Climbing in your 40s?

[rico]

For me, walking up a flight of stairs is taxing. You will get there one day. And to me it is not downgrading, just shifting to a lesser exhausting method. I've done my time on SRT with all the latest gear and proper methods. My legs just don't have the muscle tone and my body doesn't have the stamina anymore, but moving to DRT and still using those methods, as slow as it may be, has allowed me to keep going. I use all the methods you use with SRT in climbing DRT. I just won't get where I'm going as fast as you will. But speed is not important to me anymore. Being able to do it is.

Yep. We all have unique physiques and different injury histories so what works for one my not be the best for another. As I have aged it has been my upper body which has remained the strongest and I can still bust out push-ups and pull-ups like a 20 year old marine. I may be an anomaly but a day of pulling myself around in MRS mode really doesn't bother me all that much.

A little too much rope-walking, on the other hand, can cause my knees to get awful cranky. Strange, because I can still grind it out in a pair of spurs all day and remain relatively pain free. Go figure?

Bottom line is I am very thankful that I have both modes (SRT & MRS) in my tool bag, and using the right tool for the right task has allowed me to keep operating at a fairly high level.

 

[Shadowscape]

Took a side job the other day replacing a gear box on top of a 140' grain elevator. There was a perfectly good, caged ladder all the way to the top, and I could have no more climbed that ladder than the man in the moon. About 15' up and they would have been forced to rescue my lifeless body. But I set my ropes and with three stops along the way to rest and take in the sights, I got there ready to go to work using my moving rope set up. I would have liked to see what shape you SRT people would have been in when you got to the top.
DRT doesn't mean you have to resort to body thrusting, or upper body workouts from days gone by. I operate my moving rope system just as you operate your stationary rope system, only it is easier, albeit slower.
Redirects are not as easy with MRS, but doable with proper equipment. The only advantage I find with SRS is time, and for me time is the least important element of my day.

 

[Shadowscape]

Yep. We all have unique physiques and different injury histories so what works for one my not be the best for another. As I have aged it has been my upper body which has remained the strongest and I can still bust out push-ups and pull-ups like a 20 year old marine. I may be an anomaly but a day of pulling myself around in MRS mode really doesn't bother me all that much.

A little too much rope-walking, on the other hand, can cause my knees to get awful cranky. Strange, because I can still grind it out in a pair of spurs all day and remain relatively pain free. Go figure?

Bottom line is I am very thankful that I have both modes (SRT & MRS) in my tool bag, and using the right tool for the right task has allowed me to keep operating at a fairly high level.

I can stand on spurs for long periods, as long as I don't have to go up to often, I'm fine. Hence, I carry mine up and put them on when I get where I'm going if I need to do so.
We sound similarly built. I was a ring man in high school gymnastic. From the waist up I'm in great shape, still.

 

[rico]

Dawn-to-dusk dry fasting induces anti-atherosclerotic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumorigenic proteome in peripheral blood mononuclear cells in subjects with metabolic syndrome

Metabolic syndrome characterized by abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, elevated fasting glucose and triglyceride levels and low high-density lipo…

www.sciencedirect.com

Sean, I know you are well aware of the downsides associated with excessive use of support systems in the development of trees. Well, trees are not the only organisms that alter cellular development and pathways when presented with the need to do so.

Yep. Science supports the idea that fasting and exposing ourselves to cold is in fact very good for us. Both have changed my life for the better.

 

[Shadowscape]

Science supports the idea that cold is in fact very good for us.

Damn, I should be in great shape!

 

[southsoundtree]

Dawn-to-dusk dry fasting induces anti-atherosclerotic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumorigenic proteome in peripheral blood mononuclear cells in subjects with metabolic syndrome

Metabolic syndrome characterized by abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, elevated fasting glucose and triglyceride levels and low high-density lipo…

www.sciencedirect.com

Sean, I know you are well aware of the downsides associated with excessive use of support systems in the development of trees. Well, trees are not the only organisms that alter cellular development and pathways when presented with the need to do so.

