UKC

A new thread is posted each week on Sunday for anyone to jot down their previous week's activity. UKC fitclub 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.

For those wanting to find out more about training for climbing a number of physical training articles are linked here: http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=274502 

The following training article by Alex Barrows gives an excellent breakdown on training the four main "energy systems" specific to climbing: http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/training-for-sport-climbi...

Last week’s thread can be found here: 

https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/walls+training/fc_week_600-692925

You can look back at your previous posts here (to some extent… it’s still a work in progress, this now goes back to FC500): http://ukc-fitclub-user-posts.s3-website.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/users.html

Posters:

AJM

AlanLittle - hope you’ve been feeling better this week. I like the raw competitiveness of the “flash my mates project” goal

hms - I can do a reasonable lattice test on my own, let alone with 2 stopwatches! A question for you to mull over - do you think that your dislike of the “hour of power” style sessions is something that holds you back? I’m never entirely sure from your week reports how much of your bouldering time you spend doing limit projecting as opposed to quasi-volume (trying to tick circuits, or fairly short projects), but it reminds me that your problem with the 8as you tried did seem to be individual moves.

Tyler - given the challenge people seemed to have on the BM5a circuit back in the day, near completion of the 7a circuit sounds like a decent achievement

Pineappledog - hope the discussions were useful last week. Been back on the 7a this week?

Tom Green - what brought you to swanage? Did you manage to try harder?

Planetmarshall - shame about the Rasp, but right unconquerable has to be a good tick in anyone’s book. Still unticked in mine, I’ve got such a hole where my mid grade grit trad experience should be!

the sheep - hope you’re feeling better?

Somerset swede basher - welcome welcome! Some good structured goals there...

Ally Smith - buying yourself a weight belt one stodgy meal at a time! Enjoy!

Powderpuff - yeah, I think the bar for a successful pub session is lower than that for a successful wall session, especially at the start of the winter where you’re still thinking about the great outdoors!

Alexm198 - ahhhh salbit. My only attempt on anything there the thunder boomed as we got to within 20 yards of the base of the south ridge - sprinted back to the bivvy and nearly beat the storm!

mrchewy - hope to see you back again soon.....

biscuit - Fiesta!? Haute Route sounds like something of a change of focus?

Ardo - did you have any more luck this week?

Dandan82 - most jealous!

Richard Popp - sometimes like you say you’ve just got to be glad you can get out climbing and have a good day, especially if you’ve had past injury issues...

-#-#-#-#

 

Fit Club 600 roundup:

Well, I hope everyone had fun taking part. It’s about working towards the goals, not necessarily hitting them. A few highlights for me, watching everyone:

- I think the least ambitious goal setter at the start has to be Dandan with the handstands, given how many times he re-set himself stretch goals!

- sorry Ally, but I think Toms 800m new route in Kyrgyzstan trumps your Cornice linkup as the best new route

- a shame that life got in the way for a few people, Tyler and Richard in particular, but thanks for sticking with us

- for my lack of dedication to indoor training I shall award myself the wooden spoon for lowest commitment to an FC600 sub-goal, even if I am pretty chuffed with the DWS element of my summer.

- looking forwards to seeing some good 666 goals coming out in this week’s thread!

 

In reply to AJM:

Thanks Andy. Mostly back to health this week. Four weeks to Kaly. 

STG (29th September): Flash my mates's project in the Frankenjura
MTG (2018): Onsight 7a; redpoint 7b multiple times on routes that aren't pure boulder problems
LTG (2021): Redpoint 8a before I hit 60 

My son pointed out that I *always* have multi-week cold/virus/sniffles in September. Checked my last four years training logs and he's right. No fule he. Not sure if I can do anything useful with this information except adopt a stoic attitude.

M: Rest
T: Morning fingerboard max hangs before work. I am not generally a morning person, and am more used to training in the evening, so found it hard to match my usual level. Not letting this bother me too much.
W: Wall, Thalkirchen. Full-on Kaly campaign: 10 x 15 to 20 metre overhanging jug-hauls. Tired, skin sore.
T: Rest. 20 minutes foam rolling & stretching.
F: Wall, Gilching. A dozen routes, first half steep & juggy, second half more vert & fingery. Tired again.
S: Foam rolling sore forearms & elbows.
S: Wall, Thalkirchen. Circuits, focusing more on the short, sharp end of the power endurance scale including 3 laps on a 20-move, slightly overhanging fingery 7a. Good.This was only the fourth session of the PE campaign though, and skin soreness is already becoming a problem.
 

In reply to AJM:

Thanks me.

2 wall sessions this week. Tuesday was short but relatively productive - tried hard o some things and got to the final few moves on the black traverse. Then today, went again, again some decent bouldering to start, then ticked the black traverse, tricky but not ridiculous until some tricksy moves pinching slopey lozenges right at the end when tired. Got on it again and hit but didn’t hold the final move.

In 3 weeks I’ll be in Smith now. Coming along fast. Should have trained more but kind of feeling the kickback from a busy and productive summer at slightly the wrong time I reckon. There’s tons to go at across the grades, so  I’m sure whatever happens it’ll be mint. Hoping for some classic 12s sport ticks, some trad  5.10 or low 11 if going very well, and some multipitch adventuring.

