UKC

Hey everyone, just a placeholder from me. Will get the stats polished off tomorrow morning.

Cheers Ross. Training continues to build but so far I feel OK with it. Got a heavy week at the gym this week coming before a de-load week so this week will be used to trial out the sessions I'll be using.

M - Endurance. 3 x 10min on/10 min off on 6b circuit

T - Gym - Arms (back/chest) 30 sets over 9 exercises

W - Density finger work and 3 x 10on/off

T - Gym - Chest and Back (legs) 26 sets over 8 exercises

F - Went to Trowbarrow to try Blow Out (E6 6a). The damp didn't seem to suit the crumbly rock and bits were falling off everywhere. Then it rained so bailed to the wall and did some more endurance work.

S - Lancaster Wall - Max Boulder session. Timed my rests. It turns out that despite being conscious about this I don't rest enough indoors. I had a good session doing mints (V6-8 but any I ticked were on the V6 end) and on the board up to V5.

S - Malham - 'volume day'. I am not sport fit....

Yosemite Wall (7a+) twice - one two hang and then one hang

Against the Grain (7a+)twice - one hang each time

Appetite (7a+) once with two hangs and then half a go where I had to bail and James had to go up again and get his draws back........

A good week which has reminded me how specific I have become towards trad. Not a bad thing but next year I need to maintain str and fitness whilst also doing trad.

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.

Link to last week’s thread:

https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/walls+training/ukc_fit_club_week_812-7527... 

Looks like most people had pretty good weeks! Great to see people getting out on the rock, often in the face of poor conditions.

Somerset swede basher: Hope the bout isn't too severe and your recovery is swift! Logbook suggests you're coming back to form rather well?

AlanLittle: How was Kaly? Not just in terms of goals, grades, etc, but just getting stuck in and enjoying it!

Steve Claw: Good new routing! If that's including the bolting of said routes then they sound like some pretty tiring days! Ice cream finish is always a bonus.

Liam P: Pretty decent maintenance week all things considered. Back on the OAPU grind this week?

Randy: Looks like you're really pushing yourself on that trip. Good effort. Shame about not ticking any goals, but that's always the risk of the game, especially when iffy conditions are thrown into the mix. Good to see some post-trip reflection on how and why things went the way they did.

SteveJC94: Great week! Some good training and getting out on the grit as well. Low Rider is a peach of a line. I assume trying Chip Shop Brawl was for the ultimate big link, Chip Shop Buddy?

Tom Green: Glad you're still enjoying Slovenia. Shame about the toe stub, but a big mountain route and putting to bed a multi-session sport route is pretty good going!

Ally Smith: Looks like the lurgy is actually peformance-enhancing! Strong work on the benchmark, and progress on other stuff is very exciting indeed.

biscuit: Excellent training week! I know what you mean about being easier to climb inside this time of year. Hope you're still finding opportunities to get out and about.

AJM: Great week! Always looking forward to your updates to see how the DWS is going. Must be the very tail-end of the season now, hopefully you can squeeze in one last session?

Derek Furze: Nice to see you got out on the ropes! Nice little teaser of another outdoor session, how'd that one go?

Thanks Ross. Kaly was short, the most crowded I've ever seen it, but still a great father-son bonding time which was the main object of the exercise

STG: Winter 22/23 - do an actual off piste ski tour
MTG: April Kalymnos trip with my son: tick at least two things from my wishlist
LTG: Be a confident, well rounded low to mid 7's sport climber. For measurable definition see Fit Club 658

M:    Telendos, Lambda & Irox. Third day on, tired. Hung draws & topropes on some moderate routes for the lad. There's one "three star" 6b+ at Lambda that I haven't done - took a look at it from the ground, decided it looked both desperate and crap. Promptly abandoned my half-seriously entertained notion of ticking the entire crag.

T:    Rest day. On previous "rest days" on Greek climbing trips I have tried things like hillwalking in the - very thorny - Kalymnian bush. That cost me a pair of completely trashed Inov8's. Or driving a hundred miles of narrow, twisty coast road between Leonidio and Mycenae. Today in a radical departure from previous form I decided to experiment with actual resting.

W:    Kalymnos: Noufaro. I've had Harnisch (6c+) on my wishlist as a musical note 6c+ ever since my first read of the 2016 Kalymnos guidebook, but somehow never made it to Noufaro. Finally did today - good sector, but on my current form it turned out questing upwards into unknown tufa bulges at - or above! - my onsight limit was just too much for me mentally. Bottled it at the first hardish bit without even falling off. Slightly disappointing but not at all surprising in this year's circumstances. When the sun came on to Noufaro we retreated to Arginonta Valley, where I redeemed the day on Bichon Direct (6b), a highly entertaining piece of Pembroke blowhole style esoterica.

