UKC

Posting early this week as it's my mum and dad’s 60th wedding anniversary dinner tomorrow so probably won’t have time to post.

A new thread is posted each week on Sunday (normally) 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_882-7681...

Ally Smith - “SM and BC highlight my weakness in getting into a small box and rocking over without pushing hips away from the wall = Something to work on” I’ll be disappointed not to see a fair bit of mobility/stretching in this weeks entry….

SSB - “I thought I was better than that” there’s a phrase that could have been written for me! Perfect time for a rest if you have a week off work to follow, weather still a bit indifferent anyway.

Mattrm - Your Wednesday run was pretty epic, 3hrs on your feet is quite some improvement. Hope you do get out this week as consistency is so important even if just a couple of kms around the block.

Derek Furze - Hope you are feeling better, admirable that you stoically managed a night out!

Ian Parnell - Ramping up the board sessions to three a week, no wonder your elbows are feeling it, you’ve got to go with the psyche though and no doubt something will get in the way that forces a quieter week at some point. I like my board but I find myself setting things that suit rather than the big burly moves you get commercial centres.

Randy - Did you get the pulley out this week, if so how much assistance is required? 5 years is some commitment but it is a brilliant goal ad can’t wait until you do it!

Alan Little - You’re lucky to have some cracks to train on indoors, give them some hammer and Lofoten granite will be a breeze.

SteveJC94 - Impressive boulder pyramid on Wednesday but a bit of crack rehearsal might pay dividends for you as well before Cornwall. Any routes in mind?

Steve Claw - Four indoor sessions, seems everyone is ramping up their training must be spring around the corner

Tigh - Hope you managed to get some winter conditions to play on, regardless I’m sure you’ll learn loads and a serious declaration of intent.

Ross Baker - Ultimate Retro Party looks good and better still looks like it has reasonable sized holds. Which is the most difficult move?

Tom Green - Technique is the enemy of strength gains, back around! Also learning to ski indoors runs contra to the British alpinist ethos of tumbling off the back of the Grandes Montets on your first winter trip to Chamonix!

dave frost - Woah, when did Darkinbad and Back Magic slip on to your goals? Love it.

the sheep - Let’s not write the 100km version off just yet!

Small Step - I think we need to hear your wife’s side of the story before we can award you a ‘moral victory’! Hope you are feeling better and and continuing to find the climbing cathartic.

AJM - From cataclysmic prognostications to “trying reasonably hard without issues” in three weeks, good news. Would that all injuries play out like that.

biscuit - Present but not involved!

In reply to Tyler:

Not really posting, but many congratulations to your Mum and Dad - that's quite a landmark!

In reply to Tyler:

I will get mine out of the way as it's easy!

Continued ALAS (it wouldn't do Alan justice to recover quickly would it?) has meant another week with zilch training, or anything remotely physical.  I do, at last, feel like I've turned the corner and am shaking it off, but gentle gardening is my current limit.  Hoping to gently reintroduce some exercise this week, possibly stretching and core rather than anything intense, but we will see.

Have quite enjoyed following the threads on Right Wall and sport grades for E5s.  Great stories on Right Wall and lots of beta, though mainly involving half-remembered gear placements, and of course, some older bits of gear (haven't seen a Chouinard hex for years!).  Not that many offerings on the sport grades thread, though loads of grading discussion anyway.  Very amused to see that Ondra seemed to have no problem proposing a sport grade for Bon Voyage!

Desperate to get out - Friday looks possible.  Might add to this thread in celebration if I manage anything this week!

In reply to Tyler:

Weight - 14st 7lbs

STG - Re-doing

MTG - Need a new one

LTG - 30 mile ultra (July 24)

BHAG - F7A boulder somewhere....

M - 30m skateboarding

T - Rest

W - Pen-y-Fal and Deri loop, 10k, 600m asc 2h

T - S - Rest

Weekly kms - 10km

Diet status - Poor

Thanks for the stats Tyler.

