As regards for training for climbing research, Lattice Training is always “one step beyond”, with a specific attention to the female training topic. They have definitely caught our attention with some posts they’ve published on their Instagram page, where Tom Randall talked together with his colleague Madeleine Cope about training, comparisons and goal settings. We couldn’t wait anymore, and we invited her to talk about this “hot” issue with us too .
Hello Maddy, it is really a pleasure for us to talk with you in our blog. First of all, would you like to introduce yourself, and to tell us something about your collaboration with Lattice Training and Tom Randall?
Hi! I am a Sheffield based climber, working for Lattice Training. I have been climbing for around 12 years now. When I was a teenager I used to dance, but when I went climbing for the first time I fell in love with it instantly. My early years of climbing were mainly spent trad climbing on the sea cliffs in the UK. When I started climbing, I got the feeling of being a small part of a much bigger environment - this is a humbling and important lesson for our ego, and is why I have never looked back. I really loved how I could travel for climbing and explore different places and styles, and have climbed in America, Canada, Europe, Brazil, and Mongolia! Although my initial focus was on trad climbing, I enjoy bigwall climbing, sport and bouldering.
A big draw to climbing for me was the combination of the mental and physical challenge. Despite trad climbing being thought of as “dangerous”, I find these elements in all disciplines, because “mental challenge” isn’t always about fear of injury or falling, it is most commonly about fear of failure, and managing the expectations we have of ourselves (I also think the process of training requires us to deal with these mental challenges, which is partly why I enjoy the process).
Some of the climbing experiences that stand out for me are free climbing Freerider on El Cap, climbing Bat Route and Mind Control (both 8c), and Prinzip Hoffnung (E9). I started training for climbing after a bad shoulder injury (not from climbing, but from falling down the stairs - Sheffield houses have very steep stairs!). Learning about the process of training and applying it to regain strength in my shoulder was a really valuable experience. I enjoy the science associated with training and the adaptations in the body (studied Chemistry to Masters), but also simply enjoy the physical challenge of it, as well as finding it has helped me understand the cues my body gives me and made me respect the “load” that life can add to the physical load of training and climbing.
As we have said in the introduction, we have recently noticed an increasing interest into the “female climbers world” topic on the web. We have seen some posts by Jule Wurm talking about comparisons and personal challenges and then your super interesting “deepening” debate together with Tom on Instagram. Of course we are more interested in its “negative” sides, which are often hidden and rejected by climbers: can we be free to say it is completely normal and it does happen to all female climbers?
I think we are free to say that comparison is a completely normal process. Comparison is how we place something within our spectrum of experience. When we step outside in the morning we don’t think “it’s 10 degrees today, better wear a warm coat”, we think “it feels colder than yesterday, I should wear a warmer coat”. Obviously the process of comparison goes beyond assessing the weather, and it is an ever-present part of our climbing. As you have eluded to, we are often focused on the “negative” aspect of comparison. I understand this focus, as it is this aspect that negatively impacts our mental state and climbing experience and in wanting to enjoy climbing we want to overcome this.
How do you think we can define comparisons?
Comparison is a measure of similarities and differences and I don’t think there is anything integrally negative about this. This is why I think an understanding of the useful side of comparison can help us redirect the negative comparisons we find ourselves making. If we can learn to compare ourselves objectively to others or to ourselves (negative comparison can be self-comparison!), then we can use this as a way to learn about our climbing, or work out whether a particular training protocol works for us. We often find comparison negative because we compare aspects of our climbing that are relative weaknesses (forgetting our relative strengths), don’t take the whole picture into account, or because we allow it to devalue our personal experience.
So we are not talking about a "typically female topic" ...
As I said above, I believe that comparison is a natural part of human psychology and therefore, don’t think that it is something that all female climbers experience - I think it is something all climbers experience. Whether it impacts them negatively or not is a different question. The male sex, in general, tend to have more competitive qualities, and so potentially use comparison as part of this competitiveness to motivate them or give them a positive drive to progress.
