Would you be able to Climb Harder if you were Lighter?

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Ward Trotter

Trad climber

Feb 14, 2018 - 12:45pm PT

When I got back into climbing a few years ago I weighed 205 lbs. at 6ft.

A few choice sessions in the gym and outside taught me the error of my ways.
I eventually got my weight down to 158 lbs.

It was like being born again. Even in a relatively untrained state I avoided getting pumped-- but nevertheless I felt a bit weak overall.

Some targeted training later my weight increased to 166 lbs. and I was stronger

My goal now is to get down below 160 and remain strong.

Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber

Old and Broken Down in Appalachia

Feb 17, 2018 - 01:57am PT

At 6'00" I found that my most effective "fighting weight" was 160 pounds.

This is a Body Mass Index of 22 ("Normal" is 20-25)

Once I was down to 120 pounds (BMI 16) and I was really weak, without any stamina.

hooblie

climber

from out where the anecdotes roam

Feb 17, 2018 - 07:00am PT

yates 355 extraction harness, the helium weather balloons are on the way

August West

Trad climber

Where the wind blows strange

Feb 17, 2018 - 02:18pm PT

I've always been skinny. I graduated high school 5'11" and 135.

And as one of my climbing buddies with a similar build used to say, we aren't ever going to have much in the way of upper body muscle mass so strength to weight ratio is going to depend on weight.

In my thirties I got on a healthy eating kick, or at least what I thought was healthy. Lots of salads, some meat, and regular consumption of protein powder. My weight dropped down to 140~145 region with, still limited, but way more muscle strength than I had leaving high school. Don't know what my fat content was, but the outline of my ribs was very visible. It was the period that my sport climbing peaked.

Climbing is a light person's sport with two exceptions; offwidth and chimney climbing, and slab climbing.

I might add another exception to that.

When I later moved my focus back more to multi-pitch and alpine, I decided I would do better weighing 10-15 pounds more. Maybe there is a way to micro-manage being both really lean and 18 hour climbing days, but if so, that was beyond me. Not running so cold was an added benefit for alpine starts and unexpected bivys.

Brokedownclimber

Trad climber

Douglas, WY

Feb 18, 2018 - 03:42pm PT

I tried the experiment in reverse; after gaining 30 pounds, I find it hard to even climb out of bed. Back in my better years and climbing at a reasonable for the day level (5.9--5.10+), advancing years and increased weight have combined to knock me down to 5.6 on a good day.

But now, after losing some 15 pounds, I am good to go again.

Ghost

climber

A long way from where I started

Feb 18, 2018 - 07:03pm PT

A friend who was knocking on 5.12's door fifteen years ago headed south for his usual Spring month at Indian Creek. A bunch of his Seattle friends would take a week each and hang with him down there.

We arrived to start Week 3, and found things were not going well. Far from upping his game to 12, he was struggling on 11s.

Didn't take long to figure out what was going on -- about one day in camp with him.

He'd decided to "eat better".

Eat better? In addition to being a tri-athlete, the guy was a genius. Tech wizard. Retired wealthy in his early 30s. But his idea of "eating better to climb harder" was simply to cut down on food.

He was skipping breakfast, eating a single Balance Bar for lunch. Gobbling a box of Cheez-Its at the end of the afternoon's climbing. And then eating next-to-nothing for dinner.

All in the name of getting his weight down so he could climb harder. Yeah, right, genius indeed.

Once we arrived, and started cooking real food and pushing it on him, it only took about two days for him to start climbing harder. And the more calories we pushed into him, the harder he climbed. By the time we left at the end of the week, he was cruising 12s.

Majid_S

Mountain climber

Karkoekstan, Former USSR

Feb 18, 2018 - 07:14pm PT

laws of gravity is simple however,I would prefer to have a normal weight but climb harder.

skywalker1

Trad climber

Feb 19, 2018 - 03:01am PT

Food helps me climb better in addition with weight training. Seems counter intuitive but if I'm weight training and eating a lot (but well) the extra muscle mass helps. I do tend to gravitate toward long routes because of the views and liking "up". Regardless of how much I try I just cannot do harder 12's. So I just accepted that my body (6'2" -185lbs) and mind (below average IQ) is just better at being a long distance 5.10/11 climber that needs to eat a lot and have a little extra mass to finish respectfully.

S...