UKC

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_817-7539...

Somerset swede basher: Good effort retro-onsighting a classic on the weekend and keeping up the midweek training. Best of luck on Strapadichtomy next time. Conditions are definitely more wintry now!

Derek Furze: Very active week, even if not much of it was climbing specific. Three sets of dancing is intense stuff!

Tyler: Nay, I am sworn to update everybody! Nice work getting back into things, I'm sure the elbows will settle a little bit soon enough.

Steve Claw: Busy weekend of climbing! Really looking forward to hearing how that 7c goes when you get on the sharp end.

Liam P: Sorry to hear about the back. I think most injuries seem totally avoidable with hindsight, but there might be survivorship bias, as you never remember the tweaks and twangs that never amount to anything. Not sure how helpful that thought is, mind you! Hope it's improving this week.

AlanLittle: Good week. Glad to see you're pushing the boat out on steeper stuff and outdoor project shopping, even if you've not quite found one yet.

AJM: Child wrangling sounds like excellent general conditioning! Top effort keeping the exercise up when life gets busy.

Ally Smith: Another consistent training week, great stuff. Is the gorge officially out of season now, or is there still potential dryness to reap?

biscuit: Nice training again, that Langdale walk sounds monstrous! Hope this week has been more of the same, perhaps with an outdoor session sprinkled in?

Randy: Three bolts in 20m?! Spicy! Solid training, and pleased to hear the ankle is improving and it's just a minor thing.

Tom Green: One outdoor and one indoor session is still decent even if not ideal. Nice STG tick as well. Back on the tools this week?

SteveJC94: Solid training midweek. Good work on The Edge Problem, some of those holds are utterly minging. If I may spray a bit of Bus Stop beta (try saying that fast!), I went LH to the big incut slot left of the porthole, rather than the porthole itself, using that little incut tooth hold as an intermediate. That said, I think it's one of those where nobody quite does it the same way as anyone else?

Thank you Ross,

Back on the training wagon and the send train this week.

M - Rest

T - Indoor Bouldering - Friendly competition, I did well considering having not climbed in that style for a while.  Great on small crimps, not so much on the overhanding stuff.  Still got a score that last year would have been ok, could stay to the end to see how that compared to the others.

W+T Nothing

F - Outdoor climbing day - 6a, VS, HVS, 6c, 7c, 6b+, E1.  Sent the Rocksteady 7c project, which went well on a TR to chalk up and set the draws, however I managed to come off twice during RP's and not even on the crux moves!  So did the crux a total of 4 times, cutting the right index finger again, but all good as its done now.

S - Rest

S - Indoor Boulders - 1hr woody session, my first for a long time.  Took things easy as I could feel lots of tweaks in the hands and arms, probably due to lack of having anything that intense for a while.  I would like to get 2 x 1 hour sessions on the board each week over the winter.

Thanks Ross. A slightly less active week for me, with the delayed arrival of late Autumn weather shutting down my cycling season. Some solid climbing sessions though.

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:    
T:    Wall, Boulderwelt. Circuits: weak session focused again on the steeper stuff - but if I keep putting the work in it will pay off eventually. 
W:  
T:    Repeaters. Having done max hangs for nearly all my fingerboarding since the start of the pandemic, it felt like time to change things up
F:    Passed my MOT (GP general check-up). Hurrah.
S:  Wall, Thalkirchen. Kilterboard & rings. Better session - and an interesting comparison. Guy I was sharing the board and alternating goes with was a simlar age to me and bouldering at a similar standard. I've always thought of lower body mobility as one of my strengths, but it turned out he was much better than me at getting to high feet without cutting. There's always something to learn.
S:    Wall, Weyarn. Autobelay endurance. Was very much feeling yesterday initially, but surprisingly turned out fine once I was warmed up.

Hiey clubbers. Thanks for keeping us going with the stats, Ross.

An ok week. Didn't manage any climbing (boo!) but completed most planned training sessions.  

Week 46:

M: Rest.

T: Fingerboard, Strength, Prehab.

W: Weighted hill laps -STG tick by hitting my target of two laps of my local hill by the steepest route in 0mins. This was a benchmark for how my leg strength had recovered post-fracture... loosely based on the TFTNA assessment. Although a bit of an arbitrary STG it is comforting to know I'm pretty much back to where I want to be in terms of ploughing uphill with a big bag on. 

T: Prehab.

F: Trail run. 12.5km, 444m vert, 6:17/km.

S: Fingerboard, Strength, Prehab. Hill walk: 12km.

S: Prehab. Swim in the North Sea... must be good training for something -possibly for Scottish winter shiver belays?

