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Talking About Initiative

• February 2008
• Uncategorized

Hey Steph,
My name is Rachael and I am 16 and have been extremely interested in climbing for a few years. The problem is, i’m the only one in my family who likes to which makes it hard to get to places especially in Pa. I often go up to the local College and boulder with a few guys but that is the extent of my climbing. For christmas this year I got a climbing board in my basement and I have been using it so much. I was wondering if you had any work out ideas, for when I am older and will start climbing more, or any ideas for a bored 16 year old climbing enthusiast.
Thanks for being a huge inspiration and a very cool woman!
Rach
Every Day is an Adventure

Dear Rach,
It’s great you have a fingerboard to play with! There are a lot of things you can do, as I’m sure you’ve discovered. When I first started climbing, I really liked a pull-up workout that a friend showed me.

I only had a pullup bar, so it’s a regular pullup workout, but it’s actually kind of fun! The idea is to do your pullups within a time frame. So I liked to do 20 sets of 5 pullups, but the trick is to have a watch there, and to start each new set on the next minute. So if you do the 5 pullups very slowly, then you don’t get much rest before it’s time to start the next set. Of course, you should always try to do the pullups in a controlled, smooth style, rather than trying to race through them. But as soon as that watch hand gets to the 12, you need to start the next set. The nice thing about this is that it’s pretty engaging, and after 20 minutes, you’ve done 100 pullups! You can increase the number to 6 and 7, as time goes on. And don’t feel that you have to start with sets of 5, you can start this workout with sets of 1 or 2, and then gradually increase the number as time goes by. You can do a few yoga poses, and some situps afterwards, and you’ve done a great workout.

I lived in Maryland when I started climbing, and had no community or connections at first, so I can definitely relate. Luckily for me, I was in college, so I joined the Outdoor Club, and started meeting people to go cliimbing with at Carderock and Great Falls….. It sounds like you are on the right track, making friends at the college, and finding a bouldering crew. Another good thing to do is to try to get to other local gyms as much as possible, even if they are a little further away. This is a great opportunity to meet people, and find friends to get out and climb with. Since you are motivated and excited to climb, you will find more and more partners. I’m sure that soon enough you will find a crew of friends to take some weekend trips to the Gunks or to the New.

Rach, I think it’s great that you have taken so much initiative with your climbing passion. I know you will find more and more ways to climb and train…..
Have fun!!
xx Steph