UKC

Morning! It is November 5th, of course it’s bonfire night, but it also means we are at the end of FitClub Challenge 555. If you haven’t already done so, make sure you declare your end result in this week’s post. I’ll post a final result section next week.

Bonus points for a brief reflection on the following: 1) did the goals that you set for FC555 help with motivation etc? 2) what might you do differently if/when we start another milestone countdown?


Challenge 555 goals (November 5th)
=============================
Completed
=========
Ally Smith: 2 of this: https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/set.php?id=2181 (x) (/)
AJM: another fb7 (/) Do some DWS (/) Steady Training for trip (/) Force Majeure (x) An E2 or E3 (x) 
biscuit: get fingerboard up (/), down to 12% body fat (/) 7b circuit (kind of????) insulate van (1/2)
Tom Green: F6A in Font (/) 5km at 5min/km (/) Grit E1 (x) Limestone E1 (x) Average three shoulder rehab sessions per week (x but happy with 2 and a bit)
mattrm: 555 pull ups (x) 555 press ups (/)


In Progress
==========
AlanLittle: redpoint 7b on Kalymnos (x)
The sheep: sub-2 hour half marathon (x) weight below 15 stone (x)
Just Tintin: Lead E4 route (x) Complete Morocco tick list (/) Boulder 7A/7A+ (x) WFD (x) Lose a couple of kg and 'tone up' a bit (x) Run a successful WCS (X) Belay the FFA of the Nose (/)
guy127917: 5s video of handstand (x) indoor v6 (x) -12kg one arm 5s hang on BM1000 edge (/) First 7a+ (/)
hms: Redpoint lead comp (/) magma1 (/) 7b in Ariege (x) shunt Armistice E6 (/) Dial moves on Storm Warning (x)
planetmarshall: Frogland (5.8) or (hopefully and) Dream of Wild Turkeys (5.10a) (x)
Jen Jones: Lead 4 of my DNFs (/) complete the beasty 5a fingerboard session (/) boulder a V5 at the climbing wall (x)

Declared DNF (retired/injured/circumstances etc)
===
Tyler: 555 pull ups (x) 555 press ups (x) 
Dandan82: Nina Mala in one hang (x) Another 8a route (x) 3 x 7c/+ (x) 
MrChewy: First 7a (x)
snoop6060: onsight/flash 7c (x)
annak: hill fit for the alps (x) 



A new thread is posted each week on Sunday for anyone to jot down their previous week's activity. UKC fitclub is a rich community with posters sharing their goals, noting successes and failures and offering support to those struggling to maintain motivation. Anyone interested in starting is very welcome to join, but to get the most of UKC fit club 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 and drive you towards achieving your goals whatever the level of your chosen activity.

For those wanting to find out more about training for climbing a number of physical training articles are linked here:
http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=274502 

The following training article by Alex Barrows gives an excellent breakdown on training the four main "energy systems" specific to climbing:
http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/training-for-sport-climbi...

Last week’s thread can be found here:  https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?n=673453


mrchewy: Keep up the consistent rehab work! How have the first few days in Font been?
AlanLittle: Annoying to have tactical issues but sounds like you are making the most of it anyway. Looking forward to 2nd week report…
AJM: Was that photo taken just before you lowered off it!?
biscuit: Enjoy the onsight-fest, we’re not expecting an update this week.
Si dH: I agree, this year I’ve stopped doing consecutive climbing training days and it’s made a big difference.
Tom Green: Tracking goals on the top post actually makes my life easier because I don’t have to remember what everyone is trying to achieve. Also it stops people slyly changing their goals without telling everyone
Tyler: You should get on Silence for a bit of knee bar training. Ondra says he got really good at it while working that route.
LauraMorrissey: Great to see you join the thread! Given the amount of training you’re doing (i.e. commitment level) it may be worth setting another MTG which you can measure progress towards (for example ‘set of 5 pull-ups’).
TheFasting: 4 hours of stair climbing… impressive stuff
guy127917: funny how you get better when you train hard and eat well…
hms: Congratulations on winning the comp! Does that make you want to enter more?
Jen Jones: Time to state some Spain trip goals
Just TinTin: Yes you can have bonus points!
the sheep: Yes, take it relatively easy- pushing distance and pace at the same time is a recipe for injury, especially when you are coming back from your previous one!
Ally Smith: Nice deadlift on instagram… you can clearly go a lot heavier than that!
Dandan82: Thanks for the trip report, glad you got enough done to enjoy it. So rehab is clearly your goal, will you continue becoming a supple leopard? Box splits by January?
mattrm: Wow, dream route, that should be a great motivator!


AWOL: Bobling, snoop6060, annak, hokkyokusei, planetmarshall

In reply to guy127917:
Thanks Guy. The deadlift was 110kg ish - i did a triple at that weight before doing the video, so using an online calculator my max is probably I the region of 120kg, but pretty sure i could go heavier.

Normally I'm limited by the amount of home weight i have, but the lady is talking about joining the local gym in preparation for our annual ski trip, so i could have access to more plates.

That gym session was my only exercise all week apart from a few lengths of the hotel pool - home now - might get out this afternoon, depending on jet lag.

Rough plan for next few week's:
General conditioning - deadlift, barbell complexes, cycling, rowing, etc
Sport specific conditioning including hanging core exercises, prehab for sounder and elbow tendonitis
Work out some good problems on the Depot 30 degree board for ancap training
Return to the cave of justice and try the Barrows beta on The Wire...
At some point, go to The Boardroom and use their lattice board

In reply to guy127917:


Hah! I lowered off the massive lump of steel provided for the purpose, and kept this (and the totally unnecessary maillion left on the last bolt) as a souvenir

In reply to guy127917:

I rested all week, and thought about goals. However, after our visiting friends left this morning I did brave the perfect weather and head out to check out the bouldering at lulworth.

So, I can sneakily bulk up my "another fb7" tally with a flash of Left-hand man (which i can't seem to link to)
and a send of Right-hand Man (f7A).

There's a good beta video of both here vimeo.com/226550987

Cool problems both, if a little sketchy on my own with only 2 pads. I ummed and aahed about right hand man for a while and played around a lot to find a way that didn't involve significant use of a (too?) good heel wedge until I was on good hands.

Sitting under the 7A+ The Dragon (f7A+) but am currently a little baffled. I've got to head back shortly so it may well be one to return to especially if a team could be recruited as I definitely can't do that one solo.
[Edit: from baffled to near complete sequence in a few more goes.]