In terms of the female sex specifically, there may be a role our female sex hormones and the fluctuation of these during our monthly cycles that impact our mentality when it comes to comparisons, which is worth being aware of. Negative feelings can be fueled by the unknown - we are doing a lot of work about the menstrual cycle, and there is the feeling that simply talking about it and knowing what is involved helps people feel more positive about it, and potentially not experience symptoms in such a negative way.
You said we can take advantage of this process of comparing ourselves to others; what do you mean exactly and how can we do it?
Using comparison (or anything) to our “advantage” means understanding what we can gain from something, but also what is detrimental to us as individuals. Therefore awareness is key, and if as a community we are open about these sorts of negative experiences we can expand our understanding.
I think we can use comparison as one piece of the puzzle when it comes to progressing. If we want to climb a certain route, we might compare ourselves to someone who has already climbed it. If we want to work on relative weaknesses, we may compare ourselves to others of a similar level to find out what these actually are (e.g. when I climb with my partner we might try similar sport routes, but he is much stronger at bouldering, and I am better at recovering, therefore strength is likely a relative weakness of mine). If we want to get stronger, we choose a training session and monitor our progress over time, comparing ourselves to a previous “us” to see if we have improved.
Given the personal nature of climbing this latter comparison is a big part of the process of improving (I have used the example of getting stronger, but the same thing applies with technique or overcoming the fear of falling). However, this sort of comparison is only one piece of the puzzle when it comes to progressing as climbers. If we can view these comparisons more objectively, and ensure we maintain a focus on what is relevant to us, we can enjoy climbing with and learning from others (remember others will also learn from you!). Everyone is different and may find different comparisons to have a negative effect on them, so it requires some reflection. Some climbers find comparison to others harder, some self-comparison, some find numbers make them more obsessive, some find numbers help them be objective etc. So in my opinion it is all about understanding the comparisons we are making and why, and how they relate to our goals.
Maybe if all of us were more aware that the same mental mechanism affects the majority of climbers, we would all be more relaxed about it, what do you think? And maybe we would learn that we do not have to hide it, but maybe even to share and talk about it: is it likely?
I know that many people joke that climbers are a particular “species” or “breed”, but we are really individual. So as much as I think comparison is something we all do, within this there are many different forms of comparison and different ways in which they impact us. Because of this, I don’t think we can say we all experience the same mental mechanism, but I do think that being more open about the potential negative aspects of climbing (this includes comparisons, but also weight etc) is a good step forward to being able to move past it.
As there are a range of ways in which we compare ourselves, there are a range of ways in which we can move past negative comparison. For example, one climber may find physique comparison negative, therefore choose to limit social media use, and work on body image positivity. Another climber may find comparing their rate of progression to others negative, so would focus on their personal experience, ensuring they remember the “whole” (what is their goal, how much time have they got to dedicate to climbing, and keep both their relative strengths and weaknesses in mind, rather than just their weaknesses), as well as being objective about their training (could they actually improve what they are doing, is the other climber rest more/fueling better?).
You have named the Socials.. Do you think they have an important role in this process?
I think the “positive filter” effect of hiding negative aspects of our sport, which social media can often feed into, doesn’t help us to be objective about our climbing and performance when it comes to comparisons as it makes us feel like we are the only ones suffering from comparison.
We are also talking about a strong will to be not only better than our "previous us", but also better than others climbers. It often happens that female climbers strongly need to stand out from other female climbers: where do you think lie the roots of this “exigency”? And why doesn't it happen when climbing with men?
I think wanting to be better than other climbers is one reason we might compare ourselves, but as I have mentioned already I think the topic of comparison within climbing goes beyond this. But if we look specifically at wanting to be better than other female climbers, I guess the root cause is likely evolutionary - the desire to look better than others to give a better chance of being chosen as a mate! However, I think that females also compare themselves to men when climbing, or training, and comparing rates of strength gains. Comparing ourselves to men potentially comes less naturally as we see ourselves as different, so some may feel it is a faulty comparison. However, I actually think it is common for females to compare themselves to men, as we are in a male dominant sport, but this may be changing due to the balancing of the sex split changing and performance levels.
