UKC

UKC Fit Club is not a substitute for the training diary but to use with ( or without ) it as a motivational tool for all.

For those wanting to find out more about training for climbing a number of physical training articles here: 
http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=274502
and here
http://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,16421.msg287007/topicseen.htm...

A new thread is posted each week on Sunday for anyone to jot down their previous week’s activity, noting goals, successes and failures and to swap ideas.

Anyone interested in starting is very welcome but you should aim to post each week, every week, however little or much you have done. By making such a regular public record of your activities and by restating your goals every week this new habit will hopefully improve your training habits to help achieve your goals whatever the level of your chosen activity.

Link to last weeks (202) thread
http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=444276

Repeat posters - 40
AJM
jamesgreenfield - rest week
phja - nice work on your plantation trip
richardh - any progress on the fingerboard setup?
Thickhead - still waiting?
andy - sounds like a good week
Daniel Heath - good work on getting on the 7b+
Miles - 7a flash = good stuff!
petestack - good week
Charlie Zero - decent week
Nexonen - got to balance rest and training 
Sankey - fall practise I find really helpful
TonyB - what sort of grade are you up-down-up-ing on? Always good to see what level people are doing that sort of stuff at
Murd - shame about the 6bs, but getting on the 7a will be improving you slowly but surely
leon - shame about the elbow - hope you have a speedy recovery
Eagle River - hope you've managed to get the right difficulty for the roped laps sorted now?
mattrm - final prep for Scotland now.....
Jeriqo - steady week
Steve John B - hope calf is on the mend
seankenny - Sounds like you've been doing ok with catching the sun at Swanage - I'd given up on Sunday after Saturday's freezing experience
Stone Donkey - hope you progressed on the STGs some more
IainRUK - well done on Sunday
Mark Torrance - maybe not good for running, but it doesn't sound too bad
agibb - I had some good results from periodisation in the past, but to be fair I think any kind of structure is better than no structure
JimmyKay - did the return trip to Brean go well?
grubes - balancing weight loss and hard training can be a toughie. I have decided to focus on the latter at the minute and let the former take a backseat since it doesn't seem to be hindering me right now
chris05 - first 7A - nice one!
plexiglass_nick - good work on V5 CIR. Hope the shoulder is on the mend
biscuit - bad news on this week - hope its healed a bit now
viking - hope Peak went well
Goonie - sounds like the training is going pretty well
Kevster - well done on the 2nd place. Know what you mean about the celebs - its nice to see other people struggle if youre doing the same yourself.
Steve Perry (Pezz) - hope shoulder has held up this week
Liam M - steady week
andy farnell - whatever grit feel I ever had I've now lost it too
fimm - was it a good climbing session?
jkarran - sounds like a good session Monday
Curious Yellow - mixing the sport and trad does feel good, but focusing on the sport seems to have been pretty productive for you over the last year
catt - hope you got out this weekend
Eric the Red - better week. Hope calves are improving.

Absentees - 2
ayuplass
endless winter

In reply to AJM:

I feel my weight is hindering me at the momment. but I need to really build some stamina ready for chorro.

STG (end of march):
Amtrax - el chorro
RP 6b+ - el chorro
onsight a HVS and maybe a E1
MTG end of june:
RP 6c?
Onsight E2
Flash Browns eliminate
1 font 6A+/6B
Set up a beastmaker at home
LTG end of 2011:
Get solid at E1/2 onsight
no major injuries
boulder v6
RP 7a

Last weeks goals:
Rest ancle - done its fine now
2 climbing sessions min - none
Lose some weight currently 13st 2lb (was 13st 4 last week) done at 12st12 now
1 proper core session min - will try have one later

M: Rest
T: Rest
W: ill
T: ill
F: ill
S: ill
S: ill
This weeks goals:
2 climbing sessions min
Lose some weight currently 12st 12lb (was 13st 2 last week)
1 proper core session min

Bad week been knocked on my arse with flu since tuesday evening

Thought I might try this out.

M- Indoor routes
T- Weights training
W- Indoor bouldering
Th- Rest
F- Indoor bouldering
S- Indoor bouldering
Su- Outdoor bouldering (hopefully)

Managed to flash a V8 indoors. Suprised myself alot.


STG-
Get outside more.
V8 outdoor. (currently V7)
7b+ indoors. (currently 7b)
Finish building woodie
Lead E4 (currently E3)

In reply to AJM:

AJM, yup, it's all about getting gear ready and sorting stuffs this week. Thanks for doing the stats as always!

STG - 25:45 5k TICK!, Consolidate HS (9/10 - 2nds | 6/10 leads), 12st weight, Onsight 5+ (with out any dogging)
MTG - 25:30 5k TICK!, Consolidate VS (4/10 - 2nds | 3/10 leads), 11st 10lbs, Climb 6a
LTG - 25:15 5k, Lead HVS, maintain weight, Climb 6b
VLTG - Lead E1, Climb 6c, maintain weight
Aspirational - Climb E5/6, Scottish Winter VI, WI5, Redpoint 8a, stay injury free & maintain 11st 7lbs

Weight - 12st 1lbs

M - Rest
T - 5k run - 25:29!!! Two goals ticked!
W - Rest
T - co, ca, sh
F - Rest
S - Rest
S - sh rehab

Been resting for Scotland and doing final prep on gear etc. However I decided to start into a maintenance phase to keep up with the training I've been doing the last two months. So when on my 5k I decided to push it to see where I'm at. I was incredibly chuffed to finish up with a 25:29 which is over 30 secs off my last PB. So that's two running goals TICKED! For maintenance, I'll just be sticking with 1/2 runs a week and 1/2 core/leg/upper sessions. I'll keep up the shoulder rehab. Speaking of my shoulder, it's feeling ok, no idea what it's going to be like when I climb on it tho. I didn't do really well on the diet, but I wasn't that bad either. Eat 'badly' at points but still lost 2lbs. I would imagine that next week in Scotland will allow me to keep up a weight loss of about the same. But I won't be dieting at all. Going to be eating well from now on in, lots of carbs and a nice roast chicken to look forward to this afternoon. Totally psyched for the trip now. Got Monday in work and then I'm off on Tuesday to travel up and we're climbing Weds through Sun.

Compared to the training I did last year, I'm in miles better shape. I'm two stone lighter, I've done about 200k of running, walking and mbing over the past two months. Been up Pen-y-Fan 10 times in the past month or so, hopefully the hill fitness should be there. I doubt I'm any weaker than I was last year even tho I've not done any strength training. So it's all looking good for a solid week of winter climbing.

In reply to AJM:

thanks AJM.

This weeks trainings gone out of the window and i've taken advantage of no work and good weather and got myself outdoors.

m: roaches bouldering, 15 problems completed
T: rest
W: rest
T: Cratcliffe bouldering, 21 problems completed
F: rest
S: rest
S: rest

would like to do more outdoors bouldering but got to be careful... I keep splitting my finger tips

Hoping to get 2 or 3 more outdoor sessions in this week...as long as the weather improves

In reply to AJM:

Thanks Andy and all,
A quiet week as I hurt a finger so laid off the actual climbing, feels better so may try it out today.

Tues: Indoors: Finally got the 7b+ indoors clean on lead. After changing the sequence three times. Happy about that.
Thur & Fri: rope stuff but not climbing.
Sunday: Going to try finger out, feels OK though. New routes at wall....

