Finding No Excuses to Work, Train, Climb & Repeat

What’s the opposite of excuses?

We’re very good at coming up with reasons why something didn’t work, why we made a mistake, why we didn’t go to the gym, why we didn’t do those pull-ups. They all seem to come so easily and, before we know it, they become our new reality.

Whenever we’re faced with a challenge, can’t we drop that ego that just loves to make up excuses and find reasons to do the opposite?

I did an experiment. I went abroad for a rope access project and came back feeling in tip-top shape for climbing outdoors. How? Before going away, I made a promise to myself to find no excuses to climb at the gym and train at home, even if just a little, no matter how tiring the schedule would be. I tried my best to hold that promise.

Finding excuses

Photo by Wild Adventure Film

We’ve all played this game. In the climbing world, excuses are around every corner – I’m too short, I’m too tall, I’m too fat, I’m too weak, I haven’t trained, I don’t like crimps, I don’t like slopers, the route’s too steep, the route’s too slabby…the list goes on and on.

Trust me, I’ve been there. As a 1.58-meter (3.2-foot) climber, being too short was my go-to excuse. It still creeps in when things don’t really go my way.

I even managed to wind up with a finger injury because of my self-limiting beliefs. Thinking I couldn’t reach the holds, I took all the nasty little crimps in between and snap, pop, crack! On the other hand, when I do believe in myself, my arms extend like magic.

Yep, I used to make up excuses all the time. I still do every now and then; it’s hard not to. But I try to be aware of them. I’ve also found that, sometimes, I need excuses in order to keep me sane and not beat myself about something that didn’t go as expected. It’s a fine line between a valid excuse, a much needed excuse, and those excuses that (unconsciously) set you up for failure.

When all we do is find excuses…

We turn ourselves into a victim.

It’s as if we’re wired to find convenient excuses for just about anything, like some sort of self-protective mechanism. Something went wrong at work? It’s not my fault, it was the other guys, the equipment, the conditions, etc.

Over time, I’ve heard all kinds of excuses when it comes to training and climbing. You have the all-so popular I’m not trained, I don’t see any progress, I work too much, I’m too fat, I’m too short, I’m too tall, my fingers can’t fit, I’ve bad skin, I don’t have the right shoes. Then there are the I don’t have time, I’m tired, I’ve a deadline, I feel under the weather, I’ve a busy schedule…

Sometimes, they’re valid, and we should recognize those that are. Some other times, we fool ourselves. I’ll have a bite to eat first and see how I am later. I don’t feel like going to the gym today and I tell myself I’ll go next time. Before we know it, a few weeks have gone by and we keep on saying “next time, next time.”

Oh yeah, it’s so easy to fall into this trap of self-pity and self-victimization. And so damn hard to crawl back out of it.

Training for climbing while working a physically-demanding job

This article is not about those who only climb; it’s about the rest of us, the average climbers who are just as obsessed about this activity, but who have to work to make ends meet. A work that can take a toll on us and can provide an endless list of excuses if we allow ourselves to go down that road.

When we’re at home, in a familiar place, working the same hours at the same job, it’s easier to stick to a routine and a training schedule. If we choose to, of course. What about when we break that routine, when we’re in an unfamiliar place working a physically (or mentally) demanding job with a schedule that doesn’t leave room for flexibility?

A little experiment

I went abroad for a rope access project. For several weeks, I worked 10 or 12-hour shifts, six days a week. I took a three-week “vacation” that I used to climb my ass off, then went back for another round.

For a climber, being far away from any crags and breaking your routine is not an ideal scenario.

Going into this, I did not know what to expect. I knew I’d have one day off a week and planned to use it to go to one of the nearest climbing gyms. I also brought some portable hangboards and a pull-up bar.

In the end, I believe that having no expectations helped. I wanted to be genuinely happy even if I climbed way below my grade at the gym, because I knew that any climbing is better than no climbing.

As it turns out, even though I felt tired and sleepy, my body was able to climb quite well; I had long and intense sessions at the gym on my day(s) off, even in some afternoons after work. That’s another valuable lesson learned – most of the time, you still have something left in the tank.

I played it by ear and, most importantly, I tried to keep my ego at bay; the ego that was telling me to just sit around and do nothing because “I deserve it.” Don’t get me wrong, my body and my mind do deserve to rest, and I do listen to the cues. The challenge is determining when they’re valid and when they’re not.

How I trained indoors for climbing outdoors

I brought an adjustable pull-up bar and set it up in the house we were staying. I hung a pair of YY Vertical Penta hangboards. About two times a week, I did fingerboarding on my portable wooden hangboards. I occasionally did leg raises and weighted pull-ups.

At first, I did not have any weights and used two fire extinguishers I found in the house; I put them in a plastic bag and hung them from my harness. It was a bit uncomfortable, but it worked. Then, I bought a weight vest and a kettlebell, and I was all set up.

All in all, I had three days a week of climbing training – fingerboarding and gym sessions.

Finding no excuses

It’s so easy to be comfortable. The moment we don’t feel like it, we find excuses to not do it. Yet oftentimes, if we believe in ourselves, we can pull something magical out of the bag.

With a bit more confidence, our hands can suddenly reach that far-away hold. With a bit more determination, we can stick that difficult move. With a bit more grit, we can do that scary crux way above the bolt. And look, those old and worn out climbing shoes can stay on those tiny footholds. We can climb hard even if we’re heavier; our strength will proportionally increase. And we can find time to train.

We can turn off that mind chatter that tries to convince us to run away from difficulty.

During my work trips, I could have come up with many reasons to give up. But I found some underlying power, I shut down the mind, I gave it my all. I had nothing to lose except everything I’ve built up to this point and all that I could become from now on.

In some miraculous way, I switched off the excuse button. And man, it wasn’t easy.

Driving back to the accommodation from work, a one hour drive most of the time because of the traffic, I felt like I would fall asleep any second. My ego would creep in, saying that you should take a nap, have dinner, relax… Having done my training despite all these feelings was far more fulfilling.

The takeaway

I noticed how some people put their life on hold when going away to work (or during challenging periods). They get into this rhythm of waking up, going to work, heading back, eating, bingeing social media, sleeping, and repeating. Sure, there’s limited time in a day and work is tiring. But what hurts more, pushing past the uncomfortable or giving up?

I did not want to fall into that trap. Even though I had very little time for myself, I tried to squeeze in a little training session, a yoga flow, some breathing exercises, some meditation, sun-bathing, swimming in the sea or lake… All of these moments dedicated to myself and my own wellbeing, albeit short, were priceless.

Now, I can apply all of these learnings onto the wall, approaching a route with the same determination and finding no excuses to send it. Or, at the very least, have a damn good try on it.

It doesn’t mean that the excuse button will remain switched off from now on. It has its own way of turning itself on and off. But, I can proudly say that I have a bit more control over it. And perhaps, in time, it’ll stay off for longer and longer.

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