UKC

Evening everyone, sorry there's no stats today, life has got in the way a bit but I'll have them out tomorrow!

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_821-7547...

Derek Furze: Much appreciated! Shame to see work was busy but it could be a blessing to have a little forced time off to deload.

Liam P: Unfortunate start to the week with the ill child, but glad to hear they're well now. Decent training week you've put in despite that!

Ally Smith: Quiet week! Reckon you were due a deload anyway, or rather have been able to put another session or two on the board?

Ross Barker: Looking strong but don't be a dick with that finger tweak, even if it's minor some sort of rehab will go a long way.

Steve Claw: You said a quieter week, but it looks like you still managed to get some good mileage in! Hope you've found a course of rehab to get the elbow improving.

Randy: Strong training on the weekend. I've never taken any long flights but I can imagine the sleep deprivation isn't conducive to quality rest!

Tom Green: Nice STG tick at Caley, plus some good running days as well. Manage to tick off any more before the weather goes to pot?

AlanLittle: Good week of climbing, and exciting news on the upcoming trip! Can't offer any advice personally but I'm sure you'll have a great time, fingers crossed there are enough people in the scene for you to find partners easily.

Somerset swede basher: Excellent brownie point negotiation to get some winter climbing in! I've heard wonderful stuff about the conditions in the Peak this week, hopefully you were able to make use of that for BSMA.

biscuit: Sounds like a challenging week, it's never fun to feel a regression. On the bright side though, it's probably just one of those weeks and you'll be back up to pace before you know it!

SteveJC94: Solid training week! Good effort on making links on the board projects. Not much else to say, keep it up!

AJM: Top week! Sounds like things are really making a turn for the better now with the injuries, keep up the good work!

Tyler: Good to see some more climbing in. Shame the elbows are still giving you a bit of grief, but from my position it does at least seem less debilitating than before?

Morning all, an alright but reasonably mellow week from me. I think I need to take a more active approach to sorting out this A2 issue. It has only been almost 2 weeks, but from experience with past tweaks I don't want to ignore it and have it linger or develop into something more serious. Will make a more concerned effort to do ice baths and gentle dangling this week.

However, not all doom and gloom, as I've finished all the 6B+ Moonboard 2016 benchmarks!

Last Week:

M - Rest.

T - Rest

W - Moonboard. Planned on relatively low intensity, but I think I would have been doing so anyway. Found myself powering out super quickly (which is unheard of on the Moonboard!), though individual hard moves were fine. Finished off a few outstanding 6B+ benchies, only 12 remaining. After the powering out got worse I elected to just try and come up with some fun moves, which has now become a project to try next time. A2 was noticeable warming up, but fine once up to speed.

T - Rest. Weigh-in at 78.5kg.

F - Rest. 

S - Another Moonboard volume session. Tidied up the remaining 12 6B+ benchies, now that's all 70 done! A2 tweak noticeable but fine when the load isn't too intense. Will probably be a couple more weeks of tentative intensity increase until I'm confident it's fully healthy again.

S - Rest.

Next Week:

M - Rest.

T - Moonboard.

W - Rest.

T - Rigpa.

F - Rest.

S, S - Bouldering.

Goals:

Sort out the A2 tweak.

Antagonists.

Rigpa.

Thanks Ross. A quiet week for me due to illness
STG: Xmas - New Year 22/23: find climbing partners in Leonidio
STG: Winter 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:    Nada. Had a cold. Getting my pre-Leonidio taper in early.

F:    Wall, Weyarn. Autobelay routes.
S:  DAV Xmas party. Made a greek salad as my contribution to the buffet / Leonidio acclimatisation programme.
    We discussed our group meets programme for the coming year - I made a plea for anybody willing to lead a very easy beginner-friendly ski tour for the benefit of the public at large (er, me)
S:    Wall, Freimann with my son, who lured me into making my first attempts on the speed route. Both easier and more enjoyable than I was expecting, and am quite content with my initial time of 1:15.68. Although there is definitely room for improvement - not stopping in the middle to chalk up for a start. New MTG sub-60?

Hi FitClub. Thanks for a great run of stats, Ross. 

A slightly off-piste week in terms of real sessions vs planned sessions, but some good days... 