Another steady week.  Getting a decent run in but not much else.  Went out with the club this week (Mynydd Du).  Quite an interesting run.  We basically straight lined it through one of the steep valleys on the side of Pen-y-Fal.  Then we wiggled around the side of the hill finding as much ascent as possible, before heading over the summit, before dipping back into a valley again.  Not massively faster than I normally run, but I was going pretty hard for me the whole run.  Certainly not my usual z1 plod.  Also it was at night and in the rain for most of it.  I am really looking forward to a bit more light and a bit less cold and rain at this point.  But on the flipside, I've got a decentish base for the summer, so it's not all bad. 

Spent 30 mins getting used to pushing the board around the local skatepark again.  Worked up a sweat so it's going in the list.

I'll see if I can sneak in a 5k next week alongside whatever the club run is.

In reply to Tyler:

Cheers Tyler, well done for keeping the stats going, especially in this period of poor weather.

Mon. Conditions looked good and the forecast for as far as it goes looks awful so I decided the mini deload could start tomorrow! Really good session up at the plantation. Born Slappy (f7A) was first up. I've tried this before with the high heel beta and not been able to do it. Used the low toe beta today and it went within a few goes. Also did Twister (f7B). This was great, I knew the start from doing twister direct a few weeks ago but the top beta took some fine-tuning to make it work. Low 7B but did feel harder than the other 7A+s I've done recently.

Tues. 7km run.

Wed-fri. Rest 

Sat. Auto belay aerocap session. Good to keep this ticking over while I've been bouldering lots recently. 4 x 10min on 10mins off.

Sun. I don't think I'll get anything significant done today. Happy taking it easy still.

Been sat in a play centre marking all morning but got everything done now so it will be a proper week off next week. Shame the weather looks pants. Hopefully still get some stuff done, even if we have to resort to the dark art of drytooling!

In reply to Tyler:

Unfortunately not. Was feeling a little bit under the weather the whole week and had a sore throat. Nothing too bad, but i still only did an easy session on Sunday with some pullups and easy repeater lifts.

Hopefully, next week will be better and i can get back to full training again, but it probably also don't hurt to take a rest week once in a while.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Ha! I never saw my #7 or #8 Chouinard hex again after I "lent" it to Johnny Dawes and Andy Pollitt when they were heading up to try Lord of the Flies. 

In reply to Tyler: Thanks for your stats Tyler, hope the anniversary do was good. Impressive stats Mum and Dad! I think if I set my home board to my strengths, it would have loads of shake out resting spots on spinning holds and probably dodgy mats with spikes!

STG (this month) – maintain a grip on daily life, get good weekly routine going. 1. Climb some nemesis grit E1-2s clean

MTG (next 2 months)– 1. Give me strength – shoulders and core. 2. Climb some safe grit E3 routes. 3. Six boulder problems 6B+ or harder by March (I did 4 in total in 2023) 2/6.

LTG (next 6 months) – 1. Give me strength – fingers, steep stuff and slopers. 2. Rheinstor Lower Traverse?? 3. Attempt 2 on run climb project. 4. Trip to Sanctuary Wall

Mon – Nothing

Tues – Finger block lifts 20mm edge 10 secs half crimp. 5kg, 10, 15, 20, 25, 5 secs 30, 35, Beastmaker 20mm 2arm hang BW (88kg including clothes!) 8 secs, 9 secs, finger block lift 33kg 10secs x 2, 33kg 5secs.

Wed – Nothing

Thursday – 32 mins headtorch run offroad 3.2 miles 220m ascent at Blackamoor Woods. Hard.

Fri – 30mins strength and conditioning at stables where my wife’s horse lives. 29 x 20kg haylage lift and carries!

Awesome Walls. Warm up then Kilter Board 30 degrees 9 problems inc 3 x 6as (1 flash, 1 top on 3rd attempt, 1 high in 3 attempts), 40 degrees 4 x 6a (3 flash, 1 high on 2 attempts). Good session, felt creaky and a bit lurgyfied but found some try-hard.

Sat – First visit to Roche Abbey. Mostly dry. Struggled a bit with low mojo, cramped sit starts and fingery pockets. Only got up a couple of things, including Vintage Left (f6B+). But interesting (in a good way) rock and lots of worthwhile things to come back for in my target 6B to 6C+ range.

