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/fit_club_week_794-748229

Morning FitClubbers!  Plenty of commitment from the club in terms of revisiting goals and the re-evaluation process seems to have led to some productive reflections.  It looks like the first half of the year has been low-key for a number of us for all sorts of reasons and I’d say there is nothing wrong with starting afresh.  I’ve decided to follow the approach of quite a few of you in stating weekly (or STG at least) goals as stepping stones to some greater plan.

On prospects for meets…

A few of the southern contingent expressing some interest in Avon and some support for Wales, including our dedicated boulderer.  Great that some many of us have tried to convince Ross of the wealth of bouldering at Avon (really not worth the long haul down the M5 for the Bristol bouldering – many would say the crag is an acquired taste as well)!  Of all the comments, only Biscuit suggested a firm date…

I’m hesitant about trying to formally organise anything, especially as it is likely to be a weekend and I don’t usually climb at weekends.  However, as Biscuit provided a tentative date, I can probably do 12/13 August for Wales, though not the Sunday.  If this does consolidate into two of us meeting up, then others can also join in – a loose meet would then form.  With Avon, I have a longstanding aim to do Coronation Street when the season opens in mid-October, so I could add a day or two at Avon onto that plan – again, something might grow out from that base.  There are various FC meet ups happening at times anyway, so maybe that is enough?

Stats:

Ross Barker:  OK – fingerboard pick-ups I now understand and I can see why they might get called ‘no-hangs’.  I think that if fingers are your weakest link, then they are something that can be worked well in isolation.  They also don’t take loads of time as five or six sets of max hangs is only twenty-minutes work and it is easy to fit something else into the rest periods.  Mind you, you do have a lot to fit in!

Good effort on the project.  Not so good news on the car – quite appropriate that it happened while you were working Bus Stop really.  You should get some kind of FC award for feeding me these lines. 😉

Liam P:  I was hoping to provoke focus and inspiration, not depression, but I know what you mean…  I was pretty flat when my Lakes week looked like falling apart on day 2.  My only tip is that when my kids were young (lasted years as they are a bit spread out), I just focused on evenings.  I probably only climbed in the day three times a year, but managed to get plenty done.  Mind you, I lived on the outskirts of the Peak and could be in Cheedale by 6 pm.  I did have long spells of not doing anything with work and I regret not training at those times.  The other thing that makes most difference for me is having a larger network of people to climb with as it means there is always someone to get out with between work commitments.  Most of my no climb periods (sometimes years) have been when I didn’t have anyone easily available.

Weighted pull ups are still very impressive.  I’m going to try this week for a laugh.  Presumably you can crank quite a number unweighted?  Inspiring to see a return of the campus board targets – clearly something that delivers real power.

SteveJC94:  That’s a brilliant trip report – fantastic collection of routes and a new one in the mix.  It looks like the weather was pretty kind after the one day on the bikes.  Quite a lot done each day, so good advantage taken of the long days.  Not too much impact from the shoulder though clearly enough to prompt some investigation – hope it goes well.  Brilliant photos.

I’m looking forward to what the power phase contains!

Steve Claw:  Good to see that clubbers got together and had a decent day at Avon.  That is quite a rest week really and highlights the standards you are setting week by week.  You must have been trying really hard previously to have the after effects still going on four days later – eye-wateringly hard I reckon!  Some decent routes in the Extreme Rock collection there.  Hope to see you back to full strength soon and sorting out your various new routes and projects.

SSB: June is flat out for me as well, but I am keen to get to Cratcliffe.  Evenings usually OK.  My climbing days look like being Monday, Thursday and Friday for the next few months, but I can do the odd weekend day if need be – I just prefer to avoid it as a routine.  It isn’t an extensive crag, so evenings work well anyway – I did most of the classics with Tom Proctor holding my ropes one evening so I’ll do the same for you (with less kudos attached obvs 😉).

Good effort at Avon, especially if you haven’t climbed much there.  It really is a place that takes familiarisation and I think The Preter is at the unnerving end of things anyway.  I haven’t done the others.  Did you take the kids through the crawl at Birchens?  Mine are now all more than thirty years old, but would still want to do it if we went back there.  Very safe with some adult guidance. 

