Mountains, icehole and energy
MCS AlexClimbMCS AlexClimb Mountain Climbing School
The idea of this text came with the question of how to prepare for the mountains. Further, more questions were pulled up to the topic about physical endurance, constant and varied climbing training, bathing in an icehole and other actions that are not entirely clear to most of my non-climbing friends.
Some connection was clearly guessed, but in order to formulate all this into a theory, it took a little time. Strange as it may seem, it was spurred on - Russian Baptism tradition, people drowned in an icehole, the crowd of those who fell ill after playing with all that sorts of church rubbish...
Having read the news about these nonsense, I decided to share my own experience, which still helps me to maintain my health and quite a decent level of activity in various areas of life including mountains of course.
Let's figure out what hardening of your body, health promotion and preparation for complex physical activity are? After all, these are the elements that are mostly needed for comfortable travel and safe climbing in the mountains. I immediately apologize to the educated specialists - the following text is unscientific, is not confirmed by any official research, and in general - this is my personal point of view on my own subjective experience, to which I have full personal right. I am ready to accept any constructive criticism and to continue the discussion of the issue.
I often say that human body is an accumulator for energy. What kind of energy is this - that is a separate question. But the principles of the battery - they work very well. In order for the battery to charge faster and more fully, this battery must be discharged regularly. Not to a zero point, otherwise you can die stupidly, but up to 15-20 percent. And then to be fully charged. If these cycles and amplitude are regular, then the power and capacity of the battery will fluctuate and even increase. And vice versa - if you leave a discharged battery without charging for a long time - it will be weak, quickly give up the rest of the energy, will be charged for a long time and never reach the complete level. Do you understand this analogy?
The specific of my work is that I spend a lot of time under a very intense physical load. Having accumulated a lot of experience in various situations of different levels of severity, I can say that it’s not about our physical strength, not about endurance and not about having any special skills - they can help us to optimize the energy consumption, but they have nothing to do with its acquiring and preservation.
I hope that you have already understood - that I am trying to formulate the idea of some kind of universal energy that is used in all the processes of our life. Our immune system of our body also depends on the amount of this energy - it works as protection from aggressive external factors, as well as efficiency in any field of the activity. Health, quality of life and life expectancy are also directly related to the amount of this energy and its regular replenishment. However, where this energy comes from is a mystery.
It can be noted that there are factors that stimulate the accumulation of energy:
• positive emotions
• lack of stress
• regular training (cycles of discharge-recovery of the "battery")
• quality and healthy food
• minimum of aggressive environmental external influences
On the contrary - factors of the increased energy consumption:
• stress, hate, negativity
• lack of physical activity
• overweight
• nutrition that does not correspond to the load and to the characteristics of the body
• alcohol, drugs
And what does swimming in an icehole have to do with it, and why, in my opinion, traditional baptismal bathing is absurdity and obscurantism?
Any critical load on the body, be it cold, heat or physical overload, is a way to quickly spend the energy, and the purpose of this action is to prepare our “battery” for the next charging cycle. Those who regularly bathe in an icehole know this feeling - as body burns after cold water. This is the flow of blood to the surface of the skin - the body's reaction to a sharp hypothermia.
The release of energy is colossal in that case - but it will be good for health only if your “battery” is well prepared and ready for such loads. This only can be achieved by regular training. So if you bathe once a year for the sake of some "traditions" - this has nothing to do with your health.
The fact is that we need energy, among other things, in order to maintain the protective functions of the body - our immunity. Excessive energy consumption leads to a weakening or failure of this protective function. So you should be careful with an icehole - the consequences can be very diverse and not the most pleasant ones.
As an example, after some difficult mountain climbs, many climbers got herpes on their lips (which is a sign of a failure in the immunity). As well as an increased risk of any chronic or new diseases, even those which are not directly related to the specifics of the mountain climbing load. Twice this happened to me in the form of an unexpected severe allergy to hell knows what, each time against the background of serious physical exhaustion in the end of the climbing season. This was a sign that more energy got spent than it should have been, and the body began to spend the "emergency reserve" without having time to recover.
I can state it from my own experience that the amount of energy and the amount of physical strength are completely different things. Many times I have crossed a dangerous line, having enough strength not to stop in time and go beyond the safe energy expenditure.
Here, I will tell the story of how, having a lot of strength, I almost died from a complete discharge of my "battery" during a high-speed ascent to the Peak Aneto, Spain - this is the highest point of the Pyrenees, an easy mountain with a altitude of 3404 meters. It was in the end of September, the very end of the mountain climbing season, I was in excellent physical shape, acclimatized and well trained. Behind my back were more than 40 difficult climbs in Caucasus, in the Alps and even in South America.
The nuance was that a few weeks earlier I had been fairly exhausted by several difficult technical alpine climbs. I ran to the top, enjoying my excellent physical shape, nice weather and the most beautiful views. The task was to set a personal speed record and gain 2 km of altitude from the parking lot to the top in the shortest possible time. After climbing 1200 meters in less than 50 minutes, in an ideal physical condition, I suddenly had a complete dip in energy - my eyes dimmed, I realized that I was losing consciousness. That way my body said - I need sugar, quickly.
Fortunately, everything ended well, I refreshed myself with a chocolate bar, rested, ran to the top, safely went down to the parking lot and left for Barça. Since then, I always try to have a chocolate bar in my pocket, regardless of the complexity and length of the route.
So, at the end of my story, I want to dilute the lyrics of this text with a few practical tips for those who, unlike the author, prefer to get painful experience by analyzing other people's mistakes.
1. A variety of workouts and activities swing the energy capacity of our "accumulator". Do not confuse "capacity buildup" and training strength or special skills - these are different things. If, for example, you are focused on rockclimbing and aim for a certain category or run a marathon counting the seconds, this is a completely different training tactic. This tactic is effective for optimizing energy expenditure, but it will not be effective for its quality recovery.
2. Even before I had the idea to formulate all of the above into a theory - I always advised to beginners not to train immediately before going to the mountains, just to get more rest and accumulate maximum energy.
3. You should have an active hobby and not to seek to turn it into a profession - a hobby is the perfect incentive for regular recharging - take care of your hobbies and recharge your energy from them!
4. Carefully explore the possibilities of your "battery" to the maximum discharge - increasing the intensity of training and building strength, never go beyond comfort and pleasure. Where professional sports begin, there begins a risk zone for getting sick with something professionally specific and being treated for a very long time.
5. Do not forget the story about the horse that plowed the field all its life, but did not become the farm owner - work is good as long as its fruits bring you joy in the present time, but not in the vague future.
6. Do not get into cold water according to the baptism traditions unless you are not specially trained for this - cystitis / prostatitis may not be afraid of the sign of the cross, and then you will have to ask the blessing of the priest for regular visits to medical institutions.
The author of the text, plot and photos - Alex Trubachev
Your professional international mountain guide and climbing coach
MCS EDIT 2023