Balancing Act
On and Off the Rock
Balance is the art of doing everything in moderation, including moderation. Yes, it’s possible to have too much of a good thing. In 10 years of rock climbing, I’ve logged almost ever y injur y in the book, hence acquir ing the nickname, “Les the mess.” I guess I’m the per fect stor m: obsessive by nature, bad genetics and a r idiculously stubborn personalit y. These tough life lessons have given me a deep appreciation for how important balance is in al l aspects of life/rock climbing. This wasn’t a lesson lear ned easily though. After exper iencing a tr ifecta of climbing injur ies: a t weaked f inger, shoulder, then a torn ligament in my wrist. I knew that something had to change. I was wil ling to do whatever it took to get out of the injur y plateau that I’d been drowning in for four years. The cure was a combination of yoga, weight lifting and rest, three tools that have helped me f ind balance in my body. Each has given me a deeper mind-body connection and improved my climbing perfor mance, conf idence and motivation.
My relationship with yoga didn’t start well. I guess I had one too many bad teachers and was injured twice in yoga classes while tr ying to do poses incorrectly. I’d almost given up until I met a gifted yoga instructor that was willing to barter private yoga in exchange for climbing guiding. She led me through the beauty of personal practice, and custom yoga routines that open, lengthen and align. The improvements I saw in my posture and f lexibility led me to hiring her twice a week for over a year, until I was ready to practice on my own. She said something that really stuck with me, “It’s better to do 10 minutes of yoga a day than none,” and I couldn’t agree more. Regular yoga practice is now an essential part of my life and I won’t leave on any road trip without a mat, strap and blocks. Yoga keeps me open through my front body, f lexible in my hips and hamstrings, aligned in my back and in tune with my breathing, and tension in my mind and body. It truly is the art of balance.
Yoga wil l keep you agile, but climbers should stil l counterbalance the stress we put on our bodies by strengthening the supporting and underdeveloped muscle groups that most tend to forget about. Unless you’re blessed with mutant genes, chances are you wil l exper ience an injur y due to overdeveloped climbing muscles. Any avid climber should incor porate a strength and power focussed weight lifting routine that targets muscle groups like the chest, shoulders, rhomboids, lower lats, core and even legs.
After my umpteenth injur y, I hired Sarah Applegarth, an ath lete coach and the owner of Active Life Conditioning in Colling wood, Ont. I told her about my climbing weaknesses and goals. She assessed my physical imbalances and coached me through a training routine that has completely changed my rock climbing. Not only have I crawled out an injur y slump, but I’ve learned how to be powerful and engage specif ic muscle groups through dif ferent climbing movements, thus putting less stress on joints, tendons and ligaments and improving my overal l climbing technique. Increasing my biomechanical awareness and muscular strength has undoubtedly improved my climbing per formance.
Rest is the f inal piece of the puzzle. As a ful l-time rock climbing guide and climber, I real ly str uggle with taking time away from the rocks. The fact is that rest does a l low your body and mind to recover and recharge. I per for m at a much higher level when I make a climbing schedule, rather than tr ying to climb at my limit year round. Training for a peak/specif ic goal wil l keep you incredibly motivated too. Most ath letes can peak for approximately six weeks, which works great for an extended climbing tr ip. Ever y time that I’ve reached a personal best in my climbing career has been after a str uctured training cycle that builds towards that peak. A cycle can range anywhere from three to six months and can include weight lifting, yoga, climbing and cardio, gradual ly increasing in dif f icult y and str uctured to specif ic goals. For the f irst half of my training cycle I’ l l put more focus on strength training rather than climbing, building up oppositional muscle groups and getting f it. For the second half, I star t to push it on the rocks, pick ing climbs that highlight my training goals. I like to train on rea l rock, but if you don’t have the luxur y of living close to crags, you can easily str ucture an indoor routine. Keep your focus on longter m gains rather than shor t-ter m successes. It’s rea l ly fr ustrating because you’ l l be sore al l the time when you train, and you’l l most likely feel worse on the rocks. I tr y to keep a this-is-a l l-training mentalit y. It’s worth it for when the training cycle is over and you’re more f it and motivated than ever. After you accomplish ever ything you sent out for, rest. Taking at least a ful l month of f of climbing once or t wice a year wil l al low your body and mind to ful ly recover after you’ve pushed your personal limits.
If I could have one super power, I think it would be the abilit y to climb hard ever y day and never get injured. That’s not going to happen, so I work my butt of f to stay balanced and hard work is rewarded. Climb smart, listen to your body, focus on long ter m gains and you’ l l enjoy a lifetime of hard climbing.