Climbing Legend Chris Sharma Credits His Ageless Power to This Surprisingly Simple Training Rule
In his early years, Sharma chased climbs on instinct without any real rhyme or reason—letting each new adventure pull him in. But at 44, he has to be more strategic about how he moves. It's not just his body that's changed—his life has, too. These days, Sharma is a husband and father of two, and his time is no longer all his own. But with less time comes more intention—and in many ways, the climbs mean even more now than they did before.
"I have two children, and so my time is split differently, where in the past I had this amazing freedom, where my life revolved around rock climbing," says Sharma, who recently collaborated with prAna to craft the Mandala Boulder Graphic Tee. "Before, I would climb every other day, and my climbing would be much more 'dosified' into smaller windows very frequently. But now, because I'm so limited by these external circumstances, I'm just chomping at the bit to get out there."
Because he climbs less frequently now, Sharma says he tends to push harder when he does. As a result, he's had to learn how to be more consistent with his training—while also prioritizing recovery to keep his body in the game."In the past, I could take a month or two off and really step back from climbing, just to kind of find myself," he said. "When I was younger I remember coming back, directly dropping into some competition and not missing a beat. Nowadays, I just can't do that, I have to be much more consistent in my climbing, and I climb every week. There are periods of time when it's good to take a break, but it's not something that you want to do very often, because I think if you stay consistent, you can continue to climb at your highest level, and even progress."
As you age—especially as a climber—your body just doesn't respond the way it used to. Your stamina dips, your grip weakens, and the rock feels a little less forgiving. For Chris Sharma, the secret to a decades-long climbing career is simple: just keep climbing. But he's also gotten smarter about everything outside the gym. That means cutting back on alcohol and prioritizing overall health to keep performing at a high level.
"My personal experience in climbing now that I am a bit older is that routines have become more meaningful for me. Because I am so motivated to keep achieving my goals on the rock and I know the effects of not being consistent, I'm much more aware of that now. With regard to diet and sleep I've definitely made certain lifestyle changes to overall be healthier."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
An Ancient Ritual May Help To Relieve Exhausting Sleep Condition
Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) may affect up to 10 million of us in the UK, with an estimated four million of those facing moderate to severe cases. The British Heart Foundation notes the common condition is linked to an increased risk of 'illness and death linked to the heart'. The NHS links untreated OSA to higher blood pressure and increased risk of stroke, type 2 diabetes, and even depression. It is also linked to 'hypersomnia,' or extreme daytime sleepiness, because it interrupts the sleep of people who have it. But a recently published randomised controlled trial from the Eternal Heart Care Centre and Research Institute in India has found that conch blowing, or shankh blowing, which is thought to date back to about 1,000 BCE, may help to reduce symptoms. What is conch blowing, and what effect might it have on sleep apnoea? Conch blowing is pretty much what it sounds like – it involves blowing through a conch shell. 'Yogic texts also describe it as a breathing exercise that strengthens the lungs and throat,' study author Dr Krishna K Sharma told Newsweek. The researchers studied 30 people with OSA aged between 19 and 65 years old. Half of the group was told to try conch blowing throughout the trial for a minimum of 15 minutes, five times a week. The other half were told to stick to the same schedule, but using deep breathing techniques. By the end of the study, the participants who had tried conch blowing reported 34% less sleepiness throughout the day (OSA often makes people very sleepy as it keeps them awake at night). On average, they had four to five fewer episodes of OSA an hour. They also had higher blood oxygen levels as they slept. Why might conch blowing help those with sleep apnoea? The paper said this benefit may have come about due to 'respiratory muscle training through shankh blowing'. Speaking to The Guardian, Dr Sharma explained further: 'The way the shankh is blown is quite distinctive. 'This action creates strong vibrations and airflow resistance, which likely strengthens the muscles of the upper airway, including the throat and soft palate, areas that often collapse during sleep in people with OSA.' The researchers hope the findings might lead to better treatment for people with OSA – especially considering current relief for severe cases often comes in the form of expensive, cumbersome CPAP machines. For now, though, the NHS said other ways to manage OSA include losing weight if you're overweight, exercising regularly, sleeping on your side, and maintaining good sleep hygiene. Related... This Is The Best Position To Sleep In During A Heatwave I Thought We Needed To Sleep Apart – Then Came The Scandinavian Method Here's Exactly How Many Minutes To Run Per Week For Better Sleep
