Week of 2/12 - How I Became a Better Climber

How I became a better climber this week?
I didn't climb.

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Shocker I know but sometimes the way to get better is to listen to your body and REST. Honestly I didn't exactly listen to my body, we had a ton of bad weather and I could barely get to work much less the gym so I did some light at home workouts but nothing to the level of intensity I hit when I climb. After a week everything cleared up and I found myself at the gym on a Monday afternoon CRUSHING. I sent my V6 project on the wave wall, only the second ever 6 I've sent on wave, AND I flashed a V5 overhang with a gnarly dyno off a bad right hand crimp. I've never climbed so strong or confidently. Every muscle was responding well, breaths came easy, my mind was fresh and never went into panic mode.

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It was unreal, it felt like I unlocked a new level and all I did was take a week off.

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It can feel like we just need to climb more and more and try harder and harder to get better but if we take stock of our body and mind, more often than not, we just need to rest. If you're feeling like the psych is waning and going to the gym is more of a chore than a joy, sleep on it. It's better to have fewer sessions with more capacity for effort than to constantly run at the wall at 60% expecting new sends. It is like most things in life, a balance, and the only one who can really get a read on it is you.

Climbing is about strength and problem solving but one huge aspect is body awareness. Know your body, know what it can do, what it can't do, and what you need to grow into. Its not about giving yourself permanent limits or ceilings but is about knowing who you are. Every single human body on this earth is different and just listening to an influencer to "get gains" is not always going to fit you the way it needs to. Take in new information and apply it to your body, to your workload. I made a big mistake in ramping up my workload way too quick at the start of this year and while it paid off in the short term, I've got a tweak in my right hip from throwing myself into workouts 5x a week. I was just wanting more instead of taking time to check my body and health and listen to it.

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‍Body awareness is key to body growth, you can't get to where you want to be if you don't know where you currently are.

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This leads me into injury prevention. I recently had a student who made insane growth early on. Guy was maybe 2 months into climbing and he was putting down projects I was working on. It was impressive and I wanted to affirm his accomplishments but I also sent a warning of slow down. He's on the lighter side so crimps were pretty easy for him, leading him to take bigger and bigger risks. He was working a really dynamic V5 with a crimp catch and tweaked his finger trying to send it over and over. He needed to slow down. He wasn't ready for the load he was asking his body to carry. Know your current limits and save yourself that 4-6 week doctor required rest. With just a bit more time, allowing his body to adjust to new demands, he could have sent injury free.

I'm gonna say it one more time so that golden retriever inside of you that just wants to go get the next v4 can be put in check, Rest. It can do you so much more good than you know. If you don't believe me here's a quick google search to back me up.

It's a straight up copy and paste from: https://health.uconn.edu/orthopedics-sports-medicine/2018/02/28/7-guidelines-for-injury-prevention/

Listen To Your Body

• Don’t ignore aches and pains in joints or muscles that do not improve in 24-48 hours. These could be signs that a more serious injury is developing.
• If your body is too sore or tired from a previous workout, you should consider taking a day off or cross-training to avoid injury.

Rest and Recover

• Rest is critical to avoiding injury and seeing gains in your training program. You can not get faster or stronger without allowing your body time to heal and recover.
• Rest days should occur at least 1-2 times per week.
• You can choose to use one of your rest days as an active recovery day where, for instance, you take a gentle yoga class in lieu of a complete rest day.

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So send hard, rest harder, listen to your body.

Much Love,

Seth