[EDIT 2 - can I have a yyfy? From baffled to near complete sequence to send in a few goes. Crazy! By the given grades (and Si, would welcome your opinions to help me benchmark) that's easily my best day of bouldering ever. ]

In reply to guy127917:
M: Rest after holiday
T: Visit to consultant about hip, confirmed its probably arthritis and not bad enough for a replacement (first time I've been described as "too young" for something for a while!).
W: BUK, was going to go big after holiday and subsequent 3 day rest but was very creaky so stuck to doing some new problems - disappointing. Flashed some V5 but couldn't touch others.
T: BUK, awful. Couldn't do moves on black circuit, could even make an impression on the new easy circuits. Didn't do any FO campusing.
F: Hip X-ray followed by BUK. Felt a bit better but didn't quite manage the green circuit. Did some FO campusing, think I've worked out way at I'm gonna do from now on.
S: Holiday
S: Holiday, registering the first incidence of some back issues.

Next week I'm on holiday Mon and Tue without boots so the plan is to eat as much cake as I can. Wed and Thur BUK followed by BOB at the Depot on Sat.

Sorry about my poor showing in the fit club 555, my (non)performance shames us all.

In reply to guy127917:

Monday: strength/stability
Turkish getups with 20kg kettlebell (first time I've done these, pretty fun, also sure my form is terrible)
TRX chest flys, shoulder flys, one arm flys, pikes,
Ring supports, dips
Bar german hangs, feet to hands
Planks, handstands, one leg squats

Tuesday:
7km run
Limit bouldering (I can do at most 20 attempts in a session before being wasted)
4x 6 mins on 6 off

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday:
45 minutes max hangs
New PB -8.75kg on 33mm 4 finger one arm hang.
Met my FC 555 goal of 18mm -12kg 5s hangs
1.5 hours on wave, sent yellow/red spotty

Friday:
20km run

Saturday:
45 minutes bouldering up to v3
4 sets 3x1 min on 1 off FoC

Sunday:
Same strength/stability session as Monday.

All in all a pretty decent training week. I'm psyched my finger strength is still improving a bit despite going on a 5 week trad trip and not training for 4-6 weeks after returning. I've done about one max hang session every other week, plus plenty of bouldering on the woody (where I can really feel the increase). I haven't done a lot of pow end/endurance stuff this period, but have climbed outside routes a fair bit. I'll benchmark on Tuesday and see if it has massively bitten me. Nutrition stuff is going well- Monday was a major blip but after that everything went to plan and I'm feeling really good. I'm not trying to drop weight yet, will begin when I come back from Spain.

FC555 Goals
5s video of handstand (x)
I managed 3s. I failed because I didn't really commit to this goal. When I set it I was not training hard and had plenty of time and energy for messing about (ultimately I don't really care about it that much). Having the goal has motivated me to keep trying though, and stopped me wokring on other things like muscle ups (which are injury invoking for me) so I may stick with it as a background MTG.

Indoor v6 (x)
After the first couple of weeks I put all my hard bouldering effort into reps on the wave (the Castle's extremely steep woody). This is the most consistent place for me to train because it doesn't get reset, is rarely super busy, and every route is extremely fingery and steep. It's really helped me develop core tension, improve footwork, push finger strength and improve accuracy on powerful moves. Unfortunately it's only ungraded routes, and I don't like to ask for consensus grades I think the one 'set' route I sent in this block is around v5.

-12kg one arm 5s hang on BM1000 edge (/)
Completed

First 7a+ (/)
Completed

I feel like I'm peaking at the right time- two long training weeks in a row (ie without travel to Portland and/or cragging) have felt really good. We fly to Costa Blanca on Friday morning so this week will just be one short bouldering session on Tuesday. Goal trips are to redpoint a 7a, 7a+ and 7b, and to get on something I definitely can't do (maybe 7b+ or 7c) with a mind to figuring out where I need to get to fitness/strength/technique-wise by this time next year. I'll happily take recommendations for any routes from 6c to 7c.

In reply to guy127917:


Not sure why you think you defo can't do 7b+, your training suggests you are definitely physically capable. Also you should be aiming for 7a/+ on-sight.

In reply to guy127917:

thanks Guy. Don't think there are too many lead comps around here. Possibly I ought to give some of the TCA boulder comps another go. This week was steady tickover, ready for going to Spain on Saturday.

M - cycle commute, yoga in evening
T - cycle commute. P/rehab session in evening: TRX, various theraband, shoulder-specific weight exercises, elbow-specific weight exercises. Grouchy right elbow seems to have settled down nicely.
W - cycle commute. FB: warm up including lots of pockets, 1 arm swaps 6/1/10/3 x 8, then 7/3/7/1 x 10 using half crimp and 5kg assist.
T - cycle commute. UCR in evening. A lot of routes had accumulated over the last few weeks so did 15 routes (7 pairs and a 3) which were all OS and 6c or under (apart from the one which is blattenly wrongly graded - more like 7a), plus a go on the 7b I've been trying but a bit too late in the session.
F - some fencing, plus a trip to the doctor as where I hit my thumb with a sledgehammer had come up red & puffy overnight. In the evening had a very interesting chat with Tom Powell who is a coach specialising in positive thinking etc. I've got a coaching session book in to see what he can do to help pre-climb nerves.
S - long session at the Warehouse. Not dissimmilar to Thurs: complete reset since my last visit so 14 routes in pairs, all OS and 6c or under. Getting a bit of mild pump on the more fiddly ones where there is a tendancy to hang on too tight. Managing to get good smooth flow and reasonable speed too.
S - visited D2 at uni, went out for nice meal, approximately zero exerise.

In reply to Ally Smith:


I need to look at this really, but whats best to work on? We are now booked in for a week in Jan.

In reply to AJM:

Lean against a wall in a seated position until your quads scream.

In reply to guy127917:

Thanks Guy, special thanks for doing the 555 goals, I know I've failed miserably but I think it's a great thing and I really appreciate the extra time you have put in to track them.


Yeah it's full rehab mode now which is going well, it's so far a lot easier to keep motivation than when I had tennis elbow, at least this time I can continue to climb to a degree and things *seem* to be behaving more predictably.
I've just ordered the second edition of Overcoming Gravity, along with Jerry's new Mastermind book, so with those and the supple leopard, I should have no excuse not to get stuck into loads of antagonist stuff. In fact Huffy the physio has recommended static handstands as good for the elbow issue.