UPI
5 days ago
- UPI
Researchers suggest conch shell blowing as sleep apnea treatment
Regularly blowing through a conch shell for six months significantly improved sleep among a small group of people with sleep apnea, researchers in India found. Photo by Kitreel/Adobe Stock/HealthDay News Want to ease your sleep apnea and get a better night's sleep? Blow through a conch shell, a new pilot clinical trial says. Regularly blowing through a conch shell for six months, like Disney princess Moana or Anchorman legend Ron Burgundy, significantly improved sleep among a small group of people with sleep apnea. Patients blowing a conch slept better, felt more alert during the day and had fewer breathing interruptions at night, researchers reported. Conch blowing might prove a reasonable alternative to using a continuous positive air pressure machine, in which a face mask blows air to keep a patient's airways open while sleeping, said lead researcher Dr. Krishna Sharma, director and head of pulmonology at the Eternal Heart Care Center and Research Institute in Jaipur, India. While CPAP is the gold standard treatment for sleep apnea, many patients find it uncomfortable and noisy. "For people living with obstructive sleep apnea, especially those who find CPAP uncomfortable, unaffordable, or inaccessible, our findings offer a promising alternative," Sharma said in a news release. "[Conch] blowing is a simple low-cost, breathing technique that could help improve sleep and reduce symptoms without the need for machines or medication." Blowing a conch shell, also called shankh blowing, has been part of Indian culture for thousands of years, he explained. "In my clinical practice, several patients reported feeling more rested and experiencing fewer symptoms after regularly practicing shankh blowing - a traditional yogic breathing exercise involving exhaling through a conch shell," Sharma said. Based on these anecdotes, Sharma and colleagues designed a small clinical trial to see if the simple, ancient practice might help people with sleep apnea. In sleep apnea, a person stops breathing repeatedly during the night because their airway collapses, causing them to wake. Sleep apnea patients often snore loudly, and have a higher risk of high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. Researchers think conch blowing might help by exercising the muscles of the airway. "The way the shankh is blown is quite distinctive. It involves a deep inhalation followed by a forceful, sustained exhalation through tightly pursed lips," Sharma said. "This action creates strong vibrations and airflow resistance, which likely strengthens the muscles of the upper airway, including the throat and soft palate -- areas that often collapse during sleep in people with obstructive sleep apnea," he continued. "The shankh's unique spiraling structure may also contribute to specific acoustic and mechanical effects that further stimulate and tone these muscles." Researchers recruited 30 people with moderate sleep apnea and randomly assigned 16 to practice blowing through a conch shell. The other 14 were taught a deep breathing exercise. All participants were encouraged to practice either conch blowing or deep breathing for a minimum of 15 minutes a day, five days a week. After six months, the people armed with conch shells were 34% less sleepy during the daytime than those practicing deep breathing, results show. They also reported better sleep. Sleep lab tests showed that those blowing a conch shell experienced on average four to five fewer episodes during the night in which they breathing stopped during sleep, as well as higher oxygen levels during sleep. "This is a small study, but we are now planning a larger trial involving several hospitals," Sharma said. "This next phase will allow us to validate and expand on our findings in a broader, more diverse population and assess how shankh blowing performs over longer periods." Future studies also will test to see how conch blowing affects the muscle tone of the airways, and compare the practice directly against standard treatments like CPAP, Sharma said. Sophia Schiza, head of the European Respiratory Society's group on sleep-disordered breathing, reviewed the findings. She said conch blowing might fill a need for more treatments for sleep apnea. "This is an intriguing study that shows the ancient practice of shankh blowing could potentially offer an obstructive sleep apnea treatment for selected patients by targeting muscles training," Schiza said in a news release. "A larger study will help provide more evidence for this intervention which could be of benefit as a treatment option or in combination with other treatments in selected obstructive sleep apnea patients," added Schiza, a professor of pulmonology and sleep disorders at the University of Crete in Greece. The new study appears in the journal ERJ Open Research. More information Johns Hopkins Medicine has more on sleep apnea. Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