Week 50:

M: Rest -skipped sesh as I felt a bit ruined from previous day's run.

T: Prehab.

W: Bouldering at Brimham. Climbed Bellyflop (f6B+) in the eponymous style(!) including a terrifying top out due to an inch of ice on the boulder! The terror continued with B5, Minion's Way Start, P13 (V1) where I 'topped out' the boulder to the midway ledge and then didn't know whether to escape up or down! (Half an STG tick for doing the hard half of the route?!). 

T: Run/walk/climb. Enchained Black Shiver Gully (I/II) on Ingleborough and Main Gully (I) on Pen y Ghent. Ran 19km. Walked 12km. A slightly ridiculous day, where the climbing was mediocre (even by my winter-starved standards) and the running was ruined by having a heavy bag full of boots/crampons/axes! A comical bad use of a bluebird day!

F: Rest

S: Hill walk. A comedy of errors. Went to climb on the N face of Crib Goch, but the torrential rain and warm temps in the pass led to us sacking it off on the assumption the crag would be stripped. After a leisurely breakfast decided to go for a ramble up CG in the rain, only to find the face was actually in (but the gear was back in the van). Absolute shambles. A bit more uphill mileage at least!

S: Fingerboard, Prehab.

Week 51:

M: Strength, Core, Prehab.

T: Run. 

W: Climbing.

T: Fingerboard, Strength, Prehab.

F: Run.

S: Probable carnage!

S: A session of something to get seasonal smug points!

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) - TICK

Roof of the World CD Problem 4 (V1) -TICK.

Angel's Wall (f5) 

The Cruel Crack (f5) -TICK.

Overhanging Arete (f6A) -TICK.

Delstree (HVS 5a)

Tufted Crack (E1 5c)

Chelly Express (D7) placing gear. (TICK)

Three big mountain days >1500m vert. (2/3)

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 3/3, Almscliff 3/3, Caley 1/3, Slipstones 3/3.

At least two big, classic alpine goals -TICK

Thanks Ross, unfortunately accessing the grit has been tricky this week as its been very busy at work and the Burbage road has been closed so no grit this week.

Mon. Headed up in the eve to see what the conditions were like at Alport Castles, mostly well frozen but some bits must have been too dry when it froze and required care. Did Not as Cold as the Vaccine (IV 5) and A Shot in the Arm (IV 5).  Had to use some small rock hooks to avoid a couple of drier bits but successfully avoided pulling on anything I shouldn't.  Good gear gave lots of confidence and I didn't pull anything off but not worth heading back without a wetter spell directly before the next freeze.

Tues and Wed. busy at work.

Thurs. Max hang PB at 6 x 10 sec @ +32kg.  I must have been fully maxed out as I couldn't do anything much afterwards. My target is +33kg as this would be BW+50%. 5x4 pull ups +10kgs. 3x10 press ups.

Fri. rest.

Sat. early start, went to check out middle black clough but it wasn't frozen enough so whizzed round to the Chew Valley and did all five of the Wilderness Gullies.  Wilderness Gully East (Winter) (II) was good but I thought Wilderness Gully West (Winter) (I) was better.  The other 3 were a bit non-descript but all in good condition today.

Sun. catching up on some work and chopped a load of wood.

Thanks Ross,

Nothing to report this week, as working away.

Elbows still hurt when tested, not sure what exercises to do, but need to work something out, as it doesn't look like they will fix themselves with just rest.

Yes, still time for late volunteers, but as it stands I will pick up from New Year's Day.  That leaves you with Christmas Day to go!

Strange week for me.  Work was definitely calming down, so I had hoped to get back to some kind of routine.  However, I had to head south regardless to help my (post-operative) Mum while she was recuperating.  On top of that, I spent last Sunday in A&E with my wife, so a lot of time lost to healthcare.  Back Thursday morning to grandchild's nativity, followed by catch up work meetings and work training.

My wife has been advised not to drive while investigations progress, so I am now chauffeur as well.  Luckily she seems all good, but I am going to be shuttling her about at times for the near future at least.  On the plus side (this may be the pre-Christmas lull effect), the anticipated heavy workload isn't too bad from here through to April.