Ta, Kev

In reply to AJM: Thanks, more to come soon hopefully =]

Monday: Rest - ached so much!
Tuesday: Some very easy climbing - up to 6a+. Still ached loads, my standard warmup felt ridiculously hard and this was after a fairly big warmup/stretching session.
Wednesday: Still not in fantastic shape (had an annoying cough all week too) but did some slightly harder stuff than tuesday, up to 6b+
Thursday: Feeling marginally better but nowhere near peak form. Was a bit annoyed by how little I could climb so I tried working a 7a+ move by move to see whether it'd be worth setting as a target but I didn't really like it much so I'm gonna leave it for a while.
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Pressups etc
Sunday: Same as Sat probably

Bit of a crappy week to be honest but I think it was mostly down to being ill. Hopefully I'll get better this week, my climbing partner almost cleaned a 7c on his first RP on thursday and I want to try it out :P

In reply to AJM:

I used to post on this, lapsed out of it so i'd like to start contributing again.

My aims for this year are to stay injury free in my running and compete in the local fell races, as for climbing i'd like to climb a TD in the alps and become confident on trad up-to E2.

Another aim is to climb outside more and explore the UK in more depth.

Monday - Rest, ran in the tigger tor on Sunday.

Tuesday - 5 aside footie - using this as a sprint session almost, i have to make up for lack of football skills!

Wednesday - 6 miles - did a lovely circuit across white edge

Thursday - steady run out from Ringinglow over to Ox stones and Burbage Valley

Friday - 4 x 4 sessions at the edge, also managed to flash a 6c+ circuit there.

Saturday - core session, didn't feel too great.

Suday - Rest

In reply to AJM:

NOT waiting anymore! Managed to keep up a bit of exercise around my new lifestyle...

M: Labour Ward 5am-8pm
T: 5mile road run 33mins
W: 5mile road run 33mins
T: 5mile road run 33mins
F: 5mile trail run
S: 5mile road run 31mins
S: 10mile road run 70mins (with strong headwinds)

In reply to Thickhead:

So what did you get and has he/she got a name yet?

In reply to AJM:

Ticking over week, didn't manage to get on the rope but did a fair bit of bouldering

M:
T: Bouldering at Edge
W: Run 4.5 miles
T:
F: Climbing Works
S: Ran 5.7 miles
S: Matrix

STG: Regular Wall sessions + Inrease length of runs
MTG: Enter fell race / 10 k + do some winter climbing
LTG: Half marathon < 2 hours in May + would like a PB sport climb (os 6b+ / RP 6c)

In reply to AJM: Another decent week with the first "proper" long run in the bag:

M: 5m recovery run after work
T: 10m with 6m effort at about 6:50 pace. Hard work.
W: Steady 5 miler by the river in Newcastle - windy so hard work on the way out
T: 5.5m lunchtime run round Town Moor
F: 20m run @ 8min mile pace. First 20 of the year, and tough mentally but physically found it ok
S: Slow (27min) 5k Parkrun as recovery/drinks carrier for youngest daughter
S: Hangover

Another 2 weeks of highish (for me) mileage to go before I have a cutback. Didn't quite get the magic 50m this week, but a second 40+ week in the bag and no niggles to speak of.

In reply to AJM:

Thanks.

Unfortunately it's been a lacklustre week due to a lot of work commitments and an annoying headcold!
Tu: Indoor bouldering.
Su: Wall session. Warmed up with some stamina training and followed up with some routes.

Plan for coming week:
W: Long wall session doing stamina and routes.
Th: Strength - bouldering.
Su: Wall session - routes.

In reply to AJM:
Thanks Andy,


To be honest I haven't done so many up, down, ups recently. I'm prioritizing bouldering and strength, so my one weekly rope climbing session is more to keep the stamina ticking over. However, I can normally manage something like:

4 sets of up 6b+,down 6a,up 6b+ (with 10 mins between sets)

I find down climbing harder than 6a really hard and I think it's pointless for me to try up,down,up at 6b when the crux is downclimbing?

Mon - Repeaters on the fingerboard. I included a few two finger hangs and made a generally harder programme. I think it's going to take some time to get the right level of workout.

Wed - Bouldering at Pasila. A short stint of threshold bouldering followed by CIR (15) at Font 6A-6B

Fri - Short boulder session at Konala. Had just over one hour and climbed ALL the problems on the slightly overhanging wall. 15 problems in total. 9 were rated Font 6 and some of them felt pretty hard. Really pleased with this session.

Sat - Boulder competition at Pasila. Perhaps going to the competition after bouldering the day before wasn't smart, but the competition went really well. I climbed 16 of the 21 problems. One I wasn't brave enough for. One I wasn't flexible enough for. On one I just couldn't hold the finishing hold. One was a ridiculously big dyno that I didn't even try and the last one I couldn't pull onto the start holds! Not sure where I finished, but was really pleased with my performance.

Inspired by the thread last week. I dug out my SCC and made a list of the levels that it would be good to get to for various activities to make fast RP and even onsights of 7b. I did the CIR bouldering for this level pretty OK but would like to test myself in some of other areas to find out weaknesses. Goals won't change though. Focus on bouldering and short circuits to prepare for short powerful routes.

Goals for next week
1 fingerboard session on repeaters. Finetune the level.
1 threshold bouldering session + 4x4 test Font 5C-6A
1 threshold bouldering session + harder CIR (try to get all the routes 6B or above - could be logistically hard because of lack of grading)
1 rope climbing session - either onsight practice or RP then try to climb continuously at 6a for 30-45 minutes.
Also, I'm beginning to think that lack of flexibility is a problem. Implement a stretching programme.
Do press ups on every day that I don't climb!

In reply to petestack:

A boy called Tomos

He is tall with long legs and large feet - going to be a handful keeping up with him in a few years!

In reply to AJM:

M - Weighted Pull ups + Powerful Bouldering
T -
W - Run to Tesco. Run back. Total 3.5miles med pace.
T - Cratcliffe. Tried Fern Hill E3 5c. Topped out after more than my fair share of falls/rests. Ah well it's good experience for me!
Seconded 5 finger excercise
F - Beacon Hill Bouldering
Light indoor bouldering
S - Hard run/press ups/squats sesh
S - Fingerboard crimp session

Many thanks,
Dan

In reply to AJM:

No running this week, thought I'd do a little cycling instead!

M - Swim 50 mins
T - Swim 30 mins
W - Swim 50 mins
T - Indoor routes
F - Swim 50 mins
S - Swim 50 mins
S - Road cycle 1 hour. Too much to do to go swimming!

Cheers

In reply to Thickhead:

Congrats to you all!

Mon - nowt
Tue - 6 miles easy on the roads
Wed - 4 miles
Thu - nowt
Fri - nowt
Sat - nowt
Sun - 3 mile trail run

Poor week, was aiming for around 34 miles,nevermind shall try harder next week!!!!

In reply to AJM: didn't manage to post week 202 - it was a busy week and I never got round to it.
Week 202
Mon - gym stepper, rower, treadmill. Lats, triceps, biceps, squats, knee raises. Finally did 500m row in under 2mins
Tues - rest
Weds - rest
Thurs - Leeds wall
Fri - 25mins run outside - legs were freezing!
Sat gym - stepper, bicep curls & squats, rower, deadlifts, treadmill
Sun - restaurant

Week 203 -
Mon - 30 min lunchtime run
Tues - slept rough to raise money for homeless charity. Cheated by wearing full on winter gear and using a bivvy bag. Still v grim though
Weds - early night!
Thurs - Leeds wall - led 4+ x2
Fri - gym - cross trainer 20 mins, flys & bent over row, rower -500m 1min 58 sec, later pull down, stepper
Sat - nowt
Sun - extreme housework

First gym goal ticked with by 500m row in under 2 mins. Shame about my climbing goals!
Tried a lunchtime run as a way of getting round demands on my time, worked well and will do it again, hopefully regularly.
Off to Scotland this week so will see how my fitness is, my weight isn't what I would have liked but I'll live with it if my fitness is OK. Hoping to tick lots of easy winter routes and maybe try a III again. Not been up a hill since October, not led outside since last spring so feeling rusty but I've got 11 days to get warmed up.

