Climbing has a problem! Real talk with Prof. Dr. med. Volker Schöffl

Рет қаралды 148,636

Күн бұрын

Alexander Megos sits down with Dr. Volker Schöffl, a respected figure in the climbing and medical communities. In this candid and thought-provoking interview titled 'Climbing Has a Problem! Real Talk with Volker Schöffl,' Megos delves deep into the critical issue of eating disorders and their impact on athletes in the climbing world. Dr. Schöffl, an expert in sports medicine, sheds light on his decision to resign from the IFSC's Medical Commission due to their inadequate response to the RED-S syndrome (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport). Together, they explore the urgent need for comprehensive measures to address this pressing concern, discuss recent developments in climbing regulations, and offer insights into the path forward for a healthier and more supportive climbing community. Don't miss this insightful conversation that tackles a crucial topic in the world of climbing.
@volkerschoffl9216 - for those who want to know more about Volker Schöffl
00:00 Intro
05:20 Introduction Prof. Dr. med. Volker Schöffel
13:11 RED - S explained

Пікірлер: 328

@climbing_thomas 10 ай бұрын

wow, finally somebody speaking up, let's hope this conversation will continue with some momentum, thank you alex and volker!

@kim98677 10 ай бұрын

Several climbers have been on it recently, especially among the women who compete within the IFSC. glad it's getting he attention needs because the IFSC seems to pretend it's news to them

@chickenflair7977 10 ай бұрын

honestlyI looked at some of the mens and womens top climbers weights and it´s mostly a problem for the women only... most top men have pretty healthy bodyweight around 60-75 kg. Considering that most of them are below 180 or even 175cm 60-70 kg is completely health. @@kim98677

@feelinghealingfrequences7179 10 ай бұрын

sport climbing neither competition is not positive comparing and competing is like war everyone losses except for corporations

@jonnes__4657 10 ай бұрын

We should have BMI classes in climbing sport. .

@molomono9481 6 ай бұрын

Its not that people now are speaking up, it is the lack of interest from the main body sport practicioners. Alex provided his platform to make a PSA, and thats amazing. But to imply nobody has spoken up yet, as if the medical practicioners havent been vocal about this for years is just wrong. I dont mean it as a debby downer comment, but if you found this interesting you might want to dig into the professional literature. Since there are many "unheard" yet interesting and useful insights that dont make it to the hobbiest climber.

@eljanrimsa5843 10 ай бұрын

Thanks for speaking out. Janja Garnbret has talked about this before this season, and said that she wants us not to raise "another generation of skeletons". She advocates for bans for athletes who repeatedly measure below the BMI threshold. Caroline Treadway has done a powerful documentary about the "normality" of eating disorders in climbing. Stasa Gejo has opened up that she had her own battle with eating disorder a couple of years ago, the injuries she had, and that she feels much healthier and stronger at her higher weight now. And if you want an inside look from another sport: American long-distance runner Allie Ostrander speaks in her KZfaq posts about her battle with eating disorder.

@MSHNKTRL 10 ай бұрын

Janja is proper jacked, I hope more women follow hers and Alex Puccio's example

@lucyreed4452 10 ай бұрын

also Alannah Yip calling out the IFSC

@evaburtseva7245 10 ай бұрын

Janja wouldn't pass the "normal" BMI threshold either. BMI is outdated and can't be a measure of health. Some people have a natural lower or higher BMI and it's not an indication of an eating disorder

@malindarayallen 10 ай бұрын

Magnus Midtbo has opened up about his struggles too.

@eljanrimsa5843 10 ай бұрын

@@evaburtseva7245 That's the nothing-is-perfect-let's-not-do-anything argument with which people excuse the problem away for themselves. Watch the video! He explains what they use BMI resp. MI for. The BMI resp. MI measurement is a last stop sign something is wrong. The physiological problem that occurs in climbing and some other sports is called RED-S, Relative Energy Deficiency in Sports - When an athlete provides less energy than his or her body needs, the body slows down or shuts off non-immediately essential functions like hormone production, if this goes on too long, bone density will drop, injuries and all sorts of health issues will develop. To address the bigger problem, the idea is to have regular RED-S exams once at the start of the season. The BMI resp. MI threshold would be to take away the incentive for dropping weight to a dangerously low level when performing in a comp, because BMI resp. MI is easy to measure, similar to what ski jumping did.