Sunday – Road run, 38mins, 4.2 miles. Haven’t run on road and felt like I was flying without trying too hard. I suspect that was just what all road running feels like when all your other runs are stumbling around in bogs.

Quick hour this evening at Stanage, attempting The Cornflake (f6C+). A year ago I couldn’t conceive how to make progress, this time round I could sort of pull on the eponymous hold and it was pleasing to be able to make proper attempts.

Reflection - Deload week. Felt flat and fat (the two being linked) most of the week. But had a positive end to the week, feeling glimmers of running fitness and a strong sign that despite the ‘training numbers’ my fingers are getting stronger.

In reply to Ian Parnell:

Good progress Ian with runs and the bouldering.  What are some of your grit nemesis routes?  What about the safe grit E3s?  Running out of February of course, which has been a blur of illness for me!

In reply to Derek Furze:

I did threaten this and I am quite excited to report that a repeater session of block lifts went fine.  I kept the weight low at 18.2kg, but to compensate did the last four sets at 16mm!

Back in the game!

In reply to Tyler:

STG: Regain full health and resume normal training
STG: Kilterboard 5C @ 45°
STG: Thalkirchen 5.9 "easy" crack
MTG: Rough Bounds Scottish backpacking trip
MTG. DAV Lofoten meet
LTG: Be a confident, well rounded low to mid 7's sport climber. For measurable definition see Fit Club 823
LTG: Winter '25 - do an actual off piste ski tour.

M:     
T:    
W:    Wall, Thalkirchen. Resisting the temptation to jump back on the kilterboard as soon as my elbow isn't sore any more. Autobelay instead. 5c 5c 6b 6b 7a (attempt) 6c+ (rp 2 goes, probs soft) 6c+ (attempt)
    Bike 45 minutes

T:     Bike one hour

F:    Wall, Thalkirchen. More staying off the board: 5c 6a 6a+ 5b 7a 7a (attempts) 6a+ 6a+(*)
    (* four attempts in total to redpoint 67 Black, and it still felt desperate on the successful go. Either this is the hardest plastic 6a+ in the world, or I was missing something fundamental. @Paul have you been on this one?)

S:    MTB two hours in the woods skating about on slippery roots.

S:    Wall, Boulderwelt. A rather desultory bouldering session - always disappointing when you arrive and find your  proj has fallen to the axes of the setters. Eager to get back on the boards - will probably see how my elbow holds up to a careful session at some point in the coming week.
    Shoulder & elbow (p)rehab, stretching, bike

In reply to Derek Furze:

Hi Derek yes I think the e2 nemeses are going to move to March! And the E3s to April or maybe 2025 😅 the nemeses list is long basically all the ones I had a fall on previously such as Billy Whizz, The Rasp, Regent Street, Quietus, The Vice, Fern Hill amongst many others.

the safe E3s would be The Asp, Boulevard, Gates of Mordor, Twikker, Sentinel Crack. 
I’ve booked a fair bit of annual leave in March so keen to hook up if the above floats your boat?

In reply to Tyler:

Thank you Tyler,

I did well keeping it up in the first half of the week, but was away with the family at the end of the week and didn't fancy sneaking off to do press-ups on my own.

M - 4 x 15 Press up and 4 x 10 dips

T - Rest

W - Auto-belay session - Everything to 6c in trainers, downclimbing an easy route each time.  Then up 7b and down the 5 (1 set) without putting a foot down on the ground going again.  First go 2 sets, second go 4 sets before stopping as was losing form.

T - Indoor Boulders V5-V6

Fri-Sun - Away with family. 

In reply to Ian Parnell:

Boat well and truly floated.  Still got work in March, but should have plenty of time around commitments.  Done some of them, but still got loads to go at as well.

In reply to Tyler:

Good evening all, and congratulations to your parents Tyler!

It is quite good, none of the holds are too small either. Most difficult move for me was boshing the RH out into an "iron cross" type position and then throwing the left heel up. Not seen anyone else do that heel though, most walk the feet over instead. Easy access and can work every move from the ground so quite low investment especially as it's not far from you.