In reply to AJM: thanks AJM.

STG: slow running a few times
MTG: windermere marathon (may 23rd)
LTG: become mostly injury-free
VLTG: long run, 30 june 2012

M - 35 min run, squats, heel drops
T - heel drops
W - heel drops
T - heel drops
F - heel drops
S - 35 min run, heel drops
S - 45 min run, heel drops

need to build up slowly. should be doing more in the week though.

In reply to AJM:

thanks AJM,

>
>

progress in terms of approval from the Mrs, yes, and studied your photo quite a bit, but didn't get chance to go to B&Q last week, but certainly on the cards. I'll probably attempt to fix the bottom bit with unscrewable or detachable bolts so that I can take the feet off to get it in and out of the house and into the garage.

M: osteo
T:
W:
T: Citybloc bouldering, back felt a bit funny since osteo and fingers a bit namby pamby soft, but an OK session - bit week for three weeks off though.
F: work/beer
S: family
S: routes at Harrogate, good if small venue, but good routesetting on the whole. 3hrs of mileage to get the stamina back up.

I'm doing the basics but not putting in the extra required - ie. stretches or the 3rd session - so this week planning to progress the fingerboard frame and to stretch at least twice.

In reply to AJM:
STG
Lead all the 6a & 6a+'s at wall cleanly
Lots more Fall practice (indoors)
Get some more bouldering done

MTG
Get on as many VS's outdoors as possible - not just grit
Find someone to drag me up some HVS & E1 routes
Some Portland 6a's, 6a+'s.

Bloody hell I'm going backwards
Warmed up leading a 4 then a 5, then got on a 5+ that I hadn't led before - got a bit pumped but finished it OK. Then led a 6a+ that I hadn't done before with one rest, but it'll go clean next time. Jumped on a 6b that I think is a bit soft and got completely boxed after 3 clips and couldn't do anything more. Went to boulder and was completely cr*p. Obviously endurance training isn't having a bg effect (ie I'm not doing enough of it).

In reply to AJM:


Didn't go back to Brean. When to Dinbren instead as the weather looked better. Worked out the moves on a F7c, felt fine. 1st RP did the crux and blew it on the one bit I hadn't worked when going up. A quick change of foot positions and it all became very easy. It then started raining so I couldn't give it another a go. Gutted!

Entered a leading comp on saturday and won. Got spat off the route at the first hard bit. Was very disappointed not to get further, but it seemed to be enough to win anyway.

M- Bouldering and beastmaker session.
T- Rest
W- Birthday! Went to Dinbren. Got rained off. Got very very drunk.
T- Tried to climb whilst very very hungover. Epic fail.
F- Set routes for the boulder comp. Tested most of the routes. Pretty knackered.
S- Entered and won lead comp. Free shoes
S- Quick 2hour training session.


It's 9:05PM and I'm leaving for El Chorro at 11PM. We're just about to head off for a quick curry first. So so psyched. Wish me luck for some hard sends! Will keep the diary updated!

In reply to JimmyKay:

Actually monday wasn't a beastmaker session, it was an endurance session. Started by doing all of the hard routes on the roof up to v9. Then started making links of the easier routes for endurance. Really really good training. Ended up going up a 7m v5 down a 7m v5 up a 7m v4 and down a 7m v3. I did this about 4 times on different routes but on similar difficulty. Psyched for the long steep stuff at chorro.

In reply to AJM: Once again, thanks Andy!

M: Shopping
T: Nowt
W: Bouldering at Mile End. Didn't hit any high numbers but felt like I was climbing well.
T: Wrecked from Wed's session.
F: Nowt
S: Drove to Portland. Had a cold session at Neddyfields main, led a 5+, TR'd a 6b and 6b+
S: The Cuttings. Led a 5+, 6b (1 fall), 6b, flashed a 6c, then got cold and sacked it off.

Really good week. Today I flashed a F6c, which has been one of my aims for the first part of the year. I didn't do it in great style, in face I nearly fell off but just about kept it together, however I got the tick. So the first goal of the year, ticked. Yesterday at Portland I just didn't have much in the way of psyche so just top roped some stuff for fitness. Had a good wall session too.

Onwards to 7a...

In reply to AJM:

Hello, can I join?
Probably not the best week to join as I've been ill since last Friday, but I thought this would give me a bit of psych for getting back to proper training...

M-F - ill and working long hours. Otherwise sleeping really. Not good.

Sat - Foundry. Under the weather, but led about 12 routes 4+ to 6b (including the world's softest 6c).
Sun - Foundry again. Leading 6a to 6c (only 1 6c - second go, so quite pleased). Back to normal really. Still not really training but did a few laps on 6bs. V tired, but not especially weak (for me).

Need to think properly about how to get the most from my training, which I've not really done before, so first STG is to put together a training plan by next week.

Other STGs (end of April):
lead 7a indoors.
Get on the steeper leading more often.
Fall off every week to stay in the habit.

MTG end of 2011 - 7a outdoors/20 E1s/ try an E2 if I'm going very well

To do this I reckon I could do with a bit more power (the 7as, not the E1s), so I've started doing 4x4s on the easier problems on the steep bouldering and campussing with feet on as a starting point. Any pointers gratefully received, esp from anyone whose gone from very weak to strong without hurting themselves!

Thanks!

In reply to AJM:

M: am 5 run road flat, pm 6 run road mild hills, pace (mild)
T: am 5 run road flat, pm 3.5 run road
W:
T:
F: 4.5 run road, undulating
S: 8ish off road, mild hills
S: 14.8 run road, mild hills, slow

Lots of slow miles. Possibly too many.

In reply to AJM:

Cheers Andy


M - Finger board - repeaters
T - Board session - 1 1/2 hr inc warm up. 45 deg board - arm str bias
W - Rest
T - Board session - 1 1/2 hr inc warm up - 40 deg board - finger bias
F - Rest
S - Rest
S - Kendal - boulder + routes

First week of 12 week str phase. Went OK. Felt sore on Wednesday but soon recovered. Finishing fresh seems to be good. I think i haven't done enough but after i stop i feel it big time. No core done since my hip is still hurting. Some moves i just haven't been able to do. Been concentrating on 6-8 move problems to try and keep intensity down for first week.

Fingerboard session was quite good. Can't do pull ups as it hurts my hips so going to do static locks this week.

Really weak at Kendal bouldering today. Failed on V4's. I was noticeably bad at dynamic moves. This has improved on routes but for proper power moves on boulders i am seriously lacking. Did 16 probs up to V3 and then tried problems up to V5. This certainly affected my routes after. Won't do that again. Failed on 6c on-sight on big wall. Certainly lost fitness for that wall. Was going well on a 7a before a spinner threw me off.

This weeks targets:

2 board sessions. Same session length but 4-6 moves.

