New Year’s Resolutions 2016

Well, it’s two weeks into the New Year already and I’ve been terrible—absolutely terrible—about getting new content out there! I really apologize for this, my sister has been in town all the way until just two days ago, and I haven’t been good about managing my time. But, she’s gone now, and it’s time to start writing again!

I don’t have the time to get a full piece out this week (though I have several planned, if not written, for the next few weeks), so I thought it might be a good idea to lay out my goals for the following year.

This is actually a post I’ve wanted to write for awhile, because I want to be transparent about where I’m hoping to take this site and provide a roadmap. This site will always be dedicated to providing clearly written, science-based nutrition information (particularly sports nutrition) for climbers, but there are more ways to do that beyond just writing articles.

I don’t expect to accomplish every long-term site goal this year, but there are a few shorter-term goals that I would like to lay out that will ultimately get this site closer to its long-term goals. Here they are:

Climbing Nutrition Site Goals for 2016

1. Expand Reach: Isn’t this always the goal of a website? Considering this is the first blog I’ve written that has been read by more than my own eyes, I’m extremely pleased with how many people come on a routine basis and read my content! Thank you to all! But in the coming year, I hope I can spread the word even further. I think what I have to say has the potential to change and charge climbers the world round, and I’d like to reach more of them. Without knowing more about website metrics, it’s hard to express a concrete figure for this goal, but I think (hope) it’s reasonable to double the average pageviews (currently roughly 15K/month) and FB followers.
2. Bring On Guest Writers: I don’t want or expect to be the sole voice in the world of climbing nutrition, and I want to give others a platform and audience if they have something they’d like to talk about. This includes topics outside of nutrition, like training—something I have more limited experience with, but which a guest writer may be able to tie in well to other topics on this site. I would like to be able to pay those writers (because I believe in paying writers!), which brings me to the next goal…
3. Monetize the Blog: I don’t really like the word “monetize”—it’s such a cold word that feels to me like the epitome of objectification, and objectification is the last thing I want. I do however, want to find a voluntary, non-intrusive way to allow readers who feel like they gain value from what this site provides to support me and the site itself. I’m considering using Patreon, and also perhaps finding a few sponsors who would like to advertise their products on this site. If I do find sponsors, they would be highly specific to you (a climber, or a person interested in nutrition), and hopefully provide further value.
4. Tie In More with My Nutrition Business: I don’t know if I have mentioned even a single time on this site that I run a separate company, Boulder’s Elite Sports Nutrition (BESN), which provides nutrition plans for individuals. I haven’t mentioned it for a couple of reasons: one, because I didn’t ever want this blog to feel like a funnel for that company; and two, because I currently only have the capacity for individual consultations. My goal here is to freely help as many people as possible, which is pretty much the direct opposite of how BESN has to operate. But! In the coming year, I’m hoping to expand/change the way I operate BESN, first by offering group classes instead of just individual consults. Once I have a group class setup, then I can reach significantly more people at significantly less cost, and that is more closely aligned with this site’s overall goals.

Stretch Goals

In addition to writing articles, I would also love to start providing different sorts of content—probably still written, but if I can ever learn to interact naturally in front of a camera, maybe video as well. These include interviews and public consults (where I work with a client for free in exchange for their permission to write it), but way into the future other goals as well.

For example, I’d love to be able to start doing some primary research on climbers and nutrition instead of just piecing together knowledge based on related research—how awesome would it be to have a study done actually on climbers about creatine, or beta-alanine, or low-carb diets, or any of a handful of other topics I’ve written about? Research is expensive, unfortunately, so this lies in the future when I can hopefully afford to be able to at least partially fund small amounts of research.

Personal Goals for 2016

I’ve got personal goals, too! And while these may not be directly relevant to you, perhaps they’ll at least show you where I orient myself in the world of climbing and make me feel less like a disembodied author reach out across wires and more like a human physically clanging a keyboard with callused fingers to produce content each week.

1. Climb My First Double Digit Boulder: Outside I’ve climbed as hard as V8. Last summer, there were a few V9s that were just outside of reach that I feel confident I can get this year. I want to take it further though, and climb my first V10 (or beyond) problem. For the purposes of this goal, I don’t care how featherbagged it is—consistent v10+ goodness can come later—I just want to get one!
2. Get Super Solid on Handstands: I’ve been working hard on handstands for the past few months, and I’m getting decent, but the feeling of solidity is still elusive. I still can only hold a 10+ second handstand once in every four tries or so, and by 30 seconds I’m almost always back onto my feet. More importantly, though, is that even when I’m up, it doesn’t feel like I’m 100% in control—maybe more like 68% control. By the end of this year, I want to feel like I have just as much control to bend and move my body (or just stay rigidly upright) on my hands as on my feet.
3. Get a Back Lever: I can hold a front lever for about 10 seconds, but back levers feel ridiculously hard (even though they’re hypothetically “easier”). Maybe it’s just because climbing more naturally develops the muscles necessary for a front lever, but regardless of the reason, I want to be able to do a full back lever! Actually, I want to be able to raise to a front lever to an inverted hang (which I currently can do) and then lower into a back hang and a German hang, and then pull back out and around (which I cannot do).

I have other bodyweight goals, but those are the two most immediate ones—the rest (like planches, ring handstands, and iron crosses) all require those goals as building blocks, so they’re much more long term.

Have a Great 2016!

Thanks for bearing with me through the end, including the indulgence of listing my own personal goals. Eleven months from now, I’ll let you know how I’ve done on all of them.

How about you? Do you have any climbing (or nutrition, or otherwise) goals this year? Share them in the comments below!