The Climber's Resource Library: Training, Beta, Gyms & Community
The outside resources our PTs actually point climbers to — including the rare channel run by an actual physical therapist
Updated October 20262 minute read
The vetted external resources worth a climber's time: the PT-run injury channel the sport is lucky to have, the training services that brought real data to finger strength, the route-beta commons, the Bay Area's gym ecosystem, and the communities where climbing lives online — with a note on what each is genuinely good for and where physical therapy picks up what they can't.
A note before the links: these are external sites we don't control, and none of them pay to be here. Where something costs money, we say so.
The injury channel the sport is lucky to have
- Hooper's Beta — climbing-injury education from an actual doctor of physical therapy, with the YouTube library covering pulleys, elbows, and shoulders in clinical depth. The rare case where we'd tell you the internet's climbing-injury content is genuinely excellent — use it to understand your problem, and pair it with a real evaluation to grade it.
Training with data
- Lattice Training — the service that brought measurement to finger strength: assessments, benchmarks, and coaching. Their data popularized what our load guide keeps repeating — finger strength and finger-tissue readiness are different clocks.
- r/climbharder — the training-obsessed community: hangboard protocols, program reviews, and honest critique. Treat medical threads with the usual forum skepticism.
Beta and the outdoors
- Mountain Project — the route-beta commons for every Bay Area crag and beyond; pair it with the gym-to-outdoor transition rules before your first Castle Rock trip.
- American Alpine Club — membership, education, and the sport's institutional memory.
The gym ecosystem and competition
- Touchstone Climbing — the Bay Area's homegrown gym network (Mission Cliffs, Dogpatch Boulders, Berkeley Ironworks and more) — where most of the region climbs most of the year.
- Movement — the national chain's Bay Area gyms, heirs to the Planet Granite legacy.
- USA Climbing — the competitive pathway for youth teams; parents of team climbers should pair it with the growth-plate rules.
- KAYA — the boulderer's logbook app; logging sessions is accidental load management.
- r/climbing — the sport's everything-else community.
What the internet can't do
Every resource above works best on fingers and shoulders that are prepared for the sport's loads. A finger that popped mid-crimp, an elbow that aches with every session, or a teen with focal finger pain needs an evaluation, not another protocol — the traffic-light rules tell you how urgent, and what PT costs covers the money. If you're local, browse climbing-friendly PTs across the Bay Area; either way, here's how to pick a good one.
Frequently asked questions
Sources (5)
- Lauersen JB, et al. The effectiveness of exercise interventions to prevent sports injuries: systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Sports Med. 2014. — BJSM
- Silbernagel KG, et al. Continued sports activity, using a pain-monitoring model, during rehabilitation. Am J Sports Med. 2007. — AJSM
- Gabbett TJ. The training-injury prevention paradox. Br J Sports Med. 2016. — BJSM
- APTA. Direct Access by State: physical therapist direct access laws summary. — APTA
- MedlinePlus. Sports injuries. — MedlinePlus
This article is for education only and isn't medical advice. Always talk to a licensed clinician about your specific situation.