Hard bouldering @ 40+... guys and gals who still crush, how do you do it?

Another aspect Slim, is that improving takes time, sometimes a lot of time. Many people get discouraged and give up a solid training regime (and jump to the latest craze) because going from sending 5.X or VX to 5.Y or VY will take a year or a few years. This is clearly illustrated by Climbing mag's latest article on "Climb harder in 9 weeks..." or whatever that last crap training article was called (though the conclusion of the article was that it takes more time than 9 weeks to jump grades).

I KNOW that it takes time, and I still get discouraged occasionally when improvement is slow. Then, I step back, and press on because I know that improvement will come...

Joe M. wrote:Another aspect Slim, is that improving takes time, sometimes a lot of time. Many people get discouraged and give up a solid training regime (and jump to the latest craze) because going from sending 5.X or VX to 5.Y or VY will take a year or a few years. This is clearly illustrated by Climbing mag's latest article on "Climb harder in 9 weeks..." or whatever that last crap training article was called (though the conclusion of the article was that it takes more time than 9 weeks to jump grades). I KNOW that it takes time, and I still get discouraged occasionally when improvement is slow. Then, I step back, and press on because I know that improvement will come...

Very much so. Solid improvement takes real time especially doing it in a healthy way. That issue of Climbing sent a very unhelpful message that I think the climbers following this thread are mature enough to ignore. :)

Paul Getzke wrote:I am age 62 and have been bouldering for a very, very long time. I am still climbing pretty much whatever I want to. Yes, I have been lucky in the injury department. My secret has been this: do not stop training or climbing...ever. That becomes more difficult as you age, but if you love it enough, you can do it, too.

Rock On Paul!!!

This also brings up experience and wisdom.

How many climbers actually 'train?', know what they are doing, and stick to it; aside from the youth teams in your local gym? How many climbers follow an actual training plan? Warm-up? periodization? rest? no when to back off? and so on . . . or do they just show up and climb? Even I, for the most part, was just building base miles for the last 7 months. But now I am focusing on a detailed training plan leading up to a peak range of weeks. I think that almost any program that one adheres to even for 9 weeks will result in growth.

With that said, many climbers 'want' to get better and others 'train' to get better. Either way, we all love to climb.

Paul Getzke wrote:I am age 62 and have been bouldering for a very, very long time. I am still climbing pretty much whatever I want to. Yes, I have been lucky in the injury department. My secret has been this: do not stop training or climbing...ever. That becomes more difficult as you age, but if you love it enough, you can do it, too.

climbing friend,

And copious amounts of viagra to maintain half-erection for flash!

Aleks must be a crack climber to need to use Viagra for an advantage..

Ray Lovestead wrote:Aleks must be a crack climber to need to use Viagra for an advantage..

or he must be on crack...