It’s no secret by now that I’m a full-on obsessed rock climber. Long ago the ship sailed on climbing only for “fun,” and my time devoted to this sport has been replaced with performance ambitions. I’ve spent most of the last decade planning, goal-setting, training, and chipping away at pre-defined objectives. But in climbing and in life, you can only go full throttle for so long. Of everything we do to be a better climber — or even a better human — sometimes it’s what we don’t do that really matters. Rest might be the most important element.
Being Versatile
When co-workers or other non-climbing friends and family ask me about my other interests, I usually remind them that I’m “very one-dimensional.” And it’s true. I largely climb, train for climbing, or think about climbing all of the time.
But it wasn’t always this way. I used to do a lot of backpacking back in North Carolina, tons of hiking, snowboarding, and general exploration. I played guitar and sang in a band in college. Further back, I was an equally obsessive skateboarder. I even played years of traditional sports: basketball, baseball and football.
But now I climb, and the sum of the enjoyment I received from all those past hobbies is almost as good as my now single climbing obsession. Almost. Climbing is that good.
I’ve said it before: what sport can so beautifully combine and require a wide range of physical strength and endurance, a strong mental game, a high level of technical ability, AND put them in a beautiful outdoor setting with great people? Yeah, not many.
But a few times a year, I schedule one to two weeks of rest away from climbing and training. In this time I draw from my neglected hobbies and passions to re-visit the activities I still enjoy, but are prioritized lower.
In the heat of my new love of training back in 2014, it was this post by one of our interviewees Mark Anderson that reminded me there is more to life than climbing.
Taking Rest is Hard
I actually hesitated to write this post. Much of the general population, and thereby probably some of you reading this now, should be focused on anything but rest. People need much more physical activity in their lives. But assuming a good chunk of my readers are the adventuring, training, try-hard types, I’ll continue on.
Just as it’s hard to start exercising, it’s equally difficult to stop.
As I write this, I’m on my fourth consecutive rest day, and I’ll be about a week in once this goes live. To give a sense of perspective, between climbing-specific training and other supplemental strength work, I generally have no more than 1-2 full rest days per week, for months at a time. This is on top of a stressful full-time job and spending time with my non-climbing wife and street mutt, “Snickers.”
During this time away from hard training, I’ll generally re-engage activities I don’t do as often when climbing hard: riding my bike, hiking, antagonist strength work, and perhaps even some running (puke!).
But this time is extra difficult. I’ve been working from home with an injured dog, and Mrs. CC is gone on the trip I’m supposed to be on. So I’m even more cooped up than normal! Plus, it’s been oddly Pacific Northwest-ish spring weather for days: cold and rainy.
But I’m in Good Shape Now!
As I write this, I also know I’m getting weaker. It’s difficult to intentionally let yourself slip from prime condition, but it’s a long game mentality. I took two weeks off around Christmas, came back feeling weak, and went on to have one of the best seasons I’ve ever had. Play the long game, and draw from past experiences.
Believe me, it’s taking a lot of discipline to resist the pull to just drive down to the gym and get some fun climbing in on the wall. And of course, several of my regular partners are texting me about climbing this weekend. That never happens when I’m actually in need of partners!
So why not just go climb?
Energy is Finite: Allostatic Load and Rest
The ever-wise Dave Macleod recently reminded me of a very important topic in his video blog on work/life balance: allostatic load. Dave does a great job briefly explaining this topic, but I want to expand on it a bit further.
Essentially, an organism experiencing an allostatic load is going through a natural and beneficial process that allows the organism to adapt and survive (source). For instance, the geese near my house preparing to fly back north — and stop crapping everywhere for my dog to eat — are experiencing an allostatic load.
However, when we humans try and cram too much into our lives — stressful work, family struggles, money worries, hard training — we experience allostatic overload.
