Want to be an efficient climber? You have to do this

Imagine you standing in front of a rock wall you would like to climb. Confidence, like Alex Honnold, or the goddess Sasha Digiulian, or all-round player Sonnie Trotter, believes that he can climb 99% of his head. route. Where does this confidence and ability come from? Of course it is from the high level of difficulty, high level training, total climbing, and climbing experience that have been gradually improved over the years.

It sounds quite objective and rational, but the only way to achieve their level of competence is to be hard-working. Even if you are naturally a good rock climber, you will inevitably have to train hard to climb. Once you can calm down and do so, congratulations, every time you have a purposeful training climb, you will take a step toward your goal. After interviewing more than a dozen professional climbers, there is now more information available to you: There are some training methods that can be done without going outdoors or going to the rock hall. In accordance with the format of the best-selling book “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” we have compiled these interviews into seven habits of efficient climbing training. As long as you take it seriously, you can definitely improve it.

First: Facing with confidence

Alex Honnold did not wake up one morning and suddenly decided to go for the unarmed climb of the Chief Rock that day (Alex Honnold climbed the Freerider free-rider). For this goal, he was ready for several years.

Now imagine the protectors who make sure that you are ready, that you put on your shoes, that you have good knots, and that you have two possible mentalities when facing the most difficult route in your range.

One mentality: I am very frightened in my heart and I am afraid that I am sure I will fall and sweat.

Mentality 2: It's time to try harder, even if it might go away, because every climb will get a new climbing beta (action), which will bring more success to the next attempt. If you can't afford it, you will prove that you have the ability to climb this route!

Which mentality is more confident and is more likely to succeed in climbing the route? The answer is obvious, mind two.

From our interviews with some famous coaches, they also pointed out without exception that confidence is the first key factor in climbing success. All high-level professional climbers have this trait, both in the short-term route red dot battles and long-term climbing careers. Once the goals and plans have been established, it is time to concentrate on hard training to perform without having to spend too much energy on whether it is feasible.

Just as Honnold doesn't wrestle with the 900m “hitchhiking” route, Digiulian will not train two or three weeks to climb the 700-meter-long “Don't worry” (Morja Mora, Madagascar) ). These outstanding achievements in climbing are built up day after day, year after year, and even decades of good and bad climbing experiences. Why do they want to climb these difficulties? Why don't you stay home and eat snacks and snacks on the sofa, but you have to go to dinner and eat so much to eat? Because they like to love this sport.

Therefore, the essence behind the interpretation of these positive attitudes and confidence is that you must find your interest in the sport of climbing, so that you will not accumulate gains and loses, but will slowly accumulate the number of climbs. Climbing better and better.

Second: Guaranteed Sleep Time

Sleep is important for body health, physical recovery and mental health. -- Jonathan Siegrist

In this regard, take a look at the following three rock climbers:

In June of this year, Sasha Digiulian flew from Colorado to Indonesia where he spent 12 days before returning to Colorado. After one night, he flew to New York for two more nights before flying to Madagascar for a month to make a big rock climbing plan. If you fly between busy continents and all continents, do you find it difficult to sleep? Not to mention the time difference. However, Digiulian said she still promises to sleep eight hours a day. If it is a matter of time, she deliberately arranges for a day to come out of time and try her best to sleep. After that, the biological watch can be transferred to local time to live and exercise.

Jonathan Siegrist (red dots 5.14, and seven 5.15 courses) said that he always puts the guarantee of sleep in the first place. For him, sleep is "8-10 hours sleep in a dark room comfortable The bed". If the conditions are not met, he will wear earplugs and cover his eyes with clothes to meet this requirement. Because, "Sleep is very important for the body's health, physical recovery and mental health."

Alex Honnold said that although his sleep plan is not optimal, he does not drink coffee or drink any energy drink so that his body can sleep as much as possible within the allowable range at any time.

Third: Do something to make progress every day

No matter what kind of training program, it will improve, as long as you do it consistently.

If you ask professional athletes or coaches about their specific training methods, everyone will be different and will see each other. However, one thing is the same. That is, no matter how the training does not matter, the key is to choose a plan and then do it consistently. Your training method can be very simple, but as long as you set a fixed training time to do as planned, it will always improve.

Sonnie Trotter said that he does 1-3 things every day to get him closer to his goal. These 1-3 things can be a comprehensive understanding of the characteristics of the route, or search for a better physical training program. Sasha Digiulian has tried various training programs and has benefited a lot. It should be pointed out that her personal ideal training time is noon. Alex Honnold quoted Ben Moon as saying that practicing the fingerboard should be as important as brushing your teeth every day. In order to climb free-hands by free-riding, he established a targeted fingerboard training program to maintain his athletic climbing ability so as not to lose too much force in training endurance and crack climbing (" "Hitchhiking" in paragraph 23 has a bouldering difficulty about V7, which is very demanding.

Fourth: find a good partner

In my climbing career, good partnerships have allowed me to grow into a better climber, giving me a good estimate of my abilities – Madaleine Sorkin

Siegrist admits, “There is a super motivated and passionate climbing partner, which is very important. It doesn’t matter what level of difficulty your partner can climb. If they like to climb, they’re struggling to squash. Whenever necessary, they can It's OK to work together for a long time."

Because climbing itself is a continuous process of setbacks until you red dot your hardships. In this process, is there an enthusiastic and optimistic partner, or is there a pessimistic and disgruntled partner? The answer is self-evident.