I went to see Huffy on Thursday to check up on the elbow, and things seem to be going well, he reckons the nerve element of the problem is basically fixed from my religious observance of the prescribed neck stretches. My ROM for a certain test movement was at full expected range, rather than the halfway I managed 3 weeks ago, plus my grip has gone from 54 to 66kg in the same time, which I'm pretty sure I can't attribute to bumbling on 6's and drinking Estrella!
The nerve impingement would have been holding back my muscles from exerting full force, despite me feeling like I was trying as hard as I could. 66kg seemed pretty good (this is on one of those professional digital grip tester things) and I imagine at full fitness I should be able to do a little more than my lattice test as it's a better grip and a momentary max instead of 5s hang, so low 70's seem possible to me, not bad. I didn't feel quite so smug when Huffy mentioned he can squeeze 90kg... Apparently he likes to have 20% of bodyweight in hand! Beast.
He worked on my left forearm, really separating the muscles on the lower forearm from the fascia, after 20 minutes of agony, (not to mention lasting soreness!) the external rotation of my wrist was incredible, I cant remember a time it was so supple. He thinks the remaining issue is with this rotation, and he has a slightly risky plan to fix it.
He wants me to do chin-up lock offs, so palm facing me, 5 seconds at a time, to really aggravate the issue but hopefully encourage repair too. It's a method used a lot on lower body tendon injuries where the tendons are generally thicker so the risk is lower, but with 13 years of climbing behind me, Huffy reckons I should have enough tendon strength to make it worth a try.

I climbed indoors Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and did a light fingerboard/hang session all other days. I felt I pushed at a good level each time apart from Tuesday which was a bit heavier than strictly necessary, but Huffy reckoned that's not really a problem as long as it's only occasionally.

I tried the lock offs today for the first time, convinced that there would be a huge amount of pain and I would need a lot of assistance but astoundingly I was able to do sets of 3 each arm unassisted! The elbow was immediately sore but not for long, so I'll have to wait and see how they feel tomorrow, I should see a fast, noticeable improvement if I don't tear anything!

Huffy has also managed to get me a free ultrasound on the elbow (no idea how) not that he feels it is totally required but it's always good to get a better look at the problem, so that's in a couple of weeks, very pleased about that.

That's about it for this week, oh, we've gone and booked 2 more dates in Margalef, the first being in only 8 weeks, so it would be nice to get this elbow sorted! Does this coincide with Ally/hms's trip at all? Dec 30th to January 6th.

STG's to follow.

In reply to AJM:


So yeah, that. We have trips planned through to the first part of next year. There’s then work uncertainty as to what we do second half of next year. And miniAJM has brought routine (the days when I’m not doing nursery pickup are fairly static) which means I’m going to try to set one training task per day - whilst I’m almost certain not to do all of them I wonder if it might help me not ignore the usual things that I persistently ignore.

I think my week plan is:
- wall on Tuesday.
- this leads to fingerboard session being best on a Thursday. These two are probably the key core sessions.
- I’m then thinking Wednesday might be light - stretching and antagonists. This is the one I always ignore and I’m curious as to whether I see some improvements from not doing so
- I want to fit weights and trx in somewhere which is possibly Monday. Might be bad for Tuesday wall but I can’t see where else it goes
- I should have a window every other Friday for something, which could be wall or work gym depending on how wide the window is
- weekends are ad hoc depending on plans and weather

Holidays are:
- peak over Christmas. Families visiting but hopefully also a chance to get out bouldering
- skiing mid Jan. probably not a key training focus as I’ve never done it before so technique/skill is likely to be the limiting factor
- Font at Easter

Tentative goals are therefore mainly boulder focused. I’m thinking something like:
- 7B pyramid (1-2-4-some (I’m never going to get the time for 8 6C+s)) with the 7 Font 7s being from at least 3 different areas including Font. Likely venues include local, Peak, Churnet, Dartmoor, Font at a guess
- if the chance comes to do routes, I have 3 in mind at the Cuttings (Fighting Torque, Nightmare Scenario, Hall of Mirrors) plus Road Rage and as an oddball contender there’s a roped 7b at Lulworth which looks fun, with a neighbouring 8a+ and some links between them (Lulworth arms treaty and Burn Hollywood Burn?).
- no real ambitions for trad but if a sunny day came along with a keen partner I’d love to do something, doesn’t really matter much what.
- break into consistent >90% bw on the lattice rung and some improvements in other PBs. Don’t really know how to quantify but be good to feel some improvements in shoulder strength/on shouldery problems too.

Thoughts?

In reply to guy127917:
Well yep, official none runner for me on my 555 goal due to 5 weeks of not climbing. I have spent the last week in red rocks though and have managed to onsight a 12b and some other 12s which despite being nowhere near 7c, I'll take as it's about as good as I can hope for after weeks of doing nothing. Maybe I can find an incorrect grade translation table and claim it!

Levitation 29 tommorrow, wish me luck

Positive news that I can actually climb, or at least for whatever reason, the climbing here seams to help my injuries. And in other news I managed to put away a 24oz boneless prime rib which was quite an achievement and surpasses my previous PB of eating a full costco roast chicken in one sitting. Pat on the back for me and hurrah for America and their double cut steaks.

In reply to guy127917:

We made it! Thanks Guy -stirling effort collating all the stats for the 555 goals. Great job.

Well done all on the 555 work. Some inspirational stuff.

I'm excited to have reached the end of my first STG period and be at the point of reviewing and resetting my goals. As predicted, week 555 hasn't been overly productive (it was my last full week before leaving my job, so predictably hectic):
M: physical day at work, aggravated shoulder injury
T: sulked about shoulder, late night
W: rest
T: late night
F: rest
S: Warrington Park Run -5km in 22:50
S: Dry-tooling at White Goods, sent Pears M7 first go, worked Jaz M8 (pumping off above third bolt).

This means my STG/555 tally stays as listed from last week:
F6A in Font (/)
5km at 5min/km (/)
Average three shoulder rehab sessions per week (x but happy with 2 and a bit)
Grit E1 (x)
Limestone E1 (x)
In addition, I ticked a couple of my previous MTGs:
10km at 5:30 pace (/)
M6 onsight (/)
M7 redpoint (/) -today's tick!!

