A friend went to try climbing with family and friends the other day. Having to take care of their kids, watch their belongings, he did not get to climb, but instead took photos + film the others' climbing experiences + provide support. Upon hearing that I recently got into climbing, he unabashedly offered me advice on what I should do in order to improve my climbing. First, he said that I am already very good (having never seen me climb nor hear about my climbing experiences) and just need more practice and experience to "perfect it". If I want, I should take some classes on improving my techniques. Second, I should do probably do some auxiliary training exercises to strengthen my grip. Third, I can take some supplements after climbing sessions to help speed up recovery.
I must admit I had a strong reaction when I first heard his "advice", because it implies I don't know what I am doing. But now that I have organized and written out what he had said, I realize it's the most generic advice someone would say to a newbie starting any kind of new physical activity. So it was merely small talk.
Come to think of it, I would give the exact same advice if I had climbed maybe once or twice in my life (which is the case for him) and were asked to speculate what to do next to improve one's climbing. You can substitute the word "climbing" with "yoga", "strengthen your grip" with "lift some weights" or "pilates exercises" and so on.
Soooooo.... what are the problems with this seemingly accurate advice?
1) You are already "good" at climbing.
Define "good". I'm guessing he means I can move my hands and feet up a 15m wall on a beginner set-route. Most people in his social circles don't even want to try. That's kind of him, I guess, but it' feels very vapid. Climbing is one of the most intense physical activities I have done that I feel like I can improve with persistence. I have very strong feelings about this activity. I think something like badminton or soccer are "hard" for me because I don't have good coordination and people playing with me usually don't have the patience to train with me and wait for me to get good enough to have a enjoyable session with them. Climbing is something that one can work on at one's own pace, as long as one has the interest and patience to keep doing it.
2) You just need more practice and experience toperfect it get better.
I'm not sure if an advice can get any more generic than that. I guess people say this to someone who claims an activity/goal is too hard and that he/she can never achieve it.
3) Take some classes to improve your techniques.
We are very lucky in this day and age to have the internet to provide a lot of written and video tutorials on how to do something. I already have a huge list of techniques that I know I need to work on. I think climbing mindfully provides great insights that differ from tips that someone tells you. Climbing, like yoga, shifts the center of gravity, ie. the hips, from directly above the 2 legs, to totally foreign places -- usually tilted sideways where your one foot is standing at a funny angle and you have no idea what to do with the other foot/leg. When this happens, the mind panics -- an alarm goes off in the head. At this point, you can have an instructor feed instructions to you (eg. "place your right foot on the foothold just below your right knee"), or you can just go climbing more often, wait for the "brain alarm" to subside (it usually does after you have been in a similar situation several times and/or when your muscles get stronger and can hold funny positions better), then you can look around the wall and try to figure out the next move yourself. I think a coach can be helpful when I get seriously stuck and frustrated at some point, but for now, I have a lot to learn from the climbing activity itself.
4) Do some auxiliary training exercises to strengthen my grip.
Honestly, I actually bought some of those grip strengthening toys when I first started climbing. But I ended up not using them that often, and honestly, I'm not sure how much they help. I grip way, wayyyyyyyy harder on the wall when I am in fear of falling. Handholds on the wall feel totally different compared to these toys. A handhold can be gripped at different angles, with different fingers etc. In addition, my grip on the wall is always connected to my arm and/or body body weight. Again, the arms can be bent or be straight at different angles, and my body weight can be in so many different places in relation to my hands. At this point I don't feel the toys help at all with the climbing. Maybe when I become more experienced, the grip toys will come in handy when I have stronger hands (from climbing) and can train specifically while visualizing some specific moves. This is something one probably wouldn't know unless one has had some climbing experiences.
5) Take some supplements after climbing sessions to help speed up recovery.
Guys with some body building background swear by this. My bf also feels like a protein shake helps him with recovery. I tried it a few times and I didn't feel a difference. My speculation is that some guys naturally recover faster + they really believe in the supplements, so there is an additional placebo effect. I naturally recover slower (coz I'm frigging old), plus I don't believe in supplements, so the effects are very minimal.