A good week for me, iffy weather and prior commitments meant no outdoor climbing, but three productive board sessions have now put me past a significant threshold for benchmarks - 50%! Just the harder half to go...

Still a bit slacking on rehab but I think I managed session load quite well so I'll take it as an improvement.

Last Week:

Avg weight 77.1kg

M - Ice baths before bed.

T - Moonboard. Three 7As, then "Stoooked", with a mega fingery crux on the right hand. With the flash sabotaged by my foot catching a hold on the way up to the finish jug, I had to settle for fourth go. Second and third attempts best left ignored! Ice baths before bed.

W - Rest. Plus 400m of running late to a table reservation, if that counts?!

T - Opened with half crimp no-hangs, one-pad edge (19mm but sharp, feels similar to BM2000 bottom middle edge) for 7s. Worked up to 50kg on the injured side, after which I received slight soreness to tell me not to go further, then up to 55kg on the right. Might've been able to eek nearer 60kg but wasn't fussed. Finished off with three quick 7A benchmarks, "Moon Swing" being second go after having tried it a decent bit in the past.

F - Rest.

S - Moonboard. Relatively short at 75 mins, going to keep a more keen eye on time in future sessions as I'm leaving feeling still quite fresh. Three new BMs including the classic "Une Way". Also put time into "Featherbagger", almost caught the crux a couple times but it's hard to hit the hold correctly from the right side, very wrist-extensory. Might try it again. Ice baths before bed.

S - Rest. Will try to do ice baths before bed.

Next Week:

M - Rest.

T - Climbing.

W - Rest.

T - Climbing.

F - Rest.

S, S - More climbing!

Goals:

Rehab left middle finger.

Manage session load and build better habits.

Improve ability on tiny edges.

Louisville Lip.

Rigpa.

In reply to Tyler:

I know. I feel like I dodged a bullet with the hamstring, I really thought I had screwed that up again. And if the shoulder really is back to normal function, that’s incredibly encouraging. 

A busy week albeit with no climbing. I took stuff with me but didn’t organise anything in advance and the free evening I had it was lovely and clear so I went for a bit of a walk instead. So I did a bit of a walk on Tuesday evening (an hour or so?), on Friday once MrsAJM had joined me we had a fairly busy day with about 5 miles before lunch and about another 3-4 after lunch, and on Saturday we also did a fair amount of walking about as part of the journey home. 
 

About 5.5 weeks until Easter now so my plan for the week is to do some aero training on the board but also set up a harder circuit for some more pump focused training.

In reply to Tyler:

M: Beacon routes with Fi, did ok and managed to flash two V5s at the end of the session when tired. Felt more limber and fingers felt stronger so it was great to get some positive feedback from the ‘training’ I’ve done. Even better Fi got her boots on and her fingers didn’t hurt afterwards (we are the most arthritic couple around).

T: 20 mins yoga

W: Managed to regain some control of my out of control DIY project before Beacon session. Was expecting to crush after the promising end to Monday’s session but only managed two more V5s and made no impression on the 7b I had earmarked on the auto belay

T: Worked late so too hungry to think about yoga before tea

F: Forgot to have lunch so I was too hungry to think about yoga after work

S: Beacon, proper try hard session and actually fell off a fair bit rather than asking to be taken on the rope. Didn’t get up anything mind

In reply to Tyler:

Thanks Tyler, enjoy the celebration! 

I've never climbed in Cornwall before so I think I'll make a beeline for the classics. Astral Stroll (E1 5b), Bow Wall (E2 5b), Desolation Row (E2 5b) and The Dream/Liberator (E3 6a) are all high up on the list. Any other recommendations? 

Another steady week or aerobic base building in the run up to the spring.

