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redonkulus
Apr 20, 2011, 5:10 AM
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Hey everyone,
I've got a comp coming up that I'd like to do well in. Not for bragging rights or anything, but because there are some pretty sweet prizes, and I'm a broke college student. Anyway, I was looking for some advice for the pre-game, if you will.
First, does anyone have a general idea of how much time is ideal for rest days before a big competition? I'll probably climb Tuesday, and then rest until Saturday. I also assume that this varies based on fitness level, how hard you climb that last session, etc. But, I'm curious about how much time you'd ideally give yourself to recover before a big event.
Second, what's a good pre-game meal? In most other sports I've participated in, a large pasta meal the night before is usually a popular option. Does carb-loading work for climbing? What about the day of the comp, are there any particular foods you've found to help you climb hard?
Anyway, thanks for the tips, I'll take any other miscellaneous advice you may have. I'm not really worried about strategy during the comp itself, and that's been covered in other forum topics already anyway.
Thanks again,
Will
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flesh
Apr 22, 2011, 6:00 AM
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I am a fan of carb loading the night before especially if its a morning comp so u have some calories in me. I've found 2 days off pre comp is a good balance between resting but still having movement fresh. However I will do a tailor down session on that last climbing day. Basically u keep ur max intensity but cover half the terrain u normally would. Eat a balanced meal 1.5 hrs before comp.... start drinking water right when u wake up so u can b fully hydrated wo being water lobed. I like loading up on a couple table spoons of flax oil 1 hr bfore so I've got some lube in their since ull probably b pushing it hard. Also, the entire time ur climbing regularly sip on some gatorade and nibble on some carbs. Intensify ur focus on reading the routes or boulders before u climb them.... take plenty of rest between goes if time allows.
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jbrown2
Apr 22, 2011, 6:19 AM
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1 - Release the doubt
2 - Dont over do it on your last climbing day. It could take 3-4 days to recover if you train HARD. i would tone down your last two weeks and work on pecific aspects of climbing. Your last wek climbing should be moderate intensity and working moslty on technique and recovery. You will be making no significant strength gains in the last week so work on what counts. Mental and technique.
3 - Protine the night before the comp will keep the matabolism (sp?) high. Meat and potatos never hurts. High protein the night before will help burn a bit of extra fat makng way for carbs the next day.
4 - Yes stay well fead and hydrated on the day of the comp. Food equals energy. Eat things your normaly eat. if you usualy eat fruit loops and Corn dogs stick with it. if you usualy eat bananas and nuts stick with that. dont shock your system.
5 - Release the doubt. picture yourself latching that last hold. dont worry about the moves. be confident, KNOW you can make the move and move to it.
God luck.
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shockabuku
Apr 22, 2011, 11:09 AM
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jbrown2 wrote: 1 - Release the doubt 2 - Dont over do it on your last climbing day. It could take 3-4 days to recover if you train HARD. i would tone down your last two weeks and work on pecific aspects of climbing. Your last wek climbing should be moderate intensity and working moslty on technique and recovery. You will be making no significant strength gains in the last week so work on what counts. Mental and technique. 3 - Protine the night before the comp will keep the matabolism (sp?) high. Meat and potatos never hurts. High protein the night before will help burn a bit of extra fat makng way for carbs the next day. 4 - Yes stay well fead and hydrated on the day of the comp. Food equals energy. Eat things your normaly eat. if you usualy eat fruit loops and Corn dogs stick with it. if you usualy eat bananas and nuts stick with that. dont shock your system. 5 - Release the doubt. picture yourself latching that last hold. dont worry about the moves. be confident, KNOW you can make the move and move to it. God luck.
Interesting advice.
The implied wish for god like luck is pretty cool however.
I don't see much point in tapering off starting two weeks prior to the comp.
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jbrown2
Apr 22, 2011, 5:01 PM
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The reasoning behind the early taper off.
1- you will not be making any significant gains in strength and endurance in this time. The goal should be to reinforce and maintain what you have built up in the previous months.
2- if the last two weeks were focused no strength gains there is a high likelihood of overtraining at this poin which would result in injury which would be worse than a minute percentage of power strength gain.
-3- working on the mental aspect at this point will realize higher gains than muscular exersises.
It is not two weeks of not climbing it is two weeks of highly critical thinking while climbing just below your failure point. You want to reinforce good habits at this point. You do not want to be blowing outuscles and tendons.
Sorry if this is typed poorly it is from my phone and I can not see what I am typing
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shockabuku
Apr 22, 2011, 5:20 PM
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This is somewhat contrary to what I've seen from people who do this stuff professionally. Can you support these recommendations with anything?
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jbrown2
Apr 22, 2011, 8:00 PM
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Look I'm not looking to argue. Do what works for you. I am just answering the question to the best of my knowledge. I don't want to go back through my studies in sports performance and adventure recreation and social psychology and pick out where or why i learned these things.
