Training power endurance in your climbing will enable you to complete long boulder problems or medium/longer routes, which are all out and at your max, continue to climb when you’re really pumped and do the crux of a route even though you are already a bit tired.
Training is an all encompassing word. There are many factors that can influence a climber’s performance and all aspects can (and should) be trained:
Your physical performance (fitness, strength etc), your technique, your mental approach and tactics. If you want to improve at climbing you need to address and train all of the above areas. But where to start?
A good and patient climbing warm up will always reap dividends. An excellent warm up will mean that you are always listening to your body, avoiding injury and every climbing session can be a success - not always in terms of grades, but definitely in terms of growing and moving forward as a climber.
There is a lot out there about the benefits of fall practice in climbing when dealing with a fear of falling. The reality is that while it may work for some people, it may not work for others and there are many other things that need to be in place first when you do fall practice. However, if you feel that you could benefit from fall practice and it’s not quite working as you’d like, here are my thoughts on where you might be going wrong and what to do about it
A fear of falling in climbing is evolutionary natural. It may not be something everyone admits to, but I can assume you the vast majority of climbers struggle with this. It’s quite normal and it’s absolutely not related to climbing grade. The following 5 reasons came out of a survey I did on instagram.
Time - the ongoing struggle to fit everything in and feel on top of whatever it is you feel the need to be on top of. I get it. And where does climbing fit in? 2 weeks ago I got covid, just when I didn’t want it. And so a small exploration into my relationship with time…
Twelve months ago I started cold water swimming. I was both terrified and intrigued. Previous attempts had not been enjoyable yet deep down I knew this was something I wanted to crack. Time, tiny steps, a marvellous group support, finding my process, trust, patience, perseverance, and FUN. I got there! So many crossovers with climbing!
Does fear hold you back in your climbing? What is your relationship with fear like? Fear can sweep over us - it’s visceral - it’s not just a matter of the mind, but the body too - when we really understand the effect on our nervous system, we can change the relationship and overcome it.
To reach any climbing goal there is a process. The process is where we spend 99% of our time and effort. Without it we get nowhere. And yet as human beings we get easily sidetracked by the outcome or shall we say ‘the top’. And when we do this, we run into trouble. Pressure looms, negative thought spirals start “will I do it?”, “when will I do it”, “why can’t I do it”? What is the process in climbing?
“I prioritise happiness, because if I’m not happy I can’t win”. Shauna Coxsey said this and it resonates personally. Understanding and having full clarity about your values in life can be really powerful. Fully incorporating them into your every climbing experience will also have a dramatic effect on your climbing. Happiness is one of Shauna’s. What are yours?
We are living through challenging times. So often we think that we need to remove stressors to relieve stress. But at the moment that is almost impossible and it’s not necessarily the solution either. What we can do is ensure we fully process the stress in the body caused by the stressors around us. Check out this podcast from Brené Brown.
It was a lightbulb moment when someone explained that when another person does something that annoys you or you find yourself in a situation you don’t like, it’s so often because you agreed to something you never wanted in the first place. Aha! Lack of clarity around boundaries in climbing can lead to uncomfortable experiences, even epics. Why do we find this so hard?
If you have a fear of falling, this is normal. But do you try to rectify it on your own, or perhaps is it something that can be resolved as a team effort with your partner? Could falling be an accumulation of discomfort arising in the moment just before you think you may fall off?
Around a month ago I had a revelation about climbing shoes and technique. A bit late in the day possibly after 30 years of climbing. Maybe I got lazy over the pandemic? Good shoes and footwork are intrinsicly linked - there is no doubt about that. But I decided to delve deeper into other people’s choices about when to wear their best climbing shoes.
You can’t see what is going on in someone’s head, but their body language gives a lot away. Tension in the mind has a knock on effect in our movement - affecting our ability to fluidly execute our technique. It’s also visible in the face - how many times has my pilates teacher told me to relax my neck?! Elite climbers have huge control over this tension firstly by awareness and secondly by diffusing it with a variety of techniques.
The retinal images sent to the brain of what we see are not pure, crystal clear 3D images. It is in actual fact, the brain that makes sense of the image. And that picture is an interpretation based on what we know of the world, our memory and imagination.
Overall it takes a very long time to build up good technique. However there are some quick changes you can make to your technique that will have an immediate effect on improving your efficiency and movement.
CURIOSITY AND PERSISTENCE: the top two skills living legend Johnny Dawes describes as the reasons behind his success. What is clear to me is that climbing and movement for Johnny is a deeply immersive process wrapped up in his every day happenings. "It seems like your imagination makes the world how you want". Enjoy.
DEALING WITH BREAKS FROM CLIMBING Lucy was THE leading female climber of her generation, pushing standards across the board. It was a fine line though because pushing this hard also resulted in a number of accidents (a lot!!) and injury leading to long stretches of time off. Her philosophical approach meant each time she came back stronger and better.
VISUALISATION AND MINDSET 25 years after climbing Hubble (the world's first 9a), Ben Moon did his second of the grade, Rainshadow at Malham Cove. Something else amazing happened that day. Prior to the ascent he fell asleep and afterwards accessed a state of consciousness that put him in the perfect frame of mind for success. We talked about this day and the ascent and his overall visualisation process and mindset for climbing.
MAXIMISING MEMORY Abbie Robinson is a 2 time World Champion paraclimber in the B2 category (as of 2020). Her visual impairment gives her a unique view of the world. Our brain makes images based on memory and experience of the world. Abbie uses many tactics to improve her memory and ingrain perfect technique.
Training is an all encompassing word. There are many factors that can influence a climber’s performance and all aspects can (and should) be trained:
Your physical performance (fitness, strength etc), your technique, your mental approach and tactics. If you want to improve at climbing you need to address and train all of the above areas. But where to start?
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Training your endurance will enable you to climb for a long time, recover from a pump, delay the point that you get ‘pumped’, spend more time stopping to plan moves, recover mentally or psyche up for the next bold or difficult section, handle a high volume of climbing and have a better platform to handle more training of all different types.