Week 47:

M: Prehab.

T: Poss dry tooling. 

W: Fingerboard, Strength, Prehab.

T: Run.

F: Prehab.

S: Fingerboard, Strength, Prehab.

S: Run. Prehab.

STG -end Dec:

Triglav N Face -TICK.

Stewker (E1 5c) -TICK.

First of Many (none 5b) -TICK.

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) -TICK.

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 -TICK.

2022 Climbing goals:

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

ALL of my local must-do list: 6/15

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 3/3.

At least two big, classic alpine goals -TICK

Thanks for the beta Ross! I'd been trying to deadpoint directly to the porthole and kept cutting loose so I'll definitely try your method next time.

A solid first week on the Lattice plan, though there's definitely a lot of volume to pack in!

M - Limit project bouldering (3 problems at 7B). Followed by 3 sets of 6 hard boulder problems in 6 minutes. 

T - Hip & leg flexibility; finger care. 

W - Deadhand Varied grips (8/10 RPE). 20mm edge; 3x 5s half crimp BW + 12kg ; 3 x 5s 3 finger drag BW + 12kg. Boulder Pyramid (V3; V4; V5; V6; V7; V7; V8; V7; V7L V6L V5; V4; V3). Core - 3 x 8 crunches; 3 x 10 back arches; 3 x 15 kettle bell twists

T - 3 x 10 push ups; 3 x 10 shoulder press. 

F - 3 x 8 twisting crunches; 3 x 8 dish tuck; 3 x 8 superman

S - Rained off at the plantation so headed to Raven Tor. Got A Little Extra (Direct Start Problem) (f7A) quickly, then peeled off Weedkiller Traverse (f7A+) and gave myself the biggest flapper of my life so will be sticking to crimps this week! 

S - Pull up testing. New 2 rep max = BW + 31kg (total load = 95kg). Upper body mobility.

Thanks Ross, Great job on the stats as always.

Mon. 6x Max hangs (+31kg) and a few one arm hangs on the 50mm edge. 5x3 pull ups (+10kgs). 3x10 pres ups.

Tues. 22km on the rollers.

Wed. 6 sets of repeaters (+5kg), 5x5 BW pull ups, 3x10 press ups.

Thurs. Flat and steady 5km run.

Fri. Rest 

Sat. Very short visit to Froggatt. One lead burn on Strapadictomy, managed to get through all the hard climbing to the break just below the top (it's about VS from here), then realised my left toe was still wedged in the flake crack, took an age to unwedge it, got really pumped sorting the stuck foot then fell off topping out! Then it rained so headed home to the finger board, same routine as Monday but with and extra rep on each of the pull up sets.

Sun. Lurgy, bed all day.

Good morning all. Decent week from me. Weather slightly impeded my plans of getting outside twice, but once ain't too bad. I think I should switch up my Moonboard habits to be a bit more conducive to a projecting mindset, rather than just swiping through problems and only trying them once or twice.

Also feel like I should do something to help with my tiny hold weakness, maybe some hangboarding? I don't know if that'll actually help or just aggravate the issue further, as the pain seems to be from the joint extension.

Last Week:

M - Weigh-in at 78.4kg. Rest.

T - Moonboard. Decent session. Flashed "Blursed" 7A, felt quite hard as undercuts are my weakness! Also kneebarred my way up "Not Great Not Terrible" 7B+ (7A/+ish?) which was a very enjoyable problem. Tried a couple other funky moves and problems which haven't come to fruition yet. Pushups and lower body stretches to finish.

W - Rest.

T - Rest.

F - Rest.

S - Blaenau area. Did a decent bit of hard pulling but nothing new under my belt. Sustained moves on tiny crimps on shallow terrain were once again giving me a bit of joint grief. Nice day out though.

S - Rest.

Next Week:

M - Rest.

T - Moonboard/Rigpa.

W - Rest.

T - Whatever I didn't do on Tuesday.

F - Rest.

S, S - Bouldering.

Goals:

Antagonists.

Improve DIP joint conditioning on microcrimps?

Rigpa.

Morning all. Thanks to Ross for the continued excellent quality stats.

Not really had any focus on structured training as a consequence of a $hit ton of work. 

I didn't get out either, as my wife was on call all weekend so very awkward to take advantage of the dry weather on Saturday.  The gorge might have been in nick, but not sure I want to burn brownie points on "maybe" days at the moment!

Week 46

M – 4x bodyweight density hangs on rough edges as skin conditioning. Stretches/mobility.

T – Board session. Managed a new Ravioli 7B BM in a few goes and then tried a few project moves in isolation. Some promise on 7C+ and 8A BMs. Slightly grumbly L wrist. Later, more stretches/mobility exercises.

