My project this year was to improve a physical quality: strength.
In climbing, this 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 in, but lots of rocks.
So it's quite complicated for me to do physical preparation in the climbing gym, but I can climb cliffs almost every day!
So I decided that this year would be the right one: “I’m going to strengthen my strength weaknesses by training at home.
As physical preparation is not something common for me, it was very important to set both short and long term goals, so that it was easier for me to focus all my efforts without get lost along the way.
My goal: to improve my traction and grip strength.
So I had to organize myself well and adapt my training with beams, weights, and what I found at home. So I imposed 2 physical sessions per week on myself, in addition to the usual cliff sessions.
To progress in strength on the cliff, I chose to return to the sectors in which I had previously failed, and by focusing on the shortest routes.
To achieve this, several days before the climb, I did weight training at home, which was difficult at first, because you arrive at the rock more tired than on a normal day. A fundamental point is to plan in advance, according to your needs, controlling loads and resting when necessary, in order to improve with each session.
I've been doing it for a while now and the truth is that I feel stronger and I'm happy with this planning, even if it's sometimes frustrating and slow to improve.
I continue to try to learn, improve and appreciate all the sides that climbing gives me.
I always thought that the stronger I am, the more possibilities I have.