I don’t know about you, but I can be in amazing shape and have a complete garbage session after a really stressful day at work. I might have nine hours of sleep, a textbook diet, and have 48 hours between my last training session, but I feel terrible if I went pedal to the metal all day at work. That’s a sign your body is in allostatic overload.
But what do we do anyway? Try harder. Then…pop! Injured.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but every significant climbing injury I’ve experienced (injuries that forced more than a few days off) coincided with times of high work stress. Simply put, I tried to crank hard on an energy tank running on fumes, for which I paid the price. Allostatic overload!
The Reasons for Rest in Sport
For an athlete, and particularly a climber, the reasons for rest are obvious. After months of hard training and the mental battles of performance, our bodies and minds need time for supercompensation. In this article, Tom Randall — notorious for endless hours of disgusting go-hard training — discusses the shocking benefits of a week off from climbing and training.
Supercompensation is the last element needed for progress. We can’t just hammer our bodies endlessly; we must also provide time for recovery from said hammering.
For me, I also need a time to let my terrible skin heal. By the season’s end, particularly in cold weather, I’m typically bleeding from no less than four fingers. My tips are micron-thin, and popping a beer can tab requires a third-party implement.
The Reasons for Rest in Life
The concepts are similar beyond athleticism. As discussed above, I’ve been working from home all week to nurse my busted dog. It’s actually been surprisingly therapeutic. I’ve been able to work undistracted by meetings and idle chit-chat. And when I’ve had downtime, I’ve been able to address minor chores around the house that would otherwise be relegated to the precious weekend.
Instead of commuting in rush hour traffic, when the working day is done I’ve simply shut my laptop and proceeded to “my time.”
I’ve slept better, and felt far less urgency to rush from task to task. It’s been nice.
This obviously wasn’t a vacation, but by skimming that stressful froth off the top of a typical week, I’ll come back next week refreshed and still in possession of unused vacation time. Boo-ya.
Think of the times when you are argumentative or make hasty, rash decisions that you regret. Are you making regretful choices during periods of high relaxation? Probably not! When we are going too hard — in a state of allostatic overload — is when we’re most likely to make our lives even worse.
I’ll touch on some ways to help in the summary below, but first, let’s get to some pretty pictures.
CC-Family Go-To Rest Phase Activities
I generally try and schedule all of my non-climbing trips over periods of rest. Or if I’m on a long international trip, I’ll climb the first half and then enjoy other non-climbing activities for the second half. Mrs. CC and I still enjoy backpacking, general car camping and hiking, whatever. I even changed my own spark plugs yesterday!
Basically, anything active is fair game, so long as it doesn’t resemble training and isn’t overly taxing. Be mindful of that allostatic load concept — we’re trying to keep that puppy in check.
Below are some fun times away from climbing. I came back refreshed and ready for training.
Finding Calm
For athletes, I’ve essentially defined why and how rest should be taken. My recommendation is to schedule your rest periods, particularly around non-climbing trips. Otherwise you’ll never do it!
For other ways to rest outside of sport, it’s best to think in micro and macro terms. On a day to day basis, try to find 10 minutes to sit alone and concentrate on your breathing. Yes, it’s called meditation, and yes, it’s so hot right now. However, this is a “fad” I’m willing to embrace. I’ve been meditating (almost) daily for the better part of three years, and it’s been instrumental in shaping my mood and my reaction to the events and people around me. Give it a go, and remember, it will definitely feel like it’s not working at first. That’s normal.
At a larger scale, for God’s sake, take your vacation time! I work with so many people who pride themselves on not taking vacation, assuming their loyalty will somehow solve all of life’s problems and provide true job security. No, it doesn’t and it won’t! Time away from work to rest and recuperate is absolutely essential. Study after study shows the negative effects of too much work and not enough play. You don’t have to go anywhere — have a staycation if money is tight. Even requesting to work from home or take an odd day off can make or break your ability to think clearly.
As usual, there’s so many ways to take the power back, should you choose to try.
Thanks guys, see you next week.
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