M - 1hr Zone 2 on Zwift. 152 watt average / 158 watt normalised power

T - Rest

W - 45mins Zone 2 on Zwift. 153 watt average / 154 watt normalised power

T - 4 x 30s density hangs (half crimp, 20mm edge). 5 x 5 pull-ups. 10 x 4 push ups

F - 1hr Zone 2 on Zwift. 148 watt average / 151 watt normalised power

S - Unstructured tempo intervals. 67km / 515m ascent / 2hr 31mins / 178w average power / 192w normalised power

S - 4 x quadruple laps of the 6b circuit board. 4 x 30s plank. 4 x 30s hollow body hold. 4 x 16 twisting crunch

In reply to SteveJC94:

I've only done the obvious classics so you'll need Ian or SSB for the hidden gems but all the ones I've done deserved their status (except maybe Raven Wall which is not really my style of climbing) and Dream Liberator is one of my favourite UK routs, really exceptional (I'm surprised to see it only gets E3 now)

In reply to Tyler:

Hi all. Thanks for statting, Tyler.

Mediocre week. Life is hectic at the moment.

Week 7:

M: Skiing. 

T: Strength sesh.

W: Skiing. Added 12kg bag, less fun, but (thankfully) not much impact on my proficiency (I guess there is a level beyond which you can't get any lower!).

T: Strength sesh.

F: Nowt -dropped the planned run as ran out of hours.

S: A bit of casual kayaking.

S: Nowt. 

Week 8:

M: Run.

T: Climbing.

W: Climbing.

T: Skiing.

F: Strength & Core.

S: Run.

S: Strength & Core.

STG (end March):

Maintain finger strength -average 2 sessions/week. 

Consistent strength and conditioning -average 2 sessions/week.

Get ski practice in: 5+ sessions Dec-Feb. (TICK)

2+ off Scottish VII list.

1 off Slovenian Winter list. (FAIL)

1+ off Alpine Winter list.

In reply to SteveJC94:

Depends on how long your there, but it names sense to work each cliff, so your not moving about too much.

Bosigran - Suicide Wall (E1 5c) Bow Wall (E2 5b) Beowulf (E2 5c) Thin Wall Special (E1 5b)Little Brown Jug (VS 5a) would be a day to remember.

Kafoozalem (E4 6a) and Raven Wall (E3 5c) are rarely in condition. Patience (E3 5c) is a good but really tuff.

The Dream/Liberator (E3 6a) is hard for the grade and needs the right conditions, lots of wasted time if it not.

Carn Barra is always worth a visit. Sunny Corner Lane (E3 5c), Grand Plage (post-rockfall) (E4 6a) and American Dream (E1 5b) at Zawn Kelly

Chair Ladder - Bishop's Rib (E1 5b), The Spire (E3 5c), Diocese (VS 5a)

Gurnard's Head, if you can get the conditions right. Behemoth (E2 5c) and and Mastodon (E3 5c)

In reply to Somerset swede basher:

There you go; fixed that for you

In reply to SteveJC94: wow Steve first trip to Cornwall. You’re in for a treat. You’ve targeted Bosigran which is a wise choice. It’s the best and biggest granite cliff and has that sea cliff feel but most of it is actually off a path high above the sea. So many recommendations I could give but any of the 2 and 3 star routes there are brill, the rock is really good and pro is usually plentiful. If you’re going well and your head feels good a personal favourite was The Ghost (E3 5b). It’s not really bold more the hard climbing is intimidatingly exposed - very memorable. Another really fine route in the zawn if dream liberator is a bit too much (it’s the sort of route that might get modern E4 in wales for example) is Xanadu (E2 5b) such a wild place to be climbing at that grade (although likely to be damp in spring). Carn Barra would probably be next on my list. Really high quality rock and super clean lines. I found it a bit intimidating because the lines were so uncompromising and at the time it had a reputation as being tough for the grade but it looks like there’s been some readjustments. I recall Glass Arête (E3 5c) stood out as it actually felt ok for the grade (Grand Plage (post-rockfall) (E4 6a) was also E3 then). Sennen has loads of  Quality stuff although can be dangerous in big seas. Recommended routes zig zag Delilah (E2 5b), Samson Arête (E2 6a), Gillian (E3 5c) and Golva (E2 5c) (if you’ve taken Tyler’s crack course), but it’s also very good in the lower grades. Chair Ladder I didn’t do much at - it’s sweet spot is S- VS. If you get bored of perfect golden granite the 2 main slate venues Gurnards Head and Kenidjack have some excellent routes the latter brilliant at HVS to E1. I’ve not mentioned the best Cornish cliff Carn Gowla - Gogarth on steroids but I’m not sure of the current access situation there. Have fun. If you get some sunshine the climbing experience is world class.

