Back when you started climbing, finding motivation wasn’t really a big deal for a lot of folk. Yet for some, it becomes a real issue later on. In this episode I explore this and offer a simple (not not always easy) solution.
In this discussion with Joe French, we explore what Joe did to recover from post traumatic stress and mental health issues. In my mind, the simple activities he describes, which can be practiced in many different forms, are a big missing piece of many athlete’s training programs and also of mental health therapy.
We cover why the ‘barefoot’ part of barefoot running is only half the picture, cold water, the two disasters he suffered on Everest which killed many of his colleagues, the ethics of film making and social media and epics while new routing on Ben Nevis.
Joe’s excellent book Out of Mind is available in the shop here.
Here is the first of several videos I’d like to make on supplements I don’t take and why. First up is collagen. I’ve seen sports nutritionists say that every climber should be taking it. In this video I take a look at the research and explain why I don’t.
Below are the references from the video:
1. Thompson, J.C., et al., Origins of the Human Predatory Pattern: The Transition to Large-Animal Exploitation by Early Hominins. Current Anthropology, 2019. 60(1): p. 1-23.
2. Blasco, R., et al., Bone marrow storage and delayed consumption at Middle Pleistocene Qesem Cave, Israel (420 to 200 ka). Science Advances, 2019. 5(10): p. eaav9822.
3. Stefansson, V., The Fat of the Land. 2016: Youcanprint.
4. Meléndez-Hevia, E., et al., A weak link in metabolism: the metabolic capacity for glycine biosynthesis does not satisfy the need for collagen synthesis. J Biosci, 2009. 34(6): p. 853-72.
5. Montagna, C., et al., Autophagy guards tendon homeostasis. Cell Death Dis, 2022. 13(4): p. 402.
6. Yeung, C.-Y.C., et al., Disruption of day-to-night changes in circadian gene expression with chronic tendinopathy. The Journal of Physiology, 2023. n/a(n/a).
7. Gersovitz, M., et al., Dynamic aspects of whole body glycine metabolism: influence of protein intake in young adult and elderly males. Metabolism, 1980. 29(11): p. 1087-94.
8. Gibson, N.R., et al., Endogenous glycine and tyrosine production is maintained in adults consuming a marginal-protein diet. Am J Clin Nutr, 2002. 75(3): p. 511-8.
9. Shaw, G., et al., Vitamin C-enriched gelatin supplementation before intermittent activity augments collagen synthesis. Am J Clin Nutr, 2017. 105(1): p. 136-143.
10. Praet, S.F.E., et al., Oral Supplementation of Specific Collagen Peptides Combined with Calf-Strengthening Exercises Enhances Function and Reduces Pain in Achilles Tendinopathy Patients. Nutrients, 2019. 11(1).
11. Jerger, S., et al., Specific collagen peptides increase adaptions of patellar tendon morphology following 14-weeks of high-load resistance training: A randomized-controlled trial. European Journal of Sport Science, 2023: p. 1-11.
12. Balshaw, T., et al., The Effect of Specific Bioactive Collagen Peptides on Tendon Remodelling during 15 Weeks of Lower Body Resistance Training. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 2023.
13. Lee, J., et al., Collagen supplementation augments changes in patellar tendon properties in female soccer players. Front Physiol, 2023. 14: p. 1089971.
14. Aussieker, T., et al., Collagen Protein Ingestion during Recovery from Exercise Does Not Increase Muscle Connective Protein Synthesis Rates. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 2023. 55(10): p. 1792-1802.
15. Hijlkema, A., et al., The impact of nutrition on tendon health and tendinopathy: a systematic review. J Int Soc Sports Nutr, 2022. 19(1): p. 474-504.
16. Holwerda, A.M. and L.J.C. van Loon, The impact of collagen protein ingestion on musculoskeletal connective tissue remodeling: a narrative review. Nutrition Reviews, 2022. 80(6): p. 1497-1514.
17. Farup, J., et al., Whey protein hydrolysate augments tendon and muscle hypertrophy independent of resistance exercise contraction mode. Scand J Med Sci Sports, 2014. 24(5): p. 788-98.
