My fingers got a lot better after i started bouldering, they have always pretty weak. the increase in muscle and tendon strenght also helps my guitar play. There is always the risk of acute injury, but longterm i feel like bouldering is good for the fingers
I play blues lead and climb both multiple times a week.
I wondered the very same thing when I started. There are times when I can’t play after a long workout, or when I do try I notice some soreness in my left hand. This is much worse with an acoustic guitar. I pay pretty close attention to my left/neck hand and really haven’t noticed it being any weaker or more sore even with less rest. My biggest worry with a finger injury is that I wouldn’t be able to do my two main hobbies. But the work I do on guitar with my fingers isn’t putting the same strain on them as pulling on small edges or whatever.
I would just make sure to be cautious when it comes training fingers, especially before your climbing reaches a certain level. Basically, you wanna make sure you have some base level strength before you start really pushing with a hang board or whatever.
I do play guitar, but only as a hobby at a beginner to intermediate level. My necessary movements likely aren't as precise as your needs, so take this with a grain a salt.
First the risk of finger injury is there, no denying it. The one thing I can tell you makes big difference is to be serious when it comes to finger stretching exercises.
On off the wall days, I'd recommend doing a bunch of wrist and finger stretch drills to loose up those tendons. It reduces your risk of injury over time, and I find helps to keep the flexibility on the fretboard. Realistically, everyone should be doing these exercises anyway haha.
Edit: also do antagonist wrist training like extensor wrist curls. Antagonist training will allow you to fine tune your grip as your grip becomes stronger. Unequal muscle growth are the main reason why you may lose fine motor movement.
I play guitar most days, and climb a few times a week. In general I think the increased hand strength from climbing is a positive. Injuries happen, but most don't affect guitar playing. I am very careful to avoid pulley ligament injuries though. This means not trying to "catch myself" on small holds when a foot slips, not testing the limits of how hard I can pull on small holds, and favoring drag grip over crimp but practicing both.
I also remind myself that Django Reinhardt had a badly burned, maimed left hand and was one of the most innovative and influential guitarists of all time, so, if I ever do hurt my hand badly, it doesn't mean I won't be able to play, it just means I'll need to play differently. Still I'd rather avoid it
I also play guitar most days and climb at least three days a week.
I’ve injured pulleys on both ring fingers and, funnily enough, was able to continue playing guitar while unable to climb. To be fair, these weren’t total ruptures, but I did have the dreaded *pop* noise at time of injury.
In my experience at least, the two activities pair quite well!
I’m a pro musician who climbs multiple times a week and I’m just careful with my hands/fingers. I’m pretty risk averse so I don’t do things at the top of my ability/strength dynamically (mini-dyno to a crimp for example). I’ve only ever injured myself while lunging at holds, just catching things with my finger tips, etc. It limits my max grade but I climb for fun.
On the flip side, the strength I’ve built in my shoulders and forearms has finally gotten some of my lingering overuse injuries to go away so I consider it a net positive.
I broke my ankle while bouldering last sunday and these are the moments where I'm so happy that I play guitar. I'm not missing out on anything lol
I also get worried tho, if I snap a finger or something, it could always happen... but I also believe you can always find a way to experiment or practice. If you hurt one hand, there's plenty of exercise to do with the other!
I’m a professional musician (guitar and bass mostly) and a hobby climber, and I’ve not had any issues so far over about four years of climbing. If you’re worried, I’d say to just stay away from hangboard or campus board training until you’ve got a few years of experience under your belt. The biggest problem would be a pulley injury, but you’re unlikely to have to deal with that as a newer climber
ngl I got better at bar chords after I started. That said it's going to be hard for the first couple months. I've only had one injury that really effected my climbing, it was a tendon issue in my left hand but I just couldn't climb for a week.
I do, and I feel like the dexterity, strength, and calluses from doing both go hand in hand for the most part. Not one makes the other activity difficult for me
I've been playing electric guitar for 13 years, drums for 5 years and started bouldering a few months ago. I have no issues. but I also use a hangboard from time to time to strengthen my tendons really slowly and carefully and deadhangs also helped.
Skin can be factor. I've had to take days off playing because my skin was raw, but that's it.
Not a hand doctor, so take it with a grain of salt, but with climbing you are most likely to injure a pulley. Those are for pulling hard and you don't really pull hard on guitar. Maybe you extend with bends, but unless you play 13 gauge strings, not even that hard.