1 route session. No bouldering before hand. Pick RP projects 2x7a + 1 x7a+ on big wall.

Fingerboard session. repeaters with some locks.

Try to get core done - 3x 250 moves.

Shoulders a bit sore so antag work to be done on all days off + proper warms ups.

In reply to Thickhead:

Congrats!

<STG> - pre Chateauvert

Get a roped session and a bouldering session in per week, plus beastmaker and hopefully outdoor at weekends

Laps on 4x 6b+ with the only rest being lowering and retying <ticked>

6c+ redpoint on the pocket route at the Warehouse <ticked>

3 7s or some good onsights during Chateauvert

<MTG> - before Easter

• 10 routes at E2/7a or above
  
• Include at least 2 routes from local hitlist of harder routes
  
• Focus on onsight days on pumpy trad and onsight/fast redpoint days on sport, try to build up volume
  
• Intervals on 6c+/7a indoors
  
• V5 indoors, V4 outdoors
  
• Bike odometer to 1500km - currently at 361

<LTG>

• Well rounded E3 leader, tackling routes in committing locations
  
• E4 onsight
  
• 7c redpoints at Cheddar and Portland
  
• 7a/+ onsights at hard continental crags

<BHAG>

• Big mountain routes like Tempi Moderne, Comici etc
  
• E5 onsights
  
• 8a/+ redpoint
  
• 7b/+ onsights at hard continental crags
  
• Some big silly bike ride like Pyrenees coast to coast or Tour du Mont Blanc or something

M: TCA. Got another red, takes me to 46% of the circuit done. Also repeated 8 of the ones I'd done previously. Did all but 1 of the remaining greens too, plus repeated a few of those. Also did about 10-15 easy problems. Also tried the 6c+ circuit, which I will try again next week, and did most of the 6b circuit, failed a handful of moves from the end
T: Nothing
W: Nothing
T: Nothing
F: Nothing. Much drinking.
S: Hangover. A few hours of walking in the mist and drizzle near Corfe
S: More walking in wind and drizzle along the coast path. Jealous of seankenny actually getting routes done over on Portland..... Beastmaker session this evening - dropped the counterweight on back2 to7kg. Free weight hangs on front 2. Handful of pullups on middle 2. Also introduced some half crimping on the rails, again a handful of pullups.

Felt a bit rough midweek so nothing done - should have tried harder.

AJM

In reply to AJM:

Almost forgot - knees sore on the walk today which isn't very positive, I thought I had beaten that.

Made tentative plans for autumn sport trip though which is looking to be a bit layer than I had thought so might end up as somewhere like Spain/France rather than Frankenjura. We shall see.

In reply to AJM:

Thanks for the tips Andy. Again, any pointers on effective durations for periodisation would be welcome. For now, I'll stick to the plan. This week:

M - Ran 2.25 miles
T - Routes at the Westway
W - Routes at the castle (pretty knackered at the end of this. Was on too-difficult stuff though, really)
T - Ran 2 miles
F - Nowt
S - Ran 2.5 miles
S - Nowt

Next week is strength and power week 1 of 3. Monday/Wednesday/Friday CIR V1s at the castle.
Tue/Thurs/Sat/Sun Run
Saturday at Craggy with a noob.

Crikey!

In reply to AJM:

Thanks again AJM

STG (april 2011): 7b at malham
MTG: (december 2011): 7b+ outdoors

Tues: roped laps - did 4 laps of 4 routes, 2 at 6b+ and 2 at 6b. Would've ideally liked to do 4x6b+ routes but there weren't enough of that grade on the walls I like to do the stamina stuff on (slightly overhanging all the way). Felt like a much better work out because I was having to work harder but still wasn't terminally pumped.

Nothing for the rest of the week as I tweaked a pulley in the ring finger of the same hand that my middle finger pulley injury is on. Neither fingers are that sore and the middle one is an old injury from font in April which has recurred twice. Decided to take about a week off and do the cold water treatment every night in a bid to sort them out properly. I should be able to get back to the stamina stuff this week as it's pretty low impact compared to bouldering. At least I'm not missing good conditions at malham as I imagine it's absolutely soaking.

cheers AJM, good to finally get it.


STG: more 7A's
MTG: 7A+/7B

M: 4.5m run, weights, theraband & core
T: swim (40l crawl), weights, theraband & core (500)
W: 4.5m run, weights, theraband & core
T: swim (40l crawl), weights, theraband & core (500)
F: rest, pub & rugby
S: 4.5m run, theraband & core (500) - then rugby and beer
S: bouldering at cratcliffe and RHS

Had a few niggles so I have taken it easy this week, just keeping up some fitness stuff. Should have got another 7A yesterday but snatched failure from the jaws of victory as I relaxed a little too soon on the top-out!

In reply to AJM:

Cheers Andy. Sorry to see the weekend not so productive climbing wise. We were feeling gutted to have sacked it off when we woke up to sunshine but sounds like the weather not so good down on the coast.

Reasonably good week for me in terms of training. Starting to taper volume work and trade off overall volume but increase intensity. Seems to be working so far, had a couple of days bouldering on quite good form for me. Next week I am moving more toward strength, so dropping from 2 volume sessions to 1 session per week. Going to try to keep up the higher volume of harder problems and maintain the policy of keeping up a circuit of former projects to keep the overall amount of hard climbing high.

A question for any periodisation bods. I am pretty much committed to a strength phase for at least the next month or so in order to squeeze out some lasting strength gains. But based on long endurance traverses and current route performance, my endurance has plummeted. Should I add back in, say one endurance session a week, so I don't have such a big hole to dig myself out of, or is this being excessively reactionary - should I stay on target and focus on getting stronger?

STG
February training:4xV6, 1xV7. 4xCIR, 4xDensity. 600 problems total vol & 2 laps of 15x V4/5 + 20x V0-3 in a session. 6x fingerboard. Shoulder health - stretching & rotator cuff.
Weight back to 63.5kg by Apr 30
Hall of Mirrors and Road Rage by Apr 30. 7b and 7b+ - Easter trip to Yorkshire
Indoor projects: Arch: black 7b+, red v7 done, Castle: blue (v7?) and orange (v6?) on wave.

MTG
Onsight 7a+
Onsight/Flash pyramid for 7b (1x6c+, 1x7b) ticked: (7x6c+, 5x7a, 2x7a+)
7c+ Pyramid (1x7b, 2x7b+, 1x7c, 1x7c+) ticked: (7x7b, 2x7b+, 1x7c)
40 pitches led at 6c to 7a+ in 2011 (current total: 1)
F8a redpoint in 2011

LTG
Onsight 7b+
Supercool, Infinite Gravity

Goals for last week: 2x high vol bouldering (tick x2), 2x strength (tick x1), 1x fingerboard (fail), 3x rotator cuff (tick)


M: rest. Rotator cuff exercises w/ theraband, 2x10
T: Project boulder session. Stiff from Sunday initially. 21 problems total (10xV0-l, 10xV0-3, 1xV5) incl new V5 (grey on panels). Working V5 and V6 on mezz.
W: Project boulder. More work on V5 and V6 on mezz but no tick yet. 18 problems total (8xV0-, 7xV0-3, 2xblue, 1xV4) Rotator cuff exercises w/ theraband, 2x10
T: Bouldering. Hard volume session. 55 problems total (11xV0-, 24xV0-3, 14xV4, 5xV5, 1xV6) New ticks - purple V5 & grey V6 on mezz, yellow V5 on panels, 19 on boulder ladder. Strength/weights session (DB complexes, heavy finger rolls, rev. wrist curls)
F: feeling battered. Low intensity session. 13 problems total (8xv0-, 2xv0, 1xv1). Some time doing ARC and low intensity anaerobic laps. Really worryingly poor endurance. Rotator cuff exercuses (2x10) and bicep curls (3x10)
S:
S: Arch. Project/volume session. Brilliant session - best at Arch in a long time. New ticks - 3xV6, 1xV5 and 4xV4. Of the V6s, one I think is reasonably solid at the grade and the other two are on the soft side. Attempted stamina goal of 10xV5 20xV4 20xV0-3. Managed 36 problems (8xV0-2, 6xV3, 11xV4, 7xV5 and 4xV6). Not totally exhausted but ability dropping off quite badly by end. Burned a lot of energy working new problems so reckon the goal could be do-able with more focus and better tactics.