18. Lis, D.M. and K. Baar, Effects of Different Vitamin C–Enriched Collagen Derivatives on Collagen Synthesis.International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 2019. 29(5): p. 526-531.
An evening on the Ben cycling from the hoose and soloing a fantastic long route (Left Hand Route, VS) on the north face.
Hard to imagine a better morning’s climbing than this.
I managed to lead the Gorge Crag project in Glen Nevis. I’d seen this line years ago but various things put me off trying it earlier. It’s in the sun too much in summer, seeps a bit in winter, top pitch seemed to have no holds etc… But Julian Lines encouraged me to get on it. As always with projects, once you start…
Many climbers are unaware just how much their ability to swap feet efficiently is holding them back. Poor technique tends to make climbers search for alternatives, which usually make climbs a lot harder. In this video I go through the handful of things you need to know to swap feet accurately and extremely consistently.
Failure on projects has been the most important training tool I’ve had. But as with any tool. It’s all about how you wield it.
I thought this for many years.
A video about adventures on hard projects over the dark months of the winter, with thoughts on why I’ve succeeded or failed on them.
A guide to how to actually learn climbing technique, from hard practicalities to underlying principles.
Coaches and sport scientists are often trying to quantify aspects of sport and there’s good reasons for this. But climbing technique is hopelessly complex with endless variation in movement. How could we go about quantifying it, or even thinking about it in any kind of structured manner? With difficulty. In this video I introduce some simple ideas for the way I think about technique that helps me to learn it and monitor my learning.
The first ascent of Lithium 8B+ (V14) and the hardest boulder I've climbed so far. Some more about the story of this ascent and many others in the movie Undisovered https://vimeo.com/ondemand/undiscovered
I’ve been visiting this great boulder on and off over the past few weeks. Yesterday I put up a really nice new 8A, despite struggling a bit to get it in climbable condition recently. Well, that, and I couldn’t actually climb it. I’ve been trying a much harder project going straight up from the same start. Its a really good line and worth persisting with. At present I cannot do one move even after about four sessions on it. But I am getting closer. One thing is for sure, I’ll not get closer to unlocking it if I don’t show up and try. That is the subject of the vlog episode above (Vlog #42).
My blogging frequency has dropped a bit of late since I have been back at university studying lately. Although actually the main sink on my time has been a he task I’ve been putting off for over two years. I’ve been gathering scientific papers related to nutrition for four years now. There are nearly 2000 in my library at this point. I’ve avoided the hard labour of sorting them into buckets so I can easily make sense of them. But I’m attacking that task now. It will take me ages! But there is no short cutting it, and it will be worth it in the end.
How I motivate myself to train. It's very simple. My books, training equipment are here: https://www.davemacleod.com/shop My Amazon page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/davemacleod
"What gets measured, gets managed". Measuring aspects of performance in sport is a good thing, but only if you are measuring the right things and interpreting the data correctly. In this vlog, I draw attention to potential problems with performance metrics in climbing, especially related to basic finger strength, both at an individual level and with normative group data.
A comment after Vlog #11 prompted me to do a whole episode exploring the pros and cons of physical versus sedentary jobs and their interaction with your training for climbing. Folk in physically demanding jobs are often strong and resilient, but can be overtired if they don't stay on top of their routine.
People are busy, including me. This post goes through how I manage busy work periods from a training point of view. I also discuss a common theme related to failure to recover from climbing injuries which I've discovered through the many thousands of messages I've had from climbers worldwide since I published Make or Break.
Here are three strategies I use in my own climbing to reflect on the previous year and plan for better results in the coming year, with some examples of how to implement them. Near the end of this video, I discuss some supplementation I do while recovering from tendon/ligament injuries.
Vlog #9 In depth interviews are not so common in the climbing media these days. I know I have many burning questions I'd love to ask the best and most knowledgeable climbers out there. So here is the first of what will hopefully be a series of interviews with really interesting climbers: Neil Gresham.