Scarab – it looks hard work and a bit polished up as well as being skinny with gear.  Be a strong lead I think.  With your extreme rock targets in mind, I revisited the Peak list – quite a lot to go at because of the way the book was put together.  I’ve only done six!

AJM:  Yes, I forget that sometimes projects hold out despite years of effort!  I have a friend who must have gone on Body Machine about thirty times, but still hasn’t got the cigar!

Glad that the weather allowed a good mix of messing about, though it is surprising how much organising it can take at camp HQ when the weather is at all damp.

Your interest in Avon is noted.  I think I’d be up for it and wonder about combining with the opening up of Cheddar so I can get Coronation Street ticked.  My understanding of training for Frankenjura is to set up some tiny pockets, hide them amongst many others that are completely blind (yet somehow also painful), move them around on a daily basis and you’ll be fine.  I’m sure Randy and Alan can give better guidance!

On your goals I like the single step philosophy and your insistent focus on doom scrolling!  Not sure what the answer is here, except to say that in the old days people would stare at the telly instead.  Phones make the experience both more tailored and more isolating.  We sometimes put shared interest stuff on youtube on the tv, so at least we watch it and discuss it together. 

I was entertained by a guy I met on Castell Helen recently, being coached in trad and who seemed to me to be a relative novice.  Chatted to him and found out that he climbs 8a, but he was shaking his way up VS pitches, so it just goes to show how different the disciplines can be.  It does sound like you have a good focus on identifying and addressing weakness, so should expect some clear gains.  I think stretching is under-rated and I still need to do more.

JayK :  A clear sign of decent progress with a first 7c+ in four years – excellent work.  Interesting to see the work that you are putting into the fingerboard facility – I do often reflect that a pulley system would be helpful, but I’m not sure that it would suit my dining room and the idea of finding somewhere for a board is a pipedream!  Glad that the feeling of being in good shape is with you – that alone can make a big difference. 

Plenty of focus on bouldering in your weekly report this time, though you also target some fairly hard sport – do you find that the bouldering is good training for the technicalities of sport?

Biscuit:  A sensible approach to goals probably, especially where trad is concerned.  I guess a stricter approach could lead to a lot of wasted days in the hills – better to see how it feels on the day.  I have a similar approach, but I am pushing myself a bit – a mindset of ‘get on it and have a go’ being preferred to ‘leave it for another day’, but that is only because I think that has been a weakness for me in recent years.  Gormenghast is another that I’ve somehow missed despite spending a lot of time in the Lakes.  I have had a dip in the Esk though after a long, hot day up on Esk itself.  Good result with the bouldering competition and intrigued to read next week’s report on Kilnsey (another place I haven’t really touched much).

Sound advice for Liam on motivation and maintenance and I agree – there are certainly times when I wish I had kept some basic training going even though I wasn’t climbing at the time. 

That’s a firm ‘yes’ to the idea of a meet with a suggested date.  I may be able to cover some of that weekend, so I will pencil it into the diary pending developments.

Part two!  I had to split the post as it was too long!  That's told me something...

Ally:  Great to hear that you are clear of illness.  There seems to have been quite a bit about.  Anyone who can get on a board session after being bored at the Trafford Centre deserves credit – after a Trafford Centre trip my default is to uncork a bottle!

Max hangs look good – definitely levels to aspire to over the summer.  I have taken your advice on board and my max hangs now feel hard again, sometimes struggling to get to ten seconds on the last couple of sets.  I’m hoping that a six-week cycle will see the weight moving up now I am back to it with more consistency.  I don’t have any facility for training stamina – other than local plastic – but I do feel it comes back quite quickly when you start putting in route mileage – at least at my kind of level!

Good progress across a range of goals (including those that are not related to climbing or training) – might go on to exceed some at this rate!  In the spirit of assuming the role of coach, I think you may have to look at how you push these goals for 2023 – ‘stay very happily married…?’ and add a few more body parts to your healthy list!

Alan:  Motivation is an odd thing isn’t it?  I have been at this for years, but do know that I can go from highly motivated to ‘CBA’ in fairly short order if conditions / partners / niggles / work / life conspires against things.  I did used to be very focused on attaining my goals and would give up climbing when various factors got in the way (rather than carry on at a reduced level).  I’m still a bit like that, but now a bit more relaxed about enjoying just getting out.  Anyway, your goal of return alive should be motivation enough!