Goals for this week:
1x volume bouldering incl CIR, 1 strength + project bouldering, 2x fingerboard, 1x campus (touches) 2x pull ups, 2x weights sessions, 3x rotator cuff exercises

In reply to AJM:

Thanks Andy, you're doing a good job with the feedback, lots of people making some progress in there.

It's been a reasonable week for me, I've managed to run, slotted in quite a bit of climbing and had a weekend boozing (ok, less constructive but fun). Touch wood my aches and pains aren't getting worse, I'm turning 30 this week so probably just feeling my age

M: Nice costal jog just outside Belfast, 4.98mi (9:27 pace)
T: Indoor, Oaklands. Good session, had a look at the 7b+ which seems steady but sustained.
W:
T: Indoor, Harrogate which was too busy. Reasonable mileage but mostly on my feet not arms.
F:
S: Indoor, Wicksworth. Badly hungover but managed a good clutch of 6cs and a 7a.
S:

Goals for the year, much as before:
Keep motivated
Something in the 7c/8a range
<40min 10k

jk

In reply to plexiglass_nick:

Sounds like a monster week Nick! Re your comments about your Friday session, and sort of relevant to your question above... no sh*t, look at you previous three days! Don't worry about your endurance based on this one beasted session mate.

In reply to AJM:

No, no rock this weekend, it just looked gash weather and doesn't sound like much was missed out on. Got stuff done around home instead.

By Apr 2011
Font 7B - Possibles... Jerry's Traverse/T-Crack
French 7c - Possibles... El Chocco at Brean. Hall of Mirrors at the Cuttings.

Goals for the past week were 1 x max fingerboard session, 1 x hard boulder and hangs, 1 x anaerobic session on the routes.

M - Strength: Hangs @ home. Work on one arm assisted hangs to about 90% body weight.
T - rest
W - ME(anaerobic): Routes @ Castle. 7 routes to 6b+ (3 x 6b+ not consecutive, 2x6b lap). This was getting me pumped silly. Proper crap route fitness at the mo. TR play on 7b, all moves solid first time, made me feel happier.
T - Strength: Bouldering & Hangs @ Castle. Struggling with skin. Further baby steps on Wave Mauve V7, Wave Blue V7. Back 3, back 2, and one arm hangs. Tired.
F - rest
S - 6.7km run
S - Bouldering @ Castle. Excellent progress on Pen Yellow V7, all moves done and pretty much linked in two. Two moves I couldn't do before , so pretty chuffed. Very close to Mezz Grey V6 in quick time. Quick play on Mezz Beige V7.

This week is to be power focussed, with increased rest over the previous weeks (the unloading phase of this dual factor stuff), and aiming for quality over quantity during the sessions, so I will aim to do:
1 x campus session
1 x hard boulder (attempts on V6 & V7 projects) & possibly some campus
1 x anaerobic session on the routes (inc RP attempt on 7b).

And I'll keep this from last weeks copy & paste.... "Hopefully get out on some rock this weekend too!"

In reply to plexiglass_nick:



I think you need not worry like catt says.

36 problems at that level show that you are 'climbing' well ( you ticked quite a few new problems at a good level in the session ) you have strength ( you were quickly getting new V6's )and you have stamina ( you did a hell of a lot of problems in a session ).

I would squeeze out the last bits you can and then get some PE work done whilst maintaining your str. You can maintain str levels easily with one well thought out session a week. Crank up the PE and you will see BIG results - keep the faith ! I don't know if you have a trip imminent which may change things but if not i think you're well on the right tracks. I think you may be plateau busting very soon ;0)

In reply to AJM:

I thought I might join again, as I have finally managed to get some focus to my training after years of very erratic training and results that reflect that.

My training is almost entirely focused on running, with climbing more something I just enjoy and don't take too seriously these days. I want to get back to the sort of fitness I had in my early 20s, getting on for 15 years ago, when I weighed around 65kg and ran a 17 minute 5k and sub 35 minute 10k. Not sure I will regain all the speed, but push the endurance, which I never really managed as a youngster

STG (End of March): Weight down to below 70kg, currently 72kg down from 80kg in July. Sub 19 minute 5k, current SB of 19:50 in slow conditions, Sub 40 minute 10k (Trafford 13/03), Sub 1:30 half marathon (Wilmslow 27/03).

MTG (End of the year): Sub 18 minute 5k, sub 38 minute 10k, Sub 1:24 half marathon (Macclesfield in September).

LTG (2012): Sub 3 hour marathon, fast times in some long fell races, bit vague this one as I am still very much fell novice.

Monday: Rest.
Tuesday: Steady 6 mile run with club.
Wednesday: 5 mile run with 3 miles tempo.
Thursday: Steady 6 mile run with club.
Friday: Rest.
Saturday: South Manchester parkrun, 6th out of 85 in 19:50, on a flooded course.
Sunday: 15 mile fell run in South Pennines with club, properly knackered afterwards.

Bit short on quality road work this week, lots of tired legs at the club after last weeks Pennine Bridleway Relay, plus my road training partner was away, so ended up doing my long run with guys training for the 3 Peaks rather than road objectives.

In reply to AJM:

STG: V6 outdoors (End of March 2011)
MTG: V7 indoors or outdoors (end of May 2011)
LTG: V8 outdoors (2011)

Mon: Bouldered at Castle up to V5
Tue: rest
Wed: Bouldered at Castle up to V5
Thu: rest
Fri: Drive to Peak
Sat: Rained, rained and rained a bit more...got drunk as forecast was shite
Sun: 60-80mph gusts on the tops - managed to do a V2 in the drizzle, almost got blown off the top of it! Bouldering mat kept blowing away...

Thanks AJM. Started off fairly good, but the weather soon halted progress! Back to the plastic this week

In reply to AJM:

Aye, not bad, thanks, and not that different (despite some atrocious weather) this week...

M: Rest
T: Run Camas na h-Eirghe, 9.5 miles hilly road (steady out, fartlek back)
W: Run Primary School XC training + Penstock within single big lap, 9.1 miles/1,500 ft
T: Run Full Grey Mare's, 5.4 miles/1,400 ft (wild and wet)
F: Run Caolasnacon third bridge, 8.0 miles hilly road (a real fight at 'tempo'!)
S: Out with Kenny Grant on breezy, icy Cairngorm ground (Coire an t-Sneachda + Coire an Lochain) to go through WML syllabus
S: Run Lairigmor, 9.9 miles/1,700 ft

Some hard-won mileage here with stormy Thursday/Friday evenings and Friday seeing my first ever (?) road-running fall (fortunately no damage)! So still on 40+ mpw running rather than the 50+ mpw I'd have liked this month, but also still feeling that's fair enough given other constraints.

