Motivation waning...

[Sean92]

Hey guys,

So I'm about 4 weeks into the base fitness phase for sport training right now (I'm extending it a few more weeks as I haven't been able to climb more than 3 times a week).  I've always been a stronger boulderer than route climber, but it really hit home today how quickly you lose bouldering strength and power when you don't work it!

After some light leading at the gym earlier I followed my friends to the boulder room and found that I could barely make it to the top of boulder grades I would normally flash with no problem. And because forearm endurance takes so long to build, I find myself now with unimproved endurance (as far as I can tell) AND severely depleted bouldering power. Definitely a psyche killer to realize I now don't have any strengths at all within climbing!

Has anyone else hit this hurdle in staying psyched?

[willblack]

Literally every session, especially if I make the mistake of climbing for performance while I'm training. My advice would be that you have years to get stronger, and sacrificing ten weeks to try out a new training program is really a drop in the bucket. I think it's healthy when trying something new to not get too attached to results until it's actually time to perform. I would try to focus on following the program religiously, regardless of whether you see day-to-day improvements, and then at the end of your performance phase allow yourself to evaluate whether you have improved or not and whether that improvement was worth it. I always feel like I've regressed when I boulder for the first time after hangboarding (and also on the rare occasions when I have made the mistake of bouldering when I've been ARCing a lot), but to this point I have seen small but significant gains in my bouldering ability by the end of each power phase. If you're interested in short-term validation that your training is working you should look to your last few ARC workouts and not to a random bouldering session. My advice is to get psyched to try hard in each individual workout, and put your bigger goals in the back of your head until you are standing underneath them.

Also, if you find that training saps your motivation entirely and takes the fun out of climbing there's nothing wrong with not doing it. It's odd how training has become such a fad to the point where everyone feels like it's a necessity rather than a choice.

[climbnkev]

I see no reason to ever stop Bouldering, even during an endurance phase. Start each day of training with a warm-up Boulder ladder. 15 minutes of easy to medium hard Bouldering will help you maintain decent power year round.