Preparing for the World Cup Stage with Ross Fulkerson

We caught up with Ross at the World Cup's in Salt Lake City to see how he prepares himself for these big stage competitions. 

Thoughts Directly from Ross Fulkerson:

Consistently competing in climbing competitions for the last 10 years has taught me so much about climbing, myself, and life in general. However, chief among those teachings is the importance of being able to get into a flow state consistently. A flow state is defined as an optimal state of consciousness, where you feel and perform your best. 

More specifically, the term refers to the moments when action and awareness merge and you become so focused on the activity at hand that everything else disappears. In the volatile world of competition climbing, it is paramount that athletes develop their own set of habits and techniques to allow them to enter this flow state no matter the situation. 

I am still refining my competition routines and always looking for new habits to include but as of now, these are the 3 habits/routines that I believe help me the most in completion:

Intentional practice 

For me, a large component of competing well comes down to having spent time and energy learning to practice with intention. Over the years, I have learned that quality practice is always more valuable than sheer time on the wall. Ideally, you can practice in a simulated competition environment but that is not always an option.

I challenge myself by setting a time limit or giving myself limited attempts. I also like to record myself and review footage to identify any weaknesses or places of improvement and solidify anything I performed well. This helps to reinforce all the good habits in my climbing and, in essence, increases the amount of quality practice I have.

Mindful breathing

Being present is difficult in pretty much every aspect of life but it’s especially hard in competitions. Mindful breathing helps me to de-clutter my head, stay focused, and manage my energy. Once behind the wall, I have several breathing routines that I use to either decrease, maintain or increase my heart rate and energy.

Up until about 2 minutes before I climb, I usually prefer deep, belly breathing in through the nose with equal length exhales through the mouth. With this method, I strive to breathe into my belly first and then fill my diaphragm.

Once I’m out on the pads, I take one last very intentional breath. This consists of either one quick, forceful breath (in through my mouth, out through my mouth) if the boulder is more overhanging or a slower more calming one (in through the nose and out through the mouth) if the problem is a slab, which requires more balance.

After I return to the back, I usually spend the first minute or so breathing slowing in and out through my nose with the goal of slowing my heart rate and re-centering before the next boulder.

Positive visualization 

Visualization has long been a favorite technique of mine and is something I vehemently believe should be part of everyone’s pre-climb routine. The extent to which I visualize my movement varies, but at the very least I try and see myself in the starting and ending positions of each move.

In competition, that routine expands to include positive visualization around how I want to feel and climb. To me, that means confident focused energy, and decisive, intuition-based movements. Once I’m behind the wall and have started the breathing sequence described above, I like to pick a point on the wall/tent in front of me (a random bolt or specific point on a beam) something above the commotion of the isolation area.

I then focus on this point, while breathing, and visualize myself out on the pads present and ready to fight hard on the next boulder. Throughout this entire sequence, I am usually smiling a lot and noticing how much positive energy is moving through my body.

Overall, I think the most effective thing to train is being able to get yourself into a mental and physical state where you can let your instincts take over, the FLOW STATE. If you can consistently practice in flow, you are far more likely to find it while competing. That’s why if you have a tried-and-true set of habits that get you primed then no matter your situation, you should be confident in your ability to perform at your fullest potential.