T:    Kalymnos: tried going to Griffig again but it was ridiculously crowded, queues on everything I wanted to do. Bailed to Summertime Area after a couple of warm-ups, where my son fought his way to a hard earned onsight of the steep, pumpy for the grade and excellent Ammohostos Vasilevousa (6a) for a good end to his trip, and I one-hanged the also excellent and pumpy Acon69cagua (6b) (definitely 6b+ as in the guidebook) - my brief endurance training campaign proving not quite up to the job here. One to come back for when I'm fitter.

F:    Flight Kalymnos -> Athens. My first attempt to fly to or from Kalymnos directly instead of going via Kos. Have heard many stories of flights being cancelled because of adverse winds, but not today. Pleasantly chilled atmosphere at the Kalymnos mini-airport; afternoon touristing in Athens.
S:  More Athens tourism evening flight home

S:    Nach dem Krieg ist vor dem Krieg, the lad wants to go back to Greece in the spring so: wall, Freimann. Autobelay mileage.

A short trip but a good one. In the context of almost no actual climbing this year and minimal training, 6b+ onsight & 6c second go is a baseline performance I can happily live with and build on. And I have a target to aim for since my son is so keen for a return visit.

Thanks Ross, yes, I slightly shaky start to the week followed by a rapid return to normality.

Mon. Short session back on BSMA. Just an hr before I was nackered but managed to do the heel step over move, just the (hopefully) easier moves at the end to sort out and then I'll be ready to start making links.

Tues. Rest.

Wed. Max hangs, this is technically a new PB at +30kgs but I lost about 3kgs when I'll last week (I didn't really eat much all week) so it felt ok. Pull ups (felt hard) and press ups.

Thurs. 5km run.

Fri. Rest.

Sat. Cornice session. Not much still dry. Redpointed Flowers in the Dirt (7c+) which hasn't had an ascent since the last of the good holds broke off at the crux. This has taken me two sessions and we think low 7c+ now. It's a boulderers route now, ok with strong fingers and good body tension but not one for the stamina monsters, crux about V7 on small holds.

Sun. 7km run and 10km hill walk. Managed to twist my knee on the walk so might be finger boarding this week rather than going back to Burbage.

Cheers Ross. Yeah still chipping away in OAPU Club. Added a bit to each set and some supplementary OA Lat Pulldowns. 2 weeks away from El Chorro so will try and get a lot of training in before a rest/taper week.

Mon

Leg Rehab

• Single Leg Calf Raises 5x 15 (12.5kg)
• Hamstring Curls 3x 10 (12.5kg)
• Leg Extensions 3x 10 L 45kg 3x 20 R BW
• Single Leg Leg Press 3x 10 (L 57.5kg R 5kg Eccentric)
• Back extenders 3x 10 (5kg)
• Hanging Wipers 15,12,12
• Hanging Leg Raise 13,12,12

Fourth session of OAPU Club

• Free hand on wrist - 9 reps
• Free hand on bicep - 3 reps
• Free hand on shoulder - 1.25 reps
• OA Lat Pulldown 3x 15 (20kg)

Wed

• Pinch Block 5x 7s LH(18.5kg) RH(18.5kg)
• 6x 7:3 Repeaters (+5kg) - 2x 20mmHC, 2x 20mm4FD

Fri

• 90mins Bouldering. 9 problems up to V6.
• 4x 4 endurance training on the Autobelay (5c)

Morning everyone! A good week from me. Reopened the account on my most time-invested project, did what I think is a great MB problem, and had a little day out on the grit.

Last Week:

M - Rest.

T - Weigh-in at 78.2kg. Rigpa (V9) session, had a few thoughts on it...

- Managed "the move" twice with relative ease, out of only three or four proper goes.

- Every time I checkout the topout it looks sketchier - perhaps the shrub at the top just needs pruning? Might traverse and topout as per Northumberland Wonderland. Debating match 'n' drop but don't think I could live with myself.

- Also dragged the ladder up to find out it's about two rungs too short to be much use. Approach was dreadful.

- 10 degrees and 75% humidity, but conditions didn't feel limiting at all like they did in similar previous sessions.

- Encountered two foxes in the night with their spooky glowing eyes.

- Overall feeling pretty confident for the upcoming season, but slightly peeved that I don't want to try it solo anymore.

W - Rest.

T - Moonboard. Managed all the moves on "Hangboard Not Required" but finding it very difficult to catch the last three holds decently when linking. Quite chuffed to square away a sustained problem I was trying in my previous session, now published as "Lean On Sheena". Also progress on Rigpa in that I've found someone else who's keen!

F - Rest.

S - Rest.

S - Ramshaw Rocks. Lots of mucking about, doing occasional hard moves and scrittle-slapping. Tried Ram Air (f7B+) but couldn't get very far! I've now got the low-down of the beta from a local legend, so will apply that when I'm next around.

