[abarro81]

Yes, but I always have annual membership somewhere.

[andy_e]

Anyway, what's the point of fingerboarding at home? Nobody to showboat in front of.

[SA Chris]

I'm quite happy to showboat on the bouldering wall (on the few problems I have wired).

[JohnM]

I'll often go to the wall for a finger boarding session or even just for a stretching and theraband session.  I am more likely to do it in this environment than at home.  The same reason I go into the office as opposed to working from home if I have a lot on!  I have a monthly pass as well though.

[kelvin]

Monthly pass here too and I only live a mile and a half from the wall.

[petejh]

Monthly pass, office less than 5 mins from the wall, I trained myself to hate women, and I don't allow myself to buy biscuits.    I still have cupboards though, so room for improvement there.

[webbo]

Anyway, what's the point of fingerboarding at home? Nobody to showboat in front of.

Because if the fingerboards in the kitchen you might have to go past the biscuit tin to get to it and who knows where that might lead.
The pub or even marriage.

[kelvin]

Pah - I have divorce papers in the cupboard.

[andy_e]

One minute you're a bachelor doing repeaters, then it's all "just a little biscuit for recovery," next thing you know you're down Ikea on a Saturday afternoon buying a cot for your third child.

[Muenchener]

Yes. Not always but sometimes.

I have a yearly pass.

30 to 40 minutes easy to moderate bouldering is more fun and a much better warm up than a few sets of finger curls, so feels a lot safer if I really want to hit it hard on the board. At home I'm always worried about not being able to warm up adequately.

Well worn in boards are stickier; being able to do repeaters on BM slopers is at the wall is more ego-boosting than barely being able to max hang them at home.

I've only ever attracted a crowd of one admiring babe whilst attempting mono hangs, but even that's better than the typical "scorn and ignore" audience reaction at home. And one can always hope.

[Sasquatch]

For years I've been having most afternoons free from work, at least from 4 pm onwards.
I could train at will.
Well, now I'm working double the hours, even weekends, and I am more motivated than ever. I am stronger and my mind works like a rocket, something that I had lost, before.
We function at best as a whole, and giving priority to partial aspects of our lives, on a rational basis to obtain specific results, can be done for very short periods, but is going to get you in big troubles on the long run. I speak from my experience.

- Fucking brilliant nibs

When I had all the time in the world, I neither knew nor cared about "training", so i'd go climb - alot - and plateaued for many years.  marriage, three kids (one special needs), a full time 9-5 job and starting my own consulting business, and I'm training harder and smarter than ever and climbing my best. 

Success begets success, and failure begets failure. 

Everyone is different in their "balance" in life.  Some people need more secure finances, some need a solid home, some need a stable job.  Learning and accepting what you need makes it much easier to set yourself up for success.

I used to be jealous of the guys taking a year off and roadtripping.  Now I know myself better.  I get lonely.  I depend heavily on my social interactions with my family and friends to keep myself happy and grounded.   I also really like my house.  I actually rarely ever enjoy camping.  It's so much work, and it's really a pain to get up in the middle of the night to use the restroom....  I'm glad that others love it.  A part of me wishes I did as well, as it could makes certain parts of my life easier. 

[kelvin]

  Now I know myself better. 

I guess both Dave Mac and Nibs both know themselves and that's the platform from where they both can offer advice, which may or may not be applicable to a punter like me.

I'm just too easily distracted, therefore the answer is go climb fulltime for a while. I hope.

[Nibile]

Anyway, what's the point of fingerboarding at home? Nobody to showboat in front of.

iPad or phone camera, Vimeo, problem solved.

[shark]

Probably off topic, but do people really go to a climbing facility just to use the fingerboard? Do you have a season pass?

Yes, but I always have annual membership somewhere.

Its good to have annual membership. Not only can you save time by waltzing past the punters queuing up at reception and feel like you own the place but also you never feel under pressure to get your money's worth.

Mind you this has backfired for me with the Schoolroom as I have yet to climb there since joining in June 

[rginns]

I kind of agree with what Dave is saying.  If people really wanted to achieve their maximum potential then getting a career and/or a wife and kids is not the way to go about it.  Granted there are some people in that situation who still climb extremely hard but they are few and far between.  For the majority of people it is not going to work. 

