UKC

Hello folks,

I'm in the lucky position of quitting my job and heading off to do a bit of travelling. It's fab, however a little frustrating as I've just started seeing a really nice peak in my strength and ability and the thought of now not being able to climb or train in the gym for a month is a little alarming. Does anyone have any idea of how much strength, finger and otherwise, I may lose in this time? AND more importantly, does anyone have any good suggestions for training and exercises I can be doing while I'm away to try and maintain as much as possible? No space in my backpack for any sort of equipment. I'm going to be heading to Font at the end of April, and I don't want to be toooo weak! Thanks in advance.

KP

(maybe I should add, 1 month may not seem thaaaat long, but I'm going to be going away for a month here and there for the foreseeable future, so I'd like to have some exercise/training ideas in place for all these trips)

You may get a full spectrum of responses to this.
looking at your profile, I'd say have some time off and don't worry too much. Getting it the first time round is harder than getting it back. Technique won't go in 1 month.
If you meet Zimpara on you journeys, please say hello. (humour)

In reply to Kevster:

I went travelling and didn't do any climbing for a month and a bit, I went back to climbing and was very achey for a while but I didn't have a noticeable decrease in performance. I was doing very physical work though.
Recently I made a fingerboard using a piece of firewood and a chainsaw to cut grooves in it whilst at the current place I'm working

In reply to Jandwilson:

That's quite useful to know - I'm actually going to be doing physical work as well, so I'm hoping to stay relatively fit, though obviously it won't really be climbing specific fitness. I do actually have a fingerboard too, but as I'm going to be staying in a strangers house I have qualms in bringing it - can't expect them to allow me to screw it up anywhere ha. Did you do any other regular daily exercises aside from the fingerboard and manual labour?

In reply to KP:

I wouldn't worry about it, some professional climbers take a month or more off once a year, I imagine any losses can very quickly be caught up.
The odd yoga/pilates/calisthenics session would probably help keep everything supple, the kind of thing you can do anywhere there is a flat bit of ground, but you can probably do without climbing specific exercise for a month.

In reply to Dandan:

Thanks for the reassuring response - not sure why there's the dislikes on my original post, perhaps I've asked a stupid question, but I'm relatively new to regular climbing and training and haven't taken a substantial break before so it was a genuine concern. But realise that perhaps it shouldnt be now. Cheers!

In reply to KP:

I drilled holes in mine and hung it up with some cord over a beam, worked alrightish...
I guess you could get one of the gripmasters? They are really small and would let you train your grip strength pretty well.
Didn't spend much time doing any other exercise apart from working as it was quite tiring, days off were spent hiking in the mountains.

In reply to KP:

Not sure of why you got dislikes either. People are weird.

So first thing is can you not go climbing on your travels? A month away in Spain or France could be great opportunity.

Assuming that's not possible though the one word answer would be calisthenics. Calisthenics is body weight training with minimal equipment. You can do pull ups, rows or dips on playground equipment or even from a tree branch. There are loads of exercises you can do on the floor - like push ups, planks, hollow body, squats, yoga postures etc. There is a ton of stuff on Calisthenics on Youtube from doing your first pull up to high level gymnastic strength training. If you were committed enough you could come back stronger than when you left.

The only thing you'd be missing would be training for finger strength. You could get or make a small finger board than could be hung from a bar or a tree branch. Maybe not worth it for one month but if you going away regularly it'd be worth sorting out.

You could also get some Monkii bars - super light sling trainer designed for traveling...

https://monkii.co/

In reply to KP:

I would focus on enjoying your traveling, and not worry about losing climbing performance. Climbing fitness comes and goes over the years, but you may never again visit the places you're going on your travels.

And Fontainebleau is a magical place regardless of what grade you climb.

I do that often. Normally don't see any changes really.

I stay generally fit and exercise during that month. Basic things like running and crossfit in occasional gym. If I'm skiing all month (or season) I would normally do nothing else and still stay at same climbing grades.

In reply to KP:

Where are you going travelling? Why not go climbing on your travels?

In reply to KP:

I wouldn't worry. I'm training hard and climbing 4 or 5 times a week. My daughter is an Uni and doing absolutely zero climbing. After 8 weeks she comes home and can still burn me off easily, cos she may not be super strong but her technique is spot on. It is a tad annoying!!

In reply to KP:

Go easy on the pies and the ale, and do some other exercise - running, core stuff etc and some stretching. Depending on your current level of climbing you might want to keep up some finger strength (rock rings?) but for a month I wouldn't bother (but I am punterdom personified)

In reply to KP:


Basically none. Enjoy your travels without a second thought for your fingers then then enjoy Font, it's wonderful.
jk