff, serratus anterior, lower and mid trapezius, and latissimus dorsi. Let’s break down each of them in more detail…
First up is the rotator cuff. This muscle group comprises four smaller muscles: the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, and subscapularis (commonly referred to as SITS). When all four muscles are working at peak functionality together, they are the primary source of stability for the ball-and-socket joint of your shoulder. Plus, they assist with flexion, abduction, and internal and external rotation of the shoulder as well.
Your serratus anterior is perhaps a lesser-known muscle in relation to the shoulder. It’s something of a fan-shaped muscle that connects your scapulae (shoulder blades) to your ribs, acting as an essential stabilizer for the scapulae as they move and rotate upwards.
The lower and middle trapezius muscles cover a wide surface area in your shoulders and upper back! The trap muscles work together with the serratus anterior to properly stabilize the scapula, especially during movements where you bring your arm above your head. You also need ample strength and mobility in the traps to effectively turn your head or move your shoulders up and down.
Lastly, we have the latissimus dorsi or “lats.” Although this muscle predominantly takes up space around your mid to low back, it has attachment points to your humerus and along the bottom corner of your scapulae. It plays an essential role in your pulling strength, as it helps bring your torso upwards when your arms are above your head.
Common Climbing Shoulder Injuries
Truth be told, there are plenty of ways climbers can injure their shoulders… The joint is already a complex anatomical structure, and when you combine that with the rigorous motions of climbing, the tissues are often vulnerable to biomechanical compensations that lead to injury.
While we can’t cover every possible injury in one blog, here are the four most common shoulder issues and diagnoses that climbers sustain.
Rotator Cuff Strain
We all know that muscle strains are a (literal) pain to deal with, but it can be especially frustrating in the rotator cuff. People can experience pain with a variety of movements — usually anything overhead, sometimes with stretching, and most commonly when performing any kind of resisted movement against the shoulder.
Because your rotator cuff primarily functions to stabilize the glenohumeral joint, you likely won’t experience much pain with passive range of motion. However, any time the injured muscles are placed under load or resistance, the tissue is exacerbated by having to stabilize the joint through movement. This often leads to resonating pain that travels down the lateral and posterior sides of the shoulder.
Shoulder Impingement
Most cases of shoulder impingement present distinct symptoms, the most common one being a pinching, sharp pain. People will frequently experience pain in the subacromial space of the shoulder, which is along the top of that main ball-and-socket joint.
With this diagnosis, you likely won’t feel painful symptoms with activities below shoulder-height or at full flexion. The issues typically strike as you bring your shoulder through mid-range of motion, often resulting in restricted range of motion altogether.
Scapular Winging
This one is a bit unique, because it’s not technically an injury diagnosis.
Scapular winging is more of a biomechanical error, and it’s exactly what it sounds like: it’s when one (or both) of your scapulae “wings outward” and won’t stay flush with your rib cage as you move. This deviation is usually brought on by weakness in the serratus anterior and lower traps. If either of these muscles have insufficient strength or activation, they’re unable to properly stabilize the scapulae during movement.
Image courtesy of Physio-Pedia
The good news is that scapular winging doesn’t usually come with painful symptoms! Rather, it’s a biomechanical issue that can progress into other diagnoses if left unchecked. If the issue worsens, it can lead to further weaknesses, deficiencies, and injuries — and that’s where the symptoms and pain will start to kick in.
Shoulder Instability
Similar to scapular winging, shoulder instability isn’t necessarily a precise diagnosis as much as it is a biomechanical deficiency.
Although it’s often caused by insufficient muscular control or strength, there are many reasons why these insufficiencies occur in the first place. Some people sustain an acute injury (e.g., a labral tear) that causes the surrounding muscles to lose some functionality, and some people end up being overly flexible and may have difficulty stabilizing the shoulder overall.
Shoulder instability doesn’t always come with pain; sometimes you might experience sensations like clicking, locking, or catching at the joint while moving. Many people are only able to describe it as the shoulder “not feeling quite right,” too. (If you do experience some pain, it’s more likely a generalized pain that’s hard to pinpoint. You might feel the pain move around, as the instability affects multiple structures of the shoulder at once.)
How Climbers Can Alleviate Shoulder Pain
Alright… this one’s a hefty question to answer. Obviously, there’s not just one set method that can alleviate your shoulder pain and help you recover from injury.
Your best bet is not a surprising one — to truly understand where your pain is coming from, be sure you work with a specialist who can identify the issue! The shoulder joint is incredibly complex, and attempting certain exercises without a formal diagnosis or guidance may worsen the symptoms.
However, once you know what you’re working with (or, if you’re being proactive and focusing on injury prevention!), there are a handful of exercises that can improve your shoulder health and functionality.