Current Goals:
Winter ML Assessment, 14–18 February
More climbing (lots to do, but fancy Orion and Zero!)
Highlander Mountain Marathon, 16–17 April
Highland Fling (Milngavie to Tyndrum, 53 miles), 30 April
West Highland Way Race (95 miles, sub-20 or bust!), 18 June
No Fuss Events 10 in the Glen (10-hour trail race), 16 July
Possible Rigby Round (if not squeezed out by 10 in the Glen)

In reply to AJM:

Cheers Andy. Yes my shoulder has held up this week, thanks. Been working on re-hab exercises and taking it easy. Hopefully it will continue to get stronger and not cause any future problems.

A great lead-confidence week this week. Finally decided to head back to an indoor wall to climb some routes. I've been avoiding this for about a year due to head-game issues (see previous threads in Fit Club). Since I've recently been focusing on this area and have had some fun leading and seconding trad, I thought I'd give indoors another go -- whilst this crap weather is lingering around.

So, armed with my very positive partner, I headed off to MCC with the goal of just enjoying top roping the routes and maybe having a quick go at leading one route. After warming up I ended up leading 11 and totally loving it! I know that it's 'only' indoor climbing but it's still something which I need to work on and it seems that the work I've been doing on my head-game and route leading confidence is taking me in the right direction. Still loads of work to do though and, to be honest, I think this will be an area which I'll always be focusing on. I'm very happy with my progress so far though and I've had some great support from a lot of fantastic, and patient, people.

---------------------------
CURRENT LEVELS AND WEAKNESSES
---------------------------

ARC: V1 / V2- for 30 mins (bring this up to 45 mins)
CIR: V3 (ok for current level)
TB: V7 / V8 (ok for current level)
Bouldering: Ok at current level
Trad: Below current level (weakest point: head-game)
Sport: Below current level (weakest point: head-game)

---------------------------
GOALS - above all else have fun and remain injury free
---------------------------

STG / FOCUS:
Complete current trad pyramid on lead (6 x Diff, 3 x VDiff, 1 x S)
Complete current indoor route pyramid on lead (8 x F4+ (DONE), 4 x F5, 2 x F5+, 1 X F6a)
ARC at V1 / V2- for 45 mins
General movement training during ARC and CIR
Some TB when fresh

MTG:
Lead 100 routes up to HVS (6 DONE)
Redpoint in under 5 attempts ~20 - 30m F7a sport (inside and outside)
O/S Cenotaph Corner
O/S Cemetery Gates

LTG: Hopefully some of these will be this year but will see how short and mediums go before setting dates
O/S Left Wall, fully consolidate at E2, O/S V5, H/P V7, O/S V6, H/P V8, H/P F8a sport, O/S F8a sport.

---------------------------
WEEKLY TOTALS
---------------------------

M: Shoulder re-hab
T: Awesome Walls, bouldering. Started off unmotivated due to what felt like 'power problems' downstairs. Went up to The Cave and had a good session in there. Aerobic felt good, AT felt high. Felt confident after I'd warmed up.
W: Rest
T: Rest
F: Bouldering at Upper Limits. Felt strong, confident and motivated tonight. Felt I climbed well.
S: Lead session at MCC. Goal of today was to be comfortable on routes and to try and lead at least one route -- and enjoy it! Ended up top roping 6 (warm-ups) and then leading 11! Totally blasted my goal of one route out of the water. Really enjoyed it all too. Psyched! Come on dry weather!
S: Rest and shoulder re-hab.

Weight: 140.4 lbs (+0.8 lbs from last wk)
Body Fat: Measurements playing up again, showing between 6-7%. I know my fat percentage is very low but I think that's taking the pish!
(Really don't trust my body fat percentage figure but on a week-by-week basis it's fine for keeping track of ups and downs.)

---------------------------
NUTRITION LOG (Daily guidelines only, I don't always stick exactly to them)
Please note that this is for me and won't work for everyone as nutritional requirements are very different from person to person.
---------------------------

BREAKFAST: Black coffee. Muesli, fruit, porridge with chopped fruit, toast (must be wholegrain or brown bread).
SNACK: Black coffee. Fruit / nuts and seeds.
LUNCH: Chicken pasta with fresh salad / chicken or ham salad sandwiches on wholegrain / brown bread.
SNACK: Fruit / nuts and seeds.
TEA: Chicken breast (or equivalent) usually with potato / pasta etc., and fresh veg (especially broccoli).
SUPPER: Cottage cheese.

TRAINING SUPPLEMENTS:

Reiki and meditation
Once a day: SiS 99% Pure Fish Oil supplement with vits etc.

In reply to Thickhead:

Congratulations! Hope it all goes well.

In reply to AJM:
STG:
MTG:
LTG(2011): Classic top end e3 (Foil?, Sunlover?, Pleasure Dome?, Test Case?, Kafoozalem?, Dream Liberator?)
VLTG(2012?): Classic e5 (Positron?, Right Wall?)

Falls this week:0 (0 this year)
Weight: 9'11", 10.3% fat.
Focus:

Mon: 90mins pottering about at awesome walls.
Tue: Nowt.
Wed: Nowt.
Thu: Rehab exercises.
Fri: Rehab exercises.
Sat: Rehab exercises.
Sun: Rehab exercises.

My tennis elbow, flooded climbing room & crap weather has sucked all of the motivation out of me!!

In reply to AJM: Cheers

Mon: 5.5k recovery run at midday. Swim in evening, inc. 2x400m steady and 5x50m sprints.
Tue: Rest (really really needed this!)
Wed: 18k run, inc several hard long sections in middle. Lower back quite uncomfortable.
Thu: 5.5k easy run at midday. Turbo Trainer intervals (5x1km hard) in evening.
Fri: 22k lumpy run over Malverns. Comically windy on the tops, and staying upright was enough of a challenge at points, but really enjoyable if hard session.
Sat: Few hours climbing and bouldering at Red Point - I am really useless at the moment.
Sun: 10k "Support-lek" - running around just aside of route of May Hill Massacre to pop up and cheer H on as she raced it.

Decent week, and some good sessions. Was a little concerned about back discomfort on Wednesday's run. It may be the shoes have come to the end of their life quicker than expected, but I would probably like to try and include some core work in my schedule to see if that helps (though what may prove tricky - I've barely space to stand up in my room at the moment!).

A couple more weeks of similar and then start easing off for Great North West Half, and see if it pays off.

In reply to AJM: Thanks again Andy. Good training week.

Goals - 8b, 7B+

Mon - rest
Tues - good volume at the Hangar. Ticked the purple circuit, flashed everything bar the one tough problem, that took about 5 goes. Lots of other stuff done.
Wed - 40 mins beastmaker, mainly repeaters and pull-ups.
Thurs - rest
Fri - 40 mins beastmaker, mainly front 2/back 3 work.
Sat - Family
Sun - NWF. Lots of routes mileage from 6b - 7b+, felt very tired at the end. Good session, did much better than a month ago.

Andy F

In reply to mattrm:

Thank you! I feel my wife is doing the bulk of the work at the moment.