@FooDawg 10 ай бұрын

You are one of only a few athletes that even broach this subject, let alone delve deep into it... Good on you Alex. The community appreciates you and your approach to the sport!!!

@climb518 10 ай бұрын

Great video, thanks to Prof. Schöffl for taking the time to educate us more on this very important topic!

@AdamL_18 10 ай бұрын

uploading videos even when participating to a world cup. what a champ ! keep up the great work

@JoMahr 10 ай бұрын

I really appreciate how you use your platform to draw attention to issues like these, Alex. Cudos!

@gutparra 10 ай бұрын

Great video, very importante topic. Norwegian former pro climber @Magnus Midtbø has talked about some of these issues, from the perspective of an athlete. I'd suggest Megos and dr. Schöffl to talk to him to make some kind of partnership to disseminate the content of this video to a broader audience. Increased awareness in the climbing community can help to convince IFSC to start acting responsibly

@ericr3581 10 ай бұрын

Really great video. I didn't realize it was this bad. It's unthinkable that the doctors cannot do anything about it when an athlete is sick. I understand Dr. Schöffl's resignation, and it's a shame that it had to come to that.

@Maciekovic 10 ай бұрын

holy moly, thank you for the insightful interview! Scary how this affects so many climbers

@bluemeaford 10 ай бұрын

This is absolutely fantastic. Thank you Alex and Dr. for bringing increased awareness to this extremely important topic. I work in mental health and many people do not realize how dangerous eating disorders and that mindset can be. “Anorexia that has the highest mortality of any psychiatric diagnosis other than opioid use disorder”. (source APA).

@4Burcu4 10 ай бұрын

Thank you so much for speaking up about this guys! As a climbing coach, this is one thing I am super worried about for my young climbers. It is not enough for coaches to be aware of this and have a talk with their athletes. They are so passionate about the sport and they idolize the top competition athletes. Whatever they do, whatever they wear, wherever they go and also whatever they eat is being mocked by these kids who are trying to be like them… So it is not just about their own health at that level of competition, it is also about setting example for the direction we want our beloved sport to take. We owe that to our next generation.

@svenbreitkopf 10 ай бұрын

Wow Alex! Thumbs up for beeing bold enough to upload this while beeing heavily dependent on the IFSC and DAV.

@Sinus2016 10 ай бұрын

This is a very important topic in our sport, thank you for using your platform and your contacts to give awareness to the health related problems in professional climbing ✨ Also thank you to the doctor for putting in all this afford into making climbing a safer sport and the competitors healthier 😊

@kristenblackham9073 10 ай бұрын

Thank you for continuing to put pressure on the IFSC! This is so important not just for the current climbers, but for the future of the sport! Of course the athletes are so motivated to perform, but 15 years of your life shouldn’t take away from the other 70+ years you have!

@user-sv3op8wj2j 10 ай бұрын

As a huge comp climber fan who typically doesn't participate in any online activities, you've convinced me to make a youtube account so I can comment on all the ifsc videos to please address this topic. I will also be figuring out a way to email or call the IFSC. I care about the athletes deeply and would rather see them go on to live happy lives after their competitive careers than to just have 1-2 good seasons. Thank you so much for sharing this.

@julen2380 10 ай бұрын

Such an important topic and definitely not only in climbing. I actually don't climb but do cycling (not competitvely) and if you watch professional cycling...it might be worse than climbing. I guess the same is true for many endurance sports. So thank you for using your platform to talk about this!