Plenty of exercise on your schedule this week though an emerging concern about the levels of investment needed to keep it all going!  Noted possibilities re Wales when visiting family.

We did notice Alan, just too polite to comment, but now that you’ve mentioned it… Excellent progress with new activities and they sound like they have captured your attention at the moment.  As you say though, a very good reason for getting some mileage in on the rock as well.  That said, I don’t think it is on your doorstep exactly, so it can be a challenge.

Randy:  Good to hear that you kept healthy and that you got straight back on it on return from a long journey. 

Going well with the repeaters.  I mix my pull ups in with max hangs, but agree that there is an overlap of muscle use that may compromise one or the other.  Tbh, I mix them when I am doing lower reps of pull ups only and I think 10s would be hard.  Great that you feel that you are close to your pre-Covid fitness – a great platform for the season.

Given that I am also aiming at 7a onsight, I shall adopt (and adapt) your ‘in a session’ aim – I’ll make mine 7b as my introduction to proper sport climbing.  Should be an education.  I don’t know how old you are, but 8a+ is a tough goal at any age really – I think UKBShark stated that achieving 8a for the first time at 50 years old or more is vanishingly rare.  Anyway, as you say get back on it and keep trying!

I like the varied training goals that you, Liam and Ally include – most of them baffle me, but they sound challenging regardless.  As forum MC, I think I have to note that ‘with good form’ and ‘get lucky once’ are perhaps at odds with one another! 😊

Sheep: Holidays are allowed!  Perfect timing when they coincide with some sort of niggle as it allows guilt-free recovery!  Saves you having to include a proper or official rest week.  I expect you will be back in the pool next week and putting in the runs again.  Good to do a little bit of tickover stuff anyway.

Tom Green:  Once again, some impressive trail running.  If you are doing 20.9 km including some hills in a couple of hours AND staying in zone 2, then that is pretty decent.  I find I have to keep to about 8-9 km per hour to keep at the top of Z2, but I guess age is a factor here.

Hutton Roof!  That brings back memories though I don’t remember named problems from back in the day – pretty sure it was just a place where we messed about on rocks and I don’t think I have ever looked in a guide to see what is there these days.  Anyway – a lovely spot.

Chipping away at those goals – good work.  I’m pretty sure that it was you who had the Cromlech down as a destination – ‘I should climb more at this crag’?  (it was – I’ve checked 😉).  This is one of your goals where progress is tentative at present, so you might be interested in a meet there?

Planet Marshall:   That really was an inspiring trip report for me!  I love sea cliffs anyway and have not climbed in Scotland at all – seemed a long way to go when my kids were younger and all my trips up there have all turned out to be kayaking!  A good list of stuff done despite the slow-drying conditions experienced and the shoulder problems having an impact.  I guess it is also the sort of place where an injury issue has got to be taken more seriously as it would be easy to end up in all sorts of trouble.  Hope the physio has some reassuring advice, though it sounds as if you have had this in the background for a while.

I also hope you can keep some stuff going as you are going well in terms of your weekly targets this year – be good to keep the successes going as motivation for us all.

Tyler:  Hope all good with you?  I did see that you are looking for partners over in North Wales so hope you manage to get something fixed up.  Moving area has historically been one of the biggest disruptions to my climbing in the past, but I think it is a lot easier to link up with people through the forums nowadays – it certainly saved my Lakes trip from turning into a disaster!  In recent years, I’ve managed to link up with an extended list of people, mainly retired, and we have formed an email group for organising climbing.  That has been a life-saver for me as it means there are nearly always people available when I have a day free from work.  It needs a bit of flexibility in terms of what each day might bring (some like trad or grit or whatever), but it usually means something can be done.  We do get across to Wales, though not every week – mostly we climb Peak, Yorkshire or Lancashire.  Shout if you want to link up as it may give you some options to consider.

I think Ally was suggesting a Mayfair Wall hook up, so hope you have got something organised.

Cheers Derek, and thanks for entertaining my first world problems! Plan is to plug away at finger training and pulling hard. My future self should thank me if I get back on it with strong claws.

Had my first Cortisone Injection this week so still taking it easy.