A long-winded way of saying that I've done no training! 😃

Not really, but sometimes i can deal with quite well and sometimes it completely knocks me off balance. After my flight to Chennai i was tired the whole week, but after the flight back i was already almost back to 100% the next day.

Recap last week:

Mon: Wanted to do another fingerboard session but felt awefull already during the warmup. Decided to skip the session and just did 3x12 Pullups with 3 min P

Tues-Wed: Rest

Thurs: Fingerboard 20mm, 6x10s at 120% BW. Assisted One-Armers with light resistance band, 2x 2-3 reps on each arm. One-Arm-Lockoffs for a couple of seconds. 18 BW Pullups. Felt better but still not at 100%

Fri: Fun Travel back to Germany. Landed in Frankfurt at 8:15am after a 10h flight from India and it took me another 11 hours to get back to munich . First flight got cancelled, second flight got delayed becaused the crew was still in Heathrow, then they needed to unload baggage after we have already boarded, and finally we also had to wait for 20 minutes in munich because the guy who operated the gate was not available

Sat:  2x20s L-Sit, Handstands, 30s V-Situp, 30 Pushups, 15 Lunges, 20 BW Squats; felt quite good despite the long travel, though i noticed with the Handstand that i did not train them much during the last months

Sun: Indoor Bouldering Session, Elements Wall, Volume Session in  the 5c-6b range with little rest between Boulders, got pumped very quickly and kept the session short

Plan for the next weeks is to finally get some bouldering mileage in, after i did not climb that much after the Frankenjura trip in October and build up some capacity. 

Thanks Ross. A mixed week for met, with some good training that unfortunately ended with another injury. 

Monday

Hangboard Varied Grips @ 8/10 RPE - 3 x half crimp; 2 x front 3 half crimp; 2 x back 3 half crimp; 2 x 3 finger drag.

10 problems on the woody (6B+; 6C; 6C; 6C+; 6C+; 7A; 7A; 7A+; 7A+; 7A+)

3 x 10 shoulder press; 3 x 10 bent over row

Wednesday

Projecting session on the woody. Starting to make big links on 3 of the 7Bs that I've been working

Friday

Projecting lead routes at MCC

Saturday

Managed to tweak my shoulder after a foot unexpectedly popped and I made the mistake of holding the swing. Quite a lot of discomfort at the front of the shoulder and top of the bicep. I managed to have a call with the Physio this morning, who thinks it sounds like either a minor tear to the Biceps Tendon, an Impingement or mild Tendinopathy. I've got an in-person session on Wednesday to confirm. It's the same shoulder that I tore the Bursa in earlier this year so no doubt it's a bit of a mangled mess in there by now! 

The hope is that by taking a week or two off and focusing on rehab I'll be back climbing hard again after Christmas. 

Cheers Ross. Big Life Low Training Week. Managed a couple of sessions but the nipper picked up another virus & chest infection (‘tis the season for Adenovirus & Bronchitis!) Had a 5-day trip to Font that we had to cancel last minute but there’s no way he could travel.

Thu

Fingers & Pull

• Pinch Block 5x 10s (18.5kg)
• Max Hangs 5x 5s 20mm4FD (30.5kg) - ran out of weights so will set up a pulley for one arms.
• OAPU Club - Hand on bicep pull-ups 2x 3

Sun

Fingers, Push & Pull

• Gaiam Yoga with Rodney Yee. Bloody hell I’m inflexible.
• Kettlebell OHPress 3x 10 (12kg)
• Pseudo Planche Push-ups 3x 3

My mobility is awful (can’t touch my toes) which isn’t an issue for the grades I climb but think it’s the route cause of a lot of my injuries. For example, I can’t hinge at the hips past 45deg which puts a lot of stress on my thoracic. Planning on committing 15-20mins a day to touch my toes! UKCDownwardDogClub?

Cheers Ross - yeah, a deload week was sensible.  I need to get some more structure back to board sessions and get some fitness sorted for 2023 goals...

Week 50

M – Pec DOMS. Started to get a sore throat – next nursery virus making itself known?

T – Busy bee on the work front; lazy feck on the exercise front.

W – Unstructured board session. 6B+ to 7A flashes as warm-ups. Then projecting 2x 7C+ benchmarks. Progress on both, but not got either of them over the line.

