No Climbing: Training/Workout/Food (All things climbing, without climbing)

Hello everyone,

Currently I am 1.5 months into an AmeriCorps service year. Because of this I am incredibly poor(cannot afford a climbing gym), and have not been climbing in two months. I am starting to be afraid that I will lose everything I've gained over the last couple years. Does anyone have a workout, exercises, or training routine that would keep my general fitness up and climbing oriented? Any advice will do, I'm not even sure how to build a routine.

Edit: Changed thread title to better represent the thread.

Eli,

The approach detailed here has worked for a lot of people who don;t have access to rock, it might work for you depending on your access to the right equipment. Good luck!

I unfortunately have no access to climbing related training gear, which is the roughest part.

Eli Buzzell wrote:I unfortunately have no access to climbing related training gear, which is the roughest part.

Do you have somewhere that you can mount a hangboard at least?

try mtnathlete.com for ideas.

Eli, where are you physically located? what kind of environment are you in?

Do finger hangs from a tree

Could you explain the situation to the management at one of your local gyms (not being allowed to have a second job), then volunteer in exchange for climbing privileges?

Eli Buzzell wrote:I unfortunately have no access to climbing related training gear, which is the roughest part.

Why not? You can build a basic DIY wooden hangboard for less than $20 worth of materials, or you can even scavenge some wood scraps. This should be affordable, even on an Americorps budget. All you need is a doorway to hang it over (which can be cruxy if you are renting). Put up the board, beg for forgiveness later. You want something like this:



The image is a board that Sonnie Trotter used when he was pretty young. Apparently, he built this board and put it up in his parents basement in Ontario one winter while working full time to save up for a climbing trip. 3 months of hanging on this as pretty much his only training... no climbing, no gym membership, basically nothing else other than a lot of hanging. After 3 months of that, he went to the VRG and sent Necessary Evil (14c+). (Side note: weaklings like you or I may want to build the board with slightly thicker pieces of wood, and thus larger holds). Here's the full story: sonnietrotter.com/the-v-board/

JCM wrote: Why not? You can build a basic DIY wooden hangboard for less than $20 worth of materials, or you can even scavenge some wood scraps. This should be affordable, even on an Americorps budget. All you need is a doorway to hang it over (which can be cruxy if you are renting). Put up the board, beg for forgiveness later. You want something like this: The image is a board that Sonnie Trotter used when he was pretty young. Apparently, he built this board and put it up in his parents basement in Ontario one winter while working full time to save up for a climbing trip. 3 months of hanging on this as pretty much his only training... no climbing, no gym membership, basically nothing else other than a lot of hanging. After 3 months of that, he went to the VRG and sent Necessary Evil (14c+). (Side note: weaklings like you or I may want to build the board with slightly thicker pieces of wood, and thus larger holds). Here's the full story: sonnietrotter.com/the-v-board/

I built something VERY similar using one of each size metolius campus rung. It's great.
You can see some more info here:
chroniclesofgnarnia.wordpre…

I happened to have the rungs laying around from a previous campus board project. You could definitely go the Trotter route for less than 20$.

Also, if your profile is current, you are very close to what I think boulderers would call a very good bouldering area: Pawtuckaway. A session there every week would be a good start. If you're not there anymore, maybe trade some labor for access to a gym?

I'm currently located at an Extended Stay America (A hotel where they don't clean up after you) in Alexandria, VA. I'm totally into the DIY hangboard, but I'll be living in crappy hotels and the like for the next nine months. I am really motivated to find a solution to this, and really appreciate all the advice. In the meantime I've been doing core stuff everyday, because that is always helpful.

I was thinking that hanging off of door frames might be a good way to go.

Eli,

Hanging off door frames and the like works great! I started training at home like this for similar reasons at one point in my life. I started by hanging off the top of the frame and slowly worked up to being able to do finger pull ups. You can hook your fingers on the L/R sides of the frame, lean back, and use your fingers to pull your body back towards the door. If you have shoes with decent grip or don't mind going bare feet you can also use the door frame to practice chimney style moves. I'll watch entire movies propped up in the door way, shifting my weight to either leg for rests as needed. For balance and core muscles you can find narrow strips of concrete (such as those used to frame in a garden or the parking spot bumpers) and use them as you would a slack line. Just practice walking back and forth on them keeping your balance. The thinner the strip the better as it will make you work harder to keep you balance. Also, if you have a good city park near by go climb all over anything and everything you can. Hell, if the brick is set in right, you can get some mad training by doing low level buildering. Hope this helps.

Wow, that sounds a lot more challenging than living 10 minutes from Pawtuckaway!

Could you afford a set of Rock Rings? Girth hitched to a nearby playground swingset or tree branch or whatever could make for a pretty good workout. If you can't afford those, maybe you could make something serviceable out of wood...particularly if you could get access to some power tools (ie, a router) for an hour or so.

