2 December 2008

Technical Endurance advice

Most climbers think that the best way to improve your endurance is by doing circuits or other physical training.
Here are some technical resting advice that might be an endurance improvement short cut. (Further more you can
technically learn how to climb relaxed in order to improve your endurance, but that is another story).

Resting while climbing a route will assist you to:
1. Get rid of used blood, i.e. Lactid Acid
2. Get new fresh blood in the system
3. Relax the muscles

Three main resting options on the route:
A. Rest on jugs*
B. Mini-rest between holds: Just open your hand to the next hold.
C. Micro-rest on bad holds: Let go of pressure while matching etc
(B & C: The idea is to open the circulation just for one heart beat).

Rest on jugs:
Immidiately as you get the jug, let go of all tension, look down and focus on your breathing. You should not clip
and continue to look for the next hold. The faster all the tension goes and you get into the "yoga" relaxing feeling
the better. Once you are relaxed, i.e. 15 - 30 seconds you can start looking for the next holds and possibly clip.
It is important to look down as much as possible as this reduces the impact on your muscles. All body movements like
chalking etc should be done as slow as possible as you  are swimming in a syrup. If you have done a long and good rest,
you could need to do some quick breath to get psyched to be ready for the next hard sequence. Good Luck 

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