Toying with sneaking out for the afternoon on Tuesday, definitely hoping for a day out this weekend since we have parental babysitters visiting.

Looking forwards, FC666:

- Mark of the Beast (7c) (ideally, or other big hard DWS - Blue Planet (7b+) or Privateer (E6 6b))

- E5 (or equivalent, and in as good a style as possible)

- sport to support the trad primarily - focus somewhere between onsight and “quick tick”; also try some specific routes - some from Colors (7b+), Tennessee (7c), Paradise Lost (7b), Bird of Paradise (7b+), Return of the Gunfighter (7c).

Also hoping to return to Font in the spring, maybe going skiing also but that seems slightly at mercy of clashing calendars.

In reply to AJM:

Thanks for starting the thread Andy

I think there are several grades difference between the BM 1K and the BM 2K workouts but, you're right, for me it'll be a good achievement if I get it completed.

Worryingly slow progress with my ankle so more dead hanging and foot on campusing at BUK this week. I'm pretty inefficient, on Thursday I had three hours there and did little more than I managed in each of the one hour sessions I had today and yesterday.  

I've moderated my FoC goals to use the medium rungs as I  wasn't managing enough moves for it to be considered training on the smaller rung. Best I managed this week was  two sets of (60/90)x4 before the third set turned to rat shit. 

Goal for begining of Nov is still 3 sets of 4 x min on/min off FoC and BM1k 7a in the same session.

In reply to AJM:

Thanks, the discussion in last weeks thread has been a great help in giving me some clarity. Recently went to Warwick Uni's climbing wall and saw a proverb/quote on the wall that has stuck with me a bit something along the lines of "Progress is not a measure of speed but a measure of direction".

Andy, don't worry too much about your kickback, remember the second wind of energy you get when you arrive at eagerly awaited climbing trip!

M: Rest

T: Looong hard boulder session with some friends back in town, put in a lot of effort and a lot of volume

W: Late change in the forecast with the rain moving from evening to midday ruined my hopes of attempts on my project so went out for a big greasy breakfast instead (I call it at my local crag but its still 2hr drive each way)

T: Bouldered again, worked and sent some hard problems since I put the volume in on tues, was a good session. Sent one problem that I couldn't get on the start holds a few weeks ago and had written off as beyond me, was really happy with this.

F: Had to take my mum to the vet with her cat so that was a rest

S: Rest

S: Bouldered as friend wanted to climb in afternoon and local wall shuts at 3, did some fingerboard/campus board stuff and then casually worked around some problems.

Had a bit of a bizarre week as will be next but routine will kick into place week 603, concentrated on scanning my climbing for weaknesses and really starting to feel I'm lacking some pinch strength so will try and make sure I get on lots on pinchy routes this week. Also hoping for a dry day to get back on my project!

In reply to AJM:

Thanks for starting the thread Andy - I haven't dared weigh myself after the weight-belt eating challenge...

Week 36

M – Tor bouldering. I was weak and Frankenfinger turned purple again.

T – $hite day at work – first time I’ve ever experienced someone lose it in a teleconference - didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Decided sprint intervals on my bike was best way to vent anger.

W – Hour of power. I was less weak and the Frankenfinger didn’t go bad. However, I failed to get up anything significant.

T – Fingerboarding; Started to introduce sling monos into late warm-up. 1-arm max hangs. Felt like a big improvement on previous weeks. 4x 10s on each arm on lattice edge with 13kg assist and open shoulder. Really felt like I could engage and pull into the hang. Then 4x 10s on the campus rung in a closed position with 5kg assist. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bns6wY2DYs_  3x 105kg DL triples – felt hard. Evening stretching.

F – Rest

S – Draw recovery mission at Kilnsey. Nothing significant climbing wise but rescued 20 draws from the roof before the Kilnsey season was over.

S – Day1 holibobs. Lots walking around Ljubljana.

 

Week 37

M – More urban walking after epic breakfast stodge https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn0svxNDveg

T – More walking – this time around underground in a massive 2km long cave system (photography banned – boo)

W – Bike-canyon walk-bike-viewpoint hillclimb-bike https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn6UKyFDx9p

T – Soca valley tour including 2hours whitewater rafting - jarred my back and got DWS style bruising from somersaulting off a riverside rock...

F – Rowed out to Lake Bled island and back https://www.instagram.com/p/BoGjYejhEhd (evidence of fattiness) then 2hours canyoning

S – Rainy day, so lazy day visit to local gingerbread museum https://www.instagram.com/p/BoBwRXphA2g and then an afternoon of wedmin.

S – Nowt. 5am get up for airport, then most of the day of house cleaning when home ?

FC666 challenge - firming up on goals at the moment, but here's some ideas:

- devil by name; 2x new routes i've bolted at  Pantymwyn (Devil's Gorge)

- devil of a bugbear - Rock Atrocity (f7C)

- devilishly antagonistic - press a skinny sports climber over head (60kg OHP?)

- devilishly optimistic; 8c+ (gulp!)

 

In reply to AJM:

Cheers! Well as it happens I got that E2 onsight one week late. Not The Rasp, but Brown's Eliminate (E2 5b). Pretty pleased with that.

A fairly low key week otherwise, will be ramping back up now before leaving for Ama Dablam in mid November.

