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Post by willblack on Apr 19, 2016 12:10:38 GMT -7
In the past year I have been less and less strict with weight loss while continuing to climb harder despite being a little heavier. This leads me to question whether dieting is really necessary for reasonably fit folks who don't climb very hard. I still eat well and hover in the neighborhood of 12% body fat, and climbing mid 5.12 in a few tries and V7 when I boulder (which is almost never). I live in North Carolina, a state sadly devoid of good sport climbing so I don't really get to project routes very often. This time last year I had just climbed my first 5.12 and weighed 155 lbs (and had dieted hard to get there). Now I weigh 170 or so (which has always been my "training" weight) and am much stronger than I was this time last year. I don't doubt that I could probably climb harder if I dieted, but I would also probably recover slower, build strength slower, and be more prone to injury. Given that I'm not climbing hard, it seems to make sense for me to eat well but not specifically diet until my progress slows down and I start working on harder stuff. Does this seem like a logical idea, or am I just making fat kid excuses?
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Post by jessebruni on Apr 19, 2016 12:30:49 GMT -7
I think this depends a lot on how much extra fat you have. If you're around 12% body fat at 170lbs I think your points are all pretty valid. If you're at 15-20% then you could stand to lose some fat without seeing detrimental effects.
I think "train heavy perform light" makes a lot of sense. Training heavy allows you to push your body with less fear of injury, your training intensity will be higher, and you'll train your body to perform at a higher weight than you actually will be performing at.
In my opinion, being about 5% out from performance bodyweight at any given time seems to work pretty well. It's not that hard to lose 5% bodyweight within a few weeks, and it seems to be a decent buffer to prevent injury while you train.
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Post by alexandra on Apr 19, 2016 12:34:11 GMT -7
Coming from a climber that is even weaker than you (only bouldering and I can sometimes do V6 within one or two days and have done one "Easy V7"), my experience is similar to yours. My training weight is around 120lbs. When I am lighter (e.g. on my off lifting season or after my surfing season, where I drop 5-10 lbs) I feel much weaker. So for example, I lose 10 lbs, then train for a few weeks, and I am still not at the level of fitness I am when I gain back the weight. Usually my pulling power goes all away pretty fast. That might be an individual thing though, since my body doesn't hold muscle easily so I tend to lose all my muscles first when I loose weight (and I always eat fairly clean and don't drink).
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Post by Chris W on Apr 19, 2016 20:47:32 GMT -7
I don't drop weight in quite the same way Mark and Mike seem to. My approach has been to be sure that I'm eating high quality, healthy foods. No cheating, no junk, no measuring, no starving myself. I do cut down the portions of any carbohydrate rich foods (oatmeal, sweet potato fries, etc.) and substitute in more fibrous foods, like veggies, and continue to eat a high protein diet. By being honest with myself and the foods I eat, I can drop about 5-10 pounds over the course of 5 weeks without feeling tired or weak. It's almost all body fat. I'm about 5'10 inches (a little less) and currently weigh about 153 lbs. That's down from about 160ish while hangboarding. I notice the difference in weight when I'm climbing (and campusing)
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ericg
New Member
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Post by ericg on Apr 20, 2016 6:56:18 GMT -7
I think it depends upon your goals. I'm a heavier than you at 183 and dropped to 177 for sending last fall. Which was about 1 V grade, or the difference between v6 and v7. 5-7lbs has been consistently been 1 V grade for me. So that would be my answer as to the value of weight loss. That said I can now boulder v7 at 183 and that is with some significant time off for injury. So you can certainly continue training at your weight and get stronger. I know several climbers 170lbs or heavier who climb v10 or harder. This year I'm trying to get down to 170 but I have some bigger goals I would like to accomplish.
If your bouldering V7 at 170 you should be able to climb 13- and I bet if you dropped to 160 you could climb mid 13...
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Post by erick on Apr 20, 2016 11:43:14 GMT -7
For me, the "performance diet" has a lot more to do with me 'feeling better' than hitting a number. I think there are some inflammatory foods in my regular diet which don't cause any problems, but when I cut down to a mostly salad and lean meat diet, no sugar/very little carbs, i feel lighter and thinner, even if the scale number doesn't change much. While training I sit around 155, if my diet is real strict I only drop to maybe 148, after a HUGE dump. Even though my weight does not change much I feel so much thinner which is a huge confidence boost. This also has the added benefit of once "performance" is over and I go back to a more normal diet that ice cold IPA is so much more tasty!
Each time I have gone through a tapper diet and returned to a more normal diet I have left things out. I eat almost no bread anymore, dairy (with the huge exception of cheese) is mostly gone, I eat less carbs then I ever have in my life. So dropping the weight has become less of a priority and seeing what fuel my body likes best is now the goal.
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Post by scojo on Apr 20, 2016 14:46:51 GMT -7
For me losing weight was also about reducing injury risk. I figured if my fingers had to hold less weight, they'd be less likely to get injured. (Of course I could also climb harder stuff, so maybe the risk equalizes).
I think the advantage of weight loss is very personal. If you're making a lot of progress via building a lot of muscle in your forearms/arms, then it might be better to avoid dieting for a while (to keep the gainz coming). If you feel like you have a lot of extra body fat you can lose without stressing out your body too much, dieting might not be a bad idea.
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Post by MarkAnderson on Apr 20, 2016 15:07:48 GMT -7
It also depends a lot on the type of climbing you do. If you're climbing slab to vert stuff, standing on your feet most of the time, a few extra pounds are much less significant. Same goes for length--in my experience weight is more significant on longer routes (assuming they are sustained), because you're pulling 5% extra 100 times instead of 20 times. I think fingery routes/problems are also more sensitive to weight--a mono crank is going to feel a lot easier (regardless of wall angle) when you are lean. You have to consider all these factors together though--weight can impact a really steep (or footless) boulder problem even though it's short. I notice a big difference campusing when I'm fat.
Anyway, as to whether or not you should, it really depends on your goals and how optimized you need to be to reach them. If you can achieve your near term goals at your current weight, bully for you! Don't suffer if you don't have to. Save that "energy" for a season when you need every advantage.
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Post by willblack on Apr 22, 2016 4:54:21 GMT -7
Those are all good points, it seems it would make sense for me to get rally lean in preparation for a road trip at the end of May. However, I'm concerned about staying light on a road trip. Calorie dense food always seems to be more shelf stable and convenient to cook on a coleman stove than healthy stuff, and send beers tend to be abundant on road trips. Anyone have tips for staying lean on a road trip?
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Post by scojo on Apr 22, 2016 8:58:15 GMT -7
How long is your trip? If it's not too long, then you might not need to worry about dieting so much.
I find when I'm climbing outside all day, I'm too distracted with climbing/belaying/watching others climb that I don't get too hungry.
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Post by jessebruni on Apr 22, 2016 9:20:41 GMT -7
Like scojo said, if the trip is long enough that you are concerned about gaining enough weight to affect your climbing then you'll probably also have to worry about coming off your training peak, in which case, even if you didn't lose a pound you'd probably notice a decline in your sending ability.
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Post by willblack on Apr 22, 2016 10:17:45 GMT -7
It's a climbing road trip/honeymoon and it's about a month and a half long. I tend to stay lean when I'm climbing a lot regardless of how I eat, so it may not be a problem but I also have a hard time motivating myself to cook creative/healthy camping food.
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