Tue

Leg Rehab

• RDL 5x 8 (45kg)
• Calf Raises 3x 37
• Leg Extension 5x 15 (L/R 10kg/BW)
• Knee Raises 3x 13

Wed

Cortisone injection 

Thu

Fingers

• Max Hang 20mm4FD 5x 7s (23kg)

Sun

Pull Strength & Stamina

• Finger pull-ups 10mm 3x 4
• Weighted Pull-ups 4x 1/5/6/8 @ 45kg/26kg/15kg/4kg
• 22mm Campus Board. Long Moves 2x 1 (1-4). Got close to 1-5 but just couldn’t quite latch it. Pull throughs 2x 1 (1-4-5). Ladders (1-3-5), (1-3-6) Fail, (1-4-6) Fail. Bumps (1 to 5). Offset Pulls 2x 3 (1-3).
• 4x 50moves 6a Circuit Board

Cheers Derek, it’s been another busy week with life getting in the way of exercise. Eldest daughter is in the middle of A levels so have taken her home at lunchtime a few times during the week instead of swimming. However going forward it will mean I will be able to cycle commute more as I won’t have a passenger 

Monday, taxi duty, no swim

Tuesday, 5k run

Wednesday, 1km swim

Thursday, taxi again, did make it to stretch class though

Friday, 1km swim

Saturday, 10k trail run

Sunday, at a swim gala all day with youngest daughter, spectators area is insanely hot and the plastic seats very uncomfortable. Good job I love her .....

Thanks for the stats Derek. Shame I'm away in Aus in August or I'd be keen to join the Wales meet up. 

Nothing too exciting really, just lots of board training and a good dose of hangboard repeaters!

Last week was better than expected:

M - Rest day

T - Too sunny for a rest day, so opted for a 30k blast on the bike

W - Easy routes too see how the shoulder felt. Mostly felt okay and managed to climb as hard as 7b+ before feeling any pain

T - Saw the consultant at last. His suspicion is an injury to the Rotator Cuff or AC join so he's arranging an MRI for a couple of weeks. The good news is as long as I'm pain free, I can continue to climb and train until the results are in. Celebrated this news with a bard session as Depot, with problems up to font 7A+

F - A lovely sunny day so managed to sneak out at lunch time for a 20k ride between meetings

S - Great day at Dovedale, with the highlight being Yew Tree Wall (E1 5c). Beautiful moves and very much my style so felt like a soft touch

S - Rest day

Plan for next week:

M - Hangboarding and a Board Session

T - Rest day

W - S&C and limit bouldering

T - Rest day

F - Rest day

S/S - A weekend in Llanberis, hoping for some nice dry weather

Afternoon everyone, terrific stats work Derek, lots of detail and whatnot.

Yeah, that's exactly my thoughts. On weekdays where time or motivation is low it doesn't take long to warm up and bash out a few sets of hangs, and if I'm at the gym I can always begin the session with some quality unfatigued finger work. Outdoors it might be a bit troublesome but a big day out is only ever really one day of the week at most.

A decent week for me, low volume as I've been faffing about with the car and packing for holiday, but some quality exercise I reckon.

Last Week:

M - Rest.

T - Gym. BM1K lower edge max hangs. 6x7s +25kg, 4 min rest. Bit of standard unfocused plodding to finish.

W to S - Rest. Weigh in at 76.3kg.

S - Quick Little Fistral Beach session. Couple of nice 6s, then a few little lowball eliminates to work the fingers a bit. Followed by plenty of walking around Newquay!

Next Week:

M to S - Still on holiday, can hopefully squeeze in another session or two.  Carn Brea,  Tintagel North,  Pentire Point all on my radar. Stuff around Hartland looks good but a bit far, so maybe on the way back home?

Goals:

Bulletproof fingers.

Well looks like that on the fist glance . But handstand is a little bit different kind of exercise than L-Sit or Front-Lever. With these strength based exercises, the form really measures your strenght. With handstand it is mainly a balance exercise. So sometimes you hit your balance point perfect and then you can hold it with relatively little amount of strenght. Then the next time you don't hit it and ou are just wobbling around your balance point if you can stay on your hands at all. The long term goal is of course to be consistent with it, but you need to learn to crawl before you can learn to walk.