Tue - Bouldering at Curbar. Had a couple of goes on Gorilla Warfare (f7A). Nowhere near it, but nice to know the moves didn't feel completely impossible.

Thu - Bouldering at Manchester Depot. Pyramid strength session, which was tricky as most of the black problems felt too easy and the red problems to hard. Next time will just do a red circuit to find some suitable problems.

Fri - Had injections for Nepal which pretty much knackered my arms for the next couple of days.

Sun  - Brown's Eliminate (E2 5b). First E2, and it went pretty smoothly too.

STG

* 5.5 hours Z1
* 2 Max Strength Sessions
* Try and get a few more HVSs or E1s off the wishlist.

MTG
- Ama Dablam Nov 2018 - now booked

 - Routes : 

The File (VS 4c)
Suicide Wall (HVS 5b)
The Hen Cloud HVSs

The Left Unconquerable (E1 5b)
Flying Buttress Direct (E1 5b)
The Rasp (E2 5b)
Regent Street (E2 5c)

- Problems

Crescent Arête (f5+)
Banana Finger (f6A)

LTG

- US/Canada trip in Winter 2018

BHAG

London Wall (E5 6a)
The 1938 Route (ED2)
American Direct (ED1 6c+)

 

In reply to AJM:

Well oddly the session that got dropped this week was, as it happens, the hour of power, but I had a good excuse.

M - cycle commute. FB continuous hangs followed by 7/3/6/1x10 which was a struggle.
T - cycle commute. UCR in evening, 14 routes in pairs, averaging out at 6c across the lot.
W - cycle commute. TRX. Various forearm curls, pinch grip things etc.
T - drove to work anticipating going on to TCA for hnour of power, then husband offered to be belay bunny. Howe could I say no! 15 routes in blocks of 3. Totally knackered.
F - TCA. Boulder 4x4s, then lattice repeats with rest time = climb time. Now have an app to help with this so should be easier to juggle next time.
S - 2 miles urban squelching in the rain. Couple of hours moving a ton of firewood to get it out of the rain.
S - core.

OK, bouldering. I have this problem with (indoor) bouldering at the best of times which may be exacerbated by the TCA setting style. Basically I tend to either be able to flash something or, almost regardless of how much time and effort I invest, not be able to do a problem at all. It is amazingly rare that I find one that over umpteen goes/sessions I can piece together and finally tick. Which means that the satisfaction level tends to be zilch. The hour of power exacerbates this, plus because I'm really putting in a lot of effort and hurling for things in an very intensive way I've also found it's a great way to get injured. Do wonder if dialling it down a bit might be more productive, so a 1/2 hour of power maybe. NB I'm picking problems that theoretically should be within grasp - that session was three blues (around V5) and an orange (around V4).

In reply to hms:

If that really is the case, then TCA setting is shite. I've experienced plenty of that in the past, and only really worked out how bad some setting is when I had a session at Stronghold with Cyan and found problems that had way more holds than you actually needed and many possibilities to work out your own method with subtle variations for size and strength.

Keep the difficulty, but lower the intensity? How longer rests between attempts to reduce chance of shoulder overload?

In reply to Tyler:

There was massive grade inflation between the first and second releases of the Beastmaker app. I worked on the original 5A routine for a year or more, at a time when I was bouldering 6B fairly consistently, and never finished it. Although I did get close  

In reply to AJM:

Cheers but sadly another off week. Managed 3 x 1km swims but that was it. Hopefully i can finally shift the snots and get back to running. Only three weeks to go until the half marathon so desperately need to get out there and put some distance in the legs

 

In reply to Ally Smith:

I've been trying 4 problems, 15 mins each and with ~5 mins rest between each. When trying each problem I've been trying intensively, so getting back on way way earlier than I would in a 'normal' session. And I haven't just been getting back on at the bottom but climbing up on something else to the mid point to try the upper section etc.

TCA problems do not have extraneous hand holds, nor different feet for different builds either.

D1 has also suggested that going round with someone to swap beta with might help although I did do an hour of power session with her (quite some time ago) and we didn't get on any better as a pair than I had on my own, just it was a bit less knackering with it.

In reply to AlanLittle:

This between routines on the same app. I literally cannot hang on back two but that is required for 7a on BM 2k although to be honest I've not tried a BM 2k routine for a while maybe I will,for variety as much as anything .

In reply to Tyler:

training fro Margalef my plan included pocket stuff. For front and middle 2 I could add a generous amount of extra weight and do the set. For back 2 I needed an assist of 18kg!! 

In reply to hms:

When I read your first post I was going to suggest these things from your second, trying different sections of the problem separately and working problems with someone else for beta exchanging. One think I have started doing recently is keeping a mental note of where I am hitting a brick wall on boulders. I have found that and big moves on pinches or any sort of strong campus move is stopping me in my tracks and making a problem impossible for me. Perhaps the next couple of sessions do this and see if you notice any similar patterns.

Also, if you are going round bouldering with someone else swapping beta, try and mix up the people you do this with(taller, shorter, heavier, lighter, stronger, weaker, static, dynamic) people with the same size, build and climbing style will often do problems in the same way naturally so trying to use the beta of someone who climbs very differently might enlighten you to some strengths you didn't know you have and haven't been taking advantage of.