Next Week:

M - Rest.

T - Rigpa if I can find a partner.

W - Rest.

T - Moonboard.

F - Rest.

S, S - Bouldering.

Goals:

Bulletproof fingers.

Hi fitties. Thanks for keeping the stats going Ross.

Last week was a write off, but not a big surprise. My suspicion of impending lurgy was born out, so I spent the week trying to work through a stinking cold then the weekend resting and trying to recover.

Week 41:

M-W: Work.

T: Work/travel. 

F-S: Rest.

Week 42:

M: Fingerboard and Strength.

T: Prehab.

W: Run.

T: Drytooling.

F: Prehab.

S: Fingerboard and Strength.

S: Run.

STG -end Dec:

Some specific goals that feed in to the end of year goals...

Triglav N Face (Tick).

Stewker (E1 5c)

First of Many (none 5b)

The Night Watch (VS 4b)

Gauche (VD)

Minion's Way (HVS 5c)

Roof of the World CD Problem 4 (V1)

Angel's Wall (f5)

The Cruel Crack (f5)

Overhanging Arete (f6A)

Delstree (HVS 5a)

Tufted Crack (E1 5c)

Chelly Express (D7) placing gear.

Three big mountain days >1500m vert.

Ultra-distance run.

Weighted Pull-up: 85kg. Max Hangs: 80kg. (Adjusted down to reflect recent lack of training)

Weighted hill climb: 2 laps of RT in 30 mins with 15kg.

2022 Climbing goals:

7a (Possibly one of: Arc en Ciel, The Jim Grin, Rock & Roll, Clink) -TICK!

ALL of my local must-do list: 4/15

Visit at least five of my 'why haven't I climbed here' list: 3/5

Get at least one session at each of my 'I should climb more at this crag' list: 5/8

(For lists see FitClub 772)

Start properly getting to know: Brimham 2/3, Almscliff 3/3, Caley 0/3, Slipstones 2/3.

At least two big, classic alpine goals (Tick -perhaps not as hard as I had planned, but definitely big and classic!).

Thanks Ross.  Lucky for us the forecast changed and managed to enjoy 2 days on rock this week.

Week 41

M – More stomach lurgy

T – Less lurged than yesterday. Epic day of teleconferencing; so densely packed in I didn’t get lunch until after 3pm!

W – I was concerned by the next virus making itself known with a sore throat as hms (previously of this shire) arrived for a couple of days climbing.  A quick evening play with the Lattice Quad block. Got up to 34.5kg for 7s lift on the wide n’ deep pinch.

T – Lurgy turned out to be nothing more than a mild sniffle. Day off #1. Tramstation crag with hms, previously of this shire. South facing sun-trap, but with mild temperatures and super low humidity it was comfortable conditions. 8 pitches from 6a to 7c, mostly OS including a Sensei (7b+) and A Bridge Too Far (7b). First UK 7c OS since 2014? Grand day out.

F – Day off #2. Headed East to get away from forecast rain. Masson Lees. Not the greatest choice – very odd crag vibe with lots of over-confidently/under-competent noobs about. Lots of choss too on the Red Wall warm-ups (3x 6a-c). Saved the day with the quieter aspect of White wall. Hilti Sound System (7a) was great along with Forefinger Exercise (7a) (even if it was raining by then!). More sport pitches ticked in 2 days than the rest of the year combined :-D

S – 6km solo Squiggle wrangle around Tatton. 5x5 60kg bench-press before dinner.

S – 4km team Squiggle wrangle around local woods. Crimpd 1-arm max-hangs on BM2k central slot. BW-4kg for all hangs :-D Brief Inch dumbbell lifting session too. Worked up to 75kg with R and 80kg with L.

I keep optimistically referring to it as mid season, on the grounds that according to some of the old timers mid Sept is the start of the season! Certainly the last couple of sessions with the sun on the face (in high summer the sun is higher in the sky and the face casts its own shadow) have been mint conditions. But it's been blowy from the south and not that sunny this last week and I'm not sure next week looks much better - southerly wind means more chop and often higher humidity. We shall see. If the wind flips northerly again and the sun comes out of give it another go, the sea temp is still fine. But being realistic the chances are getting slimmer. At least I have something to train for!

Aside from some rehab and some walking to/fro work I didn't do anything really this week. We're trying to do a grand declutter and tidy up after ignoring it for far too long, and that has sucked up much of my free time. If it's inevitable that mid way through any process of tidying up there's a bit where the mess looks worst as everything has exploded outwards in preparation for then shrinking back into order again, then we must be doing great as the level of mess surely must be near its zenith now! Fingers crossed we can indeed complete the process of compacting it back down again over the course of this week. 

Sounds fantastic!

For a beautiful moment I though the end of that post was going to involve D10 crushfests! I thought the main function of Masson on a rainy day was tooling!

