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A Girl Who Climbs

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motivation

Climbing Out of a Bad Situation

A few posts back I wrote about how I’ve been having a hard time with climbing, as I’ve not had very good sessions lately and it was starting to get me down. It even made me question if I should take a break. However, I stuck with it and climbed once a week even if I really wasn’t feeling it, and I am so happy I did. I wish I could pinpoint the moment or cause for the sad plateau, but I guess that would make life far too easy. So even though at the time it sucked to not be feeling as strong as I knew I could be, simply persevering with the circumstances appears to have paid off. That and the fact that A Boy Who Climbs was very kind and patient with me, and gave me the much needed push to continue.

 

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Bouldering last night was great and it was so lovely to be back in a good place with it. I enjoyed trying to grip the awful holds, attempting moves I found scary and over all just throwing myself up the walls with gusto. I’m so excited to climb again at the weekend!

 Sometimes turning up for training when you really, really don’t want to is half the battle for any sport. Don’t let yourself feel defeated if you’re having a rough time. If you put in the time then you will feel the rewards in the end despite it feeling like you won’t – promise!

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Ease Climbing Aches | Be Your Own Therapist

As you probably already know A Boy Who Climbs is a sports massage therapist, which comes in handy when there are some climbing aches! However, I know not everyone is lucky enough to have their own therapist on hand to explain the best way to help you and your muscles. Here are a few ‘self-care’ things you can do for yourself at home, to help get some relief from those aches.

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Foam Rolling

This is essentially a self- myofascial massage, which helps to relieve pain and increase blood flow to the area. You can pick up a foam roller on Amazon or from a sports shop easily nowadays. They come in different textures for different depths of massage so you can pick what’s best for yourself, depending on how brave you are! Foam rolling is extremely easy; you basically roll the sore muscles back and forth on the foam tube…that’s it. Just like a massage it’s great for any kind of sporting ache.

 

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Much like foam rolling, trigger pointing is another form of self-massage but it works on a smaller, much more specific area. A trigger point is what some people refer to as a knot, but is a tightness in the muscle tissue that can cause an achy feeling in another area. Due to desk work and climbing I tend to have tight traps (trapezius), and even though it’s painful, rolling on a bouncy ball helps to reduce the trigger points.

You can use anything that is round and firm like a tennis ball, or even a lacrosse ball if you’re barbaric. I found this bouncy ball in a pound shop and it’s the perfect size and density.

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Heat

If the first two techniques are too much for you, nothing can beat a nice soak in the tub. Epsom salts are great to add to your bath as they help relax the muscles. This could be a placebo, as the warm water gerneally does plenty on its own, but it feels great either way. Epsom salts are easy to find in any pharmacy store, usually nearly the painkillers.

 

As much as I’m sharing this to help, it’s also a personal reminder to take these steps to help myself out in the long run! Of course, nothing can beat going to see someone specifically trained in the area, but there’s no harm in helping yourself out along the way.

If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them belwo and I will get A Boy Who Climbs to answer them  🙂

 

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Psyching Up Your Psyche

Forgive me climbers for I have sinned, it has been 6 days since my last climb…

There’s no real reason for this, sometimes things get in the way of what I want to do because 1. I let them and 2. I feel like I have to do other things first. It’s kind of stressful and makes me anxious. Also I’m a creature of habit so when my routines are disrupted it takes me a little time to adjust, and I think this is why I’ve not been climbing regularly this week. In retrospect, climbing would of been a flipping good idea to distract and de-stress! So in light of this I’ve made a list of things to help get me motivated, or psyched as the climbing world would say:

– Watch others climb. I’m sure I’ve said this before, but we are in this magical age where we can whip out a phone and watch anything our hearts desire (get your mind out of the gutter). So using this amazing technology to watch some lead or bouldering World Cup hi-lights, catch up on the latest achievements, or enjoy an Epic TV video can help to get inspired.

– Listen to your song. We all have that guilty love for a cheesy song, and music is one of the few things that can change my mood. Whack it on, turn up the volume, and bask in the glory of the sound. Livin La Vida Loca anyone? Gangam style? No? Okay, I’ll stop.

– Just go to the crag or gym. This is the main thing I guess, just get up and go there! Even if I don’t end up climbing it can be good for the mind and soul. I find the climbing community one of the most accepting, and a crag or gym are some of the few places where you can find people from so many different backgrounds  all bonding.

Happy vibes.

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