Recap last week:

Mon: Another gym session. Did a bunch of boulders that i could not get at the end of saturday's session easily. Then did two new boulders in the 6b+ range and got close on a couple of 6c. Finished the session of with 5x10 pullups

Tues: L-Sit 2x10s; handstand against the wall, 2x8 pike pushups, 2x10 lunges, 2x12 bodyweight squats, 30 pushups and 30s V-Sit Up; legs were somehow still completely destroyed

Wed: Gym boulderin. Did 3 boulders in the 6b+/6c range; one new boulder and two from  last session which i day flashed. Worked on 2 more 6c boulders and did a bunch of 6a-6b boulders on the Kilterboard, followed by 4x10 Pullups. Unfortunately, i somehow tweaked my harmstring a little bit at the end of the session

Thurs- Fri: Rest due to harmstring problems

Sat: Leg was still not fit enough for climbing so i decided to do max strength test to see where i am currently at:

• 20mm half crimp, 7s: 64% BW with right hand, 61% BW with left hand
• 20mm open hand, 7s: 66% BW with right, 63% BW with left hand
• Small Pinch Block, 7s, 18,5kg with right hand and 17kg with left hand

Ended the session with 5x10 Pullups, which felt surprisingly easy

Sun: Leg was finally ready to go climbing again and i had my first outdoor session since over a month at the Veldener Wand. Tried a 6b for warmup which was too hard in hindsight and i got a severe flash pump. Then did 3 6a+ and finished the day with another 6b, where i needed to hand on the bolt in the crux section. All in all did not felt too good today. Was a little bit tired, climbed too slowly and without confidence and my mentally i was not really able to commit when distance between bolt got large.

A little bit of a mixed week. Physically i keep improving and my climbing technique in the gym is also getting better. Interestingly, my half crimp and pinch max strength is not far of from my personal bests (about 7-9%), but i am way behind on open hand strength (20%). A possible explanation for the latter is, that i mainly trained half crimp on the finger board in the last weeks.

The problem with my leg was a little bit of a downer and i also was not that happy with my outdoor session. I think i just don't get enough time on the rocks at the moment to climb well, but unfortunately i won't be able to get in that much mileage over the next months due to my job.

Amazingly comprehensive write up, Derek. Thanks for putting so much effort in. I really am seeing the progress since I've had the board. I was in a bit of negative cycle following the lockdown last year as I had absolutely no access to any climbing or training or anything. Really struggled with motivation when they first started opening society back up. What I would have given to have my current set up, then! 

With regards to the sport... I find that a lot of UK sport is essentially long boulder problems (and there are plenty of crux-y routes!) so my current form is translating relatively well. It also opens up a ton more quality climbing in the warmer weather when grit bouldering is a no go. And I really enjoy climbing on limestone. 

M - Board session 60 mins. 3 sets, 2 armed max hangs (+20,25,28kg). Core x 1 set + 90sec plank. Press-up / pull-up combo 5mins.

T - Run (9km)

W - BBC - v5-v6 circuit. All 20 problems completed + 2 easy board problems (couldn't resist).

T - Run (10km) Felt really tired on this one, really heavy legs.

F - Very easy BBC bouldering - active recovery and stretching (20mins only - squeezed in before the cricket).

S - Squeezed in a 90min session at Forest Rock. Got on One Clear Moment. Found it hard to work out the little intricacies at first but then it all came together. Inspired by Silly Goat Steve's psyche, I gave it one last good go and found myself at the top. But my left heel popped and I didn't make the 3 second match. Ha - ended up with a massive flapper as well. Oh well, it'll go next time and I'll be working the sit start into it. Would have been my first 8A for 6 years!

S - Run with intervals (7km) Core x 1 set + 90sec plank. 40 press-ups and a couple of easy weighted shoulder exercises.

A quiet week for me as compromised by family visits.

Sun  4 sets of max hangs at 22.7 kg; 4x6 pull ups. 4x12 push ups and hip and leg stretching.

Mon  Tried a max hang protocol that I discussed on here with Si DH a while ago.  3 sets of 3/6/9 hangs at 20.5 kg.  I completed each set within one minute, so not a lot of rest during the set.  Different - a sort of mix between max hangs and repeaters.  Hip and leg stretches.

