psychological performance prevention

Came across an interesting article here . Although it talks about running, I think there are interesting parallels in terms of climbers. A lot of people I work with tend to get 'frozen' or stuck with their climbing, imagining EVERYONE to be better than them, less scared (or even not scared at all), and dread being watched or seen to climb 'badly'. This is an excruciating kind of performance anxiety, where people stop climbing for themselves, and their worries about the judgements of other climbers become more important. This is the equivalent of being left behind in a race, where a runner who was ahead or looked strong suddenly crumbles as they are passed by others.

The article says something both simple and profound - run your own race - which I think we can apply to climbing. Climb for yourself. Try to acknowledge those thoughts about other people and comparisons, but then let them pass by acknowledging that they are only thoughts. Other people applauding you probably wasnt the reason you went into climbing. Try to remember what it is YOU love about it. Climbing can sometimes feel like the most competitive individual sport there is, and yet that is only the case if you allow it to be so. Go your own way - isnt that what attracted you to climbing in the first place :)

funny fingers

I cant remember whether I wrote about this before, but I have this little problem with bursting blood vessels in my fingers.  well tonight at the beacon, my fingers felt like they were throbbing quite a bit, so I taped them up as usual and spent ages warming up so as not to stress them.  just getting warm (although admittedly distracted by the numbers of people around) and pop! one of the untaped (and normally robust ones) bursts.

Yuk!  the upside to this is I did finally meet someone with a similar problem, so I dont now feel quite so alone.  Not sure what to do about it though, so if anyone reading this knows why this happens or how to prevent it (other than taping and warming up slowly) then please let me know!

Yoga workshop

This weekend I attended a really good yoga workshop run by Kathryn Turner.  The theme was connecting mind, heart and breath, and for someone who does a lot of 'mind' stuff and due to asthma struggles with breath sometimes, it was really helpful.  We did quite a lot of chest opening poses and things designed to get energy flowing round the body, and particularly in the heart region.  Then some tricky breath exercises, which really helped me open up my lungs and connect with my breath, noticing imbalances in my breathing.  Finally a heart-centred meditation.  This for me was very powerful, bringing up emotions which I had been bottling up all week.  It was interesting to give those feelings space, and reflect on how they had been affecting me all week.  For example, a feeling of frustration had led to me climbing quickly in a session this week, and I also noticed that I had a sense of grief which was somewhat bottled up.  It was good to acknowledge that grief, and notice how it had perhaps stopped me connecting with people recently, as well as giving me profound shoulder-ache from hunching over!  I left the workshop feeling lighter and refreshed, as well as bodily tired from some of the poses!  well worth doing.  

We dont often give ourselves space to let feelings bubble up, or indeed allow ourselves to 'take the observer position' on our thoughts.  That is, we get caught up in them as if they were real entities, rather than taking a step back from them and just noticing them with curiousity.  Modern life is so rushed and frenetic, it is vital to create a space for ourselves.  It is no surprise to me that people get 'surprised' by intense feelings when climbing, as it is almost a meditation in and of itself, and so gives our feelings and hidden fears (about climbing or about our lives in general) a chance to surface.  So, rather than being caught out on the crag, give yourself space to 'observe' how you really are, what you are feeling and thinking, before you go out climbing!

Video clip preview

Tonight I had a peek at the video clip filmed from this year's open workshop.  Its looking really good and I think it conveys the overall feel of the weekend really well, so I am excited about the final edits and getting it up on the website :) 

It is quite hard to describe the many and varied things we cover over the weekend, but I know from people's feedback everyone takes something which is personalised to them.  For some courses and some difficulties, I think it is better to have 1:1 coaching, but I can honestly say that the workshop content is derived from the most common problems people come to me with, and also that the groups are so small that we really can tailor the content to people's needs.

So, hopefully by the end of the year, you should be able to see one snazzy clip on the website and get a flavour of our open workshop!

Listening to your body

This past week I have been feeling pretty tired, and bearing in mind all the bugs around this time of year I made a real effort to get some early nights.  I didnt climb till yesterday, just went for some gentle walks and did some light stretching.  I think it has paid off as yesterday I did some routes with an old friend, Lowri, and felt pretty good whilst climbing, and today I had a good bouldering session and managed a few problems that previously had me stumped.  

I write this because its easy to get sucked into continuing to push yourself or sticking rigidly to a training schedule when you are not feeling 100%.  There might be a sense that if you dont do it today, you'll get 'behind' and lose strength or stamina.  I havent really found this to be the case - indeed for myself I find that taking enough rest is crucial and often makes more difference than just training continuously.

So my advice this week would be, take a few moments to tune into your body.  Are you feeling well? Any unusual aches and pains that need attention?  Are you feeling rested and refreshed? Our bodies need a little more sleep at this time of year, with daylight hours shorter, our brain picks up on the lack of daylight and signals 'more sleep please'!  Best to listen!

If you have phoned me....