T – Bruised fraken-finger made a return overnight, suggesting I’d whacked it again on Wednesday night. Arse.

F – I’d hoped to have been on The Joker, but the franken-finger made that inadvisable and the unexpected uptick in last minute work made any exercise impossible.  

S – 5x5 bench @62.5kg. Went to max reps on last set and smashed out 9 reps – looks like I’m overdue a 1RM test 😊 5x5 BW pull-ups on rough edges as warm-up, then progressive loads on LH only. 1-arm max-hangs on BM2K central slot with LH only. BW-1kg felt steady;  another exercise to test 1RM... Crimpd finger curl hypertrophy with Rolling Thunder; 20kg. Steady.

S – 6x6 rows @32kg. Crimpd small edges session – ickle crimps avoid the bruised bit of franken-finger. BW+10kg on 6mm edges. 90-degree 1-arm lock-offs. BW-5kg x4 both sides. Hard – another weakness found.

I've been on leave this week and enjoying a break of screen-time.  Days out with wife & Squiggle; day-pass tomorrow and the weather looks handsome :-D 

Thanks Ross, the elbows worry me the most, especially now my good one sore. My bad elbow may not be getting worse though.
I’m plodding on with the odd short bouldering session and bought some mini jugs this week so managed to double the warm up traverse in each direction on Sunday. I can see the board being really enjoyable if my elbows survive. 

Thanks Ross, yes it was good to have the good head space again, I've been struggling a bit with motivation of late.

Didn't manage anything last week - I was ill and off work on Wednesday, and that continued to a lesser degree on Thurs and Fri (plus trying to catch up on work before the end of the week). Every time I get to the bit before holiday I look back to that point where the run up to holiday wasn't always a frantic rush, and wonder where I went wrong! Then the weekend was a frantic rush of pre Christmas faffing. 

Feeling some return of the psyche and looking forwards to getting back in a routine a bit.

Cheers Ross. I think I just needed some rest to recover energy and psyche. The grid of training monotony had started to get to me. It was a better week this week.

M - Gym - just light stuff

Lancaster Wall - Broken halves - felt pretty good on the wood 7a circuit - which is nails

Hip flexor work and stretching

T - Nothing

W - BUK - Broken halves on the 7a+ orange. I did the full session of 3 blocks and then did the whole circuit instead of half of it on my last rep.

Hip flexor work and stretch

T - Nothing

F - Kendal Wall - good session on the big wall. Failed on a 7a onsight due to having a  minor tantrum as the setter was hitting all my weaknesses. Got it next go and it felt fine. The style was more front on and physical. I really am quite weak at the minute

S - Nothing - Early xmas dinner with my Mum. Ate too much but managed to steer clear of pudding and chocolates.

S - Preston Wall. Only 10m high and very impressed with the setting. They really pack it in with lots of good, but hard, moves. As per Friday I got my butt kicked a bit but a really good place to go for more intense roped work. 

Did 1 on1/off x 10 on a 6c at the end.

Feeling weak but fit so hopefully in an OK place for longer routes in Spain.

This current week has been busy with family stuff and work and I don't think I'll actually get anything done before we go. Not ideal, but I can't claim I'm not rested before the trip.

Just to say that the book is brilliant!  I haven't had loads of time up until now, but I've had a flick through over the last day or two and I'm really impressed.  Well-organised, logical progression, very clear explanations of the causes, character and care for each type of injury.  On top of all that (which is arguably what you need from a book on injury), it is visually attractive as well, so ends up being quite inspiring about actually going out climbing.  Really good on warming up as well.

I am looking forward to a bit more time with it over the break.  Have a great trip to Spain.

Thanks Derek.

I am currently sitting on the balcony watching the sunset, having just got back from a jog to shake off the flight and travel lethargy. 

Some wine will be drunk while we pick a crag for tomorrow and I thought I couldn’t get much happier.

But then I read your comments and I’m smiling even more. Thankyou! 

Now that we can see you are in Calpe, I expect to see the classic Tai Chi shot with the Penon in the background.  That said, I think the photo is better than the route.  Costa Blanca on the Penon is magnificent though.  Have fun