Tues  Seven routes at Hobson Moor including Bring Me Sunshine (E1 5b) and Sunshine Superman (E2 5b).  A nice day with a good gang of us on the crag.  Pleased to get on Sunshine Superman as it is a bit bold.

Wed Drove to Milton Keynes to collect parents.

Thurs - Friday family stuff as brother flew in from France as well.

Sat  Return trip to Milton Keynes to return parents.  Back for a stag do.

This week's targets

Crowden Great Quarry tomorrow - never been.  Hope to get on some extremes.

Working Tuesday then off to Guernsey.  Hoping to climb there, but haven't had a bite from anyone at the club yet.

Thanks Derek and great one again with the extensive stats.

To be honest I think it was 2 hard days consecutively, and I might have mildly pulled something.  All better now.

Another week where the climbing is all bunched together on consecutive days.

Thurs - Short play on my old 7c endurance project, still no closer, but did find easier beta for the top.

Fri - Climbing in Avon - E3 6a, E3 6a, E4 6b, E1 5b, F6a+

Sat - Worked out a new short hard 7b+ on super small crimps.

Thanks Derek, epic stats, beware of stats burnout!

I'll give you a shout about Cratcliffe when you are back from Guernsey. Its Mrs Swedes 40th today and Small Swedes 6th on Saturday so I'd have been busy most of this wk anyway.

Didn't take the kids through the crawl at Birchen. We were pushing our luck doing a 2hr walk at bed time with a 4yr old as it was so didn't tempt a meltdown!

I've only recently thought of hitting some of the Peak ER ticks so the ones I have done are only really by chance so far. My partner isn't keen for trad, as such we don't go that often so it'll be slow progress. It's more something to aim for when I do some trad. 

Mon. Rest.

Tues. Shunt session at Stoney again. 4 laps of Scarab. One dogged to check out the gear placements then 3 clean. Ready for a lead go now.

Wed. Rest.

Thurs. Blackwell Dale session. Managed Free Range Abattoir (f7A+) which I've tried on and off for years and went quickly today with the obvious solution I'd never thought of. Spent the bulk of the session on Working 9-5 7C+. Seemed impossible at the start but by the end id done all the moves and started to link a few. This will take more than one more session!

Fri. Rest.

Sat. Short session at Denbigh Castle crag after we'd explored the castle. Highlight of Spotty Fanny (f7A).

Sun. Steady 70km on the road bikes with Mrs. Swede, 850m ascent. 

Another impressive effort on the stats Derek, many thanks. Elbsandstein long weekend coming up for me, see STG. My first visit there - that should get my lead head sorted out!

STG: Return alive from Munich DAV Elbsandstein meet next week
MTG: 2022 Autumn Kalymnos trip with my son - need to think about realistic targets when the holiday isn't all about me and my personal climbing ambitions.
MTG: Winter 22/23 - do an actual off piste ski tour
LTG: Be a confident, well rounded low to mid 7's sport climber. For measurable definition see Fit Club 658

M:    A plumbing emergency put paid to my plans to go to the wall. Got out for an hour on the bike after mopping up instead, followed by beastmaker.
T:    Found the part I needed to start putting the kitchen back together in the fourth diy shop I visited, after which all I had time for was half an hour stretching before bed. Better than nothing.
W:    Beastmaking
T:    
F:    Wall, Weyarn. First time climbing with my son since he hurt his ankle in a fall six months ago - the father-son Kalmynos training campaign begins.
S:    2½ hours bike in the woods.
S:    Burgau. New-to-me alpine foothills sport climbing venue. Pretty good crag, but another day struggling with my lead head on easy routes. Necessary but frustrating.

One might imagine that turning into the fall line on a black run and going above the bolt on a sport route are similar. Both involve confronting natural instinctive fear in situations of pretty low actual risk. But clearly they don't in fact train the same mental muscles at all.

Thanks Derek for the very detailed stats and commentary.

Week 23

M – Slow start to the day feeling a bit worked over by Sunday’s board session. Late afternoon lifting: 5x5 conventional barbell DL @105kg. 5x5 bench press @55kg. Skin conditioning on new deliberately rough granite edges; BW 30s x3.

