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General Climbing Discussion

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performance powders 21-Dec-2009 At 3:20:53 PM davepalethorpe

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Interesting topic, with no clear answers. Many dietary supplements have little or no scientific evidence behind their use, even though the supposed mechanisms appear plausible. For example, an endurance athlete should have an intake of around 1.2-1.7g/kg per day of protein, with slightly higher levels for people undertaking more power based activities (normal RDI is 0.8g/kg). For a 60kg person, this equates to around 100g per day. This is easily supplied by a simple balanced diet. Eg. 100g of chicken supplies around 30g of protein. It is known that insufficient protein will limit muscle growth and repair, however there is little evidence to support protein and/or amino acid supplements in athletes already eating a balanced diet.

Creatine is another difficult one. It appears to be beneficial in power based sports, as it may enhance short term, high intensity exercise. However, it also increases body weight due to fluid retention, which may result in reduced performance, especially in sports like climbing where power to weight ratios are very important.

I could go on...but the long and the short of my answer is to eat a healthy balanced diet, leave the dietary supplements to the gym junkies, and just go out and enjoy climbing! The Dave MacLeod website as some useful tips in relation to training for climbing, which may be of interest to you. See the link below.

http://www.davemacleod.com/articles/trainingforclimbing.html

Cheers

Dave