In reply to hms:

It seems we might not be the only ones but it can be trained. I guess it's less of a priority for us than if you are training for 9a! 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BoCQptgH6Q4/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igsh...

In reply to AJM:

A week of 2 halves for me.

Mon: rest day

Tues: Productive session.  Repeated perverse reverse quickly using the campus method at the start.  Spent some time working out some better beta using a high heel at the start then repeated again using my new method.  Its more core intensive to get into but then saves the fingers by removing the campus.  Repeated the start of cave problem too.  There is now only about 4 moves I need to do to link the bits I've done together.  Really psyched to get out Friday.

Wed: core session. the first time I've done this really.  Learnt a lot about engaging the chest to get horizontal then the tummy muscles to get the feet above my head.  In the past I've gone straight to lifting the feet which hasn't worked so well. 

Thurs: rest

Fri-Sun - Came down with illness - lots of vomiting.  I blame new school year germs from students.  Feeling better now.  Probably lighter and feel like I've had a proper core workout! Every cloud etc.

In reply to AJM:

Hi All. Thanks AJM for pulling together the FC600 stats (and for flattering the new route -kind, although I'm not convinced that pottering up a bit of ice is comparable to cranking as hard as F8!)

Swanage was just due to it being the only dry rock in the UK last week -although rough seas meant a lot of the cliffs were inaccessible on a couple of days!

Last Week:

Training took second place to climbing -the way it should be! It was good to have a week on the rock after a summer mostly focussed on Z1 plods which has led to me feeling pretty rusty on rock. I took the deliberate step of being more sensible/realistic/conservative than usual and went for some fairly stress free seconding on trad. I also did my first real redpointing (as opposed to trying to onsight everything and then having a tantrum when I fall off -classic trad approach) which was interesting. 

M: Followed up some nice HVS and E1s at Cattle Troughs

T: Winspit sport. Onsight up to F6a

W: Dancing Ledge sport. Redpoint up to F6a+. Tried a couple of 6b, 6c.

T: 150 min of Z1. 20km trail run, slightly hilly, avg 7:15/km. Redpoint up to F6a+.

F: Followed up The Spook -great climb, should have got on the lead. Worked a F6b+ -almost but not quite.

S: Shoulder and elbow rehab.

S: Rest.

Next Week:

150 mins Z1

20 mins Z3

2 Core sessions

2 Strength sessions

1 Trad session

1 Bouldering session

STG/Q3:

New Route in Kyrgyzstan (/)

Establish new TFTNA cycle (/)

5 Antistyle Routes (/) -sorted out by Swanage -steep cracks, overhangs, sustained routes etc.

MTG/Q4:

Jaz (M8)

North Face Original Route (ED1)

LTG/Q1

The Ginat (ED1 5)

Scottish 7

Improve off piste-skiing (need to work out some specific goals!)

 

 

In reply to hms:

i used to have the same complaint. Less so now I think - I’m not sure if the setting has changed, I suspect it’s likely that I’ve just done more climbing with groups to share beta and psyche and have (perhaps as a result) generally got more persistent on things that feel impossible or desperately unlikely. I’ve also found board climbing suffers less from this for me, partly because if you have screw on feet you automatically have options to try which at least means you can try a lot of different ways to get the move rather than just the same holds each time, which limits the possibilities (albeit to still quite a wide range, with the possible permutations of precise body position through the move, use of momentum etc)

In reply to planetmarshall:

Good work on Browns Eliminate. 

In reply to AJM:

Such an important point, it never ceases to amaze me how much the psychological push of an enthusiastic group can improve your climbing. 

Perhaps hms can give us some proof of concept, take a group of psyched climbers with you and try some of the impossible problems again?

 

In reply to AJM:

Right then... 666 Goal

Satanic Verses (VI 5)

that ticks all the boxes -devilish and in line with my other goals!

In reply to AJM:

Glad I'm not the only person who has run away from the Salbit!

Last Week:

M: Rest

T: General strength w/core routine warmup.

W: 40min Z2

T: General strength w/core routine warmup.

F: 60min Z1

S: Approach to Jacchia bivouac (1600m vertical, 6h)

S: Tronchey Ridge (TD). Cool line, but unbelievably loose and sketchy in places. Some very dicey snowed up slabs in the top third. 

 

This Week:

45min Z2

2 general strength sessions w/core routine warmup

110min Z1

1 alpine route

Prioritise sleep, avoid alcohol, don't get ill from weekend alps exhaustion.

 

Goals: (will add more/refine as they become clearer)

STG (end of October)

• 2x long alpine routes, TD or above, 800m+
• 3x E2 O/S

MTG (~end of January, maybe a little later)

• 2x Scottish VII O/S
• 3x WI6 O/S
• 1x M8 O/S

LTG (~end of 2019)

• New route in the Cordillera Blanca
• Bugaboos trip
• Caucasus trip

In reply to AJM:

STG - 14st

MTG - Goblin Girl (6b) 6c at Navigation, then WFD

LTG - Probably bouldering, bearing in mind Trad will be hard for the next few years...