T – 24km flat lunchtime ride. 6 sets 40s kneebar alternating sides and 4x10s bat hangs.

W – Feeling knackered and achy after work. 10 sets 5xBW pull-ups “on-the-minute” using the new deliberately rough granite edges. 

T – Board. Not quite at full power. A dozen 6B+ to 7A to warm-up. Attempts on 7B-C+s. Managed a couple of the easier ones. 4x 7/3/6/3 35kg rolling thunder lifts on each side.

F – Rest; thoracic niggles again.

S – Slept in an odd position and awoke with shoulder pain in the same place as last year (i.e. bicep tendon insertion). Avoided putting Squigg on my shoulders whilst out walking around in local country park/gardens.

S – Afternoon pass. Met uni friend at Moat Buttress. 6c+ OS warm-up felt a bit stern. Went big and OS’d Moat People (7b+) as my next route.  Tried flashing Excalibur, 7b+ as next route but needed a second go as I wrong handed myself.  Crappy 6c+ flash as warm-down. Great fun afternoon and home in time for Squiggle bedtime.

Nice work at Moat. I've heard Over The Moorhens is another very onsight able 7b+ basically V6 boulder into 7a upper wall. 

Hi Everyone. Thanks for the stats Derek -some really good reflection for us there.

A holiday week for me, so a few more rest days than desirable (took the portable fingerboard and then didn't even look at it!). Good point about some of those goal venues... I'm actually going to be working a few weeks in North Wales and Pembrokeshire over the next few months so will hopefully get ticking!

Week 23:

M: Chilled walking. Effectively a rest day!

T: Long core sesh. A terrible idea given that I haven't been doing much conditioning... cue the DOMS!

W: Savage core DOMS.

T: Continued DOMS.

F: Hill Run. Well, less of a run, more of a shuffle around the Colonsay McPhies. 39.99km (a comedy 10m short of a nice 40k!), 1021m vert, 11:48/km. Moving pace was actually a more respectable 7:42/km, but there were lots of stops for navigation... the terrain was totally untracked and pretty featureless, meaning on some of the more vague 'summits' it took quite a bit of nav to make sure you were actually on the highest point! The terrain was mostly atrocious -it was impossible to actually run most of it due to either being in knee deep bog or thigh deep heather. The resultant wading felt like it gave good specificity for breaking trail in snow! An absolutely brilliant day out, despite the punishing nature of the terrain! 

S: Rest.

S: Trad at Ravens Scar. Amazing crag, glad to have gone as it's broken some of the mystique/intimidation factor of the place! Almost in good condition (only dirty, as opposed to wet and dirty!) at the moment, so get there whilst its good. Feeling stiff and tired from Friday so went easy on myself. Highlight was the incredibly ergonomic Grooves-ology (VS 5a)

Week 24:

M: Fingerboard, Prehab.

T: Rest

W: Fingerboard, Strength, Core.

T: Short run, Prehab.

F: Climbing

S: Long run, Prehab.

S: Climbing

STG -end June:

Arc en ciel -TICK!

Ultra distance hill run. (Almost! 2km short on my McPhies run!)

Eight of my big mountain day list (at least two on consecutive days). (2/8)

Keep injury free (elbows, hips and knees).

MTG -end Sept:

Two big alpine routes.

2022 Arbitrary training goals:

Weighted Pull-up: 100kg.

Max Hangs: 95kg.

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: 1/15

Visit at least five of my 'why haven't I climbed here' list: 1/5

Get at least one session at each of my 'I should climb more at this crag' list: 0/8

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

(For lists see FitClub 772)

At least two big, classic alpine goals.

I would add that i should be pockets that you can hold in multiple different ways, where you are constantly going back and forth between one way and the other, trying to find out the best way

On a more serious note, here would be my training advise for Frankenjura

1. Train power
2. I repeat train power . Even the longer routes (~ 20m, it seldom gets longer than that) usually have destinct boulder cruxes with good rest in between. Hence, the boulder cruxes are quite hard, e.g. it is not unusual to have a 6c route which consists of a 4 move 6b/6b+ Boulder crux, followed by some easy climbing
3. Train lock-off strength. As there are many pockets which are hard to hit, being able to lock off really pays off. Even if you still need to do a move dynamically, you can hit it more precisely if you are able to fully engage at the dead point of the movement to have a 1/10 second more to latch the hold.
4. Train climbing on shitty feet. Often you have just tiny polished foot holds, with (relatively) good hand holds, as a good pocket is often still a bad foot hold. So doing boulders with bad feets, e.g. climbing on the spray walls and just using the tiny foot holds and no hand holds for your feet, should be a good preparation. Having a strong core of course also helps.