@msig206 10 ай бұрын

Thank you for recognizing that other nations don't have the same medical facilities as the big ones. Most athletes are struggling with with low income and may have to pay out-of-pocket to get additional health check ups (that may be required by IFSC). The upfront cost may be too big for them to even be able to compete. So thank you for recognizing this!

@sqealerr 10 ай бұрын

What a legend. I only knew him from his publications on fingers injuries. Impressive to hear what he did and is doing for the sport. Raising this topic is also good for the semi professionals and local gym crushers, as they often mimic their idols that they see on social media and have to deal with similar health consequences when they start following their nutritional habits.

@peaceorperil 10 ай бұрын

incredibly cool to lend your platform to someone with the expertise to talk frankly about this subject. it's only a matter of time until an athlete on the circuit dies from anorexia unless something changes, the only way something will happen is if people keep the pressure up. hope to see more athletes speaking out.

@isaach6313 10 ай бұрын

Thank you so much for speaking up, Alex. I actually was struggling with this topic for quite a while which led me to stop climbing and focus on my health. I think more conversation and discussion will bring back climbers, like myself, to the sport. Videos like these embraces the challenges and downsides of the sport, which I think is a better alternative than straight ignorance.

@billking8843 10 ай бұрын

Fantastic that leading climbers are going out on a limb and speaking out about this. I'm not a serious climber but have seen enough serious climbers. I started in the 90s when trad ruled here and bouldering was only really done as training by top end sport climbers. At that stage weight lifting was totally frowned upon and obsessed sport climbers were into as losing as much weight as they could. Many got caught in a vicious cycle of failing to meet their performance targets and redoubling their efforts to lose weight, which led to weakness and depression.

@janzapal6238 10 ай бұрын

Respect & thanks, to both of you: Volker for great work and Alex for participating/uploading.

@Nyitemare 10 ай бұрын

I love this guy, he's so passionate and knowledgeable. Really great to see the topic is being tackled head on with intensity. It has the chance to really be so damaging to so many. Great video Alex!

@HimanXK 10 ай бұрын

I'm glad to see more and more athletes discussing this issue. Hopefully IFSC addresses this soon.

@victorkolouch1718 10 ай бұрын

Outstanding video. As an avid senior climber, I love watching the world cup comps. You see competitors who are just rails, and you wonder if they are ok. There is so much at stake for them, that short term rewards can swamp out long term thinking. I'm certainly not an elite athlete, so it's not my place to pass judgement. But, it's great to know that people in the sport are trying to raise the alarm. And Alex can be pretty funny.

@GourmetBurrito 10 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing (and in English too so I could learn more about RED-S). Love that end bit about how the Federation works for the athletes and climbers should make them take their service role seriously. Must have been crazy frustrating to not see change taking shape. Hopefully as more athletes speak out against it, the pressure mounts and we do see that change.

@MicahBuller 10 ай бұрын

Seriously Alex! Thank you so much for putting this on your platform. I really hope more climbers start talking about this.

@luvamiart8567 10 ай бұрын

I had no idea about this. I started bouldering about 8 months ago, now I do it three times a week. I'm a woman and also vegan, and since I rised the days of acitvity my hunger went up too, so I'm eating more, taking care of protein and making sure all my nutrients are met because I want to be stronger since this sport is so fun and addictive. I just want to get better at it. Both my weight and my muscle mass went up, so for now I don't think I'm in danger of developing this problem, but I will have it mind, thank you.

@cicicamino7379 10 ай бұрын

Thank you so much for speaking out about this, it is such an important issue. The IFSC has an opportunity here to show leadership in the sporting community by addressing this head on with the hard work already been done by the medical teams. Maybe there is fear to implement changes in the lead up to the Olympics given IOC politics, but this is the perfect opportunity for the community to come together and let the IFSC and the IOC know this is about leadership in sports medicine and competition and the community and viewers fully support this.