So, new goals...
SHORT TERM GOALS (BY 31 DEC 17)
Walk (or skin) 1200m height gain, with 18kg, in <4hrs
E2 on Grit
E2 or F6b on Limestone
M8 Redpoint
'El Cap Nose Day' (880m climbing in one day)

MEDIUM TERM GOALS (BY 30 APR 18)
Scottish VII
5 routes of ED1 or above
5 Black Runs
Haute Route

MID-LONG TERM GOALS (BY 31 JUL 18)
E2 on 5 different rock types
F7a Redpoint
Sandstone Trail <10hrs
Font 6B

LONG TERM GOALS (BY 31 OCT 18)
E3 on Grit & Limestone
Font 6C
Classic Alpine Route (Cassin, Westgrat, etc)
Half Marathon <1h 30m

In reply to guy127917:

Yeah, it was painful. Was supposed to be 5 hours but aborted at 3:57 because I couldn't really walk anymore. Btw is it customary I set some goals here or doesn't it matter?

This week went alright:

M:

I was dead after walking 4 hours up and down stairs on sunday.

T:

1 hour of climbing, doing a few 6A+ and working on a new cave project I found (at the gym). After that what was supposed to be 1 hour of strength training ended up being two.

80 kg for 3 sets of 10 squats. Means I'm moving up to 90 kg next session.

95 kg for 3 sets of 8 deadlifts. Also means I'm going up to 100 kg next session.

Barbell was taken when I wanted to bench. Did uneven push-ups and uneven pull-ups instead. Nothing to write home about there, but got 2 good sets in for both.

Also hangboard, 3-6-9 for 3 sets for open hand, crimp, half crimp.

W:

Did some easier bodyweight type strength training at home. Tuck front lever hold for 12 seconds, straddle L-sit held for 3 sets, 14 seconds max.

2 sets of 7 reps of seated leg raises with my hands past my knees (Illustration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvleorZT7wU). Those were new but pretty cool.

Did 2 handstand push-ups supported against the wall to see if I could do them. I could, so they will be a regular thing now.

Th:

Climbing for 2.5 hours (lead). Sketched out on a 5a halfway up, but then climbed a 5a+, then a 5a, then a 5c, then attempted a 6a I've attempted before. Figured out the beta a bit more and climbed it with straight arms, still pumped out at the same spot as last time. Then worked a bit on my 6A+ cave project before going home.

F: Ran 17 minutes (2.3 km) home from the car mechanic (saves money and gets me fitter, win win)

Bodyweight strength session in the evening.

Got 4 half one-arm push-ups on the first and 1 on the second set.

Moved grip down for uneven chin-ups, now holding at half of my forearm length. Did 2 sets of 4.

Progressed up to weighted pistol squats, holding a 1.5L bottle of water. Got 1 set of 7 and 1 set of 4. Also pistol squatted my cat, she weighs 4 kg so that's my 1RM then. Will have to take a video of that next week.

Then did tuck-ups, 2 sets of 6 reps.

Sa:

2.5 hour stair climb taking the elevator down. 1100m or so of elevation gain. Nice and easy.

Noticed my index finger tendon felt funky towards the bottom joint. Apparently must have injured it doing the pull-ups the day before. Grip strength must have been pre-fatigued and as I slipped off the bar I might have strained a tendon.

Su:

5 hour stair climb going up and down... It was hard, but much better than last week. My legs kept going and took fewer breaks, and no long breaks. 1373m elevation gain, up from 1100m from last week's 4 hour stair session.


NEXT WEEK:

So now I have a strained tendon (I've had and rehabbed one before). I'm not sure if I should try the stuff I usually do and feel if it hurts or not, and just stop if it does. Or just avoid anything strenuous where I use my hand, so that means just easy climbing, no pull-ups, deadlifts or hangboarding. Any suggestions? I might err on the side of caution and go with the latter.

In reply to Tyler:
Thanks for the vote of confidence. We shall see - the point is I need to get on some harder pitches and see what they feel like- I want to have something in mind to work towards for November 2018! Grading is still a bit of a mystery to me sometimes. I've been on 1 7b which I got clean on TR after a couple of sessions, and three 7a+'s, one of which felt pretty easy and the other two felt absolutely nails. If I think I can make progress on a 7b+ or 7c I shall not hesitate to try hard.

In reply to AJM:

I looked back at when I did those two problems and it was just at the beginning of my strong period in 2015 when I started climbing 7B fairly regularly. I didn't vote them soft then so I think they must be reasonably worth the grade. No soft votes on ukc either.

Goals seem reasonable, definitely don't bother with 8 6C+s, I mean why waste skin if you don't even get a 7 out of it?

In reply to guy127917:
Thanks for writing up Guy, unfortunately this week almost a copy paste of last.

2017:
- Fix my finger injury
- Shoulder/core training: 3 sessions per week while I'm unable to pull at max power on my fingers (and while I'm heavy!)

January-March 2018:
- do a grit 7B or two over the winter
- weight down to 11 stone 4

April 2018:
- do 7B in Font
- Eastwood Traverse

M: rest
T: shoulder workout (usual TRX exercises)
W: away with work
T: away with work
F: nothing
S: nothing
S: bouldering at Stanage. Warmed up, did quick repeat of The Green Traverse (f7A), then played on Deliverance for a while. Got to about 3-4 inches from the top, but never quite forced my weight through my right foot enough.

Work very busy, not leaving time/energy for anything in the week at the moment. Hoping to make it to the wall this coming week.

Si

In reply to guy127917:

STG - Re-establish exercise 'normality' and loose some weight
MTG - 6c at Navigation, then WFD
LTG - Probably bouldering, bearing in mind Trad will be hard for the next few years...

Weight - 14st

M - Rest
T - 30 push ups
W - 10 fr4 5 fr6a
T - Rest
F - Rest
S - Rest
S - 49 push ups

Rather annoyingly they've reset the routes at the leisure center and it's a frustrating reset. Lots of 6s and a few (hard) 5s. With some really reachy cruxes. I've been on at the staff (mostly non-climbers) to get the folks who do the setting to do a sensible mix of a 4, a 5 and a 6 on each line. But nope, we've got a smattering of 5+, 6as, bs and cs. Which is pretty dull when most of the folk who attend can't climb to the top on all colours. Don't get me wrong, a single 6c, b and two 6as is a good idea, but you also need a mix of 4s and 5s. Ok, rant over. It has meant I've had to ditch my current fr4 mileage plan as I can't stand doing 25 repeats of the same route. So I just did a mix of the one 4 and a few 5s as my warm up. Then just started on the 6a and 6a+es.

Anyway, on to the 555 goals. As already mentioned the pull-up goal has been dropped ages ago. But doing pushups is fairly equipment light so that's been managed. They were definitely useful, as it's pushed me to do something that I probably wouldn't have otherwise done. If I were to set some goals again, I'd definitely try and put a bit more thought into it. Make sure it's SMART and that I'm suitably motivated for it.