In reply to SteveJC94:

Definitely Carn Gowla if you can… 

Journey to Ixtlan (HVS 4c) is amazing -unlike any route I’ve climbed elsewhere. And Rainbow Games (E2 5b) is totally different again… like a burly sport route but on gear!

Also, if your skin needs a break from the granite, Rock Dancer (E1 5b) on the green rock at Kenidjack is awesome. 

In reply to Ian Parnell:

I thought Samson Arete was absolutely desperate. I seconded my mate up it, and from watching him thought it looked pretty chilled out... then I got on that layback and nearly ruptured a bicep!

In reply to Tyler:

Did you actually mean 'routs'?  Not that unlikely it strikes me!  Just the jump is bad enough

In reply to Tyler:

For the sake of completeness we should probably add Stone Boom (E2 5c), The Cull (E3 5b), Longships Wall (E3 5c), Antenna (E4 5c)!!

I think the message is obviously that if you stick to the classics you’ll have a great time, the easier routes are also pretty memorable (Terrier's Tooth (pre-2014) (HS 4a) is the pick of the bunch for me).

I’m surprised Kafoozalem gets E4, I’d say soft at the grade but Dream Liberator is an objectively perfect UK trad route but harder.

Finally (possibly), I remember the Star Inn at St Just very fondly but it may be a gastro pub or Toby Carvery by now

In reply to Tyler:

Morning Tyler,

Thanks for your efforts – and I trust the celebration went well and was enjoyable for all. That’s some innings together.

A decent re-entry week for me:
Mon: light stretching
Tue: hangboard – including a few small sets with the weight vest to conclude
Wed: flexibility stretches
Thu: wall, Thalkirchen; climbed as a three – regular partner now out of the clinic and seems to be doing OK again…relief…she is though on pretty strong medication…she was floating up the wall until her endurance gave way – positive impact of the stuff?…; wary of response reflexes however, she belayed only up to 6b…8 routes for me, including a 6c/+ that I’d failed to get up a couple of weeks ago in two attempts; went fine this time. And it seems as if I’ve found a 7a+ project…top roped it, two really difficult moves for me towards the end---
Status Thalkirchen project: up one to 8 of 12.
Fri: jog, followed by upper body exercises
Sat: stretching & core
Sun: a walk down by the river…spring day…

I think we need to hear your wife’s side of the story before we can award you a ‘moral victory’!

Ha…she’s all good with my ‘victory’ this year – it’s the magnanimity of the serial winner…the good thing with the challenge is that we set our own stuff (although I imagine doing challenges set by your partner could be quite interesting) and I usually overtax myself…this year I got it about right and the ‘moral’ part is more for myself – the morale that proved to be there when ‘I’ didn’t think it was possible to tap into it…without this morale, no cathartic glow…

Enjoying the Cornwall tips – or any tips and exchanges that take place – I google and look at what you all get up to…from Spain to Sanctuary Wall…

Good week for everyone.

In reply to AlanLittle:

Hi Alan,

I trust your respiratory recovery is going OK? Out on the bike a couple of times - and that's admirable restraint with the elbow...

67 black...no, haven't been on it yet; the databank reveals unanimous 6b though...I'll have a play on it tomorrow if I get the chance....PZ occasionally has a route that is totally amiss in the grading...really physical, strenuous - desperate as you say...

Wishing you a good week

In reply to Tyler:

Some stretching, but prioritising time on the wall before our (extended) jolly starts.

Week 7

M – Nothing

T – Short board session; repeat of familiar BMs to warm-up, plus adding 2 harder variations to #2 KH (maybe 7A?) and Magnum (maybe 7A+, but a good 13 move PE training problem). 5x projects; 7B-7C+; inc 1x 7C BM. Got up two of them.