Just a quick note to say, as I live in the middle of nowhere, the phone line is somewhat decrepit!  Whenever it rains, I am told rain gets into the line and makes it all crackly.  This would explain why I cant always decipher answer machine messages.  So if you have left a message over the recent bad weather, please call back!  Otherwise, if the line seems at all crackly, please call later or email me!  BT apparently cant afford to replace the line and having tried 3 different answer machines then the machine makes not difference.

amazing technology :)

wesbite update

After a couple of false starts this morning I managed to get my desktop set up and make a couple of changes to the smartclimbing website, and get it uploaded. Click through here to take a look. More refinements to come as I start to organise next year's open workshop!

I promised a picture of the office so here it is! After many hours of painting, sanding, putting up shelves etc, I finally have a space to work in with everything to hand, as well as a good view of Snowdon out of the window!

Plans for the weekend are some serious stretching - my new job involves long meetings and driving, and my back isnt happy! Plus a couple of sessions at the wall and some aerobic exercise, hopefully without getting blown away by the incipient gales!

Falling off practice - how to do it well

This comes up quite a lot when I cam coaching people, and I confess to feeling quite irritated with the often well-meaning advice that people give to those of us (myself included) who dont enjoy falling off.

People often say "just jump off, take a big whipper and you will get over it".  This may work for some people (probably they werent that scared anyway) but the research evidence backs a technique called  graded exposure.  Notice the word graded.  Flooding (which means taking a big whipper) is a very risky strategy for several reasons.  Firstly, people rarely do it for long enough for the anxiety to drop.  This can take up to about 2 hours (would you want to practice falling off for 2 hours non stop!).  If you dont do it for long enough, the anxiety is merely strengthened not dissipated.  Secondly, for many people, taking a big whipper is very scary and may not be able to do it; if they can they are tense and anxious before they start, likely to have an uncomfortable fall, and so again the anxiety is strengthened.  We also know from the research evidence that flooding doesnt have such a good maintenance rate as graded exposure - ie the effects dont last so long.

To do graded exposure well, you need to work up to taking a whipper.  This may take a very long time (months even) and its baby steps and allow for some setbacks.  You need to learn to pair relaxation with falling off to recondition yourself.  Firstly, you need to learn how to relax on the ground, then when you are climbing, and then when you are falling.  You need to do it in small steps, eg a slump on a top rope, a larger fall on a top rope, a fall from under the bolt when leading, next to the bolt and then above the bolt.  You dont move on to the next step until you are completely comfortable with the previous one and you go back a step if needed.

Finally, for some people (and this is important), exposure and flooding dont work at all.  For these people, its best to just work on techniques which help manage fear when you are climbing rather than trying to become comfortable with falling off (ie invest time in what you would like to spend most time doing!).  

winter climbing training

As you know I have made a commitment to some physical training for once, rather than just concentrating on the psychological side!  I have been at the climbing wall at least twice a week for the last 3 weeks, and I thought I would report on my progress.  There is both good and not so good news to report however!

The good...

Firstly, my stamina has improved a lot and I can now get to the top of the routes that I could technically do, but kept running out of steam on.  Secondly, my strength is also improving, probably most notably my abdominal muscles as I am on steeper stuff than I would be on outside.  Thirdly its improved my social life as I bump into people I havent seen for ages and meet new people!

The not-so-good...

I appear to be developing tendonitis in my left elbow :(  am going to consult with my physio and will let you know the outcome on here.  Another down side is that my eyes are quite irritated from the chalk dust.  And it has also showed me a couple of 'holes' in what I do - really this is good news as it means I can work on them over the winter.

The 'holes' that I mention are this.  Firstly, clipping in.  I have noticed that when I am climbing at my limit, my mind gets ahead of itself to the next moves as I am clipping - resulting in a fumbled clip (which obviously is inefficient and energy sapping).  Secondly, when I get to the top I have started looking down or saying 'ok' to my belayer and waiting till they have me tight before dropping off.  Now this is a habit I have noticed in some clients, but I didnt realise I did it myself!!  This is not a great habit to get into because it trains the mind to wait for that feeling of being in tight to feel safe, and is a form of checking - checking or safety behaviours actually increase anxiety in the long run, because you can never check enough times.  An extreme of this continuum would be obsessive-compulsive behaviours, where the anxiety (obsessions) are reinforced by the checking (compulsions), creating a vicious cycle.  

So, notes to self: 

1. keep focused on the clipping when climbing harder routes, but also practice paying attention on easier routes

2. have a word with the belayer before climbing and tell them I will just drop off at the top rather than waiting for them to take in.

3. go see the physio!

Open course 2010

Enquiries are starting to come in for next year's open course, and I realise that my website is a little out of date!  Its been very hectic here of late, but there are a few developments happening over the winter, such that you should see a change by early next year:

• the website is having an overhaul so you can see client feedback from each year more easily and access the different programs we have run
  
• there will be a link to a video clip so you can see what happens on an open course and get an idea of the techniques
• the program will be changing a little as we refine what we deliver on the open course

So keep checking the blog and website!

The other thing to say is, prices will be going up from 1/1/2010 to £200 per day for private coaching and £200 per person for the open course.  However, if you book onto the open course before the end of the year, you will be able to take advantage of an early bird discount of £20, meaning the course will cost you £180 all in.

Rebecca