A Quick Note Before We Begin
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Let’s imagine we’re buying ourself a new car. And given we’re really passionate about climbing, we’re looking for one that will take us to the crag; the perfect climbing vehicle.
So we go searching the options. Maybe we’re into bouldering and want to make sure there’s room in the boot for our pads (quick note: I once bought a car from a friend under the condition my pad fit in the boot…). Many crags are located in off-the-beaten-track locations, so perhaps we want to consider suspension and ground clearance or a big, powerful engine to dig us out of the occasional ditch. We might even be into far-flung trips to Scotland or across Europe, so want something that will go the distance, maybe even with a bed/cooker included.
We can look at all sorts of aspects of performance to ensure we get just the right vehicle. So let’s imagine that we have, indeed, found the perfect climbing ride that will not only get us to the crag in prime condition but also give us everything we might want once we get there. Great!
But it’s all moot if there’s no fuel in the fuel tank…
I’m sure you can see this analogy relates our hypothetical car to our bodies but it is surprising how many of us neglect how important it is for our own bodies to be properly fuelled in order to perform. It is so easy to get distracted by other performance areas. Indeed, in a video on performance areas, I too forgot to include this key area (even if I thought it was a very good video, now I’m kicking myself for not including it).
In this article, I will outline some of the considerations you may want to include in your climbing performance; both before and after climbing. This topic is indeed huge but I will keep things very simple for now, offering referals for those who would like to know more.
You Get Out What You Put In
Let’s start with some simple statements.
- Climbing is physically demanding
- It takes a lot of energy
- It can get us very fit and very strong
- But it also puts a great stress on some specific parts of the body, risking injury
If we are using a lot of energy, it stands to reason we need to put some energy in. Thankfully, we have two really useful ways of getting energy into the human body: eating and drinking.
With climbing often occurring in remote areas, these two simple actions often get forgotten. How many times have you seen somebody on a multi-pitch climb with a drinks bottle on their harness?
I certainly neglected both of these methods of fuelling my body for many years. Once I began to start taking a drink and some food to the crag, I started to find myself far more energised and capable of being able to keep going. I certainly felt much less destroyed at the end of a tough, hard session.
The question then becomes ‘what do we eat and drink?’ and there is a stack of research out there to guide us to the very best fuel for our human machines. Various supplements abound, with suggestions for multiple substances that will help us to ‘get very fit and very strong’.
However, let’s back up a little. If you – like me for all those years – neglected to eat anything then the first step is to eat something. Let’s build a habit of getting something in our mouths then, once the habit is established, we can start to adjust what we put in. If you’re at the stage of starting to adjust what you put in, check out the NHS Eatwell Guide.
[Note: if you feel you may have issues with your eating habits, further information and help are provided at the bottom of the page]
Drink!
Potentially more important than eating is drinking. Dehydration is a real risk, especially in warm environments and can have debilitating and even dangerous consequences on the hill.
As for liquid, the accepted wisdom is that water is by far the best option, with government recommendations being to “drink 6-8 cups or glasses a day” (according to the Eatwell guide above).
If, though, you are like me and simply don’t enjoy drinking water, you may be less inclined to drink at all. As much as I may still be like my young children in this respect, the fact is that 1 litre of water will likely simply return home or be poured out as I leave to save weight but 1 litre of fruit squash will probably get finished off.
I can regularly be found at a crag with my trusty flask of tea. “But what about the caffeine?!” Well, honestly, it’s not as bad as it sounds. A sensible amount of tea drinking (up to 6-13 cups of tea) “is more likely to hydrate you than dehydrate you” according to the Kent and Sussex Tea Company. Or, if you’d prefer a less biased reference, there’s a study by Ruxton and Bond (2015) that corroborates the statement.
What a sensible amount of tea WILL do is hydrate you far more than an untouched bottle of water. The point being that the important thing is that the liquid goes in, rather than what the liquid is.
Recovery: the Forgotten Fuel
Okay so we’ve discussed being, and remaining, well fed but is that all we need to consider to be fully fuelled?
An often overlooked aspect but related aspect of performance is allowing time for the body to recover.
At this point, we can look at a principle called SRA. This neat little TLA (Three Letter Abbreviation) stands for: Stimulus, Recovery, Adaptation. It sounds a bit fancy but it’s basically saying there are three stages to getting physically stronger:
- Stimulus. Or in other words, doing something. In our case, this is going climbing or doing some training. I’ve seen this referred to as ‘stress’ as well, same thing
- Recovery. This is the part afterwards where we let our body pick itself up again
- Adaptation. Assuming we time everything right, our body will then respond to the process and get stronger, fitter or healthier, depending what you do
We can’t really do anything about the adaptation, that’s the bit that happens as a result and we’re not really discussing the stimulus part now. It’s the bit in between that is often neglected: the recovery.
Recovery is crucial to getting stronger. Yes, your nutrition and hydration come into this as well (refuelling after the ‘stimulus’) but so too do things like sleep and relaxation.