Speaking of playgrounds, you could probably do various kinds of hangs and pullups on playground equipment. Maybe do that and go really heavy on calisthenic/crossfit kinds of exercises and run a bunch, and then worry about getting back to sport specific strength when your situation becomes more climbing friendly again?

For what it's worth, the time you're describing sounds like it has the potential to throw a lot of really unhealthy eating opportunities your way...it might be that your most important training move might be on guard against that. On the other hand, when I was your age, I could eat double what I wanted and nothing would happen, so maybe that won't be a problem for you!

Have fun,
David

Bonneville,
The door-frame-chimney-theatre is totally an awesome idea, and I'm going to give it a try when I go to watch climbing movies. Currently the door frames I have at my disposal provide a half-pad sloping crimp, so I'm going to need to get around that. I was thinking about just scaling parking garages without safety gear, but that seems like a terrible idea the more I entertain it.

David,
I really appreciate that you've brought up the need to continue to eat healthy. I have to feed myself on a budget of 4.75 a day, which is much more conducive to white bread and fluff sandwiches than it is to ultimate health. That said I've been making an effort to keep my meals in check. Root vegetables are pretty cheap, and peanut butter works too.

I do have a set of rock rings, but they are (and will be for at least three months) in a box in Mississippi. I (very fortunately) have a slack line at my disposal, which I use as frequently as possible. I have no access to power tools, but I'm going to see what I can do about making a roller for the forearms, as I did bring a bunch of cordage with me, and a weight or medium sized rock shouldn't be too hard to find.

On the food tip, here are some strategies I used to get myself through college and law school, neither of which I could afford.

Most extended stays have full kitchens, so I will assume you at least have access to that.

Make lots of soups. For the base, used chicken carcass from banked chicken earlier in the week makes it super flavorful and dirt cheap. If that's too far out for you, dried stock powder will do fine and is also cheap. Thicken it up with brown rice and dried beans. For veggies, you can rely heavily on the vegetable "seconds," the stuff packaged for quick sale at very reduced price because it is close to going bad or visually imperfect. I checked and you have an Aldi in Alexandria. I would shop there for sure. You look like you have a weekly budget of about 33 bucks. For that, according to this week's Aldi ad you can get:

3lbs check leg quarters, 2lbs chicken thighs (save bones and scraps for soup): 5 bucks
a week's worth of dried beans: 1.50
brown rice (way more than a week's worth): 1.50
6 low fat yogurts: 2.40
fruit/veggies budget: 13 bucks (over 1/3 of your budget because they are good for you!)
sandwich protein (4 cans tuna, 20 ounces ground turkey, turkey lunch meat or turkey bacon for blts): 3 bucks any of those choices
loaf of wheat bread: 1.00 (if you buy generic)
salt and 1 additional spice/sauce item (spice mills are 1.50, condiments a buck, buy one or two a week and you'll build a pantry quickly): 2.00 first week, 1.50 or 1.00 every other week
eggs: 1.50
butter: 1.50

I lived off 5 bucks a day for a long time, years actually, and I always ate well once I got this down. I hope this helps you out.

For excercise, I was lucky enough to be in NYC, there are playgrounds here that purposely have work out equipment for adults, not to mention climbing walls intended for the kids for traversing ;)

Alicia wrote: I lived off 5 bucks a day for a long time, years actually, and I always ate well once I got this down. I hope this helps you out.

For excercise, I was lucky enough to be in NYC, there are playgrounds here that purposely have work out equipment for adults, not to mention climbing walls intended for the kids for traversing ;)

I love that you are an improviser. I love your attitude on this subject. fucking rad lady!

Alicia,
I have everything except an oven, but I really appreciate the shopping list and food advice. I'm not too far into this and I'm still learning a lot about how to function and live well, but it is proving to be easier than I thought. I really hope this thread helps more people than just myself as well.

out of curiosity, what are you doing for Americorps?

I ask because you make your situation sound pretty terrible. Living in an extended stay and eating on 4.75 a day? Three years ago I lived with two roommates who were on an Americorps stint and they lead pretty much normal post college style lives. (i.e. they didn't have a bunch of cash to burn but they could still afford a six pack of beer occasionally).

What you describe just doesn't compute to me.

The Stoned Master wrote:Alicia wrote: I lived off 5 bucks a day for a long time, years actually, and I always ate well once I got this down. I hope this helps you out. For excercise, I was lucky enough to be in NYC, there are playgrounds here that purposely have work out equipment for adults, not to mention climbing walls intended for the kids for traversing ;) I love that you are an improviser. I love your attitude on this subject. fucking rad lady!

Thanks, Stoned Master!!! I love your PMA!

My AmeriCorps situation is with NCCC, which means they provide housing and this menial food budget, as well as give me a small stipend. There are a lot of different programs, and some people are in better situations. I am just what we call AmeriPoor.