Fortunately, I have the task of taking the dog out for her daily exercise

In reply to catt & biscuit:

cheers guys. Yes, friday was a particularly poor session (entirely predictably & wasn't expecting anything else - ARCing was mostly a way to profitably kill time at the wall waiting for CY to finish)

Next big trip is not until Easter, I have put in a 6 week PE phase before then, not so concerned about that but I am concerned about my ability to tick anything on early season sport trips (Portland?) before then. If current performance is anything to go on I am going to struggle to link anything more sustained than a long boulder problem. Certainly anything power endurancy is right out (ie. Road Rage/Empire) Perhaps the strategy should be to focus on doing short stuff and/or the moves only and then spent March/April/May ticking them off.

In reply to plexiglass_nick:

I think that's what periodisation is all about. You've got to be prepared to be under performing before it all comes together.

The thing to keep thinking about is how it's all going to be worthwhile in the end.

My SCC progressive plan seems to have gone by the wayside now and i am concentrating on getting strong. Like you i'm feeling a bit worried. After lots of low intensity work ( where i didn't sustain my str well enough ) i am weak as a kitten and finding it hard. I've lost the ability to do much on the 20 metre wall at Kendal and lost the ability to pull hard. However on 8-10 metre routes i am better than ever ;0)

In reply to plexiglass_nick:

I think that's what periodisation is all about. You've got to be prepared to be under performing before it all comes together.

The thing to keep thinking about is how it's all going to be worthwhile in the end.

Bit of a juggling act until you put all the pieces together at the end i think.

The test will be Easter. if that is a great trip it's been worthwhile. If not then it may need another look.

In reply to AJM:

Not bad, thank you.
Recovery week for me...
M: climbing Alien Rock - was quite fun and I did manage a 6A. I didn't feel as bad at it as I thought I would, though this was probably helped by the fact that I was climbing with someone who used to climb harder than me but who hasn't climbed for nearly a year...
Tu: rest
W: 30 minute run at lunchtime
Th: swimming
F: 30 minute run in the pi$$ing rain
Sa: cycling - 50km in 2h15. My legs felt tired and I didn't go terribly fast...
Su: Masters' swim - usually I swim with a "stroke improvement" group but this evening I decided to try my luck in with the fast people... from which I learned that I'm not quite fast enough, but that I will get a much more strenuous workout than if I do stroke improvement drills. So I think I'll be doing the fast sets on the occasions when I'm not too tired.

In reply to plexiglass_nick:

Having just re-read 9 out of 10 climbers for the umpteenth time I think Dave MacLeod would recommend that you always include a session a week of whatever you aren't currently focussing on. Performance levels can be roughly maintained by doing this, or at worst you won't dip very much.

This way you give yourself less of a hole to dig yourself out of when you come to focus on PE.

As you obviously know you'll be maintaining your PE to a certain extent by the sheer volume of problems you're getting through but having a session focussed on, say, circuits where you slow the pace down a little (3 seconds ish between moves, allow extra 'clipping time' here and there, etc.) for 30 - 45 moves could be beneficial?

You're well ahead of me on the training front though so probably just teaching you to suck eggs!!

In reply to AJM:
Hi AJM – thanks as always.

Mon – Rest.
Tues – Fingerboard. Poor session, not recovered from Sunday.
Wedns – Castle. Taking it easy. 3x V3, 1x blue, 7x new blacks. Weight back below 65kg.
Thurs – Rest.
Fri – Castle. 1x blue. 23 blacks x2.
Sat – Rest.
Sun – Arch. 3x V3, 4x V5.

In reply to chris_j_s:

Fits with what i know.

I am having a routes session every week whilst doing strength work during the week. I plan on doing roped laps ( or 4x4's on a rope ) then take a break before doing some on-sighting and red pointing after. Should keep fitness and route skills maintained.

In reply to AJM: Cheers Andy,

Another lack lustre week, only 3 sessions again. 2 home sessions and 1 at the wall. Failed to get any further on the 7a, just felt weak for the whole session. The home stuff is going ok but it needs to transfer to wall sessions. Need to try and get some weights in over the next few weeks to prepare for March, most of it will be the road, will be brutal on the body, shite diet and little sleep, certainly not going to help with my training. On the bright side when it's done I will have more time to concentrate on some endurance to get my ready for the outdoor stuff, of which I hope there will be plenty of this year.

STG: Regular on sites of F6b’s and F6c’s
MTG: F7a indoor…get out side more
LTG: E # ‘s

In reply to AJM: Another rest week I'm afraid, had a tonne of uni work unfortunately, oh well, maybe some climbing next week. I'm doing an ma this year and finding juggling climbing and uni work quite difficult, thanks, James

In reply to Thickhead: Congratulations!

m: rest, long day at work..
t: lunch: 5 mile fell run. pm: 9 mile road run
w: lunch: 5 mile trail run. pm: 10 mile trail run. 2 hrs at wall.
t: lunch: track, 8 x 800m. pm: 6 mile fell run Moel Wnion
f: 3 mile road run, travel to italy
s: 4.5 mile run on nordic ski loop whilst on boarding trip.
s: 6.5 mile up 'green' run at the ski resort. boarded all day.

m: broke my scaphoid..no climbing for a while but still running 8-10 mile a day..

In reply to Steve Perry (Pezz):

Amazing work Steve. Well done.

Make sure you keep a positive loop going. Don't be tempted to push too far and accidentally bring the fear back. At this stage it's all about keeping things comfortable. It's got to be the biggest hurdle to overcome. Anyone can train their body but not everyone is strong enough to put the effort in to overcome their fears so congrats again. Keep plugging away.

In reply to biscuit:

Heh, the worries of periodised plans. Yes, same advice for you - stay on target and it will all come out right in the wash (hopefully). 12 weeks of strength/power is plenty of time to make beastly gains, even from a standing start, and the amount of time you are spending on ropes should keep your PE ticking over. Hopefully the benefit of all the high volume stuff means your body can handle a higher volume of training. You are in a better place than I am, in that you have allowed yourself more time for each phase. I am looking at my somewhat pathetic 4 to 6 week phases and wondering why I didn't leave myself more time to make lasting gains.

In reply to chris_j_s:

Yeah, in retrospect the 1 session per week of maintenance stuff would have been a good idea and I am wishing I had found the time to bother. The problem is fitting it all in... especially now it is getting to routing season I am looking at my 3 scheduled sessions per week and wondering how I am going to find time to do everything. Where's my tiny violin?

am sorting through various ideas in my mind and I think a solution is presenting itself though. Looks like I am progressing to spending a bit more time on a rope indoors over the next few months, so hopefully the PE will buck itself up a bit as a consequence of just doing longer sequences on routes.

I think a focus on trying to do the hardest moves possible on a hard route (so basically bouldering on a rope) without worrying too much about actually ticking them, but gradually progressing toward doing longer and longer links as I get towards peak season and start training PE intensively (in which I think circuits will definitely feature). Should hopefully provide a natural progression from strength to strength endurance.

In reply to SV:

Hi Shauna, welcome on board.

Going from very weak to very strong, I think there are entire books on the subject Difficult to know what to suggest exactly without knowing your exact strengths and weaknesses but in general:

I wouldn't have thought 4x4s would help much with pure power, they are a power-endurance exercise that are designed to improve ability to deal with hard moves after you start getting pumped on short & intense (say 10 - 15m) routes, typically with 20 - 24 hand movements. That being said, you may find them a useful piece of the puzzle, especially for sport routes.

For pure strength & power I think you need to be working more in the region of 6 - 12 hand movements, or even less - I think the usual recommendation is lots of steep powerful bouldering, so problems at or beyond your current limit of strength (ie. you are only able to do 1 or 2 moves individually).