In reply to guy127917:

Hello Fitclub!

Despite my best intentions it isn't really happening for me at the moment (still) so I request a further leave of absence.

I will be back, hopefully sooner rather than later but until then thanks for all the support.

Train hard!

In reply to guy127917:

Thanks Guy!! It’s fun/motivating to have to post each week. Also makes me take a closer look at what I'm actually working towards.

Firstly, I just thought I would try doing a pull up one morning and totally did it. Will re-adjust my goals and also include your suggestion for MTG.

Updated Goals:
STG:
- 2 pull ups
- lead a 18 (5c) at Kangaroo Point

MTG:
- Lead "Zeitgeist" at Mt Tibrogargan in March-ish time when it’s cooler. Route is 3 pitches, 17(5b), 13(4b), 15(4c) - need to work on my lead head/route finding
- do 5 pull ups by end of Jan

LTG:
- climb a big wall before I'm 40

Monday
AM Training
4 Rounds:
- Chip-up lowers x 4
- Step back lunge (mobility exercise) x 8 each leg
- Resistance bands pull down (black band)
5 Rounds:
- 20 mountain climbers
- Driveway sprint
8kg kettlebell
- Lateral twists mobility exercise
- V type core exercise x 8

PM Bouldering
- Short session with a new climber - nothing of note

Tuesday
Beastmaker workout 5a. Still unable to get through the whole workout with my feet off. Ended up with some lovely blood blisters. Probably need to tape-up next time.

Wednesday
AM Training
4 Rounds:
10 push press with 8kg dumbbells, then walk with dumbbells overhead to end of gym and back
10 ring rows
4 Rounds:
20 wall balls (think it was as 12kg ball)
2 laps of farmers carry (x2 with 7kg dumbbells, x 2 with 8kg kettlebells)
Driveway run
PM Outdoor - Kangaroo Point
- 3 lead climbs (13, 14, 14 - UK 4b &4c) - clean except one rest on a climb that was previously a DNF on lead/clean on top rope.

Feel like my head game is getting better. New strategy of warming up on a climb I have done the previous week to sort my head out on my warm up.

Thursday:
Rest Day

Friday:
Flow & Deep Yoga

Saturday:
MetCon
Warm up - forward rolls, handstands
5 minute ladder - burpees, 12kg kettlebell swings (made it to 8 reps)
1 round of:
- Farmers carry 300m (8kg kettlebells)
- 21 box jumps
- 42 sit ups
- 15 box jumps
- 30 sit ups
- 9 box jumps
- 18 sit ups
- Farmers carry 300m (8kg kettlebells)

Sunday:
Rest day/Paintball

Feel a little battered this week after getting pummelled with paintballs, my shin colliding with a box and my skin nearly ripping off during hangs. But feeling like I can push myself a lot more.
Heading to Brooyar this weekend for 2 days of sport climbing – might try to find some 17/18’s to climb/attempt. My main worry will be climbing in heat and SNAKES!

In reply to AJM:


Mirrors would be a quick tick for you I imagine, especially if you had someone there with a bit of Beta knowledge, it's only really 10 or 12 moves of difficulty and most of that is knacky (everyone has a different method mostly due to height I think) so your recent bouldering should more than see you through. Road rage is the opposite, power endurance on crimps, so could be an interesting benchmark, the hardest part is getting good conditions.
How have I never heard of Burn Hollywood Burn...?

The boulder pyramid seems fair, everyone knows Font 6's are harder than 7A...

In reply to Dandan:

I tried HoM about 2 years ago and made fairly reasonable progress (halves in 3 goes or something?) but it aggravated my elbow so I went off and tried other things and have never been back.

Keen for RR before Kaly fitness fades completely, should such a thing be possible!

As for BHB, it's a bit of an unknown, I came across it via ukb where someone was recommending Adrenochrome (roped) as a potential 8a. It reminded me that actually there's a fair few routes that are roped over there and that there was a time pre dws where these were sports climbs. Fancy a look some point?

Maybe see you tomorrow?

In reply to TheFasting:


So I've chin-upped my wife, you've pistol Squatted your cat, I can see an end-of-year award for weirdest weight substitute looming...


The latest trend seems to be to keep doing whatever it was that caused the issue, albeit carefully and perhaps dropping the level to start with, although you should still elicit a small amount of pain to encourage the healing process. Stuff like hangboarding and weight reps are actually more controllable than climbing to ensure you don't aggravate it too much, so do go steady with the climbing. A good opportunity to focus on footwork and technique on easier routes rather than just pulling hard?

In reply to AJM:

Hey if there's a 7b next to it that I might be able to get Mrs Dandan interested in then i'm keen for a change of scene, isn't it sea level so pretty unpleasant in the winter?

Typically this is the one Tuesday i'm not climbing, I've arranged a van to pick up some hand-me-down furniture from my parents, i'll be there tonight instead.

In reply to AJM:
Re boulder problems - an I right that you'll want to avoid super power moves and straight on clampy/huggy stuff?
At churnet, you could get some stuff done at Gents - high speed inpact is straightforward as long as you have a spotter and a couple of decent pads, humpty dumpty is ok, the nose is good while there although not 7a.

In the peak, have you done gorilla warfare? If not, I think it would suit you, and it's easy then to do early doors as well. Then try seans arete, which is brilliant, and very doable with good body awareness.

Further west, if you go to roaches I'd spend a day at the clouds doing trust and hard arete (bit anti style, but maybe a good benchmark?), then maybe milky buttons if you have any skin left.

You should obviously go back and do force majeure.

Lots in Font!

In reply to mattrm:


Could you create your own routes by combining holds from various routes to get to something more resembling a 4? Not easy to make easier routes from harder routes I know, but worth a try perhaps.

In reply to Dandan:


I don't know. But I remember Andy L saying best dws conditions at Lulworth were later on, as the sun is lower so actually hits the faces. I've heard similar from Tom re Blackers hole. And the bouldering, which is semi tidal, was mint yesterday. So l reckon it's worth a shout on a day like today - crisp, sunny, low swell, northerly wind...

In reply to Si dH:

I'd been meaning to ask for a ticklist. Churnet is closest closely followed by rhs, then roaches area then the hathersage crags last at ~1hr.

Keen for Churnet and Curbar for rematches with propellorhead and trackside definitely and GW and HSI were also on the radar.

Style - at the hardest end probably as you say but definitely keen on some antistyle stuff - the "multiple areas" goal especially font will be far more satisfying if it's "local style" rather than relying on finding an oddity which climbs like something I'm good at!

