Plateaus, Peaks and Valleys
(Ridge of Decisions by Jeremy Collins)
Hi Steph!
I feel like I’ve really reached a plateau with my climbing lately. I am wondering if you have any tips for keeping the psych up, what a good diet would look like, and a training routine. Your blog is filled with so much valuable information and I appreciate all of the time you spend writing the entries!
-Kaitlyn
Hi Kaitlyn,
This is a great topic, because I think every climber has hit a plateau. To take it further, I think every athlete and every human deals with peaks, valleys and those flatlands in between.
The first thing to keep in mind is that new sports have a learning curve, which varies according to the person and the activity. I don’t know how long you have been climbing, but the learning curve can stay steep for even the first few years. There is a point where you have acquired a high skill level and made a lot of physical gains, and from that point the improvement becomes much more subtle. In this phase, it can feel like you’re not improving like you used to. But actually, it’s just that the learning curve has changed its angle.
Physically and mentally, I think people naturally go through cycles. Certain athletes even arrange their training schedules to try to plan when their peaks will occur. Climbing is such a year-round sport that it’s not as common with us. But psychologically, it really helped me when I started to understand that peaks and valleys are totally natural, and a part of life. There are times when everything is going great and you are feeling strong and driven all the time, and then there are other times when you feel like it’s just not happening although you try. When I was younger, my response to that feeling was to assume I was lazy, and to train harder. This always resulted in getting sick or worn out (overtraining), and was counterproductive. Gradually I realized that if you are feeling like you’re in a valley, maybe you are, and you can’t have peaks without valleys. And sometimes if you feel like you’re banging your head against a wall, you are. Lots of very good climbers take a full break from climbing, for 1-3 months and do a completely different activity, like skiing or running. Often when you take a break from something, you come back better than ever. This is something I’ve noticed a lot, and am always surprised by it. So it’s okay to take a break. When I am on the downside of the curve, I just try to stay active in a more mellow way or perhaps a completely different way, and not get too worried about it.
If you tend to eat a lot of sugar or refined grains, your fuel may not be giving you the best energy possible. Personally, I eat a whole foods, vegan diet, and I avoid sugar, wheat, processed foods and refined grains. My eating style is a result of a lot of years of experimenting with different nutrition systems, so I would recommend that you start eating deliberately, with whatever eating system you think sounds the most effective to you. Once you have started getting more focused with nutrition, it’s easy to make adjustments or changes and have a good baseline to decide if it’s working for you. But I think that no matter what you do, eliminating refined sugar is the best place to start, if you haven’t done that already.
Winter is a great time for training. I like to do pullup workouts in the gym in the winter, as well as some weight training. Again, pick something, and try it out for a few months–whether that’s climbing in the gym twice a week, weight training, pullup pyramids–and then try a different thing, or switch gears a little with it. If you usually climb routes in the gym, try bouldering more, or vice versa. Consistency along with rotation for diversity is always good. I have a few blog posts on this site about weight training and fingerboard workouts that could give you a place to start.
But above all, don’t worry if your learning curve changes its angle at times, or if you find yourself in a valley. Remember, the ascent and the summit are only half of a climb 🙂
Steph
Excellent advise Steph. I think alot of folks won’t realize the subtlety of rest periods during the year. I always take a solid 3 months off from climbing, typically doing body weight strength climbing, running, more focused yoga, and, recently, some moderate power lifting. The time off is not only good for the psyche, it’s good for your body. With a little strength and flexibility, you’ll be able to go harder without reaching the mental/physical exhaustion.