How I finally fixed my brachialis tendon injury (as a climber)

——— FULL REHAB SCHEDULE (written up 08/2026): https://thaliona.github.io/mountain-p... The short version: ▸ Phase 1 (≈wk 1–4): banded reverse curls, palm down — 2–3 sets of 15–20, twice a day, plus one set before every climb ▸ Phase 2 (≈wk 4–10): dumbbell reverse curls 3×8–12 with slow lowering, 2–3×/week; add hammer curls once comfortable ▸ Phase 3 (wk 10+): pullups → weighted pullups, small jumps ▸ Throughout: keep climbing 2–3 grades below your max, warm up thoroughly, avoid deep lock-offs and big explosive moves early ▸ Pain rule: up to 3/10 that settles by next morning = carry on; worse = don't progress / step back Not medical advice — get assessed first (thanks again to physio Phil Mack). ——— In this video, I share my journey, from how I originally injured my brachialis (holding kickboxing pads for 100kg guys) to the bad habits—like skipping warmups and poor sleep during my PhD—that made it worse. But it’s also about how I turned things around. I’ll explain a bit about the anatomy of the brachialis muscle, what sets this injury apart, and the changes that finally helped me recover. Today, I’ve gone from not being able to lift a glass of water to doing one-arm pull-ups and muscle-ups. What you'll hear about in this video: • Why the brachialis is important for climbers. • How stress, bad habits, and poor technique can make injuries worse. • How the POLICE approach (Prevention, Optimal Loading, Ice, Compression, Elevation) helped me heal. • The lasting changes I made: • Getting Smarter: Sleep, nutrition, and warmups (see my climbing-specific warmup video). • Getting Stronger: From rehab band exercises to one-arm pull-ups (I made a video on that too!). • Getting Better: Improving technique and climbing efficiency (check out my Rock Climbing Technique video on the book by John Kettle). This video is for anyone facing an injury that is limiting their climbing and looking for hope and practical advice to recover and climb stronger. Related Videos: • Climbing-Specific Warmup -    • The Climbing Warmup That Made Me Injury-Fr...   • One-Arm Pull-Up Training -    • How to train for the one-arm pullup (as a ...   • Rock Climbing Technique book summary -    • Read this book to improve your climbing te...   • For some discussion of training principles -    • Weight Training for Climbing   Extra resources: https://www.physio-pedia.com/Brachialis https://www.kenhub.com/en/library/ana... Subscribe for more climbing and training content! Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:52 Brachialis anatomy and function 02:07 Acute injury and bad habits 06:40 The turning point 08:29 Current state and long-term outlook