Climbing Conundrums, Part 1: Training Progression

Ever felt those "high-gravity" days? I mean, yea, we all have. You get to the gym and things just feel dark. Like you stepped into Edward Scissor hands as the lead role and now your slicey-dicey, not-so-grippy-or-climby, knife-like terminal appendages are telling you it was a bad idea to show up today. Yea. We've all been there. Training days are hard. If you want to be a better climber, consistent but confusing training is imperative. (I'll qualify "consistent but confusing" a bit later in this article.) But the point is that we need to make a concerted effort as climbers to put our strengths to good use and to inventory our weaknesses in order to overcome them. This process can be extremely taxing on the body but sometimes one's psychological state will also suffer. It can become a self-perpetuating cycle of nonsense that might keep you from achieving your goals and being, not only the best climber that you can be, but the best you. In this short discussion, I want to outline the primary psychological aspects of training and climbing at a high level along with how mentality impacts physical performance.

It might seem easy to some people to continually progress, while others feel that they fall behind because of their pace of improvement. Read on to see what psychological and physical behaviors differ between these two sets of climbers: the "Perpetual Progress" climber and the "Sulky and Sullen".

Let's call our climber on a seemingly perpetual path of progress, Paul. He's feeling content lately but wants to push harder. While his counterpart, Sam, is having a lot of trouble just keeping up in the gym and is feeling quite sulky and sullen lately, especially while climbing with Paul. We can find out how and why their attitudes differ by examining their tendencies. Let's go!

Let's start with Paul. He usually starts his day by waking up before or with the sunrise on a natural cycle, without an alarm. He drinks a glass of water and maybe a cup of coffee. Breakfast is kind of overrated to Paul (he fasts periodically and is used to overcoming the empty feeling) so he waits until he is physically hungry to eat his first meal of the day; a protein bar meal replacement. Paul tries to do something productive before the day starts, like write a blog article or manage his investments. He may go to work and have, generally speaking, an unremarkable existence outside of the gym. At work he is attentive and proactive. He eats a lunch he packs from home which is designed to keep him feeling full with high protein and vitamin content. Paul doesn't drink another coffee to overcome that "Two-thirty feeling". After work, Paul's state of mind remains calm, focused and energized as he commutes, and he looks forward to a two to three hour workout at his favorite rock climbing gym. Paul knows and understands that his body is physically tired from a day of landscaping work but his mind is still preparing for the fun that comes during an intense bouldering session. As he arrives at the gym, he kindly greets and talks to the people he knows and while warming-up, he tries to make new acquaintances with whom to climb, share experiences and work out beta. Paul is really trying to expose himself to new climbers of all ages and experience levels and he not only teaches what he knows, but allows others to teach him. Paul stays humble and accepts his defeats as possible learning experiences and celebrates his victories quietly and happily. He meets up with Sam and they tag on a couple boulder problems but Paul always sends and this discourages Sam. After a couple hours, Paul is genuinely hungry again but fights off the feeling for just a few more cool-down boulders and finally washes the chalk from his hands and packs up to head home. He arrives home and cooks a healthy dinner, gets to bed before 10pm and repeats his work and training cycle. Additionally, Paul thinks about his performance compared to the past and tries to make connections between what works and what doesn't and why; Paul is highly critical of his performance but he does what he can to improve and does not dwell on perceived failures.

Sam, on the other hand, is quite hard on himself and ruminates in his hardships. He may wake up just in time to get to work and fails to prepare himself for the day, most of the time. He doesn't drink water regularly and eats fast food, quick snacks and few fruits or vegetables. Sam likes to adventure and have fun but he typically follows others' plans and falls into a group. This is because he wants many sources of external validation. Sam's motivations are sometimes vain and he cares about pushing the grades only insofar as it impresses his friends. He feels that he gets little satisfaction from topping out easy problems because no one congratulates him on the send. Sam generally fails to motivate himself and neglects to find intrinsic value in flawless repeats, technical practice and cross-training activities to supplement and oppose his climbing workouts. This has led to multiple injuries, some of which are now chronic and difficult to overcome. Rarely, if ever seen stretching, Sam has poor range of motion and subsequently his form suffers and he tends to use strength before technique to overcome problems on the wall. When his workout is over, he goes out with friends to drink beer and repeats his cycle.

As you can see, the differences in Paul and Sam's routines are extreme. I hope you can take these fictional examples with a grain of salt and understand that no one is perfect and we all try hard to be our best self! But if you are inspired to become an ever-better climber, take some pages from Paul's book; get to bed on time, drink plenty of water and eat a high quantity of fruits and vegetables. Also remain positive about your climbing and daily routine. Maintain an attitude of humility when you are successful and assess your failures and weaknesses in order to improve upon them. Perhaps one of the best examples of Paul's success is staying injury-free; Listen to your body and understand what pain is good and what is bad. If you have chronic pain issues, rest a few days, do some reading to find out how to help yourself or, in extreme cases, seek professional wellness help from doctors or physical therapists. Also: Stretch!! Staying healthy and flexible is super important for climbers! Importantly, listen to other climbers and seek advice when frustrated. Give advice when asked, as well! Hang out at the gym to watch others climb and be engaged with how they think about climbing! Don't get too caught up in continually progressing because rest is just as important as working your muscles and tendons. But if you allow yourself to emulate at least some of Paul's good behaviors, and avoid some of Sam's worst mistakes, you too can enter a training cycle that feels natural and healthy! Remember that training progression comes from a true mastery of the foundational skills and muscles in climbing which starts with your feet! Repeat easier climbs frequently to really dial-in your technique and try to do every problem or route with little energy and a smooth, slow, precise style. Foster good habits early and before you know it, you'll create a sound platform to continue to push your strength and skills! Oh yea, and that "consistent but confusing" thing... All you have to do is get to the gym as frequently as you can and do new things all the time! Don't get too intertwined with one style of climbing, a set of workouts, a typical routine or any such overt similarity in every workout. If you start to plateau in skill and strength, you need to confuse yourself and your muscles so you can start learning again! Spring is here! Have fun ya'll!