Arousal Regulation

You’re on your sport project and you finally make it through the lower difficulties  but there’s still a redpoint crux. The panic sets in. You can feel your body fighting for control. Managing the continuing difficulties and pushing through the redpoint crux requires regulating arousal levels, which can be practiced.

Arousal Regulation

Think about having an internal dimmer switch to adjust your level of intensity throughout a climb. Any given route has a variety of difficulty, and climbers need to adjust for the changes by consciously adjusting their arousal level, or level of excitement. Dial up the intensity for hard sections, and dial it down for easier parts. This allows you to conserve both physical and mental energy, as well as focus it in the correct way. When you’re climbing, you want to be present-oriented. On a single boulder problem or climb, there are sections where the climber needs to change his arousal level. The first moves of a boulder problem could be the crux, so the climber needs to be crushing from the start. The last pitch of a long trad climb

may contain loose rock, so the climber needs low arousal levels to perform the complicated task of moving safely. Being present and in the moment helps identify the proper level of intensity required, which is crucial to success. A climber who’s too excited about what they’re doing too soon, about winning the World Cup or sending their project, can drop the ball.  Climbers often refer to this as punting, meaning failing after the hard climbing is over. “More often, climbers hold back their emotions. They won’t fight to send their project.

 Most people don’t want to fall and think, ‘I actually did try my hardest and I still failed.’ They don’t fail, but they’re scared of that possibility. Climbers fear applying themselves to that level. In cases like this, the beta is just to try hard”

Practice

Adjusting arousal levels is just like flexing a muscle. Training to me, is training that muscle” When you enter the gym, you should make this mental approach just as much a priority as physical strength. Jump rope and then try a hard boulder problem to identify how you can adjust your arousal levels. Visualize the appropriate state of arousal just like you visualize the holds and the moves themselves. Before pulling a hard move, imagine getting angry, trying hard, and climbing aggressively. For a runout or scary section, visualize staying calm, flowing through the moves, and being tranquil. Execute these strategies while climbing.