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9. Cross Training and Other Issues
This chapter deals with non-climbing aspects of training that are very
important to becoming a better climber. Things such as general fitness,
nutrition, flexibility and lifestyle all affect your performance at a
competition and should be thought of as part of your training.
9.1 Fitness and How it Affects Climbing
In difficulty climbing you can expect to be on the wall anywhere from
2-8 minutes climbing on various angles and difficulty. In addition you
may be expected to do quite a few routes in a single day.
Early in 2002 a study was done on climbers to determine how the aerobic
fitness of a climber affected their climbing. The climbers were asked to
do three routes of varying difficulty. The hardest route was supposed to
be one number grade below their hardest redpoint and the second and
third routes were two and three number grades below the hardest
redpoint. The climbers were asked to wear a heart rate monitor and a
device that would measure the amount of air (oxygen) being consumed by
the climber. The device was a backpack and weighed about five pounds,
with a mask that fit over the climbers mouth.
The climbers were also asked to complete a V02 max test which involved
going to a lab and riding a bike while wearing a heartrate monitor and a
much more complex oxygen and carbon dioxide measuring system. A V02 max
test is designed to measure what your maximum heartrate is and what the
maximum amount of oxygen per breath your body and consume.
The results of the study showed that when climbers were climbing the
"easy" route they reached about 50% of V02 max and 65-70% of maximum
heartrate. On the "difficult route" climbers reached 55-60% of V02 max
and 75-80% of maximum heartrate.
This study would suggest that your overall aerobic fitness (V02 max)
does affect your ability to climb on longer more difficult routes. If on
a route you reach 80% maximum heartrate then you will not be able to
maintain that level for long. If you are more fit then on a difficult
route you may only achieve 65% maximum heartrate which is much easier to
maintain for an extended period of time.
Being fit will also allow you to recover faster in between routes. If
you reach 80% of your maximum heartrate then it will take longer to
recover than if you only reach 65% of your maximum heartrate.
You should try and do a minimum of three 20 minute cardio workouts per
week in addition to your regular climbing training.
9.2 Nutrition
Nutrition may not be as important to young climbers as it is to older
climbers but it should be taken very seriously. This section is not
designed to restructure how your eat since many of you already have some
idea of nutrition and what you like to eat. This section will introduce
some basic tips that are easy to follow and will help you train harder
for a longer period of time.
9.2.1 Watch What You Eat
If you are interested you should log what you eat over the period of two
weeks and record how your training sessions were during those two
weeks. Which days felt better than others? Was there any really low
energy days? Are there any factors other than what you ate to take into
account (lack of sleep, extra schooling...)?
Watching what you eat will help you decide which foods make you feel
good and which foods provide enough energy for training. Here are a few
simple suggestions:
- Eat throughout the day - Start with a moderate breakfast and snack
on fruits or nuts throughout the day. Most nuts have natural fats that
your body can digest easily and they tend to fill you up more than
snacking on junk foods. Try and stay away from salted or flavoured
nuts. Fruits are a great source of quick energy (sugar) without the
starches or fats associated with most snacks. Eat a smaller proper
lunch (sandwich, fruit, maybe yogurt...) and a smaller dinner. The trick
is to keep your body supplied with smaller amounts of food but
throughout the day. In the end you sbould be consuming the same amount
of calories as three large meals but spread out over the course of the
day.
- Stay away from starches combined with fats - Buttered popcorn is
one of the worst snacks you can eat. The starch of the popcorn is turned
into glucose and your body will look for fat to store when it consumes
the glucose. Voila the butter is right there. Instead snack on
vegetables, a fruit salad or nuts if you are more hungry.
- Try not to eat a large dinner right before bedtime - If you have
not had dinner yet, and it is late, then have something small and eat a
larger breakfast the next morning. Having a large dinner right before
bedtime will not allow your body to digest the food properly and may
not allow you to have a proper nights sleep.
9.2.2 Stay Hydrated
Water serves numerous purposes for your body when exercising. First of
all blood is mostly water so if you become dehydrated your body can not
carry the nutrients to your muscles as efficiently which can lead to
cramping and injuries. Secondly water acts as a lubricant for your
tendons and helps maintain the durability of connective tissues such as
ligaments. Staying hydrated is very important to maintaining high levels
of activity and lowering your risk of injury.
