UKC

Place holder for today. Full stats tomorrow morning. 

Cheers SSB, hoping you and all the rest of Fit Club had a good Christmas!

Monday 20th - booster jab, packing, travelling to parents. No training

Tuesday 21st - poor nights sleep, disturbed by children and by a sore arm from the jab. Headachey when I woke up but it shifted with some paracetamol. Work in the morning then about 3 mile round trip to the pub, carrying microAJM on one leg.

Wednesday 22nd - work in morning. In the afternoon, Fairlop boulders with Duncan and Mike. It was cold - icy puddles in the topout holds weren’t melting - with some damp “rock” and some mossy pebbly topouts. That’s a pretty uninspiring description but a good time was had by all with some fun juggy problems, a few random eliminates and some other bits and bobs. Basically a bunch of problems at grades up to low-ish 6s? Good social afternoon and nice to be doing some climbing.

Thursday - work in the morning. After lunch, about 55 pushups (paralettes, arms by sides thumbs upwards) in random sets of up to 10 (it seems I am that out of practice!) as well as 25 pull-ups on the portable fingerboards 20mm edges, in sets of 3-4 (usually 3 then micro readjust then +1) which is about what I can usually do before a slight shift of the fingers and the elevated risk from doing it at the top of the stairs conspire to me backing off! Be good to be able to do sets of 5 comfortably on this really. Whilst the jug at the top is fine for hangs and for pulls in and out of tuck front lever, I find it a bit too narrow for comfy pull-ups, since it’s a bit narrower than the edges given the location of the suspension cord (https://www.instagram.com/p/CRuVGHYDBsG/?utm_medium=copy_link)

Friday/Xmas Eve  - about a mile and a half or something pootle carrying microAJM. Vaguely satisfying shoulder aches from yesterday. Another round of pushups (paralettes, bench press grip position), about 50 in all.

Saturday/Xmas day - short stretching session and some fingerboard hangs. Shoulders still a bit sore for more pull-ups!

Sunday/boxing day - some more stretching and about 70 pushups with varied grips.

Thanks SSB. Happy Christmas to everyone!

M: rest

T: 3*30 second density hangs, then 5 * one arm scapula pull-ups on my left arm with light theraband assistance.

W: 3*30 second density hangs then bouldering at Boulder UK. Did a couple of V6s and a couple of the comp problems, and tried a few other things.

T: rest

F: had a few hours out and went to Rhiw Goch. It was all badly condensed when I arrived but in a marginally drying condition. After waiting 30 minutes I managed to dry the holds well enough to do Gap of Rohan (f6C) and Ride the Wild Smurf (f7A) quickly, then got stuck in to Moria (f7B), which was the main thing I wanted to try. The very first move and the top were both impossible due to very wet holds but I got some good time in on the 4-5 moves in between. I did all but one of these and I'm sure the move I didn't do will go with better conditions. It's good for me as a short project as it's fine on your own and easy to pull on almost anywhere. I liked the climbing. Only downside is it's not a suitable crag for a 4yo, which will limit opportunities to visit. I'm keen to go back in nice weather though, ideally very soon so I can still remember everything. Glad to make the best of a bad weather day today.

S: Xmas indulgence

S: Rest/recovery - plus in the evening I have done 6 X 10 second holds for my right shoulder issue.

I have some exercises to do from the physio for my right bicep/shoulder, but the finger issue I picked up last week now seems to have retreated and I couldn't reproduce the symptoms. Finger and shoulder both basically ok bouldering on Wednesday and Friday although I didn't use any particularly heinous right hand crimps.

I should be able to get out on either Wednesday or Thursday this coming week if there is any dry rock, but currently it's not looking promising...

Si

Hope you've all had a wonderful Christmas and wishing you negative tests and good spirits for the rest of the season.

Impressive work on keeping active on various bits throughout the holidays, AJM and Si, wish I could say the same!

Last Week:

M - Rest.

T - Rest.

W - Rest.

T - Rest.

F - The Dug Out. Warmed up, and managed In His Head (f7A+), first go. Then did it again sans-kneepad to prove it's not aid. Moved onto trying A Shropshire Mon (f7A+), which feels very hard to me (Ally says 7A with tricks, sandbagger!). Sussed out all the moves and a sequence but might take a bit to link it all!

S - Rest.

S - Rest.

Next Week:

M - Rest.

T - Dugout. Weather is likely to be too crap for anything else!

W - Rest.

T onwards - Pffft, who knows! Weather looks awful but hopefully can wrangle a day out on the grit if the stars align.

Goals:

Rehab finger tweak.

A Shropshire Mon. Feels more feasible than Rigpa at the moment.