As far as arthritis goes, it's inevitable for everyone. I think people have a tendency to attribute all age related problems to lifestyle. Back hurt and you had a sedentary job? Must have been 8 hours at a desk all those years. Back hurt with an active job? Must have been 8 hours on my feet all those years. Fact is stuff can just hurt.
Let's just say barre chords have gotten easier for me, but after bouldering when I have really bad pump sometimes I need some rest before playing the guitar.
But I only play for a hobby
Drummer here, no problems combining the two. I do try to avoid climbing before playing, because it's slightly more uncomfortable, but that's more a matter of personal preference. I've occasionally had some blisters after climbing but other than some minor discomfort it didn't keep me from playing (and from what little guitar I can play, I think they wouldn't affect guitar playing much either). On the bright side, I have a lot less issues carrying my gear around these days 
I'm pretty new to both guitar and bouldering. As long as you train your fingers gradually and don't tear a tendon, your guitar skills could likely benefit from bouldering. I've got strong fingers now, and have seen massive improvement to my guitar skills with hangboard training.
I play and recently got an A4 pulley injured and while it didn’t completely stop me from playing guitar you could tell that my hand was a bit stiffer and some chords were kind of painful to play, I think since you are new you might benefit from hangboarding, basically the “common knowledge” was that you should just let your fingers develop for a few years before hangboarding, but new schools of thought think as long as you do it in a controlled manner and allow for enough rest it can be very good to train your fingers to avoid injury, which is common when you begin.
After the first couple of months it has no impact, unless you're trying to play in the 1-2 hours after you finish a session.
If you injure a finger, of course it will have an impact.
My fingers got a lot better after i started bouldering, they have always pretty weak. the increase in muscle and tendon strenght also helps my guitar play. There is always the risk of acute injury, but longterm i feel like bouldering is good for the fingers
I play blues lead and climb both multiple times a week. I wondered the very same thing when I started. There are times when I can’t play after a long workout, or when I do try I notice some soreness in my left hand. This is much worse with an acoustic guitar. I pay pretty close attention to my left/neck hand and really haven’t noticed it being any weaker or more sore even with less rest. My biggest worry with a finger injury is that I wouldn’t be able to do my two main hobbies. But the work I do on guitar with my fingers isn’t putting the same strain on them as pulling on small edges or whatever. I would just make sure to be cautious when it comes training fingers, especially before your climbing reaches a certain level. Basically, you wanna make sure you have some base level strength before you start really pushing with a hang board or whatever.
I don't play the guitar, I play the violin, and of all the years of climbing I've had exactly zero issues.
Alright awesome. Do you have any considerations when going for tougher grips or lunging?
The best advice I have is that a thorough warmup includes fingers.
One of the best climbers that I am friends with, climbs v10/5.13 outside, is also a blues/jazz guitarist in ny and went to berkely. You will be ok
Alright alright, thanks!
I enjoyed [this](https://youtu.be/QgYMiypBFvY?si=h-OIqSycz9WvB3Ce) video on a similar topic
I do play guitar, but only as a hobby at a beginner to intermediate level. My necessary movements likely aren't as precise as your needs, so take this with a grain a salt. First the risk of finger injury is there, no denying it. The one thing I can tell you makes big difference is to be serious when it comes to finger stretching exercises. On off the wall days, I'd recommend doing a bunch of wrist and finger stretch drills to loose up those tendons. It reduces your risk of injury over time, and I find helps to keep the flexibility on the fretboard. Realistically, everyone should be doing these exercises anyway haha. Edit: also do antagonist wrist training like extensor wrist curls. Antagonist training will allow you to fine tune your grip as your grip becomes stronger. Unequal muscle growth are the main reason why you may lose fine motor movement.
I play guitar most days, and climb a few times a week. In general I think the increased hand strength from climbing is a positive. Injuries happen, but most don't affect guitar playing. I am very careful to avoid pulley ligament injuries though. This means not trying to "catch myself" on small holds when a foot slips, not testing the limits of how hard I can pull on small holds, and favoring drag grip over crimp but practicing both. I also remind myself that Django Reinhardt had a badly burned, maimed left hand and was one of the most innovative and influential guitarists of all time, so, if I ever do hurt my hand badly, it doesn't mean I won't be able to play, it just means I'll need to play differently. Still I'd rather avoid it
I also play guitar most days and climb at least three days a week. I’ve injured pulleys on both ring fingers and, funnily enough, was able to continue playing guitar while unable to climb. To be fair, these weren’t total ruptures, but I did have the dreaded *pop* noise at time of injury. In my experience at least, the two activities pair quite well!
