Since this year, and especially since the Corona Lockdown here in the Netherlands (March 2020), I have trained like never before. I have never had so much muscle pain in my life, as far as I can remember at least. Which is great, cause I didn´t get any extra injuries even during this hard training, except for my left Achilles’ heel from running.
But overall, I have trained very hard and it feels amazing! I have progressed from 5b / 5c (V1) bouldering to flashing 6a+ and almost doing 6b, (V3) in about 2 months’ time. I did have a mental setback during whole September, so, I needed to recover from that. But rest assured, I get back fast this time, because I always feel I need to catch up with time then. Every setback helps me train my mental state because it´s such a storm in your head and body, the only thing I need to do is to stay calm, take over, and control my emotions and brain in order to survive. Much like climbing, when facing my fears and what not. Read more about my mental health story here: LaviniaWarnars.
Anyways, I just wanted to say that I love (1) Training, (2) Overtraining and most importantly, (3) Supercompensation (see references and pictures).
(1) I train intensively, whether it is high grades when I feel good, and/or when I feel being less intense, I just climb a lot of easier routes (up and down) (rope or bouldering). Which increases my strength, as well as my stamina and endurance faster than usual. When I´m up for it, I do pull ups and push ups after climbing at the gym, just adding muscle growth and strength.
Sometimes I also try harder routes in bouldering (like 2/3 grades up) just to see how far I can get. For fun! I do that almost at the end of sessions when I know I can´t get far, but that is ok, because it´s just to see how I do the movements with such higher grades. It will translate in my overall performance for sure!
I also noticed that doing cardio (walking, running and cycling) really helps with recovery, especially if you stay below a certain heartbeat. But of course, also in those sports I like to push myself when possible. Which also helps with climbing stamina, strength, focus, and control. I always do stretching, sit ups and what not at home after cardio training.
(2&3) Then there are also times when I´m overtrained, and then I climb for recovery: doing minimal lower grades up and down, just to get the muscles going and recovering while exercising (climbing or bouldering). Or, when I´m too overtrained I just stop, take a rest, relax (sauna) and recover in order to get into Supercompensation. Which is the greatest, because then I just bump up a grade or two.
In any case, I will start a Personal Trainer course this Saturday, so after that I will know more in detail how to train better, faster, more efficient, and harder not only for myself, but also for others! So stay tuned…
References
Higher Faster Sports. (2020). Picture: Supercompensation.
Commercial Gym Trainer. (2020). Picture: Performance.
