Training for Climbing, 2nd: The Definitive Guide to Improving Your Performance (How To Climb Series)

and scan for unnecessary tension (in the upper arms, hips and legs, torso, neck, and face) that is making the agonist muscle work harder and burn more energy than necessary. Take a few slow, deep belly breaths and visualize the tension escaping the antagonist muscle like air from a balloon—such mental imagery really helps the process. Now return your focus to executing the next climbing movement, but continue alternating your focus back and forth between directing movement and directing relaxation .
PACE
     
    Pace is another aspect of climbing economy that becomes increasingly important as a route gains in steepness and difficulty. While an easy climb with large holds allows you to ascend at a leisurely pace, a crux sequence or overhanging terrain will demand that you kick into high gear and surmount the difficulty in short order. When climbing near your limit, it must be your intention to move as briskly as possible without any drop-off in technique (skidding feet, botching sequences, and such). Reduce the pace at the first sign that your technique is suffering. It helps to identify obvious rest positions ahead of time, and then make it a goal to move from one to the next as fast as possible. Ultimately, knowing just the right pace on a given route is a sense you will develop with experience. Practice climbing at different speeds and on different types of routes, and you’ll quickly foster the subtle skill of proper pace.
STEADY BREATHING
     
    A steady flow of oxygen to the muscles is important for energy production and recovery, and it’s the slow, deep, steady belly breaths that best get the job done. Many climbers, however, have a tendency to shift into shallow, rapid breathing as fatigue and mental anxiety grow. Worse yet, some climbers unknowingly hold their breath at times of high stress. These are two tendencies that you must be aware of and proactively counteract if you are to climb your best.
    Before every climb, pause to close your eyes and take several slow, deep breaths. Feel your belly expand outward as you slowly inhale, and then allow the air to escape sparingly through pursed lips in a slow ten-second count (count in your mind). As you commence climbing, strive to maintain the same slow, steady breathing that you initiated on the ground. This is, of course, often difficult, since a dicey sequence or strenuous move can trigger irregular breathing patterns. Consequently, it is critical that you use every rest position as an opportunity to reset your breathing cycle with a few slow, deep belly breaths. Such proactive breath control is like topping off your gas tank—do it frequently, and you’ll rarely hit empty.

Optimize Use of Rest Positions
     
    Finding efficient rest positions is as important as finding the best way to do a crux sequence. If you miss a good rest stance, you miss an opportunity to physically recover as well as mentally “read” and prepare for the next section of the climb. Consequently, locating rest positions on a climb should be viewed with the same sense of importance as locating all the key holds—make this part of your preclimb visualization routine.
    Upon reaching a rest step, assume a body position that will allow the most fatigued muscles to rest (usually the forearms, biceps, and calves). An optimal rest position consists of your feet in the rest-step position, legs straight, and hips over the legs or in a position midway between the feet (should they be on holds more than shoulder width apart). Unfortunately, rest positions on vertical to overhanging climbs make complete weighting of the feet more difficult—often impossible. While you still want to place as much weight as possible on the footholds, a significant amount of weight will remain on your arms. In this case it’s absolutely vital that you hang with straight arms, so that the bones are providing the support, not the muscles of the upper arm. Still, your forearm muscles will need to contract in order to maintain a grip on the handhold. The best strategy, then, is to attain a stable stance and shake out alternate arms every ten to twenty seconds. Use the G-Tox method described in chapter 10.

Clever Use of Opposing Forces
     
    You have already learned the importance of the Left-Right Rule for enabling stable movement. On easy climbs this left-right combination is usually a pulling right hand along with a pushing left foot (or vice versa). More difficult climbs tend to be more devious, however, so