My project this year was to improve one physical quality: strength.
In climbing, it is a fundamental quality and for me, a weak point.
Basically, it was a good challenge for me, because I live in a place where there are no climbing walls or gyms to train on, but plenty of rocks.
So it's quite complicated for me to do physical preparation in a climbing gym, but I can climb almost every day on the cliff!
So I decided that this year would be the one: "I'm going to strengthen my strength weaknesses by training at home.
Since physical preparation is not something common for me, it was very important to set myself both short-term and long-term goals, so that it was easier for me to focus all my efforts without getting lost along the way.
My goal: to improve my pulling and grip strength.
So I had to organize myself well and adapt my training with beams, weights, and whatever I found at home. So I forced myself to do two physical sessions per week, in addition to my usual cliff sessions.
To improve my strength on the cliff, I chose to go back to the areas where I had previously failed, and by focusing on the shortest routes.
To achieve this, several days before the climb, I did strength training at home, which was difficult at first, as you arrive at the rock more tired than on a normal day. A fundamental point is to plan ahead, according to your needs, controlling the loads and resting when necessary, in order to improve with each session.
I've been doing this for a while now and the truth is that I feel stronger and I'm satisfied with this planning, even if it's sometimes frustrating and slow to improve.
I keep trying to learn, improve and enjoy all the aspects that climbing gives me.
I always thought that the stronger I am, the more possibilities I have.
