plateau
Million Dollar Arms and a Five Cent Head
Tags: Motivation, peak, Planning, plateau, Steve Bechtel, Steve's Blog
By Steve Bechtel In every sport, it seems like there is a metric that ties in with great performance, and that athletes tend to fixate on. In endurance sports, it’s the VO2 Max, in golf it might be your drive. In climbing, it’s starting to be our straight-arm finger strength tested on a…
Better Than Last Year
Tags: Motivation, peak, Planning, plateau, Steve Bechtel, Steve's Blog
By Steve Bechtel Dan John once quipped, “The goal of aging should be to make the same mistakes over and over again less often.” Although we are in the throes of redpoint season across much of North America and Europe, many of us are already assessing what we’re going to do to get…
BLOG: Why is Improving So Hard
Tags: Motivation, peak, Planning, plateau, Steve Bechtel, Steve's Blog
By Steve Bechtel Most of us either over-think our preparation for the sport or we don’t think about it enough. Far too often, we end up in the mindset of accepting limits, and decide that this must be our level. Why? Because we have plucked what seems like all the lowest-hanging fruit. Let…
BLOG: The First Step Off A Peak Is Down
Tags: Motivation, peak, Planning, plateau, Steve Bechtel, Steve's Blog
By Steve Bechtel I have a stack of notecards in the pack I carry to work every day. On them, I have written some ideas about training for climbing that I think are essential and largely ignored by climbers. I’ve made my career by talking to advanced climbers about advanced concepts, and I…
BLOG: Where Training Begins
Tags: begin, Motivation, Planning, plateau, Steve Bechtel, Steve's Blog
By Steve Bechtel This is how it goes: You go to the gym with friends and you do some easy climbs and it’s fun. Then you try a harder one or two, and maybe almost do them. Your hands are sore that night and as you fall asleep you’re thinking of how you nearly…