W – Civilian duties. Evening carb consumption 😉

T – I was planning to do an-cap boulders, but wet soggy skin during the warm-up made me think otherwise, with longer rests between hard boulders better on the already thin skin. 7x 6B+ to 6C+ warm-up flashes. 2x 7A+ flashes to get pulling harder. 7x projects, 7B-7C+ inc 2x 7C BMs. Got up 3x 7C+'s though only one of them warranted the grade?

F – Rest. TV stretching.

S – Rest/DIY project - the final leak test was an abject failure

S – Promising start to the board session; 7x 6B+-6C+ flashes, then 2x 7B non-BM flashes. 6x RP goes on Mississippi Queen, 7C BM and got a high point but felt frustrated with random foot slips getting into the “small box”. Felt better after 3x 7B flashes in 10min as my “warm-down”.

In reply to SteveJC94:

Done very few things down there on account of a trip beset by snowstorms, so have abbed off quite a lot.  Reminded me of a climbing poor, but fantastic trip though, with many hours spent in the Star Inn.

We had a static caravan thing which made life bearable.  Cambridge University diving club members kept appearing in our bedrooms, wrapped in towels, having mistaken our caravan for theirs.  An easy mistake to make, apart from the different colour and the big numbers on the door.  They didn't see the funny side when we all rolled into their van on the way back from the pub.

Wild seas.  About to enter a shop in Penzance, but the shopkeeper slammed the door in my my face.  Puzzled I turn around to walk away and am swamped by a massive wave coming over the sea wall.

Seemed to do 3/4 of a lot of routes in sunshine, only to bail in a blizzard.  Lots of good stuff though.  Right Angle (HS 4b) was an absolute adventure, despite the snow!

In reply to Derek Furze:

Very excited!  Managed another set of repeaters @ 20.5kg and some weighted pull-ups and stretches and core.  Apologies for daily check-ins, but I'm so pleased to get something done at last.  The excitement will wear off soon!

In reply to Tyler:

Congrats to your folks. That's a serious milestone and hope ye all had a good time celebrating it. 

Scotland was great thanks. We had plenty of snow the first 3 days so it was great experience and certainly have learned plenty. it was also awesome seeing the guys climbing in the gullies, I definitely wanna get into some winter climbing in the future. 

Exercise for the week was 

Tues - skills session

Wed - good long hike and navigation practice. 

Thurs - did a solo hike to consolidate learning up to Cairngorm and 1141. Nice loop and got to do some more practice in crampons etc 

Fri - 15km hike around Aviemore before getting bus back to Poole. 

Weekend was just relaxed/some life admin 

STG - Run 20km in 6-8 weeks. Continue to develop max strength over next 2-4 weeks when I will then change the program to include more leg work

Also I'm going to go to North Wales for a week end of March to do about 5 days of hiking/scrambling. Am definitely keen to hear some advice on routes to consider. I've been told Tryfan ridge is a good scramble route to practice for Mont Blanc but if anyone else has any advice much appreciated

In reply to Tyler:

Oops! I could have sworn I posted early in the week. There was nothing exciting to report that week. Just ticking over and building a little intensity in.

I really want to get into the habit of hitting the smaller, but still important, things like monitoring my load better, HRV daily, finger health work and some shoulder rehab. That's going to be my focus for a week or two to build those habits in.

M - Gym - good session.

Max pull test on 20mm - 45kgs. Not done any finger work for months but I tend to stay at a pretty consistent 50kgs without training. Or at least I used to. Work to be done there.

30 mins continuous climbing

T - Board session at a friends house. 45 degree with grim holds. Great fun and bloody hard work.

W - Gym - good session again.

Active pull test - 21kgs. Appalling, but it was the day after a board session.

T - Rest

F - Routes at Kendal. Decided to get off the super steep stuff and just have a session on the main wall. 6c+, 7a, 7b and nearly 7b+. Pleased with that. Short session though as was feeling tired.

S - Had a meal and a stay over at a friend's house the night before combined with a very early start and driving. Not sure if I am tired, a little hungover and/or ill.

S - It turns out I'm ill. 