Ancient ritual of blowing into shell ‘could help with common sleep disorder'
An ancient ritual which involves blowing into a large shell could tackle the symptoms of a common sleep disorder, a study suggests. The practice of conch blowing, also known as shankh blowing, could improve sleep for patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) without the need for uncomfortable machinery, according to researchers. Shankh blowing involves breathing in deeply before exhaling forcefully into a conch, the spiral-shaped shell from a species of sea snail. The small trial, led by researchers in India, involved 30 people aged with 19 and 65 with OSA. OSA happens with the walls of the throat relax and narrow or close, with symptoms including choking noises, loud snoring and waking up a lot. The condition is thought to impact about eight million people in the UK. For the trial, 16 people were provided with a traditional shankh used in yogic practices and trained in how to use it properly before taking it home, while the remaining 14 people were asked to carry out deep breathing exercises. Both groups were encouraged to practice for a minimum of 15 minutes five days a week. They were monitored during sleep and asked questions about sleep quality and how tired they felt during the day. After six months, the study found those who practised shankh blowing reported sleeping better and were 34% less sleepy during the day. They also had higher levels of oxygen in the blood during the night and had four to five fewer apnoeas, where breathing stops during sleep, per hour on average. They also had higher levels of oxygen in their blood during the night. Dr Krishna K Sharma, of the Eternal Heart Care Centre and Research Institute in Jaipur, India, said: 'The way the shankh is blown is quite distinctive. 'It involves a deep inhalation followed by a forceful, sustained exhalation through tightly pursed lips. 'This action creates strong vibrations and airflow resistance, which likely strengthens the muscles of the upper airway, including the throat and soft palate, areas that often collapse during sleep in people with OSA. 'The shankh's unique spiralling structure may also contribute to specific acoustic and mechanical effects that further stimulate and tone these muscles.' Continuous positive airway pressure (Cpap) machines are the first line of treatment for OSA. They involve patients wearing a mask that blows pressurised air into the nose and throat while they sleep. However, they can be uncomfortable. Speaking of Cpap, Dr Sharma said: 'While effective, many patients find it uncomfortable and struggle to use it consistently.' He suggests shankh blowing could be a 'promising alternative'. 'Shankh blowing is a simple low-cost, breathing technique that could help improve sleep and reduce symptoms without the need for machines or medication,' Dr Sharma said. Researchers are now planning a larger trial involving several hospitals. Dr Sharma added: 'This next phase will allow us to validate and expand on our findings in a broader, more diverse population and assess how shankh blowing performs over longer periods. 'We also want to study how this practice affects airway muscle tone, oxygen levels and sleep in greater detail. 'We're particularly interested in comparing shankh blowing with standard treatments like Cpap, and in examining its potential help in more severe forms of OSA.' Reacting to the findings, Professor Sophia Schiza, head of the ERS group on sleep disordered breathing, based at the University of Crete, Greece, said: 'We know that OSA patients have poor quality of sleep, and higher risks of high blood pressure, strokes and heart disease. 'A proportion of patients experience sleepiness during the day. 'While Cpap and other treatments are available based on careful diagnosis of disease severity, there is still need for new treatments. 'This is an intriguing study that shows the ancient practice of shankh blowing could potentially offer an OSA treatment for selected patients by targeting muscles training. 'A larger study will help provide more evidence for this intervention which could be of benefit as a treatment option or in combination with other treatments in selected OSA patients.'