Dave Macleod gives some useful advice in 9/10 climbers, off the top of my head the advice on fingerboards is that if you are going to avoid injury, gains need to be made progressively over a long time frame - lots of short sessions, many times a week, over the course of months and years. It takes a long time so he recommends starting now.

FWIW whenever I have picked up an injury or a niggle it has been at the same time that I have suddenly increased the amount of training I am doing. Biscuit has pointed out in the past that there is a general fit club pattern every year by which people enthusiastically ramp up their training at the start of the autumn/winter indoor season, and then crash out with injuries in october/november. The most useful injury avoidance tip I have picked up is to spend a couple of weeks 'breaking in' any new exercise by gradually increasing the intensity from very easy to moderate, rather than going out and hammering it my first time trying it.

Don't know what your background training knowledge is like, but should you feel a bit in the dark about theory, one of the good training books will be able to give you more objective and detailed advice. The problem with advice on the internet is that everyone will tell you in detail what worked for them and sorting the wheat from the chaff can be a bit of a nightmare. You will get more coherent and consistent advice from a good book which can then be supplemented with nuggets from the web. The most recommended ones at the moment are the Self Coached Climber (Hague & Hunter) and 9/10 Climbers Make The Same Mistakes (MacLeod) - they are both great and complement each other well.

Sorry if you already know some or all of this.

In reply to biscuit:


Cheers mate, much appreciated. Yes it's hard to stick to grades that I know I 'should' be able to surpass but I am concentrating on getting the easy mileage in to try and make the situation feel 'normal'. Once this has happened, hopefully, then I can start to train the physical aspects once again as well as keeping on top of the mental aspects.

Couldn't have done it without the support, both on here in Fit Club and by my partner.

Main thing is I'm having fun with it, got to be worth a lot, that!

In reply to plexiglass_nick:

I was gob smacked last year when Tom R told me that you needed to be looking at a minimum of 16 weeks for a proper PE cycle. Factor in transition from previous phase and up to a month of stepping off the gas prior to a trip/comp and i realised i needed to be looking at longer phases.

I was worried ( i tend to panic quickly ) but had a session on a bendcrete wall i am very familiar with on Tues night and i felt strong again. Think it was just the transition making things feel hard. I thought i was keeping strong by pulling moves on 7a+/b short redpoints but in reality it'd be like doing a few V3 or 4's in a session. Nowhere near enough.

I may be in a better starting place ( hopefully ) but i am still at the start of the 8a battle. You're nearing the end and i know where i'd rather be :0)

In reply to IainRUK:

Cheers!

Will have to give the Thursday night runs a miss for a few weeks more I think until things settle down.

Bugger re Scaphoid - is it def broken or have they plastered it with a plan to scan it in a couple of weeks if it still hurts?

In reply to AJM:

Lift & Beta share to a sport crag this weekend.

A bit of a hijack - sorry! but our intentions will suit some fitclubbers more than the general ukc crowd.

Goonie and I are hoping (weather dependant) to get out to a sport crag on saturday (or sunday, but the weather forecast is poo-er). To ease costs and maybe share a little beta/belaying etc, we're open to others coming with us.

We'll leave by car from harlow/mile end area and probably go bristol/dorset area with a view to jumping on some mid to high 7's, maybe even check out an 8...

Email me, goonie or phone me 07792179438 if you're interested.

Ta, Kev

In reply to Thickhead: Cracked it, X ray quite clear. Fracture clinic next week. See you in a few weeks. No biggy re the wirst, will interupt racing but training Ok and quiet time of season.

In reply to plexiglass_nick:

Hi Nick

Thanks very much indeed for taking a lot of time to answer - really appreciate it (especially as it was a particularly vague question). I suppose I'm being slightly self effacing, in that I'm not *that* weak, I'm just weak compared to most blokes I climb with. Its just that when I fail on moves, its usually because I lack lock off strength, and power through steep ground, so anything that needs that just shuts me down.

Having been training tonight you're absolutely right that steep short bouldering is probably what I need rather than dropping the difficulty and doing 4x4a.

I've probably got a reasonable amount of training fitness from the last few months, but I'm pretty cautious in terms of avoiding injury. (And ever so slightly lazy, which means I rarely push to the absolute limit)

I have a copy of 9/10 knocking around, and I've seen it referred to a lot on here so I'll start there I think.

Thanks again!

In reply to SV:

Hey it's you! Want to come out and play Saturday?

In reply to catt: Hey! It is me! Yes please - let me know your plans?

In reply to SV: Excellente. Certainly shall!

Thanks once again! Bit of a late entry this week. Whoops.

A good week but calves still tiring quickly. Think I need some serious massage!

Goal for last week
30 mile week, half marathon+ long run preferably off road, one speed session and some cross training. 4 sessions.
Status: Achieved in part
Did a good speed session and 31.5 miles, some cross training but the long run wasn't quite long enough!

M: rest
T: spin - 45 mins, moderate. 1 mile run. 7 mile orienteering (tempo-up to 5 min mile stretches!) and 1 mile warm down. BIG DAY.
W: rest
T: 5 miles, 8 min/mile
F: rest
S: 6.25 miles, 8 min mile
S: 11.5 mile trail run, easy pace

Goals for next week
Same as last week. 30 mile week, half marathon+ long run preferably off road, one speed session and some cross training. 4 sessions.

Goal for end of February
100 + miles in February. 10k in sub 43 mins. Have a full race plan for the year

Three month goal, end April
25miles + at the weekends and at least 3 40+ mile weeks. Sub 41 min 10k. Finished two long races at least half marathon.

Six month goal, end july
At least one 40 mile weekend and 2-3 50+ mile weeks. Sub 40 min 10k. Finish two more races including at least marathon

12 month goal, 2011
Run ultra, sub 3:10 marathon, at least one really long distance challenge.

In reply to AJM:

Thanks Andy.

Week 5 is done. I will be updating these daily and then just posting the links on here weekly as I am lazy and can not be bothered writing out the same stuff again etc.For those that are interested the structure of the Dual stuff works really well and is short enough to keep a lot of variety and also I imagine is less injury prone due to to short phases and mixing it up! I have now made the decision to privatise the google doc to keep away prying eyes! If you would like to view it (happy for fellow UKCers to do so) please go to the link and then ask permission, it should make sense when you go to google docs. Sorry for the inconvenience.

So Links to program are here:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Aj5e5k_NKfZUdDFEV0VjLWEwZFIxVTUyWF...

and here:
https://spreadsheets0.google.com/ccc?key=tPgAel-QGXHakAEzemJkc6A&authke...

GOALS:
Short: end Feb
V7 and onsight 7a+, redpoint 7b(in or out)

Medium: May
V8, 7b+ onsight, 8a indoors

Long term: August
Outdoor 8a

Summary:
LAST WEEK:
2nd unloading week moving onto power, so 2 campus sessions and then a powerful bouldering session, Campussing was ok and I introduced double dyno's. Real progress seen though in bouldering as made some good progress on V7 ground than expected, and not a million miles away from flashing V6 bad route reading. Falling practice going well gtaking some bug falls wkith not much issue hopefully this will transfer well outdoors. SWorking on flexibility and noticed shoulders are getting tight again struggle to get arms straight above head with good form so this needs to be addressed looking into options for addressing this next week. No run this week bad boy.

Areas to work:
- shoulder flexibility
- injury prevention continue back and finger rehap/prehab

Weight: 77.0kg

Nice rest next week

Cheers

Gordon