Weight - 14st 8lbs (2lbs gain)

M - Rest

T - 4k run

W - Rest

T - 4k run

F - S - Rest

S - 10 minute Dave Mac workout

Well I actually got a decent workout this week in a way.  But not so great in other ways.  Kept eating too much so put on more weight.  That's most of the past month or twos progress wiped out.  Again didn't get out bouldering in the North York Moors, which was a bit slack of me.  However while I was away I watched this:

youtube.com/watch?v=-diYuavVqzE&

Which is a short video from Dave MacLeod about a 10 minute work-out.  Obviously I couldn't quite do that as well, I'm fat and crap.  Also I'm very detrained.  But I did a version of it.  Push ups, pull ups, dead hangs and some core work.  Didn't do the top of my shoulder much good to be honest.  But I did find it motivating.  So this the vague plan is to do a few of these short work outs each week.  I'm going to start *very* soft and work up from there.  Probably start with 'knee' pushups for a while.  I'll just stick with one pull up as well for a while.  Probably no hangs for the first few months.  I'll also see if I can do them post-run which will hopefully help a bit.  I'm going to see if I can figure out a couple of shoulder exercises again, just to start getting things a bit stronger there.  Also obviously, I need to get the diet rolling again.

Finally, as it's looking a lot more likely we're going to be moving house soon to Abergavenny.  This is pretty decent for a few reasons as there's probably slightly better bouldering near by.  Also it's better for getting out to the rest of the country.  However it's another 20-30 minutes on the trip to Pembroke, which isn't great.  But there we go.  

In reply to AJM:

Cheers Andy, good job as ever and great to see a lot of people hitting their targets.

I had a great long weekend in Spain. The plan was ‘evolving’ all the time and we intended to drive to Riglos and hit Fiesta early on Friday. In the end it all went a bit ‘Brit’s on tour’ despite me being the only Brit. The forecast had changed and the temps were due to be in the high 20’s. Landed (later than planned) Thursday eve in Barcelona. Public transport issues and then a quick evening meal. Arrived in Riglos about 1 am – oops! Had a couple of beers to ensure we were hydrated for the morning and got to bed about 2. Up at 8, already hot. On the route by 9.30. Boiling but still in shade. Did rock, paper, scissors to decide who went first. It was me. Strung the 1st 2 pitches together and then manged to get on the crux pitch (7a, technical, polished open groove) in time for the sun to hit it whilst I was carrying the rucksack. My partner had led through just in the shade. I struggled in what was now 30 degree + heat on a South facing route and peeled off two moves from glory due to getting wrong handed and greasing off, pumped. Shame, but it wasn’t going to spoil the day. The sun was trying to do that though and our plan to go as light as possible with 1 litre of water was looking like an error. Actually it was an error, it didn’t just look like one. To cut a long story short the top half of the route was bloody amazing. Despite being sunburnt and more thirsty than I can ever remember, swinging from those jugs 250 metres up will stay with me forever. Don’t underestimate how tiring it gets though. I was surprised that even though it’s jug swinging, it’s VERY steep jug swinging and absolutely relentless. The top 6b pitch was a killer with some exciting run outs and very tired arms. I had a bit of a moment up there. The long walk down was rewarded with a pint of cold fanta limon. One of the best drinks I’ve ever had. My tongue was drier than my sandals.

So day two was Margalef. Hooked up with a bunch of Spaniards who launched me onto their warm up – just a 7b. Quite an interesting intro to Margalef. The second move was a mono. I had a few goes on it and the best I managed was a 3 hang. I tried a 6c on sight but fell off at the top, my lead head for single pitch, try hard, routes was not good at all. I was really hesitant and static and finding the Margalef style difficult (and painful) to read. I was quite tired still from the previous day and it was still really hot, though we were climbing in the shade. Despite all that I started to think I could really like Margalef.

Day 3 was Margalef again. A more friendly warm up this time on a 6c with a lazy, late start as we were both a bit tired now. Still hot – 32 degrees. Again my head was not good and I shouted take when I should have made the move – it turned out to be a jug. A lack of real rock time was apparent.

Bit annoyed at myself and went for a 7a onsight. Same result. My head wouldn’t let me commit. It’s strange but I was more scared on single pitch than on Fiesta. I gave it another go and fluffed it right at the top when I changed my mind about how to take a hold whilst in the middle of the move. Literally the last hard move. But I’d climbed with good confidence and pacing throughout and found my flow again with all my focus on the climbing and nothing else. It’s been a long while but good to know it’s still in there somewhere. The climb felt easy up to me messing it up so I can take some good from it.

I loved Margalef and would like to spend some time there in the future. For now though I’m back at uni tomorrow so that’s going to be priority along with learning to ski. Bit of a change but after we’d done the Marmotte we were looking at a new challenge in the mountains and the Haute Route came up, so we’ve gone for it.

So I really need to sort out my left leg with it’s hip and knee issues. I tweaked my knee (old ACL injury) a couple of weeks ago jumping off a boulder problem and it’s felt a bit unstable since. Running has given me patella pain too. So I need to fix myself as it won’t survive 10 days of ski touring like it is.

I’m going to use the time up to Xmas to focus on this via rehab exercises and then hit the gym with it in the new year to really strengthen it. I’m also going to work on my general conditioning more. I have a poor core and a slightly tweaky shoulder that need sorting. I’ll commit to posting my targets for these each week or I won’t do them.

