UKC

Afternoon, no suggestions for the next FitClub challenge last week- to be honest it sounds like everyone is challenged enough trying to figure out how to interpret the Training for the New Alpinism zone system...

Instead I will use this space to promote my current favourite podcast "Bad Beta Podcast". It's fairly new and extremely disorderly, but I actually laugh out loud to it when running. Go check it out:  https://www.badbetapodcast.com/  

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/fitclub_565-677464?v=1

hms: Good to see continuous hangs are improving, I might have to give this protocol a try.

guy127917: Good week, keep it up

AJM: How did you go- executing beautiful parallel turns or snow plough windmilling into crowds of ecole du skiers?

wurzel: Was the coaching session a regular thing or one off?

crimpsoplenty: If you haven’t done much strength work you should see some nice improvements fairly fast. Definitely interested to hear how that goes for you and if/how you feel it when bouldering

Bones: I like your summary section, keep it up!

MFB: What’s your approach to controlling of your weight? Looks like you get out in the hills so must regularly burn a good amount of calories.

AlanLittle: Good work with the fall practice, so easy to put it off- it always seems like its going to be less fun than it is!

Curious Yellow: What are you ‘supposed to be doing’ for training at the moment?

Laura Morrissey: Good to hear you got back on some boulders. You don’t need no grades!

Climbthatpitch: Ooh how are you finding training peaks? What are the most useful features for you? I am strongly considering it on the uphill athlete recommendation but don’t really want more faff if it doesn’t provide benefit.

Dandan82: Wouldn’t be going until November at earliest but will defo ask in here before going there. In 9/10 climbers Dave Mcleod says exactly what you describe about getting on the steep woody being better for elbow issues.

Ally Smith: Do you do anything differently to accommodate getting on the fingerboard twice in a day (ie to recover etc), or do you just consider it a long rest period? 

Tom Green: Not sure if I mentioned this to you, but I noticed this thread on uphill athlete: https://www.uphillathlete.com/forums/topic/how-big-should-i-dream/. Scott mentions this trainman peaks concept of ‘CTL’ which is like rolling 42 day training volume, and says they have observed a good correlation to big objective performance. There aren’t too many details there, but I reckon it’s something to look into a bit in piecing the whole thing together.

Powderpuff: When I saw an osteopath about developing elbow tendon issues a while back she scoffed at me saying ‘I try and stretch out my forearms a bit after sessions’- apparently it takes a lot more than 5s of static stretch to really get a good effect (like 20-30s per arm for multiple reps). Sounds like you are fully aware it’s best to deal with this stuff early and figure out what works for you!

mrchewy: Have a great trip and see you back here in a few weeks.

Tyler: Commercial gyms can’t deal with everyone ARCing on auto belays, they need limit bouldering with 5 minute rest periods to be the cool thing!

the sheep: Your post inspired me to look at the bottom of my shoes… down to the plastic midsole, time to splurge

biscuit: Good to hear you are feeling the effect of changing what you’re eating. I always find the hardest bit with nutrition is the non-direct/observable effect because there are so many variables. A good bonk on a long run/ride sorts your head out pretty quickly!!!!

Si dH: Good job completing the programme, benchmarking effectively and reflecting on the whole thing. 5 weeks seemed quite a nice cycle length to be so focussed on one thing? I’m looking forward to hearing if you feel you have more functional strength on the woody. 

Just Tintin: As far as traditional goal setting advice goes, your STG’s are pretty terrible goals :p HOWEVER if they work for you and you know what you are doing/have a process to follow then they must be good. It seems like you always know what is coming next which is the main thing. 

mattrm: Good work getting some extra pushups into your week

TheFasting: Well done on your alpine combine results, extra motivating to see quantifiable progress?

leon: Sorry to hear that, make sure you ease yourself back into training gently.

Monday:

45 minute z2/3 run

30 minutes on stairmaster

Strength session- up to 3 rounds of TFTNA

Tuesday:

45 minute z1/2 run

1.5hrs bouldering on the comp wall, easily got some of the problems I struggled on the week before

Wednesday:

1 hour z1 run

30 minutes on stairmaster

Strength session- up to 3 rounds of TFTNA

Thursday:

40 minute z1/2 run with 5 minutes zone 4 at the end

Friday:

18.5km 4:49 474m hike. Only 11 minutes in zone 1 so no real contribution to the total aerobic training time this week, but definitely felt it in my leg muscles and IT band!

Saturday: Rest

Sunday:

2 hour z1 run

Going to the wall for some block leads tonight.