I've had just one day DT'ing, where I managed to flash White Goods (D8+) on a disgustingly wet day. Not sure there's much to recommend it if there is any dry rock available?

An excellent ser of extra goals!  Delstree!  Might as well do Bachelor's LH while you are there - a proper battle of a session!

Funny place Masson.  I've never taken to it either, despite it having routes that I could target

Thanks Ross.  Yes, managed an outdoor session on Monday, which felt pretty good - certainly demonstrated that I was probably under the weather last week.  Nothing spectacular, but did some steep 6bs without problem, so it felt about right.  Proper sport climber wot I am, I even took my clip stick (which I propped against the rock and ignored).

Despite really big workload, managed 5x6 pull-ups and fifty pushups on Friday, followed by a pyramid max hang session on small holds - only to 16 kg, but I haven't done these for ages.  Aiming to get my routine re-established over the rest of the month.

Good shout. I’ve neglected hen cloud so I’ve a lot of ground to make up!

Good effort flashing Jaz. That remains my nemesis.

The problem you’ll have with tooling is you’re too bloody strong! It’s only fun if each move feels like the living end!

Thanks for the stats Ross. 

It sure is, grit lines don't get much better! Yeah that's the plan. When I eventually latch the finishing jug of Low Rider, I'd try and finish it all off with Chip Shop Buddy. Starting to get very psyched for bouldering season now!

Not the best of weeks as I've been plagued by the lurgy and tennis elbow pain, probably as a result of all the locking off on Low Rider the day after a high volume comp.

M - Rest

T - 5 hard problems on the woody

W/T/F/S - Rest & elbow rehab

S - Max hangs testing session. New max hang weight of 92kg - BW (64kg) + 28kg, half crimp on a 20mm edge, 7s hang. Followed this up with some strength and conditioning: Bench Press (5 x 5); Military Press (5 x 5); Bar toe touches (8 x 3); Press ups (8 x 3); Kettlebell twists (20 x 3).

Will probably leave climbing until Wednesday to give the elbow a full week off and then ramp things up again if it feels good. 

How long does it take to walk up to low rider? Trying to work out if it's a goer for a lamp session after the kids have gone to bed.

Thanks for the encouraging words. To add on my post trip analysis, i also think that my mental approach was not optimal. I felt like i was in good shape and i was expecting some things to feel rather easy. E.g. i got frustated on Chasin' the Trane (Helmut Albrecht Gedenkweg) (7c) quite quickly after it felt harder than i've remembered it, though that was 5 years ago and my memory probably played some tricks on me. Climbing in general is hard, especially on the classics at or above your onsight limits and we should never expect it to be easy.

Unfortunately, not much positive to report from last week either:

Mon-Thurs: Business trip to Paris, too much drinking and food, too little sleeping and no training

Fri: Did a quick gym session, despite feeling tired and having a slightly sore throat. At least i went easy and just did a bunch of boulders below my flash limits.

Sa- So : Rest after my throat started to feel worse

Did a Covid Test yesterday and if course was positive again . At least it feels more like a normal cold this time, so i hope that i will recover quicker than last time, when i had it this spring and it knocked me out for a couple of weeks.

It’s about 20 minutes from the A57 end so really not too bad. Probably double that from the High Neb end. 
Give me a shout if you’re up for a lamp session or few on it as I’m sure I could be tempted! 

Sounds good, I'll message you my number.  It won't be this week though, last week before half term is always mental at work.

As of yesterday my son has a part time job in the kitchen at the Thalkirchen climbing wall. This is (a) the biggest local lead wall and (b) recently converted an old bouldering room into a hardcore board training dungeon with two spraywalls, two kilter boards and a moonboard (see video with Alex Megos:  youtube.com/watch?v=_ynfZgkklBI&)

The job includes unlimited free entry to the wall, so I should soon have myself a pretty useful rope gun

Get scouring the multipitch trad guide for routes with alternating 4a and 6b pitches that you can legitimately tick off as 'Alt lead O/S'!

Thank you Ross,

Apologies for the late post.

Its a vital part of the Avon experience, especially if your trying to get children up.

I was working away most of last week, so very little done and was too tired to do anything when I got back. Unfortunately this week coming isn't going to be much better or the one after.

However, I do solemnly swear to the Fit Club, that the reports of just "Steve goes climbing" will soon stop and I will be back inside soon and doing proper training.  (For the winter at least.)

Mon-Thurs - Away at work

Friday - TR session on Academic (8a).  Was too tired to do much apart from collect beta.  Not sure why I've not been on it before, as its so close to home.  As it turns out the crux looks quite doable, and I think once I start training again and get my fitness back, this might be possible.

Sat - Took the children boulder traversing in Avon. All good fun and turns out the 5 year old has really good footwork.