Josune Bereziartu on Training

ClimbandMore: Some time ago you said in an interview that you trained mostly on plastic because it’s more efficient. Is it still like that?
Josune Bereziartu: Yes, absolutely. I feel that the best way to gain strength in training is to do it on plastic. But you must be aware that you need time to transfer the results of those work-outs to natural rock, which is obvious. So it would be best if you could climb on rock each day before training. Anyway, you need to do it as soon as possible.

Do you have your own climbing wall or do you rather train in the gym?
I have my own climbing wall - you know, I often need almost all the wall for myself.

What do you mean “almost all the wall for yourself’?
 I mean that when I´m doing a series, it involves maintaining strict timing and the traverses that I use are often very long. So I need the whole wall to climb.

Have you ever set on plastic sequences or moves similar to those from the routes you were working on? I mean something which is sometimes called “stimulator”?
It´s very difficult to make the same moves on plastic - the texture, the feeling, the footholds always give you different impressions than natural rock. I think such training might be good at an intermediate level. I have sometimes done it, but I have never felt very happy with it.

Spanish climbers like Ramonet or Edu Marin have made electronic stimulation famous. Do you or Rikar use it, too?
We have often used it before, but we aren’t using it now. Actually, I use it when I feel weak or don´t have enough time to complete a training session. I also use it to maintain my muscle tone, so that my muscles don’t go down. I´m a girl and I need to put emphasis on my muscles.