First, it is important to eat the proper balance of carbs, fats, and protein. Here’s a quick formula to help you figure it out! This is based on Eric Horsts description from Training For Climbing.

Determine Your Caloric Need:

Multiply your weight by the following number, based on your metabolism:

• Low metabolism – multiply by 12
• Medium metabolism – multiply by 15
• High metabolism – multiply by 18

Now add 150 calories for each activity of low intensity exercise you do each day ( such as walking, etc). Then add 600 calories per each hour of high intensity exercise (running, climbing, etc). Let’s say you do 30 minutes of walking and 45 minutes of running. That would be 75 calories for low intensity and 450 calories for high intensity.

Determine Your Carb, Fat, and Protein Requirements

Specifically for a climber, here is the breakdown of your needs, based on your caloric needs.

Carbs

65% of your calories should come from carbs. There are 4 calories in 1 carb.

Protein

15% of your calories should come from Protein. There are 4 calories in 1 gram of protein.

Fats

20% of your calories should come from Fat. There are 9 calories in 1 gram of fat.

So by making these calculations, and beginning to monitor what you eat, you will notice significant gains in your climbing ability, as long as you are training alongside of having a strict nutritional program!

More to follow soon!

• Optimism has been correlated with better immune systems in healthy people who have been subjected to stress.
• Both lab research and survey research indicate that positive emotions help people who were previously under stress relax back to their physiological baseline.
• Positive emotions that come from optimism broaden one’s awareness and encourage novel, varied, and exploratory thoughts and actions.   Over time, this broadened behavioral repertoire builds skills and resources

The method for change is on the principles of what Positive Psychology calls “ABCDE” for Adversity, Beliefs, Consequences, Disputation and Distraction, and Energization.  In the next entry we will explore these tools.

- Author: Danny McCracken (dmccracken@ascentadventure.com)

Now I’m trying to theorize why this topic has all of a sudden jumped in popularity. About 1 month ago, I started weekly posts on how the Climbing Experience applies to all of life. Then articles started appearing all over the place. Of course I’d like to think that people saw me as the trend setter! But, for a more realistic theory, I’d say that it’s because we’re in the middle of this recession and people are making big life decisions, people are feeling stressed out, and also because we’re halfway through the summer and people are really wishing they were outdoors on some adventure.

I’d love to hear people’s comments on why you think this topic has gained such momentum as of late. Comment below!

These are some great practical steps to take that help parents make sure their kids stay physically active in fun, adventurous ways!

Check it out.

1. Keep my own coffee mug in the car. That way when I stop at Starbucks to get coffee, they can use my mug, and not use their paper cups.

2. Use Google Maps on my cell phone. Almost every cell phone has the ability to either download a Google Maps app or connect to Google Maps. Use your phone to get Google Maps directions to your destination rather that printing out all the directions and maps. It saves a ton of paper!

3. Bring an empty reusable water bottle to the airport. You can’t bring water through security, but you can bring an empty bottle! That way when you get into the terminal, you can fill your bottle up at the water fountain and save having to buy and use a plastic bottle of water at one of the airport stores!

Nothing fancy about it, but every little bit counts!

Happy Adventuring!

Brandon Hensinger

Ascent Adventure Consultants- Bringing Adventure to Life

Stuart Brown is a proponent of making sure that everyone, adults especially, take time to “play” and do things that are enjoyable and invigorating for them. Without doing this, it doesn’t just lead to boredom, but rather depression and discontentment.

Getting away from cell phones and computers and enjoying the outdoors is the best way to do this. Of course, leisure activities such as video game playing is still relaxing, but until you take action to get away from all things that can distract you, you won’t truly be refreshed.

I often find that when I get away from all the daily responsibilities and demands of running my company, I come back with a renewed vision and determination for Ascent Adventure Consultants success. Often, it can be easy to think, “There’s no way that I can get away….I will miss opportunities.” However, the opposite is true. If you don’t get away every once in a while, you will miss opportunities because you will get burnt out and discouraged.

This coincides with some of the postings we have done last year: Escaping the Normal Routine of Life

Visit our website today to: Take time to play and enjoy life! We only get one life…so make the most of it! Climb some cliffs, hike some mountains, or whatever else you may enjoy!

The results surprised me. The footprint of the production of the beer and wine is minimal. However what creates the greatest footprint is how you travel to obtain the beer and wine. Do you drive far to purchase it? Do you purchase beer imported from far away? Then consider purchasing local brews and local wines that can be purchased at nearby grocery stores.

Just an interesting thought!

Strength-Building Asana Sequence for Climbers:

1) Down Dog

2) Warrior I — press the palms together and take the gaze upwards 5 breaths.

