My climbing mentor in Boise pointed out I was gripping the rope too tight, which was burning out my forearms after just a couple hours.

Honestly, after he said 'let the gear do the work, your hands are just for steering,' I started focusing on a lighter touch and my endurance has easily doubled, so has anyone else had a simple piece of advice that just clicked like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

jade88520d ago

Let the gear do the work" sounds like something I need tattooed on my hand. My version was a coach telling me to stop trying to arm-wrestle the kayak paddle, and suddenly I wasn't exhausted after ten minutes. Why do we all default to just using a death grip on everything?

mila_craig411d ago

Tell me about it, I nearly gave myself carpal tunnel trying to strangle a golf club before someone told me to relax my hands. It's like our lizard brain takes over and screams "HOLD TIGHT OR IT GETS AWAY." @simonl86 is right, it's that weird idea that more muscle means you're doing it better, when really you're just fighting the tool. I even do it with a stupid pen when I'm writing a long note, my hand cramps up because I'm basically trying to stab the paper. Letting the gear do its job feels wrong at first, like you're not trying hard enough, but then suddenly everything works and you feel like a genius.

simonl8620d ago

Feel this so hard, @jade885. I did the exact same thing learning to row, white-knuckling the oar until my coach yelled to loosen up. It's like our brains think more force equals more control, but it just wrecks us.