The big wall free-climber Madeline Sorkin said, “The criteria I use to select my partner is whether they will understand and support me in overcoming difficulties. Your partner will not believe in supporting you. Sometimes it’s also critical to whether or not you can redline. It's important." Because she has a good partner, she also has a bad partner. The former Madeline Sorkin sometimes climbs with anyone for a climbing goal. Once when climbing out with an unfamiliar partner, he slammed 15 meters into the ground. At the time, she attributed half of this fall to this unfamiliar partner because the partner was not particularly friendly and caused her distraction. Since then, she has been very careful to choose a partner. In her view, the partner is not only for climbing, but the time spent with the partner is also an important part of climbing. Unfriendly partners may not only be unpleasant to crawl but also bring shadows to climbing.

Therefore, you must have a well-matched partner and a trusted technology to ensure that you will not challenge your climbing limit.

Fifth: More important than quantity is quality

When you are climbing under a rock wall or in a rock hall, you must get value for money.

Many people think that diligence can make up for it. This is to a certain extent very reasonable, and sometimes it is also necessary to do so, by accumulating quantities to achieve qualitative change. However, climbing is not always easy to do. Many people who are in the nine-to-five ethnic group can only go to rock halls or rock walls for very limited time. So how to use these limited time to maximize their climbing experience and ability?

The famous New Zealand professional athlete Mayan Smith-Gobat has a creed that "less is more."

Compared with the fact that most people climbed until they were exhausted before they stopped, she climbed under the rock to challenge herself and her limits. The principle she pursued was good, it wasn’t until she couldn’t climb again. . As for rock climbing, because she does not like to climb in the rock hall, so each time you go to limit the time and climb as much as possible during this time instead of chatting with people wasting time. In addition, she has a fixed rest day, and she will rest for a full day after climbing for two or three consecutive days. "Practicing the principle of less is more, my climbing is more effective, and I am more prone to injury."

The same applies to picking climbing targets. It's not always better. In your favorite route, pick out some routes that really make you blood-thirsty and want to climb over and over again to plan your climb. Sonnie Trotter said, “I love a route because of what it looks like because of the climbing action or the feeling of climbing. When I have these feelings, I’m willing to work hard to challenge myself to finish this one. Because of this route, I can inspire me to climb day after day."

Sixth: Record Everything with Everything

I insist on recording long-term goals and daily details - Alex Honnold

Things that can be recorded, including the progress of climbing goals and goals, foods eaten every day, and training programs. Even if you don't tick off items such as "100 pull-ups" or "45-minute aerobic exercise," completing small details on a daily basis is enough to make you feel full of energy. That is, these positive energy will make you more motivated to complete the training.

"I insist on recording long-term goals and daily details." Alex Honnold said that he has a lot of notebooks to record these things. "Sometimes, what I record is simple enough to "stretch, buy everyday items, reply to e-mails", etc. But it is such a simple thing that allows me to finish what I need to do without going on the wrong track." He also has a climbing record book that records every route he climbs; a training record book, his training schedule, food, sleep status, and a variety of factors that he believes need to be controlled. When you know what kind of foods, work schedules and training programs can affect your physical functions, can you use your time and energy most effectively to achieve your goals.

Want to start doing it? The easiest thing is to start by recording your own sleep. What time did you go to bed and wake up a few moments, how did you feel in the morning and what effect did you have on your quality of sleep? Record the appearance of several weeks and then make some adjustments based on your rules. In addition, you can also record what you have eaten before and after climbing. In general, the amount of time you eat and the amount of it will affect your ability to climb. After you have collected enough information, you will find the best rules of your body's operation.

Seventh: Make full preparations

Remove as many unknowns as possible -- Madaleine Sorkin

Madaleine Sorkin stated that her guiding principle for climbing preparation is "Princess Strategy." Any bad weather or any difficulties encountered during the climbing of a large wall can lead to the failure of the entire plan. The principle of "Princess Strategy" is to prepare as comprehensively as possible to reduce climbing obstacles. In other words, go all out to make the climbing plan as easy as possible.

For example, when Sorkin climbs El Corazon (5.13b) and Moonlight Buttress (5.12d), she will come down from the top of a big rock wall, leave equipment, food and water in different locations, and then With the help of a one-way pulley, the top rope is familiar with the movements and difficulties on the route. It is necessary to preview the difficulties of the route in advance and plan a large wall climbing route. Sorkin said that you have a little energy and energy. In a big wall route, it's best not to wait until it's hard to figure out where the hand is. This will waste energy and time. In addition to the difficulty of preparing the course, she will also write down detailed protective equipment needed. Last year she took a few weeks to complete the Great Wall route "The Honey Moon is Over" (5.13c) on the Colorado Diamond Wall. In those weeks, Sorkin was as strict as an ascetic, wearing the same clothes every day, performing the same routine and eating the same food. In the same way, if you have to climb a sports route and cannot solve the difficulties, you can climb from bottom to top over and over again until you can climb and do nothing. If you are conquering a bouldering route, go to the top of the route and mark each key hand point to ensure that you don't get confused when you get there. When preparing a long knot route, download a climbing guide, read the route instructions, and ask people who have already climbed the route (or go online to search for climbing experience on the route). All in all, it is to do everything you can to prepare to meet your climbing goals!