Of course this mental set influences our performances: it can be useful when we give all we have to succeed, but also very deleterious when the fear of performing worse than others leads us not even to try. How can we overcome these self-limiting conditions?
The first step in overcoming a negative attitude, and turning into a positive one is to be aware of what is causing the problem. This is where opening up the conversation around negative feelings or attitudes in climbing helps as people don’t feel ashamed or shy about admitting a problem - as you said we want to normalise comparison to others and fear of failure, as many of us do experience them at one time or another.
I think this is particularly important through different life stages. This applies to everyone e.g. starting a new job, or moving location, but is particularly important for females, as going through puberty brings about a lot of change, they are likely to have children, and will go through the menopause, all of which are very individual changes, where comparison to others is probably not useful, but likely happens a lot.
Finding out what is causing the problem means reflecting and monitoring how you feel in different situations, or potentially at different times of the month. This means being honest with yourself - it is not the most comfortable thing to accept that you struggle with comparison to others. What style of climbing, what situations, or what people bring about a negative comparison? Although I don’t think avoidance is the best option, there may be some cases where you might choose to avoid situations, such as social media usage or choosing to climb with people you feel have a more positive attitude themselves.
In the case that it is comparison to others that is bringing about the negative attitude, there are a few things that can help. Climbing is a very individual sport, so focusing on your own progress and goals is key. This means rather than always assessing how well (or badly) someone else is climbing, think more about your own climbing, movement and experience. Something that I see a lot is climbers devaluing their own achievements through comparison, so even if you do think that what someone else has done is impressive, ensure to give yourself the space to be satisfied with your own achievements (this doesn’t have to be climbing a major project, it can simply be managing a tricky boulder in the gym, or falling off having not considered where the last bolt was).
Making sure we remember the whole picture when it comes to our climbing is an important component. We often want to work on our weaknesses, and this can be where some negative comparison manifests itself. Keeping a full picture of our climbing in mind means that we don’t allow our relative weakness to become representative of our whole climbing ability. I personally have some glaring weaknesses, but I also have some things that I am good at. As much as I enjoy working on my weaknesses, I also try to remember the strengths I have and play to them sometimes!
If you are climbing with others who are better at a certain thing than you are, then be objective about it and engage with them about it. Silence breeds negativity and simply acknowledging “well done, you are doing that movement really well. I should try and do it more like you” can help create a positive environment. You might be able to learn from their movement, beta, or training methods, but make sure you adjust the information you are gathering from any comparison to make it relative to you. In general I think being happy for others and their climbing achievements is a good contributor to a positive attitude, alongside recognising your own achievements. I personally think climbing with people who are better than you is a great way to improve, as long as you can do this with a positive attitude and without constantly wishing you were better. Instead of wanting to be better, think about what makes them good at whatever they are doing, and try and apply this to yourself.
How can we use this need to perform best in our goal settings? Isn’t there the risk that we set goals that are too extreme for us, thus ending into a loop of frustration and a lower and lower self-confidence?
I guess the key is to change the “need to perform the best” into a wish “to perform the best we can”. That way we form goals based on our own motivations, take our own climbing experience into consideration, and the process of achieving the goal is independent of others. The step of being objective about our climbing experience, our performance on certain styles, and the time we have to commit to climbing or training will help make our goals realistic. Note that realistic doesn’t always mean you will definitely succeed, but helps us with motivation and not to feel overwhelmed. For big goals, setting intermediate goals helps here as well.
If we set our goals based on our own intrinsic motivations, along with an objective view of our climbing experience and general lifestyle, it becomes easier to focus on the process rather than the end goal. It is this focus on the process that sets us up for a positive experience, and too much focus on the end goal that often leads to negative experience. Of course there will still be frustrations when we are trying to progress or working towards a goal - that is the nature of challenge!
Mind control credits Hazel Findlay
9 september 2020