9.2.2.1 How do I know if I am dehydrated?
In general most people are chronically dehydrated, it is very hard to
stay hydrated and almost impossible to become over hydrated. Here are
some tips to determine your hydration level:
- If you are thirsty you are dehydrated - Generally by the time you
feel thirsty you are already dehydrated.
- Look at your urine - If it is clear then you are hydrated, if it
is dark with a strong odour then chances are you are dehydrated.
- If you stop sweating or stop producing saliva - If you reach this
stage of dehydration then you will start to run the risk of heat
stroke. If you stop sweating and producing saliva then chances are you
are very dehydrated. This is assuming that you are doing an activity
where you would normally be sweating but you are not.
9.2.2.2 Staying Hydrated
Here are some tips to staying hydrated:
- Drink lots of water - Unless you are planning on exercising for a
long period of time and need to replace your energy, water should be
enough. Other drinks may contain unnecessary calories and sugar that you
do not need to stay healthy and hydrated.
- Avoid caffeine filled beverages - Caffeine is a diuretic which
can actually dehydrate you. While coffee is better than nothing it is by
no means healthy or adequate to keep yourself hydrated.
- Carry a water bottle - Carry one to class, one on the bus, one to
training and just sip from it constantly.
9.2.3 What to Eat During Training
During a training session it helps to have a healthy snack at some point
to maintain your energy level. Fruits such as bananas or oranges are a
great source of energy and bananas contain alot of potassium that will
help prevent your muscles from cramping. During a training session you
do not want to eat foods that will take a long time to digest such as
power bars, foods high in fibres, foods high in complex
carbohydrates, or foods that are high in fats. Keep it simple.
9.2.4 Nutritional Supplements
Currently there are no conclusive studies that show the value of
supplements such as Creatine for climbers. If you are worried that you
are not getting enough protein or vitamins in your diet then see a
nutritionist or dietition for more information.
9.3 Flexibility
Flexibilty will allow you to do more than just find funky rests and
tricky sequences, it also allows your muscles to be stronger with a
greater range of motion and will help prevent injuries. Your muscles are
a series of interconnecting fibres that contract and relax in order to
move. If you fibres are very tight then the length of the contraction
will be small meaning that you have less strength. If the length of the
contraction is larger then you have more contraction ability by the
fibres meaning greater strength through a larger range of movement.
Here are some tips to increasing your flexibility:
- Warm up before stretching - Get your heart pumping so that as you
stretch your muscles are already warm and you blood is flowing.
- Stretch before and after each workout - Stretching before a
workout will help to prevent injuries and allow you to gain the level of
flexibility you had at the end of a previous workout. Stretching after a
workout will help reduce the tightening of muscles as you recover. Try
to hold each stretch for at least 30 seconds and concentrate on relaxing
your muscles while breathing deeply and smoothly.
- Hold stretches for 10 minutes - In order to truly increase
flexibility of your tendons and muscles you must hold stretches for
between 10 and 20 minutes. This is best done while watching tv, doing
homework, or some other activity where you are not active and can sit
for a period of time.
- Other sports/exercises - Other sports and exercises such as
martial arts or yoga require that you become more flexible. If you find
it difficult to force yourself to stretch then find a sport that forces
you to stretch. Most sports will actually decrease your level of
flexibility if you do not stretch properly.
9.4 Lifestyle
There are many factors in your day to day life that can affect your
climbing performance. Most of these depend on how serious you plan on
taking climbing.
9.4.1 Making Sacrifices
If you plan on taking any sport seriously then other aspects of your
life will have to take less priority. This could mean less time
socializing, watching tv, or even less time sleeping in on the
weekends. What you choose to sacrifice will depend on each individual
climber so you have to decide how important climbing is to you. Proper
time management and scheduling will allow you to train hard, compete and
still have time for school, work, family and friends.
9.4.2 Adequate Rest Periods
Sleep and rest days are very important for recovery and proper
training. Make sure that you schedule rest days and an adequate amount
of sleep into your weekly schedule.
9.4.3 Adopt the Athletic Mentality
In order to become a competitive climber you must live and breath the
fact that you need to be an athlete. This means eating healthy, staying
healthy, climbing as much as possible, and scheduling your life to fit
everything together.
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