If relative strength is crucially important in any particular sports, which is certainly the case with rock climbing, then nutrition is also a factor in determining performance. A suitable diet will provide the energy required (particularly by supplying carbohydrates and considerably smaller quantities of fats and proteins) without excessive weight gain.

Carbohydrate is the sugars and starches found in foods that bring to glycogen stored in muscles and liver. Fat is highly calorific, required to produce a number of vital structures such as cell membranes and hormones. Diet that is high in saturated fat and cholesterol can contribute to heart disease, so it is generally recommended to restrict this component of your diet to less than 30 per cent of your total energy requirement. Protein is made up of chains of complex molecules called amino acid, and make up muscle as well as numerous other structures in the body.

Carbohydrate provides 4.1 kcal of energy for each gram, Fat 9.3 kcal/g and Protein 5.3 kcal/g. A so-called normal diet consists on average of 40 per cent carbohydrate, 40 per cent fat and 20 per cent protein.

The diet of a well-nourished climber, on the other hand, would consist of about 60 per cent carbohydrate, 25 per cent fat and 15 per cent protein. Moreover, he would make sure that his diet is rich in vitamins and minerals by eating wholefood products and fresh foods, and drinking a suitable mineral water.

The following foodstuffs can supply carbohydrate requirements: bread and rolls (wholemeal), cereals, rice, potatoes, vegetables and fruits. This list makes it clear why most climbers seeking to improve their performance have now become vegetarians.

The following gives you a rough guide to how you should divide up your food intake:

For climbing, particularly at the elite end of the sport where small increases in power-to-weight ratio can be critical to success or failure, it is important to keep your weight down. Everything else being equal, the climbers who have approximately 0.03 height-to-weight ratio are doing (or have potential to do) better than those who are lower in this ratio.

An average male who train regularly requires total energy of about 4000 kcal a day and female about 3200 kcal. If you are training hard and trying to lose the weight at the same time, reduce daily calorie intake by about 500 kcal and find a diet that maintains a high percentage of carbohydrate to provide energy. Diets that have low carbohydrate intake are associated with loss of muscle mass and cause a reduction in your capacity for power and endurance.