Bill Ramsey is a legendary climber having established 5.14 routes and climbed 5.14b at the age of 54. If you know Bill, you also know how manically devoted he is to his training. Bill has developed his own training philosophy and is constantly trying to figure out exactly what he needs to do to send his next project.
Bill’s entire TrainingBeta Podcast episode is a great listen and he gives some much needed perspective gleaned from decades of experience. Below is a short excerpt where Bill talks about his age and how he has tweaked his approach to continue climbing at such a high level.
Give it a read yourself and if you like what you see be sure to check out the full episode and transcript by clicking through below!
Bill Ramsey on Age and Climbing:
Neely Quinn: Can we talk about your age a little bit more?
Bill Ramsey: Sure thing.
Neely Quinn: What – I think that there are a lot of people in their 50s and 60s and beyond who are trying to climb, and trying to climb hard. I’m wondering – you said that it takes more effort, you don’t recover as quickly – are there things that you’re doing to change your training that you could bestow upon other people?
Bill Ramsey: More of it.
I just think that the main thing I’ve been trying to do is be patient with it in that way. Just really expect to take a day off. Really, I’ve just given up on trying to climb hard two days in a row. I mean, two full days in a row? I just don’t really do that anymore.
The other thing I can suggest is simply be very patient with warming up and stretching. Flexibility is something that I think gets poo-pooed or isn’t taken sufficiently seriously. That’s one thing that you can actually maintain at a high level, even as you get older. I’ve really been focusing on stretching and static stretching.
I know static stretching gets a bad rap because it’s another one of those kind of trendy things. There were a couple studies done a few years ago about how people suggested that static stretching wasn’t helpful. You might even be more prone to injury if you statically stretch but it’s another case where people sort of don’t necessarily think the study through properly. These studies had to do with very long static stretches and often, immediate use of the muscle group.
In my mind I just sort of step back and think, ‘Well, let’s think this through.’ I mean, you’ve seen gymnastics, right? You’ve seen ballet. You’ve seen the range of motion that those people have. Would that range of motion be beneficial for climbing? Of course it would. How did you those people get that range of motion? It wasn’t from high kicks. It was from a very steady regimen of static stretching.
There’s stretching that you need to do for warming up that may not be always static but there’s a kind of stretching you do at the end of the day or after a workout that I think should be static and I think should be focusing on expanding that range of motion to keep you from getting injured and to enable you to, say at a rest, take more weight off your hands. I’m a very firm believer in stretching and things like that and I guess just the usual things. Try to eat well, try to get as much sleep as possible, and basically just be patient with the process and enjoy it. Just recognize that you’re going to have some disadvantages compared to when you were younger.
Full Episode/Transcript: TBP 022 :: Bill Ramsey on Sending 14b at Age 54
(photo courtesy of Mike Call)
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