I toyed with the idea of making last week a de load week. I probably should have done as I am now a bit poorly. Nothing major at all but not up for training/climbing.

I'm getting a bit of a plan together and may start work with a coach soon. 

Goals this week (providing I perk up):

Daily HRV

Minimums x 2 

Lumbricals x 2 

Flexibility x 4 

These are on top of my usual climbing.

In reply to biscuit:

Picking up on Biscuits ‘finger health’ lumbricals etc mentioned above. Do people have any recommendations. Ross are your ice baths part of this? I’ve noticed over the past few years my finger joints are getting stiffer and stiffer particularly DIP joints where in a couple of them I’m down to about 30 degrees of flexion. Should I be force stretching this range of movement further? Any tips routines welcome. Thanks

In reply to Ian Parnell:

Fascinating.  Didn't think fit club would have me reading up on anatomy, but now I know what lumbricals are.  Can't see how they would relate to joint stiffness though, but that's why I'm not a physio 🙂

In reply to Tyler:

Wow, thanks Tyler, Steve, Ian, Tom and Derek for the suggestions. That's quite the wishlist and I I think that'll kep me going for many a trip! 

In reply to Ian Parnell:

 I had a fall on previously such as Billy Whizz

Doesnt everyone fall on billy whizz first time ? i know i did

In reply to Tyler:

Thanks Tyler, yes htoguht id try and sneak those 2 routes in there quietly but you spotted them! Theyve always been on my VLTG list  suppose but honestly thoguht that would never happen. Now theyre a lot closer living in Barnstaple.

Dyers lookout is a local crag but i think E9 is always going to be too far away

No lcimbing for me today but the DIY work is exhausting. Being on my feet all day and being active creates full body DOMS - wall battening, insulating , plasterboarding, undercoat plaster skim plaster, radiators (arghhhh!!!!) and under floor insulation make me feel like ive gone 10 rounds with Mr T.

My level of functional fitness seems to be low so im gunning to get back on my kettlebells and sort that out. It cant be a bad thing for climbing. I always think that sport specific fitness needs a good base of functional fitness. Ill get the base functional fitness from DIY

Cheers

Dave

In reply to Derek Furze & Ian Parnell:

https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/injuries/finger_care_for_climbers-14850

Minimums and distractions are recommended. 

Lumbricals are much more important than we previously realised. It seems they actually govern the distribution of forces between the extensors and flexors to achieve fingertip stability.

I have an exercise for them here, which also stretches them:

youtube.com/watch?v=nFU7bhU5cMQ&

They can be involved in not being able to extend the last joint of the fingers, but that can also be adaptive changes in the fingers from climbing. Hard to say without seeing them.

This is a nice exercise that is a bit better than tendon glides and pen rolls

youtube.com/watch?v=uROPMUjkIn8&

If anyone from Fit Club ever wants a quick chat about physio stuff don't be shy to get in touch. I may have to say it needs a proper assessment but often some informal guidance can be very useful and only takes a few minutes.

In reply to biscuit:

Thanks Biscuit - some really interesting links on something that I'd never heard of until this week!  

And a very kind offer on informal support.  Let's hope you don't get inundated! 

In reply to biscuit:

...and now that I've watched or read it all, I'd say that the hand health exercises look helpful.  Probably possible to do them sat on the sofa as well!

In reply to AlanLittle:

Hi Alan, a bit late with my impression, sorry about that...I had a go on the black 67; I doubt whether you've missed out anything, really, and it's certainly not 6a+....for me the route just doesn't climb well. The side pulls on smallish slopey holds make it strenuous, while I found the footholds to be in places which made movement clunky...it's simply zäh / bockig...not great I'm afraid; given how much setting PZ does, it's only to be expected that the odd route doesn't match the usual standard (I can recommend old wall, lines 21 green, 24 violet, 30 green, 32 polkadot); actually found the 6c+ in the same line easier in many ways...quite simply because you could see what had to be done...anyway, heiter weiter - hope you're well despite the respiratory concerns.

P.

In reply to Small Step:

Me too, inasmuch as it took me two goes, versus four for the "6a+". As you say, even Peter Z can have an off day