W – Finally made some progress on mounting piles of work, but no exercise beyond some gentle stretches.

T – Rushed board session.  Can’t remember much about it.

F – Stretches only.  Stripped some chalky holds and gave them a good scrub.

S – Morning walk with Squigg around Dunham Massey, Afternoon bike ride; 34km. First time out on the bike in 2 months!

S – family Sunday lunch, then 90min board session. Lots of goes on two different 7C+ BMs. Progress on both of them.  Got a split so did some supplementary training: 3x 10 saxon bar curls @26kg. 4x 10s 1 arm scap engagements @BW+8kg. 4x 5s Inch trainer lifts @72kg.  Crimpd static core.

A challenging week with work and weather, so failed to get to the crag at all.  However, it is mid-November, has been grimly wet and the only dry patches were on days where I was on the road.

House guest through until Tuesday and a pile of work anyway, so little activity completed.  However, continued what is turning into a big dig in the garden, so got completely wasted, but in a different way.

Wed Max hangs - six sets at plus 12.3 kg.  Lots of stretching.  10 sets of 12 push ups and four sets of repeaters at bodyweight.

Thurs - sixty pull ups

Friday - work

Sat morning - more digging (five hours) so well knackered then away for the weekend partying.  Tried a training session Sunday evening but was very tired - did two sets of my Wed routine before sacking it off.  

Now starting a really intense period of work, so just trying to maintain will be tough going.  However, if I can keep it going through to Christmas, then I will have the best part of three weeks at home to build things up more seriously again.  I'm then reasonable with work until February, which looks really intense, but I am going to think carefully about how to train things while on the road.  March onwards will be winding it back, so still time to get ready for next year!

Cheers Ross.

Well it all had to come crashing down at some point  

M - 3 x 10 min on/off

Gym - Chest and back - 18 sets over 5 exercises

T - Board session at Rockover Bolton. Good session. Made myself a project that is more sustained than cruxy. Slight tweak in my right side when fighting to stop the swing and get feet back on the board.

W - Testing new circuits at BUK. 6c and 7a+ onsights, then 7b+/c in two halves. Tried the 7c+.

Started to do broken halves on the 7b+ and on the 4th rep I was on a very tensiony move where everything is locked down while you cross over. Felt a rip/crunch around my floating ribs and fell straight off. Very owchy. Felt a bit sick. Struggled to get through work. Couldn't do muscle testing or demo exercises. Decided that my Xmas trip was now ruined so ate a massive slice of cookie dough caramel cake and bought wine on the way home.

T - Rest

F - Test out climb at Lancaster Wall. I can do more than I thought but certain moves are very painful. Learnt what those moves were pretty quick and started to avoid them. Still can't get in/out of my van or move around in bed without making pathetic noises.

S - Another monster walk around the Lakes. 23k and 1200m ascent

S - Went to Preston Wall for another test. Getting better. Can climb around a lot of it and know when a move is going to hurt so can avoid it or work round it. 

It's repairing remarkably quickly. It still hurts sitting down/standing up or moving in bed and anything that needs me to brace my core is out. But I can hang. So this week will be easy climbing and adapted fingerboard work for aero pow and an cap. No gym.

I no longer believe my trip is ruined and have stopped being a drama queen. 

Oh no. It's amazing how painful & crippling a bruised rib can be - as I discovered by landing with my avalanche beacon on a rock while snowboarding.

Agreed. I once pulled an intercostal muscle and thought I was dying of a heart attack!

I can't attest to how painful a core injury is (and hopefully never have to), but can absolutely relate to feeling like you've done some proper damage in the moment. At Nesscliffe last year I thought I'd irreversibly wrecked my elbow, even picked up another hobby in case climbing was off the cards for a while.

Within a week or two it was fine, but it was immensely painful and quite scary at the time.

At the start of the first lock down I was convinced I'd given myself a hernia from getting too keen on the core sessions.  It f**king hurt at the time but was 90% ok within 2 weeks and had no impact at all on my climbing after 3 weeks. I reckon you'll be fine for the festive flash fest!

Yeah, one these sports routes that definately deserve an E-Grade imo. Wanted to get back on it this week, but it was snowing already in the Frankenjura. There is a small chance that weather improves this week and that i got another shot, but it is most likely that the outdoor season is over.

Mon- Tues: Rest, after being completely destroyed from the weekend (was so sore on sunday night, that i had trouble to sleep .

