What is pump?
Pumping out on a project is caused by the level of fatigue in your forearms surpassing the level of your work capacity.
General overall fitness is a great way to improve this, i.e. cardio. the fitter you are the more blood you can efficiently process, the more blood you can process the quicker you recover. But…. for most people cardio is boring, we climb because it’s fun. we don’t want to go for a run, a row or a bike ride so what else can we do to feel fitter on the wall?
Bouldering teaches us that one of the keys to climbing harder is to hold on harder, if you fall off then hold on even harder. Often we slip off due to over gripping certain types of holds. have a play with seeing how lightly you can hold on with your hands during your warm ups and work your feet harder instead.
Rest
Rest more effectively. whenever you fall off a climb look straight at the clock, take a mental note of the time and rest for 3 minutes. Have an attempt in 3 minutes and take a mental note of whether you felt recovered enough to try 100 percent. If you did, then great! if you didn’t then you know you need to rest longer next time.
WARM UP!
Warm Up Properly. To avoid flash pump try to warm up better, get your heart rate closer or maybe above what it will be pumping at when you are trying the crux of your boulder. Be more wary of warming up too little rather than too much.
Breath
Many times we get stuck holding our breath when we try a hard move; keep doing this and you will die! Pair breathing with your hand movements to build better breathing habits (Breath out as you move a hand). This way when you do the crux you may have to hold your breath but on easier terrain you will automatically start breathing again. Breathing will also help you find flow and rhythm in whatever you do. Occupying the mind through breathing avoids you tensing too much and overthinking moves.