@SteveTownshend 10 ай бұрын

Great Video!! Very informative! And Volker is amazing! Really great guy and fantastic climber, I’m honored I’ve got to know him through climbing over the years. It’s pretty disappointing that the IFSC didn’t work with him and he felt the need to resign. That’s a big loss for the IFSC and the climbing community. Thanks for this video.

@lolapiereuse8799 10 ай бұрын

Thank you for that video and thanks for talking about it. As a climber who recovered from anorexia, it is always so hard for me to see competition and competitors who are so skinny. It must change and those kinds of videos help a lot !

@altcineva4188 10 ай бұрын

Well done, Alex for bringing into light this sensitive topic.

@JadeEliot 10 ай бұрын

Thank you for sharing this video. Of course RED-S is not a new issue, but having these conversations and educating the community about its severity goes a long way towards putting pressure on organizations and systems of power to change. I don't intend to undermine the importance of prevention and early intervention, but I want to say as well that healing is ALWAYS possible, even if someone has been struggling for more than 2 years. The risk of long term health impacts may be higher, but there are so many reasons to recover regardless of these effects. I have had the privilege of witnessing hundreds of people's journeys through eating disorders, from my own experience in anorexia treatment for 6 years, to working with clients at an eating disorder treatment center, to my current eating disorder research as a Psychology Ph.D. student. Although there are inevitably tragedies, I have seen just as many stories of hope and healing.

@aidanoc19 10 ай бұрын

Thanks for such an informative video! I actually heard of this recently in a local distance runner, a young man called Jake Smith. He gained prominence a couple of years ago, breaking into world class by running an Olympic marathon standard as a pacer. I think he was too late for Team GB to pick him. Anyway he got signed by Nike, went to East Africa and just broke down. Every comeback after that resulted in a stress fracture. This year he got diagnosed with REDS, rebuilt his body and now looks a little bulkier but is running quick and healthy for the first time in a couple of years. Sounds like he's one of the lucky ones.

@AB-fh9zh 10 ай бұрын

Thanks for giving this issue the attention it clearly needs.

@UnicycleSoul 10 ай бұрын

Damn Alex, this channel of yours just keeps on giving and getting better. This is awesome content and topics that should definitely be discussed more. Good job lads

@danobable 10 ай бұрын

very interesting video, thank you, and amazing that people like Volker are looking out for athletes in this way

@simonksos7671 10 ай бұрын

Thank you Alex for spreading the word. I don’t know which athletes are suffering from red s but I really hope they all get some medical assistance before it’s too late for them.

@markwang9640 10 ай бұрын

Thank you Alex and Chris and Max and Dr. Schoffl for doing this!!!

@jackdavidson8708 10 ай бұрын

Thank you for continuing to bring awareness about this issue! We can only hope more external pressure will bring the IFSC to act on all of the data we have.

@i0am0hamm 10 ай бұрын

This was very eye opening. I’ve heard comments about this but it seems like no one else has opened up and tried to educate people. Also, please make more videos with Dr. Volker!

@lll000lllx3 10 ай бұрын

Thank you for the great video. If top athletes began to speak so often about it (like you're doing), I think that sooner or later something will happen. And Alex, you have a talent as a presenter! Really good questions and top comments!

@Nicoandthepage 10 ай бұрын

Thanks for speaking about it. It was at the forefront of my mind when watching the IFSC competitions lately. It is as you say sometimes hard to watch these people when they climb out on the stage. I just get a very bad feeling that in those exact moments someone young and skinny decides to lose even more weight because they see it on the big screen and they think it is okay.

@annmaier7863 10 ай бұрын

Great topic, so necessary to make everybody aware of that problem. Hopefully the IFSC will do something about it. Thank you for this video.

@awkwardturtle77 10 ай бұрын

I'm glad this topic is being brought up. I wish this topic would be addressed more (in a positive-oriented way) by the climbing community (as a whole) in the US.

@goodbae5596 10 ай бұрын

Hard video to watch but as a climber I do think it is very important to talk about. Thank you both for taking the time to talk about such a serious subject.

