in may 2024, i picked up the silver set of 8kg dumbbells at Westway, and had the bright idea to fervently crush out 4 x 12 reps of bicep curls behind the front desk – because ‘ i wanted to be stronger at underclings ( i actually just wanted my biceps to be proportionate to my forearms)’ 16 sets that week later, my elbow whined and croaked. and with a healthy dose of testosterone-backed-science that would turn away even the most patient woman, i attacked it like every other physical ailment i’d encountered before:
‘it must just be a slight tweak. i’ll just rest and climb it away.’
little did i know i had accidentally hyper extended my elbow ( about 18 months later I realised i’m hyper-mobile) in an effort to squeeze out those extra reps – merely because the universal truth of ‘no pain no gain’ was forcedly hammered into my un-coached brain.
little did I know this would begin the 17 months ( and ongoing ) of a less-than-ideal physical state.
one month of pretending it wasn’t there. four months of consuming social media slop, climbing books and a fool’s errand of climber’s elbow rehab. nine months of low-moderate effectiveness rehab after getting a bandaid diagnosis from a physio ( ahem… )
what did i learn
bodies arent invincible – even if you think you are you aren’t. look at the pros. adam ondra quit the olympics . kyra condie retired from comps. we need to stop pretending like we’re invincible. if you want to do sport you need to do it properly.
of crux and kaya - dillon's deep dive 