So this week:

Commute to uni on the bike x 2

Leg rehab (Power’s program) x 3

Shoulder conditioning x 3

Hip stretching x 3

Core x 3

In reply to AJM: Thanks Andy, have let go of goals and plans to get away at the half term break, I may find somethings pops up nearer the time but it takes the pressure off. I feel very similarly to hms with regards to TCA. As much as I love it at the minute I find working boulder problems isn't leading to any progress. So I am just aiming to get out and go climbing, to give myself the best possible chance I have started to focus on circuits and more repeaterey repaters.

M-Shoulder weights and fingerboard-7/3 2 min rest x7. Bit easy, need to dail down hold.

T-TCA, got on circuits-managed a 40+move 6bish thing in two halves, not hard but no real rests.

W-Plans to go to S Wales scuppered by weather, so Redpoint-8 routes to 6b+ and worked a 7a. Should go, finished off with 10 mins continuous climbing, again a bit easy.

T-Yoga.

Friday-Shoulder rehab and fingerboard. Worked late shift to 1 am.

Saturday-Short but perfect circuits doing Tuesdays circuit 4 times touching holding last hold.

Sunday-Repeaters, 7/3 2 min rest x7, all on four finger slot, still a bit easy.

Hopefully out tomorrow and Saturday, the sun is shining and feeling a bit more human. Vaguely open to half-term trip, if anyone wants to suggest something, cant make other times.

Rich

 

In reply to biscuit:

This was the update we've been waiting for! Nice one on the route, so the 7a pitch is definitely harder than the upper ones? I'd always been worried about coming off them and swinging in space (I guess I should learn to prussik first).

Does this mean you'll be heading to ski Rossendale? Those plastic bristles are better for getting you in the 'don't fall' mindset you need for touring than the soft snow of Manchester Snowdome (plus you get to experience genuine weather!)

In reply to AJM:

Hi AJM, 

Any pub session is a successful session in my view!

Better week last week.

Monday:climbed 12 problems at the wall, which included a v4 which is the hardest problem I've tried since hurting the finger.

Tuesday:big walk with the dog. Shoulder and back exercises.

Friday: climbed 10 problems at the wall, took it even easier due to pain in my injured finger, I hope I didn't over do it on Monday.

Sunday: 2 hour family walk.

Summary: good to be doing more exercise I feel better for it but need to get back to doing more general exercises like push ups, sit ups etc and get back to using the theraband for shoulders more regularly. Diet good, going to keep it up.

Work stress is high and is going to get higher from now until the end of the year so I need to manage this.

 

In reply to Powderpuff:

Did you carry it?

In reply to Tyler:

Ha ha! I've not been to ski Rossendale since a school trip circa 1988. We had some serious friction burns to show for it. A school friend went straight into a shed at the bottom without slowing down from what I remember. Happy days! 

It's a techy groove that is perfectly doable, but I have not climbed much rock this year and was in the full sun and I had a ruck sack on. Those are my excuses and i'm sticking to them. I wouldn't worry about it. 

The top pitches were relentless. But in a brilliant way. If you're not on a jug you've got the wrong hold. I presumed that they got their grade due to their position. It's hard to say but I think they'd get their grade if they were single pitch on the ground. But by that point everything felt tricky due to the heat/lack of water. I really don't think you'd need to prussik btw. I was terrified about that but whilst its steep and not closely bolted it never felt as if you'd lose contact with the wall.   

In reply to hms (and everyone else):

when talking about assisted hangs or pull ups with a weight and pulley set up, do you refer to the weight on the other side of the pulley or the weight it’s taking off you?

e.g. putting 20kg on the pulley will take 10kg  off you... do you call that a 20kg assist or a 10kg assist?

In reply to alexm198:

Sounds awesome! 

In reply to biscuit:

Nice one! A bit warmer than Kendal Fiesta then?!

In reply to Tom Green:

Not sure about that, Tom. Where's the other 10kg going?

...Put it this way. I weigh about 70kg. If I put 140kg on a pulley, it won't balance my weight - it'll fire me through the roof

In reply to planetmarshall:

Hmm... think I need to revise my physics knowledge! I always thought that half the weight was taken by the beam (or whatever you’re suspended from) -equal and opposite force etc. But a quick google suggests otherwise!

so a single pulley merely implements a directional change? No mechanical aid?

In reply to Tom Green:

No aid but the amount of friction from the pulley is significant I find, not a problem from a measuring perspective if you are consistent with the pulley you use

In reply to Tom Green:

The pulley itself is subjected to a 20kg load because it has 10kg of rope tension on both sides. That might be what you were thinking of.

For bonus points: I have only a single, centrally located pulley. The cord on the other side of it, going to the weight, is in contact with my chest. The friction of the cord against me is presumably doing *something* to the net amount of weight removed. Reducing? Increasing? I have no idea.

In reply to AlanLittle:

Yep! Think that was the vague thought I had!

In reply to alexm198:

Wow, missed this until Tom mentioned in a reply. That's a seriously impressive tick, especially if it was another weekend hit. Must be pretty chilly up there this time of year, did you have to bivi? Would love to hear more if you can be arsed, in particular I'm intrigued to know how/why you did some training in the days before the route!

In reply to Tyler:

I've never been able to get this squared in my head, although I think you're correct it doesn't matter as long as you're consistent, but friction requires movement, so friction in the pulley only matters of you're pulling the weight up/down during the hang? If the weight stays level, isn't it automatically giving only it's its weight in assistance, and then as you start to pull the weight upwards as you fail you get increased assistance because it takes >10kg force to pull a 10kg weight upwards against friction?

