What To Eat To Climb Better - Banana Oatmeal Choco Smoothie

Rock climbing is not as important to me as it used to be. However, each time I find myself climbing, I enjoy it very much.

And, to my surprise, it seems that a part of my physical (and mental) ability to climb relatively well never fades away. Even though I don't train as I used to - on my hangboard, in the gym or simply just climbing at the local crags.

Why is that?

My friends, whom I help bolting climbing routes, say it's about the experience I've gathered during many years of constant serious (more or less) climbing. I partly agree but there are other factors that contribute to that as well:

• My diet always includes oatmeal.
• I cycle or walk as often as I can. I don't have a car and I take the bus only if it's raining.

So what I'm saying is this: as long as you keep doing physical exercise (aerobic) and have a healthy diet, your ability to climb will stay with you, even without specific training. It works for me.

Now, oatmeal is kinda boring. Not very tasty and dull looking.

That's why you can make it all more interesting by making what I like to call a banana-choco pudding. All natural. Oatmeal included.

What you need

First, a blender. And if you want to blend iPads, you can try Blendtec. :-)



The rest is up to you. I like to make my pudding-like smoothie with:

• Oatmeal
• Bananas
• Hazelnuts
• Milk
• Cocoa

If you want, you can add chocolate but make it dark chocolate (70% cocoa or more). That's coz the cocoa is the only good thing in chocolate and, funny enough, all its benefits are cancelled by the sugar in regular sweet chocolate. So, stick with dark - no sugar.

Having a blender, means you can do all sorts of crazy goodies. And if this makes you wanna eat more fruit and drink more natural juice - why not get one, right?


Conclusion

If for some reason, high performance sport is no longer a priority in your life but you wanna be able to get in the game now and then, do these two things:

• Do physical activities that require less commitment but offer the benefit of high heart-rate. Cycling and mountain biking work for me - there's also the added perk of cheap travel/commute. Swimming is another great sport that keeps you fit without too much logistics (not much gear).
• Make it fun to eat healthy. As I said, we know oatmeal is nutritious and high in fiber but we would't kill for it as we would for a cake... With a blender, you can prepare the best natural desserts and breakfasts.

You won't gain weight and it'll be easier for you to get back on the scene. 

Over to you

What about you? What's your secret to being physically fit and strong?

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