3) Release the arms behind the back, interlace the fingers, lean back, and touch the hands to the back thigh. Lower body remains in Warrior I position here. 5 breaths.

4) Keep the arms and legs as they are, just lean foward and extend the heart out over the front knee. 5 breaths.

5. Keep the legs as they are, release the arms, and then extend the arms forward as if you are reaching out to someone. 5 breaths.

6. Lean into the front leg and slowly stand up right into Warrior III. 10 breaths. Remember to keep this pose active! Extend back through the heel; extend forward through the finger tips. Keep raising that back leg and don’t let anything sag.

7. “Airplane” the arms to the side, and then “barrel roll” into Half-Moon Pose. 10 deep Ujjayi breaths. You may even try to take the bottom hand off the ground and extend that arm forward.

8. Very slowly, lower back into Extended Side-Angle Stretch. The landing here should be light and controlled. Hold Side-Angle for 10 breaths. Again, keep this pose super active. Extend forward through the top arm, and cut the back foot sharply into the mat. Imagine a line of energy extending from the back heel all the way throught he tips of the forward fingers.

9. Now here comes the fun part. 5 rounds of Extended Side-Angle Stretch into Half-Moon, and back again, holding each pose for 2 deep breaths. Remember to move between the poses with lightness and control.

10. End up in Half-Moon. “Barrel roll” back into Warrior III. Just 5 breaths this time.

11. Bring the hands to the floor and come into Standing Split. Hold for 10 breaths. Try to take both hands to the ankle so that your leg is doing all the work in holding you up.

11. From Standing Split, either press up directly into a Handstand or kick up into a Handstand. Alternatively, just come straight back into Chaturanga.

12. Vinyasa. Repeat on the other side.

I’d love to hear your comments on this!

Make sure to sign up for the Ascent Adventure Consultants Newsletter to get more updates like this on a regular basis!

“Climate change is occurring now, and is already affecting our natural environment, our national security and our quality of life. But, there are effective, achievable solutions for addressing the crisis. An important step is to repower America by producing 100 percent of our country’s electricity from energy sources with zero carbon emissions — within 10 years. Making this switch will generate millions of good American jobs, cut energy costs, safeguard national security, and protect the climate. We need business and government leaders at all levels to help adopt policies and practices now that will enable America to switch to energy sources with zero carbon emissions. We need policies that encourage energy efficiency, renewable energy, and a unified national electricity grid.

We can repower America in a short time frame. We put a man on the moon in just eight years. We quickly retooled our factories to produce tanks, trucks and airplanes for World War II. We mobilized for civil rights and women’s suffrage. We’ve done this before, and we can do it again”

www.wecansolveit.org

One of the best ways to get motivated to take action and become involved in programs like this is read success stories. For example, check out the story on how the people and government of Colorado are joining together to make a difference:

How did Colorado voters become climate champions? They helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions just by going to the ballot box.

In 2004, Colorado was the first state to establish a climate-friendly RPS (Renewable Portfolio Standard) through a voter-passed initiative. An RPS is a requirement that a certain amount of electricity in the state come from renewable sources like solar, wind, and geothermal energy.  In Colorado’s case, the RPS specified 10% renewable energy by 2015.

Three years later, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter went a step further and doubled the standard to 20%. Large investor-owned utilities in Colorado must now obtain 20% of their electricity from renewable sources and small utilities must provide at least 10% renewable energy by 2020.

“By doubling the RPS, Colorado is reaffirming its commitment to maintaining national leadership in renewable energy development,” said Interwest Energy Alliance Executive Director Craig Cox.

Greenhouse gas reduction has become a state-wide effort in Colorado as more people pitch in to help reduce the state’s emissions. As American Wind Energy Association Western Representative Ron Lehr said,”Renewables are now bipartisan and mainstream. The people have spoken truth about power.”

This is just one example of how individuals, organizations, businesses and governments are helping to stop climate change. There are thousands more across the country and around the world – and it’s through these efforts that we’re going to be successful. We can’t afford not to succeed in this unprecedented challenge to our planet.

Ascent Adventure Consultants has some REALLY exciting things planned for 2009. One of them is the plan for the blog. We will be following a weekly schedule, having each day be dedicated to a different topic. What are those topics, you ask? Here they are:

1. Mondays- Trip Reports
2. Tuesdays- Fitness and Training Tips
3. Wednesdays- Business and Corporate Training Advice
4. Thursday- Climbing Techniques and Tools
5. Friday- Environmental Issues and Advice
6. Saturdays- Miscellaneous Items that We Want to Write About!

So make sure to check back to read what interests you!