In reply to AJM:

Bare in mind I did arts A levels but it seems logical to me that if you have a 10kg and zero friction you will get 10kg assistance, if there is friction you will need more than 10kg to move it upwards therefore you are getting >10kg assistance?

In reply to Tom Green:

Think of it in terms of symmetry. Mechanical aid comes from assymetry in a system, but a simple pulley is symmetrical - so how would you get mechanical advantage in one direction and not the other?

In other words, If you get mechanical advantage from the counterweight, then the counterweight has to get mechanical advantage from you, due to symmetry. Hey presto, you have a perpetual motion machine.

In reply to AJM:

Well, not necessarily. You can have static friction - imagine replacing the pulley with a micro-traxion (in fact this is what I usually use) - when the teeth are engaged the static friction is more than ample to counteract my bodyweight on one side of the pulley.

 

In reply to Tyler:

I think what it means in reality is that with 10kg on one side high friction means you could put 9.5-10.5kg on the other side and low friction 9.9-10.1, or whatever (it's got to be symmetric) whilst the system remains in balance.  

And so you do get a benefit on your max hangs because you'll be pulling 10.5, not 9.5 - the hangs where you can get away with pulling 9.5 aren't the ones that matter. 

Which helps me rationalise how to get benefit from friction even without movement through the pulley.

Does anyone have any idea how much the 10.5 or whatever actually is, on a fairly low end pulley? 

In reply to AJM:

I'd say quite a lot and obvs the heavier the weight the more friction will be generated.

The interesting question is whether two pulleys reduces friction or increases it. You obviously have two axles to turn but the more obtuse angle of the rope means there will be less downward pressure on each. 

In reply to AJM:

Long time since I've been posting on FC, but are still lurking. Came over this thread on pulley friction http://rockprodigytraining.proboards.com/thread/1412/high-friction-pulley-s... which might help the discussion. Although they all seem to use a system of 2 pulleys so that the weight isn't hanging in front of you, so that will probably give different results. The relevant part which discusses friction of pulleys is on page 2 of the thread.

In reply to Tyler:

Thanks! Took us a little over 12h from leaving the Jacchia to the summit, which was completely clagged in by the time we got there. If I'm completely honest the route isn't particularly amazing -- it's phenomenally loose and weaves around most of the major features of the ridge (four large towers) but it was great to be somewhere a bit more wild on a rarely climbed route. The Jacchia is an incredible place to spend a night.

Did some light training in the days before the route more out of habit than anything. I knew the Saturday was going to be a chilled start and a long but moderate approach so wasn't overly concerned. Also, at the moment I'm training predominantly in my lunch break at work and really appreciate the chance to get away from my desk so didn't want to give that up!

 

In reply to AJM:

Here's a thought, stand on a scale under your pulley setup, note your weight, then grab hold of your pulley system and use it to lift a known weight off the floor and see how the scale changes. Do it with 2 or more different weights and you could come up with some kind of conversion factor quite easily, right?
In fact I think I might give it a go, despite the potential for serious ego damage...

In reply to Dandan:

I thought big wall climbers obsess about the efficiency of pulleys & it‘s usually one of the published specifications? Microtrax >90% iirc

In reply to Dandan:

There are holds you have to take weight off for? 

In reply to AlanLittle:

Yeah they do, mine I think is one of the 71% ones. But surely getting a microtraxion for doing my deadhanging is overkill, right? Right? (maybe if I bought a new rucksack too I could brand it as a big route hauling setup, and justify it like that...?)

In reply to AJM:

I bought mine for a toprope soloing setup when I decided to move out of the shunting stone age. But in reality it's seen a lot more use as a deadhanging pulley.

In reply to AJM:

Just checking in again, i'm back in good old Blighty but I'll do a trip report next week.

I had a few thoughts on 666 goals that I thought I would jot down while i'm here:

(The big obvious one is 666 routes, but I'm not sure i'm the one to do it as a weekend warrior sport climber, that's over 4 times the number of routes I've managed in a year so far, perhaps a good challenge for someone with a penchant for easy trad or a van and a free calendar for six months of the year?)

Lulworth is the obvious place for some apt route names, so if AJM is willing to help out then i'll make Horny Lil' Devil (7a) and Mark of the Beast (7c) target routes for next summer.

All the other goals I can think of are number related;

+66kg weighted pullup (That's just over bodyweight)

666 one-arm pullups, I don't really do these so it would have to include bad form reps to begin with, could help improve them though.

666 30 second+ handstands (I doubt I would be stretching this goal!)

Can anyone think of anything else you could hope to manage 666 of? That's roughly 10 a week for over a year...?

66 routes at 7a and above including 6 routes at 7c+ and above.

 

In reply to Dandan:

Stanage In A Day?

In reply to AJM:

Week 666 goals...666 (7c+) would be an obvious one! Lots of "beest..." type named rputes at Beeston of course.

There are quite a few more inspiring sport routes round the peak with sort of related names...Nemesis (8a+) or The Ogre (8a) would work for me.