FM is my obvious 7B contender, yes.

In reply to Dandan:

Damn, pull-upping my wife is a great idea. Then I can do weighted pull-ups at home!

Thanks for the rehab advice. This strain is perhaps not as bad as I thought, don't really feel it today.

I can't do hard routes anyway, so that should be no problem to work on easier routes.

In reply to guy127917:

Reflection? Don't continue with a goal to the point of injury but it certainly helped with motivation after a great trip to Switzerland.

Now in Font. Foam rolling everyday.

Mon - Eased shoulder back into movement. Sore.
Tue - Rehab session, good and then manipulate tendon. A world of pain.
Wed - Arrive in Font after no sleep. Bois Rond. Did some blues, flashed one.
Thu - Wet rock. Walked around Drive Zinnen, Bois Rond. Didn't climb.
Fri - Rempart. Climbed okay, some 5s. Need totally different beta to everyone with wrist and now shoulder but happy I can see it quick enough. Tried some 6s. Manipulate tendon again. Jeez
Sat - Elephant. Tired and sore, easy stuff only then gave up. The Catalans were on a beautiful slab, so joined in and managed the easy parts - shoulder was too weak for the step through. Told later it was 7A... oddly had more holds and less polish than some of the 3C slabs!
Sun - Rehab session. Then Apremont. Some easy stuff, then tried Science Friction for an hour or so. Shoulder weak after sleeping on it, so did manipulation agony thing and took fotos.

Shoulder is not going to feel good here because keeping the tendon irritated as the physio instructed means it just stays in a constant state of weakness but it's a great place to be.
Estoy no machina...

Staying with only Catalans is interesting - all politics at the moment, only Catalan is spoken and lots of beer and cheese.

Really enjoying the Forest - nice to be here after so many failed attempts to climb here, met up with lots of old friends also and the super thick new crashpad (thanks René) is great for falling on. The tweaked ACL is also coping okay. All is good.

In reply to AJM:


We're going last week of Jan to Meribel - where are you off to?

Tyler has pretty much hit the nail on the head - it's all about some thigh/quad stamina - though i think some high intensity intervals instead of static/isometric locks are more useful training regime.

I will do this on a bike and ergo, supplemented by some deadlifts for lower back/core strength. Tricep work can also be useful if you kind yourself polling a lot.

In reply to Ally Smith:

Back to see my cousin so Morzine 13-20.

Ok good ideas cheers. Maybe stuff for work gym sessions...

In reply to guy127917:

Thanks for compiling the stats. I didn't post last week, but then I didn't do anything much either. I'm still really struggling since the marathon a few weeks ago. I'm learning more and more respect for those people that do a marathon every month!

I didn't do anything much last week either, but I was entered for the Leeds Abbey Dash, so I went to collect the t-shirt and recorded my second worst 10k road time ever of 53:14. I wasn't too bad in the first half with just over 25 mins. I usually run the second half faster, but not this time, my hip started playing up and I just felt knackered.

In reply to guy127917:


Cheers, sadly the 555 run challenge wasn't achievable through several factors. However getting back to where i was distance wise so time to do some pace work as well. On the motivation front it was good to have a target and a fixed date to work towards. I am booked onto the Leicestershire half marathon in Feb so a clear goal there and for an extra incentive it will be my first ever organised race/run. The aim is to hit the sub 2 hour mark there Also should find out the date for the Mersea Island spring duathlon this week and will be entering that too. Another reason to keep training interesting.

Last week went as follows;

Monday, rest

Tuesday, 2km lunchtime swim

Wednesday, 1km lunchtime swim then first attempt at a proper brick session in the evening. Cycled the 25km route home then after a quick swap of kit went out for an 8km run. Went pretty well but did start to feel a little light headed about 3/4 way round on the run. May well need to look at energy/salts intake when getting well into sessions. Only had water on the bike.

Thursday, gentle 1k swim at lunchtime

Friday, 16km ride to work. 1km swim at lunchtime and a 30km ride home

Saturday, 6.5km run. Felt a bit crap and under the weather, snotty and horrible made for it feeling very hard work

Sunday, rest unless decorating the kitchen counts?

In reply to AJM:

Cool. Loads of good stuff in the rhs/cratcliffe /rowtor/stanton area.
At rhs could start with Cave Problem, The Kid, Dry Wit, Jerry's Arete, then go and get soanked on Jerry's traverse. Spinal slab if you're feeling techy and/or knackered.
You might struggle to find propellorhead dry at Christmas but it's obviously worth a look if you go to the churnet with a plan B.

In reply to AJM:

Oh, i didn't realise you'd never skied before!

technique will definitely be the limiting factor, though saying that, snow-plough is really hard on the legs!

So long as you have a little bit of cardiovascular fitness and some leg power, then you'll be fine - just get out on the bike and turn a big gear up some hills - that'll sort you out.

HIIT would be good for some ski fitness if you get to the point where you can't link 20 kick turns through powder because you thighs are screaming - this is unlikely to be you in week one of skiing...

In reply to Si dH:

Si - you've got some good grit knowledge - what are your recommendations for steep grit problems with toe and heel hooks galore? Trying to come up with a list that's the in an appropriate training style for my Kilnsey roof project...

I'm thinking stuff like Boyager (f7A+) and Brass Monkeys (f7C)

In reply to Ally Smith:
(To AJM)


Really hard!
A couple of sessions at the snowdome will make a massive difference to enjoyment on the trip if you can make time. It took me several hours before I could go in a straight line for 10m, and a couple more to be able to turn and not fall over 75% of the time on a gentle slope. Without having done thatz the first 2-3 days oncthe trip would have been rubbish.
I was really crap though.

In reply to Ally Smith:



Those (although I've not been on bm) might be the best.
Also:

Mansize (f7A+) (7A+ with good toe hook beta)

Tetris (f7C) (crucial toe hook)

Suavito (f7B) (two heel moves)

Monochrome (f7B) (not strictly as you describe but crux is off a heel so worth it if you go to do Boyager.)

Grizzly Arête (f7A+) I think, can't remember sequence very well (Andy, Another good one for you too)

The Nose (f7A) and T Crack (f7B) if you force yourself to use short person's beta (not a prow but tough toe hook moves.)

A Case of Mistaken Identity (f7B)? Not a prow but loads of controlled powerful heel/toe shenanigans

The Alliance (f7A) (and the sit?)

Glass Hour (f7A), Captain Hook (f7B) and Zippy's Traverse (f7B) all do bits of this and are within 20 yards of each other.