Effort at Rhiw Goch. Proper steep, isn't it?!

Thanks, yes. The right hand side is very steep-board-esque. I'd like to try Nazgul after I've done Moria, it looks really good. Probably need to lose a bit of my current weight belt first...

If this weather forecast doesn't improve I might try a trip to the Dugout myself come Wednesday/Thursday!!

A new thread is posted each week on Sunday for anyone to jot down their previous week's activity. UKC fit club 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.

Hi All,

I hope everyone has had a good Christmas and been working on their DIY organic weights vests over lunchtime!  As the poor weather continues hopefully training has too.  Sorry the stats are a bit late, I didn’t want to be antisocial when visiting family.  I had an hour to myself yesterday but used it to go out on the bike rather than write the stats!

Derek Furze – first run after a lay off always feels hard but I find it does come back quickly.  As I expect will the pull up power.  I always find weighted pull ups end in elbow niggles but you’ve such a good base in regular pull ups I’m sure you’d be fine – just don’t go high volume too.

Steve Claw – Defining limits looks good – 7c on mostly insitu gear feel about right?  Whereabouts are your new bolted routes?  Or are you keeping them quiet until you’ve got the crag worked out?  (nothing wrong with that!)

Liam P – The booster has wiped out quite a few people at work so I don’t think you are alone there.  Two solid training sessions there – I hope the leg is growing some strength through normal use now too.

SteveJC94 – another victim of the booster, at least you got a couple of sessions in first.  Most seem to be back up and running in a few days so hopefully this week has been productive.

AJM – Well done on the successful board session.  What’s sharkathon?  Has Simon devised some sort of evil triathlon training schedule for Jan?

SidH – sounds like the fitclub minimeet went well, good work on the arete.  Hope the physio sorts out all issues (they have a magic wand right!?)

Ross Barker – glad you had a great session with Si.  Most of fitclub aren’t spring chickens anymore and as life pressures squeeze we all find ourselves bouldering alone in whatever time is available more and more often.  For me, a project has to be able to be done without a spotter but I’ve a good set up for carrying 4 pads in which works fine for short Peak District walk ins.

Ally Smith – the lurgy continues over at Chez Smith then, well done for getting a couple of training sessions in around it all.

Alan Little – feeling trashed after an endurance session is no bad thing, recovery shoulder be faster after endurance than strength so you should be able to get back at it again quickly.

Tom Green – when we spoke you asked for no sympathy…so you’ll get none here!  I want to see two core workouts and two finger board sessions planned in each week to start with.  Did you experiment with a one footed turbo session?  Maybe keep that short and steady to start with.  Have you been back over Liam P’s posts yet? He did an amazing job and plenty for us all to learn from there.

The sheep – I’m generally a massive jessie on the bike too, I don’t mind cold (as long as there is no chance of ice) but I hate riding in the rain.  Looks like you’ve had an absolute beast of a week with double sessions almost every day – very impressive.

Biscuit – I’d be interested to see more of your plan for the next three months, anything we could learn from it?  What is it building towards?

My last week:

Mon. shrugs, 6xmax hangs +24kgs, 3x10mins on 10mins off in the attic, 3x10 press ups.

Tues. rest.

Wed. Tried to climb on the grit but it rained so switched venue for the wildcard location of horseshoe quarry.  Onsighted Main Wall Low Traverse (f6C+) which basically crosses the bottom of 30 routes, it felt OK so I kept going to the end of the quarry at a similar grade but with better rests crossing another 60 routes.  There were some good shake outs so i turned round and went back again!  On the wall for ages and probably did about 400m of sideways shuffling in the end.  Mostly a series of V3/4 problems with good shakeouts in between.

Thurs. 10km run then drive Sheffield to Shropshire.

Fri. found a beam (basically a big flatty) and did shrugs, 90pull ups in a pyramid set + a few warm up and cool down pull ups, 50 press ups.

Sat. squeezed in 20km on the bike (flat and fast) after the kiddies had opened their presents then drove Shropshire to Somerset.

Sun. 25km on the bike up onto the Quantock hills.

Looks like free time, weather and tide times aren't going to align for climbing so will have to make do with the pull up bar in the park and my bike 'til we are back home again.  This works well for mission cardio though and will hopefully get out for a long ride on Tuesday.

It's 30m of exercise every day, at its core, although people often tack on extra stuff like losing the Christmas lard or dry Jan or something. Simon "hosts" it on UKB most years as a way to get back into a routine after Christmas.

It's good for making me do the stuff like stretching and antagonists and so on. I know I often slip into the habit of training a bit "zero or hero" - I'm either climbing or resting, no middle ground - and Sharkathon helps break that habit a bit since I've got to do something each day and my skin won't let me climb every day!

