Questionnaire
Jack
Arnow
Section A.
1. Year of birth:
1942
2. Height &
weight (now and at younger age): Now:
5'6"+, 140 lbs.
40 years ago: 5'7"-, 130 lbs.
3. Year you began
rock climbing and/or bodyweight athletics: I began calisthenics
and bodyweight exercises around 1957. Played lots of basketball, but never did
gymnastics. Did extreme training at least until 1967, and then moderate
training until about 1977, when I lost my one arm chin. Continued with sporadic
training until 1992, but then started extreme bodyweight exercises again.
Around 2007, I started to move towards moderation.
4. Are you retired?
Still working?: Retired in 2008 as a college math professor. But
I still work a few hours a week teaching physics, chemistry and yoga.
5. Is your family
supportive of your rock climbing and/or bodyweight athletics: Except for
my wife, yes! She doesn’t understand how I can get so much joy from training,
and didn’t like dealing with my injuries.
6. How important is
the social aspect of the sport for you?: I enjoy speaking with others
who have trained seriously and “get me,” but basically it’s a very personal
experience. I love to train and to experience the physical, mental and emotional
states that I get from it
Section B.
1. Type of rock
climbing (or bodyweight athletics) you now enjoy:
Gave up one-arm chinning 4 years ago (to prevent injuries), but continue to
chin with added weight and practice yoga which I took up about 10 years ago
when I was temporarily injured. Just started to train a front lever again, when
I found I was very weak at it.
2. Type you enjoyed
at a younger age?: One arm chinning and front levers. Not until I
was 50 did I start to train for chinning with added weight.
3.
Do you engage in auxilliary training or associated
athletics?:
Not really, I just train because I love it.
4. How often do you
climb or exercise now? At a younger age?: When I was younger I
chinned 4 to 5 times a week, and played
lots of basketball. My wife convinced me to stop playing basketball around 50. I
practice yoga,
5 to 6 days a week and limit myself to chinning 3 days a week. I do sprint and
walk cycles for about 20 minutes once a week.
5.
Length of climbing (or exercise) sessions now?:
I mix the chinning in with the yoga, because chinning for me is mainly
resting interspersed with intense periods of pulling. Combined, anywhere from
40 to 100 minutes.
6. How long does it
take for fairly complete physical recovery?: Chinning is basically every
other day, and I’m recovered. But if I don’t feel fully recovered from chinning
or yoga or not sleeping (rare), I just rest and take it easy.
7. At what level of
difficulty do you now climb (exercise)? Past
levels?: I just went
back to chinning with 60 lbs added from 50 lbs, but I often change. In my 50’s
and until around 65 I routinely chinned with 75 lbs added. Until 25 I did lots
and lots of one arm chinning. From 25 to 35 I did less and less. In my 50’s I
regained my one arm chin, but injuries made it come and go. The most I did at
this time was 4 alternating one arm chins. When I was 25 and under I routinely
did 3 sets of 16 to 18 alternate one arm chins.
8. What changes have
you observed in strength and endurance over the years? Grip strength? Arm & upper body strength? Legs? :I never trained for or had grip strength. My
upper body and arm strength have clearly diminished. My strength
endurance is more diminished still. I used to play basketball for 5 hours
straight, and ran a half marathon. My legs were never particular strong, but I
still can walk for hours quite easily. The sprint and walk cycles are improving
my sprinting.
Section C.
1. Any injuries or
illnesses since age 65 affecting your climbing/exercising? How have you coped?
NSAIDs or other medication? :
Old dogs can learn. I haven’t
been seriously injured since age 65, because I reduced the intensity of my
training to avoid injury and it has worked. I didn’t take any medications until
very recently when I started Flomax to reduce the urge to urinate frequently.
2. What kind of diet
do you follow, if any? Vitamins? Stimulants?:
I’m
not an extremist but I make sure to eat fruits, vegetables, whole grains,
chicken and fish. I love chocolate. I eat other foods too, but not too much
junk food. I drink one or two glasses of wine per week, and coffee once in a
while. Until 65, I took lots of supplements and protein powders, but now only
take combined calcium and vitamin D, and fish oil pills.
3. Special food or
drink after a workout?: None.
4. Water or fluid
intake? High? Low?: Moderate, but usually after a workout when
I’m thirsty.
Section D.
1. What is your
current philosophy of your sport? Has this changed with age? : I
never have had a philosophy about training. I was quite mindless as a youth.
Mainly, I just love doing it for many different reasons. It feels good. It
makes me feel good. It’s calming. I reach “altered states.” I do enjoy reaching
goals that I set for myself. I think I enjoy training now more than ever
because I don’t take it for granted. I go to a gym once a week to take a yoga
class. I’m chatty before the class, and often tell someone who’s complaining
about an injury “Be happy you can get to the gym. Everything else is gravy.”
2. What are your
current goals and personal rewards from the sport? Has this changed with age?:
I love to move and feel my body. Actually, I don’t think one sport or
activity is better than another. Find what you like and do it! Age has made
this clearer to me.
3. What is your
opinion: Is rock climbing (bodyweight exercises)
performance - at any age -
influenced more strongly by genetic
attributes or training and
experience? (Nature or nurture?) Is it even possible to generalize?: Genetics and build clearly make one-arm
chinning easier for some. My dad lived to over 100 with no major illnesses.
He’d get joint pains but they’d get better, though he didn’t exercise and
rarely sought medical treatment. But training and experience are also very
important. My achievements required good genes and much training.