@christianet1907 10 ай бұрын

Thank you for this video! That topic is so important!

@snefansson 10 ай бұрын

This is such an important subject to talk about. I see it so often and have myself fallen in to that pit. I was lucky enough to have a good friend that dragged me out of it, but as Volker said, sometimes it's there forever. I'm at a healthy weight now and treat myself better with food, but the little shit demon in my head calling me fat lives there permanently. I've needed to completely forbid myself from any form of calorie counting, it just always leads to my brain going in to hyper mode and trying for PERFECTION. And perfection doesn't exist nor does the hunt for it lead to anything healthy. Only thing I can do is add nutrition to my diet, I can never let myself take anything away. It will never go away, you'll just have to learn to live with it. Thanks for making this video Alex! This subject needs as a lot more attention than it's getting

@JanNowak-ss1fq 10 ай бұрын

Great interview, important voice in the climbing community. Hope your effort will make the change you want to see in this great sport of ours. Thank you!

@promarch2 10 ай бұрын

Die Beschreibung liest sich wie eine HR Beschreibung von dem neuesten Trend, aber das Video ist brutal gut, danke dafür!

@Gludo666 10 ай бұрын

Greatly appreciated shoutout to a big topic with extremely interesting insights from Volker. This half an hour passed like nothing.

@homemsapo 10 ай бұрын

Takes courage and integrity to criticize the IFSC. Thanks for being coherent Dr.!

@traumtaenzer2212 10 ай бұрын

Danke für das Video. Ich bin ehrlich, ich dachte immer, dass es solche Vorgaben schon längst gibt. Ich kenne viele Menschen die leider an einer Essstörung leiden und das hat echt fiese Nachfolgen. Deshalb zählt das Argument des guten Vorbilds für mich sogar höher als dass der Athlet sich selbst zerstört. Ja, es gibt auch gesunde untergewichtige Menschen, aber das überhaupt nicht ein zu schränken ist in meiner Wahrnehmung schon fahrlässig. Den Athleten und allen, die zuschauen gegenüber. Denn wie ihr schon sagtet, wenn junge Leute mit dem Sport starten und nicht nur schlanke sondern (stark) untergewichtige Athleten sehen, die gewinnen, natürlich entsteht da ein bestimmtes Bild. Da kann sich weder jung noch alt vor schützen, nur ist bei den meisten älteren Sportlern der Zug zum Profisport eh schn abgefahren und die jungen, die in den Profisport kommen wollen, nehmen diese Vorbilder ernst. Da kann man nur hoffen, dass sich endlich etwas ändert...

@hj40 10 ай бұрын

Really well said. Thank you so much for your work. I will be sharing this with my coaches and climbers

@brendanmcconnell3626 10 ай бұрын

Great talk! It seems super important to have these discussions as climbing grows. Also, the variety of content on this channel is amazing. I hope you all keep it up!

@Ayoutubehandleishere 10 ай бұрын

Thanks for using your platform Alex!

@TheXeeman 10 ай бұрын

some chapters that break down the video would be good like timestamps

@alexandermegos8129 10 ай бұрын

Thanks for your feedback! We have set some chapters now.

@paulgennaro2001 10 ай бұрын

I'm glad this channel is growing! There should be a return to the old school style in bouldering gyms and competitions. There's something weird about how climbers like Magnus think they're too big for modern competitions. Back in the day, Sharma's size was normal. This has been discussed in length by Magnus as well. Also, there's even a climbing KZfaq channel that highlighted the fact that climbers are no longer Sharma's size. I can't remember the video though. The Parkour big hold power-style has actually caused more problems than the actual problem it was intended to solve. You have to wonder if Ondra's criticism of today's comp style was based on this very problem?

@tind9908 9 ай бұрын

That’s very interesting. I’m some what of a noob so I assumed the new style would benefit bigger climbers with more power.

@epincion 8 ай бұрын

Thanks Alex and Chris and Dr. med. Volker Schöffl - I hope this excellent video is widely watched.