I've not decided on any extra goals although I'm tempted to have something around stretching and losing a bit of the weight belt.

Thanks SSB!  Yes, the weighted pull ups seem like they need care and I don't think my base is that good at the moment, but should be able to accommodate these as part of the programme.

A busy week with preparations for Christmas and last bits of work, but had a couple of sessions. 

M  Max hangs 6*plus 11.6kg on smallest slots.  3 sets of weighted pull ups with the same - keeping this fairly light at present as it is a new exercise for me to learn and December has been a rubbish month training so  am out of condition.  60 push ups in tens and a set of leg and hip stretches.

T away with work, but back in time for a quick session of 60 pull ups.  Noted that I am 2.5kg heavier at the moment - a legacy of a poor month, so partly explains why things feel a bit tough again!  Good incentive for hammering some sessions in the holiday period.

W work all day

Th - planned session overtaken by packing and a long session socialising with Julia's family before heading away for Christmas

F travel down south to see my family.  Back on it after Christmas

I do have trouble with longer term goal-setting, to be fair. I wouldn't say I'm aimless in my climbing, but I don't have a focus for any specific big goals.

Of course, big name classics like Renegade Master, Malcs Arete and Queen Kong are on my eventual to-do list, but on things around my paygrade I just sort of float around trying a few things, and if it doesn't go in a session or two, then I tend to park it for another time. Maybe I just can't bare the thought of having unfinished business too far away from home?

I was given Mastermind for Christmas, so maybe that'll help me gain some insight into my own way of thinking and choosing goals...

Thanks SSB.

Defining Limits is a beasty boulder problem, and a full sport pitch half way up Avon.  There are actually a lot of these, you just need to know where they are, as the Avon guide isn't always clear from a sport point of view.  Eg. Defining Limits is E6 with an E2 start pitch, however from a sport point of view you can ab in to the main pitch, clip stick the first bolt and you have another 7c on the doorstep.

There is a new sport guide coming out for the Bristol and Mendip in the spring, as its been 18 years for some of the quarries since the last guide.  There is lots going on at the moment that won't be on UKC until the guide is out, including new crags. I only know about the little bits I'm helping with, so its quite exciting.

Nothing training wise for me this week, Rest-Club is going well.

Spent a couple of days hanging on ropes, cleaning or inspecting routes.  Getting lots of practice  with Double Rope Technique.  All good fun, and well timed for resting the elbow.

Will be resting this week as well, and back training after the new year.

Thanks SSB. Not much to report this week.

STG: see where I stand on jwi's sport climbing fitness benchmarks, scaled from 8a down to 7a by the simple expedient of subtracting one number grade across the board. Done: lactate theshold, ancap. To do: anpow, strength
MTG: 1H 2022: onsight 6c+
LTG: Be a confident, well rounded low to mid 7's sport climber. For measurable definition see Fit Club 658

M:    
T:    Contemplated going to the wall but wasn't sufficiently motivated to bother getting a test. 40 minutes cardio (box step-ups) instead
W:    Booster jab. Hurrah - now in two weeks I won't need a test any more to go to the climbing wall. (Not to mention reduced risk of dying from a horrible deadly disease)
T:    In bed, mostly
F:    
S: 
S:    Dismal snow conditions reports in Bavaria, and the need for a PCR test to get into Austria, were enough to discourage even my son from wanting to go skiing. Went to the wall (Freimann) in the evening instead, where I was spectacularly weak & unmotivated. I think I was still feeling some aftereffects from Wednesday's booster jab - although also obviously the aftereffects of yesterdays roast goose. Still good to at least get some movement in and see some friends.

Cheers, unsurprisingly a much quieter week gone by.

Monday, rest day

Tuesday, 5k run

Wednesday, 5k run

Thursday, back into work to shutdown labs etc. for the break. One last swim and stretch for the year.

Friday, 5k run 

Saturday, gentle mile round the block with the wife and kids before hitting the fizz!

Sunday, rest day with the Tigers game on in the afternoon. Cracking game of rugby with beer and snacks

Alan,

What are the JWI Benchmarks for 8a?

Thanks

See below, but note it is for fairly quick redpoints across all styles (so probably not too far from "onsight in preferred style on a lucky day etc etc") not minimum capacity to project one over a modicum time horizon

Apparently you can just scale up and down to adjust for other grades.

[Edit: Entirely personal view would be that quick redpoints of 7b+ across all styles would be roughly equivalent to 8a in preferred style, give or take, in a sort of half dozen sessions sort of timeframe?]

Cheers SSB and Merry Christmas Fitclub.

No training this week but finally back on rock after 112 days!

