Will has gotten crazy about rock climbing this winter. This mania started with this picture, taken at Callaway Gardens in Georgia. The wall you see him on is about 40ft high, and he was quite pleased with himself afterwards. Since then, I've taken him out to a few different places, RockQuest in Cincinnati being his favorite. Below are a two shots of him climbing at their great indoor facility.






So, why talk about cross training while putting up pictures of my 5 year old climbing 45ft walls? Going to these various climbing gyms has given me an opportunity to observe the athletes that enjoy this sport up close, doing their own wintertime training. Climbing outdoors in freezing rain doesn't seem to be anything they would enjoy more than rowers enjoy racing in high winds on a 40 degree day.

So, how do high-end climbers train in the winter? It's their off-season, after all. There are some very specific skills they've built up over the years, or new abilities to work on. What do climbers do?

Guess what? They do the same thing swimmers do. They practice their sport in a simulated environment indoors. Does a wooden climbing wall exactly simulate the face of a granite cliff? Of course not. There's also no wind to deal with or footholds that fall out once your full weight pressed upon them. Just like rowers who deal with an erg that doesn't exactly mimic the feel of water or the the set of a boat.

Anybody guessing the point I'm making here? I'm all in favor of cross training. It makes a fun "different" activity to get into every other weekend or so. There is just too much evidence to suggest that cross training simply won't produce a faster boat. In a specialized sport such as rowing, there is no substitute to actually rowing to get faster.

Don't misunderstand my point, however, when the issue of weight training or flexibility is discussed. Both are worthy, focused tools used to increase power output and technique in the boat. Climbers lift weights fanatically, but they simply don't focus on the lower body strength like rowers must. Core muscle groups, upper shoulders and forearms are the favorites of climbers, where leg exercises and bench pulls are important to oarsmen.

So enjoy your cross training this winter. Once or twice a month. If, however, the fastest boat possible is your goal, keep rowing. That is, after all, the motion you're trying to perfect.