STOP TRAINING, DO WHAT WORKS

OVER THE LAST SIX MONTHS WE HAVE HAD CLOSE TO FIFTY TEAMSTERS THROUGH OUR RANKS. SOME HAVE BEEN HOPELESSLY UNDERPREPARED WHILST OTHERS HAVE BEEN AMONG THE FITTEST WE HAVE EVER SEEN FOR THE TASK. ACROSS THE BOARD EVERYBODY REPRESENTS A FAIRLY GOOD SLICE OF THE CLIMBING WORLD, ie A LOT OF VARIETY, WITH NOT MUCH IN COMMON BEYOND WHAT PUT THEM ON ONE OF OUR TRIPS.

ONE THING THOUGH STOOD OUT, AND WAS SOMETHING WE MADE A POINT OF DELVING INTO, AND THAT WAS PREPARATION METHODS FOR THE ORDEAL OF ALPINISM. SOMETHING WE SUSPECTED AND WHICH WAS CONFIRMED BY DIRECT ENQUIRY, WAS THAT THE FITTER SOMEONE SAID THEY WERE THE LESS THEY ACTUALLY PERFORMED.

.

FOLLOWING UP ON THIS WE FOUND THAT ‘BEING FIT’ WAS SEEN AS A QUANTIFIABLE TERM, ALMOST ALWAYS RELATING TO TIME SPENT GOING TO A GYM OR DOING A PROGRAM. THIS WAS FITNESS TRANSLATED INTO METRICS AND POSITIONS ON A GRAPH – OFTEN DICTATED BY AN APP OR ‘TRAINER’ – AND THEREFORE ENTIRELY VIRTUAL AND DIVORCED TO ACTUAL CLIMBING. PUT ANOTHER WAY, THE MORE TIME SOMEONE SPENT IN A GYM (OF ANY SORT), THE LESS THEY WERE ACTUALLY PREPARED FOR WHAT EXPEDITION CLIMBING DEMANDS.

AND WE SAW IT ALL. THOSE DOING ‘SPECIAL’ PROGRAMS FROM THE LIKES OF STEVE HOUSE, THOSE DOING CROSSFIT, OLYMPIC LIFTING, YOGA, JUJITSU, MOON BOARDS, BOULDERING PROGRAMS, GYM JONES AND RECREATIONAL STUFF. TRUE THESE FOLK MAY HAVE BEEN BETTER FOR IT THAN IF THEY DIDN’T DO ANYTHING, BUT NOTHING STOOD OUT AS HAVING ANY SPECIAL BENEFIT.

WHAT DID STAND OUT WERE THE CLIMBERS WHO ESCHEWED ‘TRAINING’, AND SIMPLY DID WHAT IT TOOK TO BE BETTER ON A MOUNTAIN, AND EVERY TIME THIS ENTAILED STAYING AWAY FROM ANY PROGRAM. THIS DOESN’T MEAN THEY NEVER VISIT GYMS OR HAVE SOME STRUCTURE – WHAT IT MEANS IS THEY DON’T RELY ON ANY PROGRAM TO GET THE RESULTS THEY NEED.

THE BASIS FOR THIS IS THE AGE-OLD PARADIGM OF ‘FIND THE PROBLEM, FIX THE PROBLEM’, WHICH IS SOMETHING NO PROGRAM CAN DO. YOU HAVE TO GO OUT AND FIND WHAT FAILS, THEN ADDRESS THE PARTS AND WORK ON THEM. GETTING BETTER AT OLYMPIC LIFTING DOESN’T HAVE THE TRANSFERABILITY TO CLIMBING SOME HAVE BEEN LEAD TO BELIEVE, USUALLY VIA CONFIRMATION BIAS THAT THROWS A BLIND SPOT OVER WHAT THEY SHOULD BE DOING. THE ULTIMATE ERROR IS TO CONTINUE TRAINING WHERE YOUR STRENGTHS ALREADY LIE, IGNORING THE WEAKNESSES THAT EXPEDITIONS WILL ABSOLUTELY EXPOSE.

.

THE MOST ALPINE-FIT CLIMBERS WE SAW EITHER CLIMBED LOTS OF ALPINE STUFF OR SUCCESSFULLY EMULATED THE SAME STRESSORS, BOTH APPROACHES BEING BASED ON A NATURAL DISPOSITION TO PUSH INTO WEAKNESSES. IT IS ORGANIC WITH SUCH ACTIVITY TO TAKE THINGS FURTHER AND PUSH ABILITY, AND NO ONE WHO CLIMBS REPEATS THE SAME STUFF ENDLESSLY WITHOUT CHALLENGE.

WHERE THE GYM AND PROGRAM IS BASED ON HITTING PROGRESSIVE NUMBERS AS A SIGN OF DEVELOPMENT, ACTUAL PREPARATION IS ENTAILS DOING STUFF AND ANALYSING WHAT FAILED. ROUTES THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN, DAYS TOO TIRED, MILES TOO FAR, LOADS TOO MUCH, LEGS TOO WEAK, MOVES TOO HARD, HOURS TOO LONG – THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT MEASURE ALPINISM AND SHOULD BE THE THINGS THAT REAL PREPARATION ADDRESSES.