Wed

A few hours at Cuttings Boulderfield to check out AJMs suggestions. Headed straight for The Tank and jumped on Crouching Start, Hidden Agenda (f6B+). After a bit of work I got the roof section up to the good right hand, but couldn’t get the left foot on the face without my right cutting loose. Think it’s a lack of strength/confidence pushing my right foot but feels like it will go - top section went fine from a standing start. The 3 star Hard Labour (f5+) was very good but Vasco de Gama (f6C) looks like it needs a right foot cam which is a no-go at the moment.

Nipped over to the Lip Start Boulder and did Petty Thief, Lip Start (f6A) from a standing start as didn’t have the paddage to start with feet under the roof.

Ended the trip with a bit of rock tourism. Lost Decade (f7A) looks great but think you a need a right heel hook low down.

Rest of the week has been lots of eating & drinking. Fingers crossed for a dry January!

On Crouching - the good hold - is that the flake up and right, past the pockets and then a couple of crimpy holds on the face? Once I get that I tend to just cut loose to get the feet up, not necessarily the neatest solution but probably the quickest. My feet are still locked in the break at that point - I think it's a chunk harder if you have to bring the feet out of the break on just the crimps.

Vasco - yes, I think I have foot cams with both feet at various points

On Petty thief, do you mean you started a few holds up from the good holds on the lip?

Yes, there are several places where you can use a right heel on lost decade. It's a fun problem, and a very popular first (/soft) 7A.

That’s the one. I can reach it with my feet still in the break but then getting my left foot out on to the face causes the right to pop. I got the beta from this YouTube video.

youtube.com/watch?v=JD84QLvXc-Y&

He keeps his right foot in the break so he must be 8ft tall or very flexible. I can make every move but that one, so I’ll have to try cutting loose.

Petty Thief - yeah I started on the higher crimps so definitely not the full tick. I picked up a cheap Sitter Pad but was still wary of coverage. Probably just being over-cautious but I think another break would end in divorce!

I’ve got a few days free in January so I’ll have to tap you up for a trip if you’re around?

Yeah I suspect they are more flexible than me, although I don't think I've ever actually tried going all that way, I've usually tried to make use of little things mid roof to make the move smaller, which I could never really keep on once the foot cam releases.

Yeah, let me know!

Cheers SSB. Managed a relatively productive week before the Christmas break. 

M - Max hangs and MoonBoard problems

T - Core exercises 

W - Rest

T - Power Session (Campusing & limit boulder problems on the woody)

F - Rest

S - Lots of rest and lots of food

S - More of the above! 

Had been hoping to head to Scotland for the week but tweaked my knee on the stairs so a gentler week is on the cards now 

I'm free for a boulder on Saturday (New Year's Day) if anyone is about in the Peak and fancies a meet up. Forecast looks dry Friday and Saturday so hopefully should be something to go at. 

Looks good to me. Bit breezy too!

Hi All. Thanks for the festive stats, SSB.

Good levels of psyche from reading back over Liam's posts. A bit of Christmas disruption but still managed some good sessions. Conscious that I'm pretty weak at the moment, so need to balance psyche with gradual build-up to avoid adding, erm, injury to injury!

Week 51:

M: Prehab -shoulders and elbows.

T: Rest.

W: Max Hangs.

T: Pull-ups -bodyweight, normal and wide.

F: Nothing.

S: Max Hangs. Pull-ups.

S: Nothing.

Week 52:

2 x one-legged cycle.

2 x fingerboard.

2 x strength sesh.

2 x core sesh.

STG -end Jan:

Stay sane despite not being able to get outdoors as much as usual.

Max Hangs: 75kg total.

Pull-ups: 77kg total.

Walk my usual running loop (14km, 450m vert) with a climbing weight rucksack.

MTG -end March:

Run my usual running loop.

Max Hangs: 80kg total.

Pull-ups: 83kg total.

Some Scottish winter routes -no longer fussy what... just anything white on tools!

LTG:

Need to have a think about 2022, now we are approaching the new year!

Week 51

M – Nothing. Fresh cold coming on and my wife went down with D&V.

T – Also nothing. Cold turned into laryngitis, not ideal when my job entails multiple telecons per day.

W – Despite the lack of any verbal “psssat” I was very much able to “psssat” on the board and managed a bunch of 7B-C flashes. Quite chuffed with that. Attempts at bug-bear 7A-B benchmarks were still derisory.

T – Shoulder ROM exercises

F – Drive to in-laws. Afternoon opportunistic session at The Dug Out trying Sub Moron (f7C+) (and failing miserably, such a hard undercut move)

S – Merriment

S – Clagged in, but another chance to get out. Same location, same outcome, different problem (Pete’s 7C link)