River of Life (f7C+)??

Obviously there are loads in Font, perhaps an excuse for a trip!

In reply to Si dH:

Some more on this list:

https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/set.php?id=982

In reply to guy127917:

STG (20th Oct to 5th Nov): 555 goal: redpoint 7b and/or onsight 6c+ on Kalymnos. NEITHER OF THE ABOVE.
MTG: Plan next Kalymnos trip
LTG (2021): Redpoint 8a before I hit 60.

In The Kitchen at parties

M: Ghost Kitchen. Couple of goes on N7 before it got too hot. Slightly overhanging grey crimps, not what one is supposed to come to Kalymnos for, but better chances of a quick redpoint success inside the comfort zone than outside it.
T: Quick morning raid to Ghost Kitchen to grab the redpoint of N7 in the shade. Third go, my fastest ever ascent of a 7a. Excellent. Met up with friends at Arhi in the afternoon and pootled up some celebratory slabs over on the left.
W: Prophitis Andreas. Third day on, and quickly realised that trying anything hard wasn't on the cards. Onsight mileage up to 6b. This crag is massively overhyped in the guidebook: the central grey slab looks impressive but is unpleasantly sharp to climb on, and the rock quality on the numerous "three star" routes to the right is nowhere near up to Kaly Spec.

T: Rest Day. Physio for right shoulder, coastal path walk to St Photis.

F: Iliada. Attempted to onsight the notoriously hard-to-onsight Paris; went up the wrong tufa & ended up in a cul de sac miles from the bolt. Got scared. Backed off. Did some other quite ok routes, but not in any sense a great day.

S: Ghost Kitchen. Went for the big 6c+ onsight effort on Mythe de la Caverne but rain stopped play. Quite possibly just as well: from the perspective of the nice comfy kneebar rest in the big hole the crux bulge was looking really rather intimidating. Very pissed off with partners not getting their act together in the morning: wasted a good hour or more of perfect conditions before the rain when we could have got another couple of decent routes in.

S: Last day. Arginonta in the hope of quick drying after a very wet & cold Saturday afternoon. Working Sex in the City, but by the time I had a viable sequence for the hard, crimpy crux the sun was on it and it was two grades harder. Bailed across the valley into the shade for a desperate last attempt to grab the 6c+ onsight on Zephyros Extension; was going rather well until I fell at the last but one bolt.
Evening ferry to Kos. I'll be back.

More thoughts & reflections on Kaly tactics, goals, what went well and what didn't to follow .

In reply to Si dH:

Thanks Si - lots to think about and get on in that list - time to get my grit on!

In reply to guy127917:

I managed 2 of 3 555 goals: my 555 goals were Lead 4 of my DNFs (/) complete the beasty 5a fingerboard session (/) boulder a V5 at the climbing wall (x)

1) did the goals that you set for FC555 help with motivation etc? - most definitely, it made me think about them most weeks and got me leading more
2) what might you do differently if/when we start another milestone countdown? - I would probably not set so many goals and really think about what I want to focus on

Mon: Bouldering - ran 2.9 miles av pace 9.37 mi/miles av HR 182bpm, max HR 193bpm (just doing a normal run to look at heart rate)
Fingerboard 5c - felt pretty good, came off a couple seconds early on some of the crimps but pretty easy
Gym -
handstands
one leg squats 6 x el - 3 sets sometimes with wall/box aid
Bar german hangs, feet to hands - did two then some work with just a bar
Planks 4 x 1min
Shoulder flys x 10 - 3 sets
Ring dips x 4 - 3 sets
Ring supports 30s x 3
Pikes x 10, one arm flys x 6ea - 2 sets
10 x knee raises then 10 x TRX chest flys - 3 sets
Turkish getups with 8/10kg kettlebell - one on each side with 8kg x 2 sets, then one on each side with 10kg

Tues: Rest

Weds: Rest

Thurs: Climbing 5/8 and 5/10 moves on my wave projects - they feel easier. Now working on V5/V6 on wave

Fri: Rest

Sat: 7.2 miles run 12:30 min/miles keeping HR in zone 3 with av HR 169bpm

Sun: Gymnastics tumbling class for 1hr. Handstands, cartwheels, front rolls and front and back rolls/somersaults - moved to level 2. Will try the strength class when I get back from Spain as I would like some tips to get a front lever (MTG)

Goals for Spain: climb lots and lead a 7a.

In reply to guy127917:


Well, er, actually. no. A rather mixed trip. Loved the place, the climbing, the friendliness. But was a bit disappointed with my performance. This time. Next time I'll know how to prepare better.

Some thoughts, conclusions & lessons learned. Maybe a bit long-winded.

*** WHAT WENT WELL ***

PHYSICAL FITNESS
Training works. My endurance was as good as it has ever been, and being pumped was only the margin between success and failure on one route.

CONSOLIDATED MY ONSIGHT LEVEL
This turned out to be a better trip for building onsight confidence than for redpointing. Considering that my previous confident onsight level was around 6b, I feel I've pushed this up a notch:

6b: os x 8, flash x 1, 2nd go x 1
6b+: os x 2
6c: os x 1, flash x 1
6c+: fell at last bolt on one onsight & one flash attempt

REDPOINT SUCCESS
N7 at Ghost Kitchen in three goes. My fewest goes ever on a 7a.

MET SOME GOOD PEOPLE
AJM & family, Olly from Austria, Matthias from Leipzig. Would be very happy to climb with any of you/them again.

*** WHAT COULD HAVE GONE BETTER ***

MATCH FITNESS
This was the big one. Or one of the two big ones. I was physically fit from training on plastic, but because of family commitments & crap weather had barely set foot on rock since early summer. Having done my hardest ever redpoint in the spring isn't a basis for doing it again six months later if I've done nothing but train in between.

PARTNERS
The other big one. I was in an odd-numbered group from the Munich DAV. We were all Kaly first timers, and the others were more motivated to see as many crags as possible and onsight stuff than to get their teeth into projects. Which was not what I really wanted to do, but in itself ok & understandable. Less ok & understandable: the interminable f*cking committee meetings every evening about *which* new lowest common denominator crag everybody should go to tomorrow. And the idiotic notion that climbing in the sun on warm afternoons is somehow a good idea, coupled with a terminal unwillingness/inability to get one's act together in the morning and get to the crag in the shade when conditions are good.
(And breathe)
Next time, either go with a definite partner with similar targets, or just go alone and rely on hookups. Either would be better than the frustration of being in a group with incompatible preferences & motivations.