Perhaps our resident winter experts should aim to clean up everything beginning with "Devil's..." In Cwm Idwal.  There is a lot to go at there... think you'd just about get 1.5 winter seasons for it...

In reply to AJM:

I have decided to take a bit of a break from FitClub by the way. I'm not really "feeling it" at the moment and haven't done any proper training for several weeks...work is taking a lot of energy and that is likely to continue most of this year, so I just want to chill out and enjoy whatever climbing I do for a while rather than worry about training or specific goals too much. I will almost certainly be back on it some time next year (perhaps in time for goal 666), but last time i felt like this in late 2014, a break from it definitely helped. 

I'll still be lurking

In reply to AJM:

Right, pulley fans: SCIENCE !!

Test rig consisting of:

1. Highly scientifc analog bathroom scale, on which:

2. Simulated climber (20kg kettlebell)

3. Pulley suspended from no-expense spared strain gauge*

4. simulated climber attached over pulley via 5mm cord to assistance weight (12kg kettlebell)

* 10€ luggage scale from amazon, calibrated accurate to 100g versus airport luggage checkin counters  

Pulley A: Microtraxion.

• "Climber" receives 11.3 +/- 0.5 kgs of assist
• Load on pulley 22.9 +/- 0.4 kgs

"Pulley" B: HMS Krab

• "Climber" receives 8kgs +/- 0kgs of assist
• Load on pulley 20kgs +/- 0kgs

Pulley C: DMM Revolver

• Totally inconsistent variation between the above. Possibly dependent on the exact seating of the cord on the roller?

 

In reply to Si dH:

I know how you feel, I seem to be in an end-season winddown at the minute as far as training psyche goes. Gonna enjoy Smith, chill for a bit, then crack on to Font and 666 once the psyche rebuilds...

catch you soon. Have a wedding in derby early November so be in your neck of the woods...

In reply to AlanLittle:

I don't understand how the load on the pulley can vary, surely if the system contains the same masses and is static, then regardless of the pulley friction, the load should be the same? It doesn't make any sense to me, perhaps i'm visualising the system wrong or are you somehow looking at peak load whilst the cord is moving through the pulley or something?
I'll try to do a test over the weekend too, although I don't have a strain gauge...
 

In reply to Dandan:

Friction? Rope stretch? 

Load on the actual pulleys appeared to peak at nearly 24 then drop a bit. Hard to quantify given that my strain gauge doesn‘t do millisecond logging. 

The krab was surprisingly constant at 20kg

In reply to AJM:

FC666 addendum, I just realised the 8a+ I tried in Margalef in May is called Camino a la Perdición (8a+), that's a pretty apt name to add to the list of targets

In reply to Si dH:

Yeah, I can definitely feel that.  I'm still posting mainly out of habit to be honest.  But it keeps me going with some exercise, so I guess it must be good to an extent.

In reply to AJM:

Sorry Andy and all. AWOL for a number of weeks now as new job and general busyness are meaning not much climbing and not much time.

HOWEVER: on FC600 round-up I would say I was pretty much there considering how much I haven’t really climbed. Good intro to DWS season including the project Animal Magnetism (7a+) (Thanks Team AJM for the adventures); handstand convincing; did Alpine in the Alps; did some E1/E3 mileage though should have done more. Didn’t have a problem with anything (except slow decision on stroof) so despite lack of stamina should be able to pull some harder trad out of the bag if I get a good day and a psyched trad partner this autumn. (And maybe have slept too!)

In the last 3 weeks AWOL have done some stuff but not much. The sum total is:

- Froggatt - warmed up on Chequers Buttress (HVS 5a) and then it rained so that was it. Great positions but overrated compared to the rest of the grit 3* HVS canon.

- WCS France - amazing event and a great group of women. 3 days of a bit of bouldering in La Capelle while teaching trad in French. One 7A flash. Got to try the WC revo and pretty impressed. Lots of pastry and bread eating. It was lovely being somewhere warm too.

- 1 wall trip (yes 1 in 3 weeks!) to Big Rock and flashed 2x7a, 2x6c+, 3x6c which was relatively pleasing before working some boulders 

- 1 netball match with team at new work. Managed to remember most of the rules on muscle memory.

- DIY club etc - tidied and touched up house to get it ready for photographs and on the market. The sooner we leave Oxford and I stop commuting each day the better! 

Right need to buckle down now. Lots  of work prep to do today, less than a week to WCS and if it brightens up, hopefully at least a route to be done!

In reply to AJM:

•Mo: pu/su/pl x 7/20 x 3. 8.0m General walking.
•Tu: pu/su/pl x 7/20 x 3. 7.2m General walking. 10 problems, (v4), h/board 4x5x10":5"/1'.
•We: pu/su/pl x 7/20 x 3. 7.2m General walking.
•Th: pu/su/pl x 7/20 x 3. 7.0m General walking. 12 problems, (v4), h/board 4x5x10":5"/1'.
•Fr: pu/su/pl x 7/20 x 3. 8.9m General walking.
•Sa: 8.0m General walking.
•Su: 5.5m General walking.
• weight    10st, 9/16.7%
Training week 3, went ok. 2 x hypertrophy, with hangboarding. Back went on Friday and sciatica set in, so no climbing and plenty of miles covered to try and keep mobile. Pretty p’d off at the mo, but will keep plugging away and hope for rapid improvement with back.