Basically, this is the type of generic advice you might blurt out if a reporter asks you "what is your advice for a beginner who wants to get better at climbing?" It's something to say so that one sounds like one knows something about the subject. Some people prefer to give superficial opinions than to admit they don't actually know much about this activity. It only works though if the other person also hasn't thought much about it. Conversations like these are deeply unsatisfactory to me, but my options are to unfriend these people (I might have very few friends left), or to take things less seriously. I need to accept the fact that my yearning to connect deeply with people will be satisfied very infrequently, and I should be mindful and grateful when those rare, precious moments in life happen.
I must admit I had a strong reaction when I first heard his "advice", because it implies I don't know what I am doing. But now that I have organized and written out what he had said, I realize it's the most generic advice someone would say to a newbie starting any kind of new physical activity. So it was merely small talk.
Come to think of it, I would give the exact same advice if I had climbed maybe once or twice in my life (which is the case for him) and were asked to speculate what to do next to improve one's climbing. You can substitute the word "climbing" with "yoga", "strengthen your grip" with "lift some weights" or "pilates exercises" and so on.
Soooooo.... what are the problems with this seemingly accurate advice?
1) You are already "good" at climbing.
Define "good". I'm guessing he means I can move my hands and feet up a 15m wall on a beginner set-route. Most people in his social circles don't even want to try. That's kind of him, I guess, but it' feels very vapid. Climbing is one of the most intense physical activities I have done that I feel like I can improve with persistence. I have very strong feelings about this activity. I think something like badminton or soccer are "hard" for me because I don't have good coordination and people playing with me usually don't have the patience to train with me and wait for me to get good enough to have a enjoyable session with them. Climbing is something that one can work on at one's own pace, as long as one has the interest and patience to keep doing it.
2) You just need more practice and experience to
I'm not sure if an advice can get any more generic than that. I guess people say this to someone who claims an activity/goal is too hard and that he/she can never achieve it.
3) Take some classes to improve your techniques.
We are very lucky in this day and age to have the internet to provide a lot of written and video tutorials on how to do something. I already have a huge list of techniques that I know I need to work on. I think climbing mindfully provides great insights that differ from tips that someone tells you. Climbing, like yoga, shifts the center of gravity, ie. the hips, from directly above the 2 legs, to totally foreign places -- usually tilted sideways where your one foot is standing at a funny angle and you have no idea what to do with the other foot/leg. When this happens, the mind panics -- an alarm goes off in the head. At this point, you can have an instructor feed instructions to you (eg. "place your right foot on the foothold just below your right knee"), or you can just go climbing more often, wait for the "brain alarm" to subside (it usually does after you have been in a similar situation several times and/or when your muscles get stronger and can hold funny positions better), then you can look around the wall and try to figure out the next move yourself. I think a coach can be helpful when I get seriously stuck and frustrated at some point, but for now, I have a lot to learn from the climbing activity itself.
4) Do some auxiliary training exercises to strengthen my grip.
Honestly, I actually bought some of those grip strengthening toys when I first started climbing. But I ended up not using them that often, and honestly, I'm not sure how much they help. I grip way, wayyyyyyyy harder on the wall when I am in fear of falling. Handholds on the wall feel totally different compared to these toys. A handhold can be gripped at different angles, with different fingers etc. In addition, my grip on the wall is always connected to my arm and/or body body weight. Again, the arms can be bent or be straight at different angles, and my body weight can be in so many different places in relation to my hands. At this point I don't feel the toys help at all with the climbing. Maybe when I become more experienced, the grip toys will come in handy when I have stronger hands (from climbing) and can train specifically while visualizing some specific moves. This is something one probably wouldn't know unless one has had some climbing experiences.
5) Take some supplements after climbing sessions to help speed up recovery.
Guys with some body building background swear by this. My bf also feels like a protein shake helps him with recovery. I tried it a few times and I didn't feel a difference. My speculation is that some guys naturally recover faster + they really believe in the supplements, so there is an additional placebo effect. I naturally recover slower (coz I'm frigging old), plus I don't believe in supplements, so the effects are very minimal.
Basically, this is the type of generic advice you might blurt out if a reporter asks you "what is your advice for a beginner who wants to get better at climbing?" It's something to say so that one sounds like one knows something about the subject. Some people prefer to give superficial opinions than to admit they don't actually know much about this activity. It only works though if the other person also hasn't thought much about it. Conversations like these are deeply unsatisfactory to me, but my options are to unfriend these people (I might have very few friends left), or to take things less seriously. I need to accept the fact that my yearning to connect deeply with people will be satisfied very infrequently, and I should be mindful and grateful when those rare, precious moments in life happen.
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