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paclimber12
Mar 7, 2010, 10:53 PM
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how do you guys get motivated to get stronger and climb more when you hit a rut?
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angry
Mar 7, 2010, 11:08 PM
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Rut?
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rubber_man
Mar 7, 2010, 11:13 PM
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paclimber12 wrote: how do you guys get motivated to get stronger and climb more when you hit a rut?
I just get sick of falling on my face, or cheese grading down a wall, but then again i'm not a great climber so...
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epoch
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Mar 7, 2010, 11:44 PM
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They are those things you can park your scooter in while on the dirt road to the crag.
or
are you talking about
You and those horny animals, Angry. (and majid, lets not forget him else he'll come and try to mount you - on his wall).
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dr_feelgood
Mar 7, 2010, 11:45 PM
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I know, that win or lose, there is always a beer or six waiting in my truck for me.
I just try to earn them.
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epoch
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Mar 7, 2010, 11:55 PM
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dr_feelgood wrote: I know, that win or lose, there is always a beer or six twenty waiting in my truck for me. I just try to earn them.
fixied
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rubber_man
Mar 8, 2010, 12:10 AM
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dr_feelgood wrote: I know, that win or lose, there is always a beer or six waiting in my truck for me. I just try to earn them.
I like your style sir.
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shimanilami
Mar 8, 2010, 1:18 AM
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If I'm not motivated to climb, then I don't climb. After a few weeks on not climbing, I start missing it. And then I go out and realize I've lost some strength and can't climb what I could just a month earlier, and this motivates me to train hard.
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paclimber12
Mar 8, 2010, 1:36 AM
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haha by rut i mean just a time when you generally don't feel like putting any effort into climbing
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evanwish
Mar 8, 2010, 5:32 AM
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epoch wrote: paclimber12 wrote: how do you guys get motivated to get stronger and climb more when you hit a rut? Hang around here long enough and you'll get tired of the dribble, insults, the wannabes, and has-beens. Soon you'll realize that getting out is better than the mockery here?
So true...
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guangzhou
Mar 8, 2010, 5:43 AM
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paclimber12 wrote: how do you guys get motivated to get stronger and climb more when you hit a rut?
My two methods:
Take a break. (Doesn't happen often)
Travel to a new climbing area.Variety seems to renew my energy level and enthusiasm.
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the_climber
Mar 8, 2010, 5:54 AM
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paclimber12 wrote: how do you guys get motivated to get stronger and climb more when you hit a rut?
Well for starters, climb for the line not the number. Then climb multiple disciplines, not just one. You'll find that 'the line' is a much greater draw than just 'a climb'. If, you the a route that falls within the definition of the line and find yourself lacking... well, you're already inspired at that point and will find the motivation to rise to the level of the rock/ice/mountain.
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i_h8_choss
Mar 8, 2010, 11:19 AM
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a new climbing area motivates me pretty easily.
also: a two week break complete with climbing porn, pancakes, yerba mate, stretching, and grip exercises.
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I_do
Mar 8, 2010, 2:25 PM
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i_h8_choss wrote: a new climbing area motivates me pretty easily. also: a two week break complete with climbing porn, pancakes, yerba mate, stretching, and grip exercises.
Definately visiting new places. I joined a gym which is like an hour away from where I live and joined their training group. It's done wonders for my motivation change of pace is impotant.
Much more important, going to a new crag next weekend, going to bleau in a month (finally), the sun coming in through my window right now!
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mr.tastycakes
Mar 8, 2010, 2:31 PM
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getting props from my bros, of course.
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I_do
Mar 8, 2010, 2:32 PM
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mr.tastycakes wrote: getting props from my bros, of course.
Your doing great mate!
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blueeyedclimber
Mar 8, 2010, 4:05 PM
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paclimber12 wrote: how do you guys get motivated to get stronger and climb more when you hit a rut?
I don't hit ruts. Ruts come when you have tunnel vision and can't see the bigger picture. If you only focus on what grades you climb and see so-called "non-improvement" as failure, then you will continue to get into ruts.
Don't get me wrong, I like to climb strong and get stronger, but I became a better climber when I learned to accept outcomes and focus on the little things. If I don't send and continue to struggle on a climb that I feel I should be able to do, I accept it and move on. Life is too short. Enjoy yourself.