Sleep can be a difficult topic. Many people struggle with their sleep, with the NHS suggesting poor sleep can affect 1 in 3, while Mental Health UK cite various different statistics related to sleep problems.
Whatever your experiences, the key is to allow your body the opportunity to try.
Climbing trips can be particularly bad for this. I was recently on a trip to Font with six friends, half of which were ‘early birds’ and the other half ‘night owls’. Stupidly, I was up with the birds but stayed up with the owls. Not a great combination. Thankfully, my body was able to cope but it was a risk – of both reduced performance and injury – and my attempts on le Retour de la Chenille 7a+ may well have gone a bit better if I’d had more than a few hours sleep the night before.
Rest Doesn’t Necessarily Mean Do Nothing
Sleep is one important aspect of rest but we can rest when we’re awake too. Again, on a trip, it is quite common for people to schedule ‘rest days’ to allow that recovery to occur. But, if we’ve travelled all that way, do we really want to be spending 2/3 of it ‘resting’?!
It’s a common misconception that ‘rest days’ mean stopping climbing but it’s not necessarily the case. It’s all to do with the intensity of the activity.
Right at the start of the 2008 climbing film, Swiss Gneiss in Dosage III, famed American climber Dave Graham highlights the point wonderfully:
I moved to Ticino, here in Switzerland, nine months ago and, since then, I’ve been bouldering, like hell, a muerte, just bouldering, only bouldering, all the time bouldering. I didn’t take any rest so much in Switzerland. I get really destroyed, I get really worked, I have no skin. Ever. And I climb a lot of stuff. It’s cool, you get in really good shape. Because you learn to kinda take easy days and hard days but your rest days are the easy days
Yes, Dave Graham has climbed V16 so he’s obviously got a lot of wiggle room for ‘easy days’ but the principle still stands. I’ve met a lot of super stoked climbers who, if I’d suggested having a day or two away from the wall, would’ve simply ignored me. What they might do is drop the grade every second session to allow the body to catch up.
It would be hypocritical of me to insist on pure rest days. In my younger days (when properly conditioned for it) I would happily complete nine days on the rock in Fontainebleau regularly and one trip to Albarracin, Spain saw us complete 16 sessions in 12 days. Even the recent Font trip had us completing 6 sessions in the 5 day trip!
But crucially, on all of those expeditions, the intensity of each day was carefully managed. Go hard one day, get some easy mileage in the next. Listen to the body and, most important of all, allow the recovery to happen.
Some Other Potential Drains on Our Reserves
Finally, having discussed eating, drinking and resting, there are some other considerations for being fully fuelled ready for that next hard climbing session.
While it may not relate to all of us, our menstrual cycle is hugely important when it comes to being fighting fit. Please note, I am NOT suggesting that there are certain times during a menstrual cycle that are ‘right times’ to go for that project i.e. I am not saying that you climb worse while you are on your period. What I AM suggesting is that it may be possible to tune into YOUR cycle and find what works FOR YOU.
I had an excellent conversation with my wife on this topic. I was interested to know about her cycle and what patterns she is aware of. My wife is excellent at listening to her body and knowing the patterns that emerge month to month. Therefore, were we to plan to do a particularly strenuous activity, we could time it to coincide with when she feels is her best chance of success and her least chance of injury.
And of course, we all lead busy lives, with lots going on. Some of us have a family, some have a stressful job and aspects of our daily lives such as these can drain that fuel tank more than we realised.
It is often referred to as allostatic load (or ‘life stress’ really) and can have a detrimental effect on our performance in very many ways. There are ways we can cope with our allostatic load but again, it is something very personal to each of us and something we should tune in to in order to avoid burning out.
Further Referral
It is worth noting that issues with eating, drinking and sleeping (among others such as stress) can be part of something much more substantial. And while my expertise isn’t insignficant, we should be careful that we don’t go too far.
If you feel you are having issues with any of the topics discussed here, it may be worth investigating further. Your GP is typically your first port of call but if you prefer, I have teamed up with some experts that may be able to help you.
Ferdia Earle
Specialism: Nutrition
Ferdia is a registered Nutritional Therapist and Functional Medicine practitioner with a stack of qualifications and experience including a Postgraduate Diploma in Nutrition Science and Practice. She is qualified to order functional lab tests to explore biomarkers of health and performance. She can take a more holistic perspective if you like, considering the impact of factors beyond nutrition including sleep, exercise and stress levels. She is also an active climber – we often catch up at the climbing wall – so has just the right knowledge to keep things in context for you.
See Ferdia’s website here
Patrick Hollingsworth
Specialism: Qualified Therapist
I have teamed up with my good friend Patrick Hollingsworth to provide help and advice for those in need of digging a little deeper into their mental health. Patrick is not only a quaified therapist but also a passionate climber; fully understanding the sport and climbers themselves while also being another empathetic, compassionate and outstanding human being.
If you want to know more about him or get in contact please have a look at his profile. By clicking on this link you can find out everything you need to know and send an enquiry if you feel you need support