@dnt4tw466 10 ай бұрын

Really improtant topic and I am glad you use your name and reach to increase the awareness!

@banksiaspinulosa7442 10 ай бұрын

Thank you for the education, I do hope climbing can lead the way for all sports.

@VelascoFlorencia 9 ай бұрын

Thank you for this video!

@danielkunkler7293 10 ай бұрын

Shoutout to all the athletes for actually talking about this.

@Parmen128 10 ай бұрын

Thank you very much for bringing this very important topic...great interview, hope that things will change for better and the main interest will be the sportsman health....talking about problem and open the debate could be the great first step...👍👍👍

@coderedblack 10 ай бұрын

Fascinating and detailed conversation - I appreciate the mention too of the influence of routesetting on how strength vs weight is advantageous. Thank you for highlighting this on your channel, Alex!

@lekanteto 10 ай бұрын

Thank you for soaking up.

@holtcrawford549 9 ай бұрын

So cool to see this content from a top name like Alex!

@oliviabaklaton4552 10 ай бұрын

Well done Alex😊❤

@rockstarjazzcat 9 ай бұрын

Thank you for covering this. It matters! Kind regards, Daniel. 🙏🏼

@roapcoaching917 10 ай бұрын

Great video/conversation. Thanks all!

@ckgalore 10 ай бұрын

Thank you for raising the topic so forcefully. The long term effects of RED-S syndrome are pretty severe and should be known all over the (climbing) place. I learned quite a bit and will spread the knowledge. Cheers, cake

@fat82much 10 ай бұрын

Good job Dr Schoffl and Alex for bringing this to light!

@as3fawf 9 ай бұрын

Somehow it seems like it's all the time Alex Megos talking about things that need to be talked about. I'm not really into that climbing fandom stuff but Alex you do great things that are even greater than the grades you climb. You use your publicity for good and i'm always happy to see/hear/read things about you. Thanks!

@maciek_sca 10 ай бұрын

This is gold, thanks Alex! One of the best video I've seen on YT!

@dsmeier6270 10 ай бұрын

Thanks for speaking up about this!

@willmurrin9344 10 ай бұрын

Thank you for sharing this conversation.

@jjimena263 10 ай бұрын

Real stuff!!! Thank you for uploading this, and spreading medical awareness

@j.j.2156 10 ай бұрын

One of the most informative Videos regarding Climbing diseases I have ever seen!👍🏼👍🏼

@mrlil5328 10 ай бұрын

Thanks!!!

@TheUnknownFactor 10 ай бұрын

Really hope other climbing media picks this up also. This is really important.

@Caegofy 10 ай бұрын

Thanks for the video about this really important topic and to get more insights about the proposed approach.

@axeus2008 10 ай бұрын

thank you! I never realised that there were such extreme side effects for this and that It was such a common thing in climbers

@moritzra4214 10 ай бұрын

really appreciate this! great video, thanks for speaking out.

@Iyengaryogawithshaun 10 ай бұрын

Thank you

@annonymous305 10 ай бұрын

Thanks for bringing this up. Had my first contact with this topic in one of Hansjörg Auers books.

@peppiamsl5250 10 ай бұрын

Danke euch für dieses super Interview!

@holstblock.web3 10 ай бұрын

Well done summarizing the discussion!

@petrosiliuszwackelmann1514 10 ай бұрын

Trank you for your huge effort so far. I think its really time for a general change in professional Sports. Not only in climbing as you Said but also in Running gymnastics etc. Because the negative and irreversible damage in the athlets Must stop 🙏🏽

@primerarbol 10 ай бұрын

Very important discussion and well explained by an expert, thanks! We all hope the @sportclimbing federation finally takes actions.

@marcushill78 10 ай бұрын

Thanks for this video, I've seen eating disorders destroy lives. I see some of the current climbers on the WC circuit have problems. Speaking up is absolutely necessary.