TACTICS & REST DAYS
Before the trip I intended to do two days one / one off for the two weeks. In the first week I found I was ok with three on / one off and thought "great, extra climbing days". But by the middle of the second week I was definitely fading, and another rest day or two might have helped. Otoh two weeks is the longest climbing trip I've been on for a very long time, so maybe I just would have got tired anyway.

TRAVEL LOGISTICS
I had late arriving & early departing flights, so opted to stay on Kos for two nights. This wasn't a bad decision, but I should have made sure I booked places directly in Mastichari village. Not doing so cost me half a day's climbing on the Saturday when I arrived.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
We rented a house in Platy Gialos. Nice house, and a pleasant quiet location, but having to scooter over the Kamari hairpins every day was tiresome. Although I did have my racing line pretty well sorted after two weeks. Next time stay somewhere with more climbing in walking distance, probably though not necessarily downtown Masouri.

TRAINING CONCLUSIONS
Contrary to expectations, aerobic endurance wasn't the limiting factor. What was? I have major head issues even slightly above the bolt on steep ground, and was stopped by stopper moves more often than by getting pumped. I mostly focused on endurance mileage slightly below my limit at the wall; next time need to do more trying & falling on harder routes instead. And bouldering.

In reply to guy127917:


Helped remind me of priorities, certainly, and the regular training goal did probably encourage me to squeeze another session or so in that I wouldn’t maybe have done otherwise.

Not sure about next time - if it coincided with a bouldering trip (where I think performance and childcare are more compatible) I’d consider setting myself some trip based goals.

In reply to AlanLittle:

Great conclusion, really enjoyed that.
I share your pain with faffing partners, I used to climb with a guy who couldn't get out of bed in the morning, it used to drive me nuts and the only thing you can really do is find another partner.
It sounds to me like if you found a partner who was psyched, (punctual) and a little better than you, you would be able to very quickly move into the next few grades, everything else seems in place.
Even for fixing your lead head issues, nothing quite beats the intangible confidence boost of seeing someone do it before you do, and of course 2 climbers working the same route mean stopper moves will often be solved before they become stoppers.

Are you planning a return visit?

In reply to AlanLittle:


Alan,

Where did you find the stopper moves?

I only ask because from seeing you and looking at your comments it doesn't look like a key driver:
- Paris you went the wrong way and that blew your head
- mythe rain stopped play
- that 6c at odyssey was a head fail
- the 7a you didn't finish because sun stopped play
- the 6c+ at ghost kitchen on which we watched you - I had a half memory that was a jump rather than failing on the move, although I may be misremembering. I do recall your friend saying you had got wrong handed though- I mean getting stronger is a solution but that's raising your game above the level (in that being able to rescue a 6c+ from mistakes implies it isn't truly at your limit) rather than increasing your hit rate at the same max level (where I'd agree with your first bit about the head being the best place to attack)

Text is an awkward medium for communication, so please take this as constructive questioning rather than as rubbishing your conclusion. You obviously know a lot more about your trip than I do! I just wonder how much the "stopper" nature of the moves was in the head rather than the arms, and how much not hitting the aerobic buffers has the same cause (not ploughing onwards to lactic death because your head called time)

Andy

In reply to AJM:
Thanks AJM and Dan, this is exactly the sort of well informed & constructive feedback I hope for from Fit Club.

You're right on Globus - I let go somewhat voluntarily when I could have at least tried to grab one more hold, and one more hold could have made the difference (if it had been the right one). This could well be because I don't put myself in the situation often enough to know the difference between "very pumped" and "terminally pumped" & therefore panic at "very pumped".

The one on the last day at Arginonta Valley was a sequence misread, physically I was fine.

Already trying to figure out when I can fit a week in in the spring. Better before or after Easter? Easter I'm at Font with my son.

In reply to AlanLittle:

I don't know what it's like from Germany but flights are very hard to arrange from the UK before Easter for some reason.
Go after and don't be put off by higher temps, I've been twice in August now and as you don't seem concerned by early mornings, you'll be fine

In reply to AlanLittle:


So am I... (as is Si, as well)

30/3-7/4 or something like that...

In reply to AJM:

Your son will be crushing by Easter. Watch out.

We're there 24th to 29th March though, so probs no overlap. Pity.

In reply to AlanLittle:


The usual advice is hard redpointing should (assuming you're going for it properly) teach you how long you can hang on for. I imagine that the frankenjura is maybe not the best place to learn that as far as pure enduro pump goes (I can't immediately think of anything which is long/sustained enough to trigger aerobic failure) but there are plenty of opportunities to learn it on power endurance/power out terrain, and steep to boot. My prescription: Dampfhammer (7a) and it's compatriots?

In reply to AJM:


Agree with that. I think getting in to some long term projects is a good way to get used to just going for things (because you learn them so well) and starting to forget about being scared or wondering whether you are too pumped.

Also, Alan, re timing of a sport trip around Font - personally I think it's much easier to add a bit of endurance quickly to a strength/power vase than vice versa. If that was me, I would train full out for Font for a few months (strength/power/bouldering), but throw in the odd boulder traverse to keep up the PE/anaerobic side, and then leave time after Font before your sport trip to do 3-4 weeks of foot on campus aeropower training.

Simon

In reply to TheFasting:


I find pistols with a small amount of weight in the other hand easier than bodyweight. Helps with the balance.

In reply to AlanLittle:

Yeah that's what people say. Personally I've never had that benefit. The mobility aspect has never been a problem for me, so maybe that's why I can do less reps with weight than without. Harder to balance too with more weight on one side.

In reply to guy127917:

Thanks Guy.

So last week wasn't great climbing wise as was working flat out catching up after Morocco and planning for WCS. Apart from getting to climb with Lynn Hill, WCS went really well. Best one I've been to and just such a genuinely positive vibe.

I didn't get to have a go on WFD on the Sunday as it was pretty wet and Ben had ejected from his bikepacking trip the night before.

So:
M- coaching and fingerboard
T-T WCS prep
F - seconding Lynn Hill on Sea Walls
S - WCS
S - popped to Haresfield Beacon and did some V4s

Actual 555 check in: Lead E4 route (x) Complete Morocco tick list (/) Boulder 7A/7A+ (x) WFD (x) Lose a couple of kg and 'tone up' a bit (/) Run a successful WCS (/) Belay the FFA of the Nose (/)

Hopefully I can knock out the remainder in some good weather breaks in the next month or so. Have my eyes on a few E4s and lots of 7Bs for grit season...