I hoped I wouldn't get sucked into this, but oh well...
I disagree JohnM, I know quite a few people climbing to a very good standard, E7,8 etc  and still manage to have a family and career, they're just uber focused and arrange climbing around career and family, take opportunities in early morning/lunchtime, combine activities, etc etc. It's not as uncommon as you may think, and DM is right in that location, ignoring the biscuits, cycling to work etc is going to get you on the right path.
He could have probably articulated it a bit less superficially as his post is ignoring the true complexities of the issue.

I know plenty of climbers who don't acheive their potential, but that's not because they 'got a wife/family', it's got more to do with climbing being a past time and not the entire focus of their existance.
Likewise if you want to reach your potential, you've got to make changes to your life to accommodate the extra effort needed to get you there... it's not rocket science.

[Doylo]

Climbing e7/8 doesn't need as much time investment as pushing your sport/bouldering grade though.

[JohnM]

E7/8 is not 8c or above which I thought was the standard Dave Mac was alluding to?

I just think he is trying to say there is no magic bullet that will get you to a very high standard especially if you have other priorities in life and that for most you would have to sacrifice everything for climbing.

[Stu Littlefair]

And I thought you'd manage to resist ;-). I guess we just have a different view about what constitutes an extreme dedication to climbing, and what would be considered normal.

Of all those things, the only thing I'd consider doing to improve is to build a wall. But then you're right - I'm lucky to have a job and a wife I love and I wouldn't neglect either, even if Doug so could make me a 9b climber.

There also seems little point arguing the toss about it. We disagree about what is realistic advice but we're both presumably happy with the way our lives are set up, so what's to be gained?

[Fiend]

Climbing e7/8 doesn't need as much time investment as pushing your sport/bouldering grade though.

I suspect it would if someone was doing it properly! 


 

[JohnM]

even if Doug so could make me a 9b climber

Who is this Doug?  Does he offer coaching?  I would so like to be a high 8th grade climber if Doug could make that happen.

[rginns]

I kind of agree with what Dave is saying.  If people really wanted to achieve their maximum potential then getting a career and/or a wife and kids is not the way to go about it.  Granted there are some people in that situation who still climb extremely hard but they are few and far between.  For the majority of people it is not going to work. 

I hoped I wouldn't get sucked into this, but oh well...
I disagree JohnM, I know quite a few people climbing to a very good standard, E7,8 etc  and still manage to have a family and career, they're just uber focused and arrange climbing around career and family, take opportunities in early morning/lunchtime, combine activities, etc etc. It's not as uncommon as you may think, and DM is right in that location, ignoring the biscuits, cycling to work etc is going to get you on the right path.
He could have probably articulated it a bit less superficially as his post is ignoring the true complexities of the issue.

I know plenty of climbers who don't acheive their potential, but that's not because they 'got a wife/family', it's got more to do with climbing being a past time and not the entire focus of their existance.
Likewise if you want to reach your potential, you've got to make changes to your life to accommodate the extra effort needed to get you there... it's not rocket science.

E7/8 is not 8c or above which I thought was the standard Dave Mac was alluding to?

I just think he is trying to say there is no magic bullet that will get you to a very high standard especially if you have other priorities in life and that for most you would have to sacrifice everything for climbing.

Forget the grade, I was replying to your point about 'acheiving maximum potential'. (hence the  )
Plenty of people reach their maximum potential and still manage to maintain a family, the two things are not mutually exclusive.

[abarro81]

What are you on about? Those people have almost certainly not got anywhere near their maximum potential.

[rginns]

What are you on about? Those people have almost certainly not got anywhere near their maximum potential.

That's because it's such a definable concept right?

[abarro81]

It's definable as a concept. Presumably what you mean is that no-one knows what anyone's potential really is, which is clearly true. Still, taking that into account I'd bet anything that they've not reached their potential max in climbing. For you to be right, going full time would have to bring them no gains.. Do you really believe that's the case??

[rginns]

It's definable as a concept. Presumably what you mean is that no-one knows what anyone's potential really is, which is clearly true. Still, taking that into account I'd bet anything that they've not reached their potential max in climbing. For you to be right, going full time would have to bring them no gains.. Do you really believe that's the case??

That assumes psyche level increases proportionately with work/family out of the equation. Personally I've made my biggest gains strength/grade wise only since having a demanding job, 2 kids and a wife because I've had to make every opportunity work for me.
I guess I'm saying that it can't be simplified to an equation: no job+no wife/kids = climb to max. potential... there are a lot of variables.
At the risk of upsetting Nibs, DM has quite an interesting post here,  http://www.onlineclimbingcoach.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/year-out.html