Wed: 

• 6 repeater sets (6x7,3) on 20mm edge using a half crimp with 102,5% of my bodyweight
• Assisted one arm pullups using a light resistance band (~ 10kg -15kg) of assistance: right arm: 2,5; 2 reps, left arm: 2x2,5 reps
• Normal pullups: 4x12 with 3 minutes break

Thurs: L Sit 2x 20s, Handstand against the wall, 2x8 Pike-Pushups, 6 Fingertips Pushups, 40 Pushups, 45s V-Sit-Ups

Fri: Rest

Sat: Lattice Test Part 1:

• Max Hangs 7s, 20mm edge; + 38kg (151% of BW)
• Box Splits: 177 cm (97% of BW)
• One Arm Shoulder Engagement for 5s: Bodyweight with left hand, BW+8kg with right hand both being absolutely on the limit
• One Handed Rows: 5 reps max: 38 kg , was absolutely maximal for my left hand but probably had 2kg more in the tank with my left
• Pushups max reps: 55
• Repeater at 50% of Max, BW-18kg: 7:46

Sun: Well earned rest

Two more lattice test sessions to do next week and the first one already destroyed me. Apart from obvious fun exercises like doing repeaters for an eternity, the fact that you are doing new exercises and then maxing them out leads to a nice level of soreness . Maxing out the repeaters was kind of an interesting learning for me. I was pumped out of my mind already after 4 minutes, but was able to go on for much longer than i fought. So maybe on routes i have also more in the tank if my technique would not break and if i would just keep on fighting for one move after another.

I was recruited by Martin Grulich to belay one of his mates on Akku (6b+) while Martin took photos. They appeared to think UK trad experience was relevant / meant I would be up to the job. Was relieved that the guy cruised it.

Oh no! Mine is a painful knot in my thoracic that spreads along my right side - sounds similar. I convinced myself I’d slipped a disk in my thoracic and would soon be paraplegic but apparently that’s a 1-in-a-million injury so I have no idea.

Deadhangs seem to relieve the pain so will start some fingerboarding next week but still too scared to actually climb on it. Another day in InjuryClub!

Cheers Ross. Just realised I never responded to this weeks stats! Absolutely nothing and Ibuprofen doesn’t appear to have touched the sides. Plan is for more rest this week along with some light stretching/hanging. Fingers crossed!

Really good work Randy.  Keep it up as it is helping with inspiration while I am flat out with work!

Cheers all. I have bust ribs in the past and genuinely thought I might have done that again as it hurt that much. Then I thought maybe I'd ripped my lat in two. After 24 hrs for it to settle and applying my day job knowledge a bit more objectively it's a tear to my external oblique.

It's good to know a few have had similar and also found it really painful AND that it healed quick. I know it should, but it's hard to be objective when assessing yourself and you've got a trip a month away.

Fit Club at its supportive best. 

Thanks Ross

Another week without much to report. It's fair to say I am going through something of a motivational slump at the minute - the usual sadness at the end of dws season has coincided with my hamstring precluding me from moving onto the obvious next thing (indoor bouldering and outdoor projects), and the miserable weather of the past few weeks hasn't helped.

I feel like I'm getting stronger at the rehab exercises, but that isn't necessarily translating to not getting the odd twinge from it doing random stuff - I'm wondering if there's some sort of missing link, maybe it's just healed very short or something and the tweaks are effectively hitting reduced range of motion rather than muscle weakness per se. Either that or the rehab is doing the wrong thing, but that doesn't seem to make any sense.

Motivation for random full body stuff, the pull-ups dips and so on, is just a struggle particularly by the time I get to the end of a full day child herding and working. There's a reason I never made a good gym rat! I know there's a long game to be played here but it's a struggle without some sort of short game to look to as well. Hoping to restart easy/technique wall sessions next week which might help with that.

Realistically probably reset more fundamentally over Christmas - I'm feeling a bit frazzled from a busy few weeks which again hardly helps - and try to be a bit more interesting and keen from there!

Anyway, this week was more of the same - child wrangling at the weekend and rehab during the week. I went to the wall to do some campusing on Monday and tweaked my shoulder, which gave me a concerning few days but I seem to have got away with it.

I can imagine that . My belayer told me before i went on the route that i should not worry. In case i blow it it high above a bolt he can always run backwards and i should be fine. For some reason that did not exactly calm me down

My advice would be to create some specific and tangible goals. For e.g. be able to x pullups reps, increase max pullup, max hangs to y etc. Next step is to write them down, in a best case scenario really with pen and paper. In that way you transform from some random thought in your head into something that you are really committed to do.

Last steps, tell as many people as possible about them. This has always helped me to motivate myself even for some rather random goals.

Well, I liked it Randy!  Helpful as ever.🙂