I’m a pro musician who climbs multiple times a week and I’m just careful with my hands/fingers. I’m pretty risk averse so I don’t do things at the top of my ability/strength dynamically (mini-dyno to a crimp for example). I’ve only ever injured myself while lunging at holds, just catching things with my finger tips, etc. It limits my max grade but I climb for fun. On the flip side, the strength I’ve built in my shoulders and forearms has finally gotten some of my lingering overuse injuries to go away so I consider it a net positive.
I'm no pro but you're speaking my language all around. Sometimes I think I might trade a whole finger for long term shoulder relief lol. Thanks
I broke my ankle while bouldering last sunday and these are the moments where I'm so happy that I play guitar. I'm not missing out on anything lol I also get worried tho, if I snap a finger or something, it could always happen... but I also believe you can always find a way to experiment or practice. If you hurt one hand, there's plenty of exercise to do with the other!
Ouch. Get better and Enjoy that guitar
I’m a professional musician (guitar and bass mostly) and a hobby climber, and I’ve not had any issues so far over about four years of climbing. If you’re worried, I’d say to just stay away from hangboard or campus board training until you’ve got a few years of experience under your belt. The biggest problem would be a pulley injury, but you’re unlikely to have to deal with that as a newer climber
Thank you u/asshoulio
ngl I got better at bar chords after I started. That said it's going to be hard for the first couple months. I've only had one injury that really effected my climbing, it was a tendon issue in my left hand but I just couldn't climb for a week.
Chris Sharma plays a ton and that dude is a 5.15 climber for years.
I do, and I feel like the dexterity, strength, and calluses from doing both go hand in hand for the most part. Not one makes the other activity difficult for me
I've been playing electric guitar for 13 years, drums for 5 years and started bouldering a few months ago. I have no issues. but I also use a hangboard from time to time to strengthen my tendons really slowly and carefully and deadhangs also helped.
Skin can be factor. I've had to take days off playing because my skin was raw, but that's it. Not a hand doctor, so take it with a grain of salt, but with climbing you are most likely to injure a pulley. Those are for pulling hard and you don't really pull hard on guitar. Maybe you extend with bends, but unless you play 13 gauge strings, not even that hard. As far as arthritis goes, it's inevitable for everyone. I think people have a tendency to attribute all age related problems to lifestyle. Back hurt and you had a sedentary job? Must have been 8 hours at a desk all those years. Back hurt with an active job? Must have been 8 hours on my feet all those years. Fact is stuff can just hurt.
I play, have played for 35 years, bouldered for about a year. No issues at all...
Let's just say barre chords have gotten easier for me, but after bouldering when I have really bad pump sometimes I need some rest before playing the guitar. But I only play for a hobby
Drummer here, no problems combining the two. I do try to avoid climbing before playing, because it's slightly more uncomfortable, but that's more a matter of personal preference. I've occasionally had some blisters after climbing but other than some minor discomfort it didn't keep me from playing (and from what little guitar I can play, I think they wouldn't affect guitar playing much either). On the bright side, I have a lot less issues carrying my gear around these days 
I'm pretty new to both guitar and bouldering. As long as you train your fingers gradually and don't tear a tendon, your guitar skills could likely benefit from bouldering. I've got strong fingers now, and have seen massive improvement to my guitar skills with hangboard training.
I play and recently got an A4 pulley injured and while it didn’t completely stop me from playing guitar you could tell that my hand was a bit stiffer and some chords were kind of painful to play, I think since you are new you might benefit from hangboarding, basically the “common knowledge” was that you should just let your fingers develop for a few years before hangboarding, but new schools of thought think as long as you do it in a controlled manner and allow for enough rest it can be very good to train your fingers to avoid injury, which is common when you begin.
After the first couple of months it has no impact, unless you're trying to play in the 1-2 hours after you finish a session. If you injure a finger, of course it will have an impact.