This small study is interesting.

I definitely done have Metabolic Syndrome.




Would you be more clear about what you think applies to tree workers, please?

 

[Tom Dunlap]

I was a ring man in high school gymnastic. From the waist up I'm in great shape, still.

Cool!

Where and when?

Robbinsdale '69-'72...sidehorse

Jeff Jepson '70-'73...Bloomington...p-bars

Some of the lessons I learned in the gym made me a better climber. Having good grips and stances pays off. Combine several easy moves into one flowing motion pays off with a higher score. Getting off my muscles and onto my bones takes less energy.

 

[Shadowscape]

Cool!

Where and when?

Robbinsdale '69-'72...sidehorse

Jeff Jepson '70-'73...Bloomington...p-bars

Some of the lessons I learned in the gym made me a better climber. Having good grips and stances pays off. Combine several easy moves into one flowing motion pays off with a higher score. Getting off my muscles and onto my bones takes less energy.

Glenbard East & Glenbard North (DuPage County, Illinois) 68-71

 

[moss]

67, climbing keeps me strong.
-AJ

 

[data farm 26]

Yep. Science supports the idea that fasting and exposing ourselves to cold is in fact very good for us. Both have changed my life for the better.

I don't disagree, mostly agree at least from my own experience but the dawn to dusk fasting mentioned in Dave's link seems a little extreme for tree working. Possibly even dangerous, still, I might give it a try.

 

[Mike H]

Glenbard East & Glenbard North (DuPage County, Illinois) 68-71

Hinsdale South High School (DuPage County, Illinois) 88-92

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Glenbard East & Glenbard North (DuPage County, Illinois) 68-71

Hmm...did you know that John Prine was a gymnast at about that time, somewhere in Chicago area.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

For two seasons I watched my team mate work his way to the state champ on sidehorse. Years later when I was learning to climb better I took rock and ice climbing lessons. That's when it dawned on my how important small moves can be. My teammate would use chalk to mark 'targets' for hand placements on the horse when he was learning a move. He'd mark the spot and try the move then move the mark and repeat. Eventually he found the mark. Each move of his mark was no more than a finger width. That lesson, that wasn't evident in the gym, was plainly evident years later. Key to climbing better and aching less.

 

[Bucknut]

67, climbing keeps me strong.
-AJ

What? 67?

Moss, I’ve watched many of your vids, both tree work and cat rescue. Never thought about it, but if asked I would’ve put your age in the mid to late 50s. Good for you.

 

[DSMc]

... Would you be more clear about what you think applies to tree workers, please?

Just an example of a biological adaptive response that has far more benefits than negatives. Just as a tree that is left staked too long will not develop the strength necessary to stand on its own, a human that never experiences true hunger or thirst will not be able to access the complex biological pathways we were born with that are there for that purpose.

By and large, people have no idea what they're bodies are capable of.

 

[Matias]

Started climbing in 2019 at 32y.o. but I have seen some spry 60-70y.o. climbers, so I'm looking forward to the next 30+ years of climbing for fun and profit!

 

[Shadowscape]

Hinsdale South High School (DuPage County, Illinois) 88-92

Know it well. Worked for the DuPage County Sheriff's Dept for a lot of years.

 

[Shadowscape]

Hmm...did you know that John Prine was a gymnast at about that time, somewhere in Chicago area.

Wasn't aware. You guys on the horse always looked to me like you were not having any fun, just work, but always mesmerizing.

 

[cory]

@rico , That Bring Sally Up workout is a hoot, right?? Sometimes I do it after exiting the cold tub and it never fails to be a wild ride.

 

[rico]

Ha

@rico , That Bring Sally Up workout is a hoot, right?? Sometimes I do it after exiting the cold tub and it never fails to be a wild ride.

have u tried it with pull-ups. If not u should.