I am trying to be helpful and hopefully let this person reach their goals. I am not a doctor or a sports nutritionist and i don't think that is what they are expecting. I am however a healthy athlete who enjoys progressing in this sport. I watch and learn from other sports such as gymnastics, combat sports, track and field, and adventure sports. Each sport has specific ways of training but when it comes down to it you train how you climb.
If you train hard you climb hard.
One thing i did omit that i just remembered. Stretch but don't over stretch before the competition. I did this once and the day of the comp i was very limber and flexible but i had loosened up my ligaments and tendons so much that they were no longer tight enough to work effectively. Not sure if i explained that well but like anything, this is a push in the right direction i encourage you to further research this on your own using what you learn here.
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flesh
Apr 22, 2011, 10:15 PM
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jbrown2 wrote: 1 - Release the doubt 2 - Dont over do it on your last climbing day. It could take 3-4 days to recover if you train HARD. i would tone down your last two weeks and work on pecific aspects of climbing. Your last wek climbing should be moderate intensity and working moslty on technique and recovery. You will be making no significant strength gains in the last week so work on what counts. Mental and technique. 3 - Protine the night before the comp will keep the matabolism (sp?) high. Meat and potatos never hurts. High protein the night before will help burn a bit of extra fat makng way for carbs the next day. 4 - Yes stay well fead and hydrated on the day of the comp. Food equals energy. Eat things your normaly eat. if you usualy eat fruit loops and Corn dogs stick with it. if you usualy eat bananas and nuts stick with that. dont shock your system. 5 - Release the doubt. picture yourself latching that last hold. dont worry about the moves. be confident, KNOW you can make the move and move to it. God luck.
+1
Number 5 is very important and I missed it. Do some intense visualization on the boulders/routes you'll be climbing before you even try. Do your best to imagine every little detail of how each hold will feel, how your body will be positioned, what your body will feel like in it's different parts on the different moves, move quickly and commit to difficult moves wo hesitation.
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altelis
Apr 23, 2011, 2:07 PM
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1) starting the week before the comp, add 1 can of redbull to your diet. each successive day, add 1 more, and decrease your calories from food by 10%. By comp day it should be basically an all redbull diet.
2) listen to nothing but house music between now and the comp.
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redonkulus
Apr 23, 2011, 6:42 PM
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altelis wrote: 1) starting the week before the comp, add 1 can of redbull to your diet. each successive day, add 1 more, and decrease your calories from food by 10%. By comp day it should be basically an all redbull diet. 2) listen to nothing but house music between now and the comp.
Excellent advice, thanks. Can I mix up my diet with a Monster a day? Just to get a little color in the diet, they say that's important...
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ghisino
Aug 24, 2011, 2:08 PM
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interesting topic for me, since next tuesday i'll have something that is not exactly a competition, but is close to a lead comp than to anything else.
one thing i'm curious about : has everyone here played with "sharpening" sessions the day before a lead comp?
the general idea is to only train those neuro-muscular adaptations that can supercompensate as quickly as they are lost (so, probably not at their best after a few days of rest)
eg a good wamup and very few moves climbed in isolation at a "hard" intensity, with massive rests and being really careful to stop way before fatigue has set in.
I've heard anedoctally that some people do something similar on a hangboard (very few 2" hangs, very few "dynamic" pullups, the day before or in the morning if the want to send in the evening)
In the past i have experimented with the concept at home and i've had really similar patterns on trips (day1 rest-day 2 low volume with a few hard moves-day3 epic send)
I've always found this pattern gives me that extra edge over climbing hard on the first day after a rest, but the context was quite different (outdoor climbing, sport and bouldering)
any thoughts?
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ghisino
Sep 3, 2011, 10:18 AM
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so my comp-like event went really well (i climbed at 100% of my possibilities, at a level that did not seem realistic three months before, and fully met my objective)
i did play with a sharpening session on the support that i had at hand (a mezzanine bed in a cheapo motel!!!  )
i can share more or less detailed reports of my training for anyone interested.
Given my performance in comparison to other, i guess where i really did well was structuring an effective warmup routine that would also make me fall "in the zone" mentally speaking, and fine-tuning all the details of training/duiet/lifestyle the last two weeks.
The peak did hit exactly at the right time
(holds litterally felt "too easy, this is not my usual self pulling 'em") and my confidence and focus were at their climax.
(This post was edited by ghisino on Sep 3, 2011, 10:20 AM)
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j_ung
Sep 3, 2011, 11:17 AM
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Registered: Nov 21, 2003
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You guys are all idiots. There's only one decent way to cram for a comp, and it hasn't shown up in this worthless thread yet.
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ghisino
Sep 4, 2011, 11:41 AM
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lol
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