My Training Sucks but I Still Do It

I have a confession to make: I’ve been slacking off my training and not doing it as often as I should.

Life Happens

When I started writing and posting my training articles, I had the goal of sticking with them to improve my climbing. That worked for a while, and I thought I started to see results. Then life and a new job happened. Significant changes can make it hard to get back into a routine. Don’t get me wrong, the changes are beneficial and are leading up to better things in the future.

However, I am one who likes routine and is not a fan of disrupting them. With my new job, scheduling my training around it hasn’t been easy. My work schedule is not the most stable and not prepared far out into the future. So, planning can be somewhat tricky.

Because my training drill has been thrown out-of-whack, it’s been hard for me to find the motivation to keep it up. As I’ve mentioned in an earlier post, I’ve never been much of an athlete, and so this doesn’t come naturally to me. I tend to procrastinate on it and then don’t have time to do it.

You’re probably wondering why I’m admitting to slacking off. I want to hold myself accountable for what I’ve been doing these past months. I’m human and not perfect in any way. I want to be honest and real with you. By confessing this fault, I’m doing myself a favor to make myself better.

“I Saw the Sign”

Because of this lack of incentive, I can tell something’s missing when I climb. I don’t think I’ve lost actual strength over time, but it doesn’t feel right. There are some problems and routes my power doesn’t kick in, and I struggle a little more when I’m on it. I do send but with more difficulty than previous times.

My body is telling me I need to get back into exercising and yoga. I’ll suffer if I don’t. Plus, I don’t like this lack of feeling strong when I climb. This missing piece in my climbing is a sign saying, “this is what happens when you stop training.” Stop procrastinating and do it. My body and my skills will thank me for it.

Trying Again

So, starting this week, I am taking the initiative to get back into training. No more waiting until the last minute to begin. I’m going to stick to 2 days during the week for training and 2 for yoga also. That seems to work well with my schedule for now. There might be days where it doesn’t happen, but I must start again the next day, so I don’t stop working out.

Also, I’m setting a goal to help me persist. That goal is to become a solid V3-V4 boulderer. I can say I’m a proficient V2-V3 boulderer, but certain V3s still trip me up. I’ve attempted and played around with some V4s but haven’t sent any yet. Additionally, I want to ascend more 5.11 routes to support my reasoning for staying with the routine.

This need may mean adjusting what I focus on within my practice so that I can tailor it to my end goal. Either adding in more exercises or taking some out because they’re not useful. I want to make this last and feel strong again. Not only that but exercising allows me to become healthier and function better.

Do you have any tips or suggestions to keeping a training routine? Has this happened to you? What has helped you get back into it? Please let me know in the Facebook comments for this article. I would much appreciate any advice I can get.

Until next time, happy bouldering!