The Self-Rehabbed Climber

About the book

This book provides an up-to-date, easy-to-understand, and flexible framework for self-rehabilitation of some of the most common climbing injuries. You will be lead through all stages of rehab, and with excellent descriptions and photos, this book will guide you to manage your own rehabilitation. It will help you listen to your body, translate what it is telling you, and adapt your own treatment. Each injury is broken down into stages, with guidance given on where your treatment entry point is, how to know you’re ready to progress tot the next stage, how to continue to climb with the injury, and what likely caused it in the first place.

This is the first book to provide a return-to-sport protocol and to give you the ability to truly understand and manage your own rehab. You will be more knowledgable and capable than before your injury. This will protect you against the original cause of the injury so you can push to a new level. The sport science principles learned can be taken forward and used in your training and to prevent any new, future injuries.

Injuries covered

• A2 Flexor Pulley Sprain

• Golfer’s Elbow

• Sub-Acromial Pain (previously known as “impingement”)

• Long-head of Bicep

• Rotator Cuff Related Pain

• Wrist Injury (TFCC)

• Mid-back Postural Pain

• Hamstring/adductor Injury from Heel Hooking

About the author

Andrew McVittie is a physiotherapist (British for “physical therapist) living near the English Lake District. He has been climbing since 1994, and has served as a climbing coach since 2007. His coaching has ranged from one-off group technique sessions at the gym to one-on-one, multi-day performance coaching on rock in Spain. His coaching philosophy is technique and tactics biased, and this experience has helped him coach patients through injury recovery.

In his physiotherapy practice, he believes in educating and empowering his patients to self-manage as quickly as possible. His ability to use climbing as a rehab tool and knowing ways to adapt training and movement around an injury is his key to climbing rehab. Learn more about Andrew, his book, and his technique at his website Process Physiotherapy.

Book reviews

Kevin Roet, author of Climbing Psychology, wrote an in-depth review on his website, including illustrations from the book.

Here’s another review on UKClimbing with more photos and details.