Josh
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Adk
Mar 8, 2010, 4:09 PM
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I never have them.
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Samiam277
Mar 8, 2010, 4:39 PM
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If I burn out on climbing I usually take some time off, which never lasts more than a month before I start to miss it, and come back feeling refreshed. I have also found that the people I climb with are one of my main motivators. When I first went to college I was bummed out on climbing because I couldn't find any partners that I clicked with (that and everyone here wants to boulder when I would rather rope up). When I go back to Idaho for the summers and reunite with my favorite people to climb with, I am much more motivated.
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swoopee
Mar 8, 2010, 5:50 PM
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paclimber12 wrote: haha by rut i mean just a time when you generally don't feel like putting any effort into climbing
Climb something easy. Or sometimes I just go jump on something that I could never possibly climb (5.6) and flail around like an idiot. Laughter works wonders.
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Toast_in_the_Machine
Mar 9, 2010, 12:31 PM
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paclimber12 wrote: haha by rut i mean just a time when you generally don't feel like putting any effort into climbing
Well, there is a actually a zen master like wisdom in this question. Why do we get bored with the things we love? With the people we love?
I dunno. And, I suspect neither does anyone else.
But a question asked without an easy answer is a good question. And all you can expect is to get a bit of wisdom. So here is my take. There may be some wisdom in it. It may all be crap.
Repetition is boredom. Repetition is death. Once repetition sneaks into your passion, a little of the wonder goes away; a little magic goes away. Once that magic is gone, there is no way to get it back. There is only one sustainable way to prevent repetition and that is to get better. There is only one way to get better. Repetition.
So how can one get better through repetition yet not kill the thing you love? Again, I dunno.
You can look for the wisdom in clichés like “music is the space between notes” or “you get out what you put in”, but I suspect that you might have as much success contemplating the sound of one hand clapping.
What I do know comes from relationships. Or more singularly a relationship. My wife and I are still passionate about each other after 20 years. But you reach for a baseball bat to kill the anticipated sappy story, relax. I can tell you that my wife was so angry at me two months ago, that we (again) didn’t speak to each other for almost a week. (The fact that we consistently have an almost marriage ending fight when we visit my parents isn’t, I suspect, a coincidence). But, despite our annual rift or two, there is still a great love. So how? Because I (and she) are always working to be worthy of the other person.
So the other day, during another “discussion” she was pointing out that I tend to deflect accountability. You know what. She is right. How do I fix it? Beats the frog out of me. It seems like a habit of a lifetime. A subtle one. But one that runs through my work and my play. In fact, this post is a subtle reflection of it. I am ducking other responsibilities to post this. So there. But I listened, and I am looking to try to change. Why? Because I need to get better. Why? Because that is what creates the great sex later.
And that is the nub of a rut (I like the oddness of that). You don’t know where you need to improve. A rut is trying to fix something that isn’t getting fixed.
To your climbing. What needs to be improved? Not what are you working on, but what does someone else do that you don’t? Often we try to improve those things we think we should be improving because they have been told to us since childhood (“you need more focus young man”) or they enhance our self image (“I’m powerful climber, I’ll work on my grip”). Finding something new to improve and improving it is one of the great joys of life. When in doubt, ask a friend.
I often use a paraphrased quote from one of John Long’s book “The rock doesn’t change for you, you change for the rock”. Life and other people are like that. It is your ability to change and grow and see your weaknesses and work on them that make climbing fun. And relationships work. And life worth living.
Hope that helps.
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zealotnoob
Mar 9, 2010, 1:44 PM
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i_h8_choss wrote: a new climbing area motivates me pretty easily. also: a two week break complete with climbing porn, pancakes, yerba mate, stretching, and grip exercises.
Yup. Nothing like a little mate to get the calafate berry itch going.
Also, read Steve House's book. I don't care what kind of climber you are, it hits home.
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zeke_sf
Mar 9, 2010, 2:46 PM
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duh money and duh hoes
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mrtristan
Mar 9, 2010, 4:29 PM
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I'm not motivated to climb hard in the first place. I climb stuff that I enjoy. Sometimes that's a 5.5 trad route, sometimes it's a 5.12 sport route. I think that to stay motivated over the long run (and I've been climbing for more than half of my lifetime now) is to just do what you enjoy and not worry about "getting better."
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