GYMS CAN FIT IN AS A WAY TO TEMPORARILY ADDRESS VERY SPECIFIC WEAKNESSES, LIKE PULL STRENGTH OR LEG STRUCTURE. BUT JUST AS OFTEN THEY CAN BE DEALT WITH NEVER SETTING FOOT IN A FACILITY. THE PROBLEM WITH GYMS IS THEY ADDICT A CERTAIN FEEDBACK LOOP WITH NUMBERS, THAT ATROPHIES THE MIND FROM ACTUAL FEEDBACK ON THE MOUNTAIN.

IT IS THIS MIND THAT ABOVE IT ALL YOU SHOULD ACTUALLY BE TRAINING, AS THE FEEDBACK WITH YOUR MEAT-BODY IS WHAT LETS YOU PROJECT WHAT YOU CAN DO. WE NOTICE THAT THE BADLY PREPARED CLIMBER STRUGGLES TO SUPERIMPOSE THEIR CAPACITY ONTO THE TASK AT HAND, WITH NO GOOD WAY TO APPROXIMATE THINGS LIKE ASCENT RATES PER HOUR AND LOADS AGAINST GRAVITY WHICH ARE THE FUNDAMENTALS OF EXPEDITIONS. CROSSFIT, OLYMPIC LIFTING AND HILL REPS DO NOTHING TO PROVIDE MATERICS TO PLOT AND PLAN ASCENTS BY, UNLIKE TRAIL RUNNING, ROCK CLIMBING, LOADED CARRIES AND CALLISTHENICS, WHICH GIVE DIRECT INDICATIONS OF WHAT YOU PHYSICALLY CAN DO. A CONCRETER KNOWS THEY CAN MOVE 40kg UP 20m IN A CERTAIN EFFORT RANGE, AN ULTRARUNNER KNOWS HOW LONG 25km TAKES THEM, ROCK CLIMBERS KNOW WHAT A PITCH WILL DEMAND OF THEM AND GYMNASTS KNOW THEY HAVE THE STRENGTH FOR HARD MOVES WHEN THEY PRESENT – ALL OF WHICH BASICALLY DESCRIBES A DAY OF CLIMBING AT ALTITUDE.

EXPEDITION ALPINISM IS BASED ON EQUATIONS AROUND WHAT A TEAM CAN DO, BASED ENTIRELY ON WHAT IS KNOWN OF THEIR CAPACITY. THE MORE ACTUAL, THE FEWER GREY AREAS WHEN PLANNING AN ASCENT. THE MORE VIRTUAL, THE MORE UNKNOWNS IN A PLACE WHERE UNKNOWNS CAN KILL YOU. 1RMs, REPS FOR TIME, 100m TIMES, FANCY COMBOS AND ADVANCED ASANAS BRING NOTHING TO THE CONVERSATION, WHEREAS MILES OVER TIME, LOADS CARRIED AND PITCHES CLIMBED ANSWER BASICS THAT EVERYTHING ELSE GOES ON TOP OF.

.

THE GOAL HERE IS NOT TO BE ‘STRONG’, WHATEVER THAT MEANS, BUT TO BE GOOD AT CLIMBING BY HAVING A CONDITION YOU CAN IMPOSE. WHEN STARING THROUGH THE BINOCULARS AT A ROUTE YOU MIGHT TRY, YOU SHOULD BE MATCHING UP WHAT YOU KNOW YOU CAN DO WITH WHAT YOU SEE THROUGH THE LENS. ANYTHING ELSE IS FANTASY.

HIT THE GYM IF YOU LIKE, AND DO THE PROGRAM IF YOU PAID FOR IT, BUT DON’T EXPECT EITHER TO BE MUCH USE WHEN IT COMES TO PLANNING AT THE BASE OF A MOUNTAIN. THE CONVERSATION WILL NEVER INCLUDE HOW MANY DEADLIFTS YOU DID OR YOUR BIGGEST WEEK IN THE CONTINUUM, BECAUSE ALL THAT MATTERS IS HOW YOU PUSH AGAINST GRAVITY OVER SPECIFIC TERRAIN WITH A LOAD ON YOUR BACK.

GIVEN THE TIME ANYONE HAS TO PREPARE YOU NEED TO THINK HOW YOU SPEND IT, AND EVEN THE MOST TIME-AFFLUENT ARE LIMITED BY WHAT IT TAKES TO RECOVER. TWO HOURS A DAY IS FAR BETTER DEVOTED TO ALPINISM WITH DRAGGING A SACK OF SAND AROUND A PIT OR LEARNING A SEQUENCE ON THE RINGS, STUFF THAT WON’T COMPROMISE TOMORROW WHEN ANOTHER TWO HOURS WAITS AND RELATES DIRECTLY TO CLIMBING. VOLUME IS WHAT MATTERS, AND TEN HOURS A WEEK OF MOVEMENT UNDER LOAD, CONSISTENTLY RECOVERING, MAKES YOU A FAR BETTER ALPINIST THAN ANY SET OF METRICS CAN.