Back on the wall

... and developed a quiet confidence on my climbing.

It has been almost three months since I last climbed. Lock down in Malaysia has finally eased off and we were able to start climbing last weekend. After the long break, we chose to jump start with an outdoor 30m route. What a reality check on the endurance: gone.

Rock climbing is a sport that requires a combination of strength, power, endurance, techniques, body awareness and mental ability. And probably more.

I would describe the former three traits as hard skills and the latter as soft. When I was a rookie, just like most others, I got addicted to the sport. Or more accurately, addicted to making progress at the sport. Once you acquired certain fundamental skills, you will see progress quickly. So I went through a period convinced in my head that, you have to climb regularly to maintain the skills, otherwise you cannot progress.

This is why, there is always a subconscious fear that would push me to clock in some volume climbs even when the body isn't feeling for it. You thought you would regress.

With the pandemic lock down, this fear became the nightmare for me. I was really worried I will have to start from scratch. I googled a lot, most climbing articles would say, one can sustain the climbing grade with no climbing for a month, max. Determined to maintain as much as I can, I started working a lot on my core (not abs) and have felt how the body has benefited enormously from having a strong core.

My seasoned partner (with almost 20 years under his belt) was very relaxed about the climbing break. During the lock down, he had several sessions with 100 chin-ups, and one session of a 10 k run. Otherwise, he consumed most his time on the couch practicing with Dota. He simply say, there are no other means, other than climbing itself, for one to train to maintain the hard skills. As for soft skills, once you have acquired them, they are lifetime investments. So, just enjoy the time off and let your body rest up.

Skeptical, I have no choice but to accept.

I continued to work on my core and just look forward to "test-drive" my new body when this is over.

Now it is over and that we are back on the wall, I can conclude I have gained two things out of this compulsory break to climbing.

When there is a strong core (once again, not abs), there will be control to these climbing movements. Whether it is a delicate lock-off or a dyno reach, a strong core will only help to make the moves more efficient. Adopting from Estee Lauder's famous saying: there are no bad climbers, just laziness. Working on the core will be the "core" training to climbing going forward.

Outdoor and indoor climbing require slight tweaks in style and skills. Tried both last week. Happy to discover, whilst the hard skills on strength, power and endurance will require some rebuilding, judging from the flow and feel of the climbs, the soft skills on technique, body awareness and mental ability are still there. I have now removed that rookie fear but developed a quiet confidence towards the future path of climbing.