A route I’d like to try one day, that!

Still on my list, shamefully!

I spent about a month there in 2014, maybe 6 weeks, so I’ve got ideas, but lots of boulder and short end power endurance as Randy says is probably a significant area, with a focus on as much time open handed as possible for specificity.

A quiet week for me trying to get back in control of life after holiday.

Graded list counter: 3 fr7s, 14 fr6s, 9 fr4/5s

Wednesday - wall, new set. Decent volume of new stuff done

Saturday - a child free day with MrsAJM and a friend. I was the main leader and neither of the others climbs terribly hard so did a few ** routes with more awkward access (take advantage of freedom from the little ones) that I hadn’t done. A few 6s, 5s and 4s.

Sunday - 20,20,19 pushups.

Damn. I've had slight latent shoulder impingement issues for years - too many pull-ups in my youth, decades of desk work - but now my right shoulder has suddenly flared up far worse that it's ever been before. Don't understand why, it's not like I did anything particularly strenuous or unusual with it at the weekend.

It's so bad that I've had to cancel my Elbsandstein trip that I was hugely looking forward to, and let down two guys that I was giving lifts to in the process. So a bit of a bugger all round really

Public holiday long weekend coming up: hiking, biking and catching up on household chores for me then.

Ah no! Fingers crossed it calms down soon ..

Hi folks. Great to see you all still at it. I'm sorry for my sudden disappearance and feel I owe you an explanation of sorts, if only to let you know that I'm ok.

In a nutshell, everything was put on hold over the past few months as my elderly mother was recovering from long covid at home. Fortunately she's a tough old boot and pulled through despite a brief spell under the palliative care team.

I started my ruck outings again about 3 weeks ago with even more fire in my belly than before, averaging 20 miles per week and smashing my previous times. A55 to Llyn Anafon and back (2hrs 6mins) is my current favourite 8 miler as I work to build my legs up for some proper hills (Elidir Fawr, I'm coming for you soon!).

It's been so good to get out again. A chilled couple of hours at RAC boulders is most definitely on the cards soon.

Cheers all.

A reminder - I am off to Guernsey for a break.  Back Monday night.  I don't plan to upload on Sunday, but will do so Monday on return.  I hope that's ok with everybody?

Thanks Derek. Those are some very detailed responses. Much appreciated, but don't spend too long on it!

M - Run - 30 min jog, shoulder and knee rehab. 5 mins continuous on a 6b circuit.

T - Kilnsey 50 for 5. Been on it before 5 or 6 years ago. First go up felt very hard. 2nd go felt OK. I decided at this point I was not going to get the full route (7b+) but could get to the rail in a oner (7b). 3rd go I fluffed my sequence lower down. 4th go I fluffed my sequence slapping for the rail. I went high with my feet a move early. A weakness of mine is often ending up stretched out as I don't bring my feet up with me. I've been working on that and this time it was the wrong thing to do. I was tired after that so went home. Still annoyingly close to 7b in a day, which is a little goal i've set myself for this trad season to keep sport ticking over.

W - Shoulder and knee rehab 

T - Rest

F - Tremadoc - Very windy!  Grim Wall Direct (E1 5b) great climb and Leg Break Finish (E2 5c) Blinkers (E2 5b) combo. This was a lovely climb. The crux was thin and deffo 5c I thought. It took me a while as I was missing an (obvious) gear placement at the crux. It felt very necky without that and I was up and down a few times. Once i found the gear (i was using it as a handhold) it got done straightaway.

S - Scramble over tryfan/bristly ridge. Bailed half way due to wind and rain

S - Shouder and knee rehab - Quick hit on the board at Kendal. Lots of problems up to 6b+. Just getting back used to moving on a board again.

Two days climbing a week and a quick wall/board session seem to be the way ahead. My niggles are feeling much more recovered.