Not a fan of this new post length maximum

Week 7 summary:

Aerobic volume: 7.3 hours

Running distance: 31 miles

Strength sessions: 2

Climbing sessions: 2

Week 8 plan

Aerobic volume: 7.5

Strength sessions: 2 

Climbing sessions: 2

This week I felt really good physically- I recovered much better from all workouts than in previous weeks and felt fresh pretty much every day despite the volume slightly increasing. I easily made my target volume without even counting Friday's hike. I've decided to up the volume for week 8 from 6.9 hours to 7.5 hours- I think it's important to increase week on week. If this feels too hard I will revisit next week. Total training time including cycle commute was over 21 hours this week.

Diet-wise I am definitely not losing weight right now- I'm going to try this week to eat exactly what I need and no more. I've done a decent job of making sure I am recovered session to session, but with an excess of calories!

Thanks Guy. Keeping a record of the various numbers has been quite interesting, although I'll leave the hard-core geeking to others! This was a light training week with today being the first day of new not-so-light week.

M - cycle commute. FB continuous hangs then 7/3/6/1 x10. Yoga in evening.

T - cycle commute. 2 miles urban walking.

W - cycle commute. Various press-ups, elbow things etc.

T - cycle commute. UCR doubles. Not a good session - heaving in there, and failed to get the level right for the double routes mainly due to not having a current set of familiar routes of an appropriate difficulty.

F - domestic bimbling. More press-ups etc TRX shoulder stuff.

S - back to UCR for an off-plan session to try to get some suitable routes wired. Included os of a new 7a, utter fail on another 7a, sorting a highly techy 6c+, failing yet again on another 6c+ which I swear is 7a - it's just indecently hard the whole damn way. By the end of the session I'd done a lot of climbing and felt pretty knackered.

S - TCA. Long fun session with D1 on the new V2-V4 set - ticked all the supposedly hard ones, 4 mid-range still to try, 3 others need sorting (one of which I suspect ain't gunna go - dynamic sideways move). Long break for lunch then 4x4s on some of the steeper ones from the new set. May have been a little too easy as by the end I was tired but not pumped. 

Husband has now jetted off to the US so have a session at Redpoint organised with Wurzel some time this week - probably more doubles on unfamiliar territory, sure it's good for me, hopefully he'll have loads of beta!

Back on my Lattice plan, or should have been. This week I've felt very enthusiastic and have done (most of) my training but also a lot of additional bouldering. Now I'm wiped out and feeling cross with myself. Next week will be both disciplined and restrained...

Mon: Wall. Problems up to V5. 3 reps of 3 problems at steep V4-5, 2 mins rest after each rep.

Tues: Wall. 5x3 problems, slightly longer rests.

Wedns: Rest.

Thurs: Wall. 3x3 as Monday. Lots of new problems up to V4. Pullups.

Fri: Wall. Working round V2-V4 circuit. Pullups.

Sat: Wall. Lots V3-V5. 

Sun: Wall. Routes up to 6b. Spent the whole session painfully pumped and fell off a lot. In retrospect, probably my body telling me it wanted a break. Core session scheduled but it ain't gonna happen!

Cheers Guy. I'm feeling really good just now - strong and light. I'm lacking a bit of power and 'snap' on the woodie, as you'd expect, but fingerstrength is definitely good and I'm sure the above will come pretty fast. Already feel better on Sunday than I did on Thursday. 

If interested by the way, I emailed my results and some of the questions in my mind last week to the coach who set the fingerboard training plan. He thinks the smaller gains in 5s 1 arm hangs are probably because I am being more limited by shoulder girdle strength and hence not making max use of my fingerstrength, when compared to the other hangs. I think this makes good sense.

New STGs
January-March 2018:
- weight down to 71.5kg (started at 77.0kg evening of 31/12.)
- do some 7s and put up one of my own on the new woodie at The Climbing Unit

M/LTGs from April: 7B in Font, Tetris, Eastwood Traverse, Mentalist, Caviar

M/T: reported last week.

W: rest

T: Climbing Unit. Did 3 6Cs and 3 6C+s on the new woodie (50 degrees). It's pretty awesome. Grades seem about right for the most part so I've made my STG a bit harder. Early on I could feel my right middle finger pulley again that I thought was fully healed. Need to warm up well and be careful... 

F: rest

S: we had bought ourselves a spa day for Christmas and I did about 25 lengths of the (short) pool. For me this is not bad exercise because I am a really poor swimmer these days!  Mixture of breast and back stroke. I can only manage 10m of front crawl before a rest

S: Climbing Unit Woodie again. Did a 6C, 6C+ and a couple of 7As. Had a play on their Beastmaker at the beginning, which seems easier to hang than mine, especially in a drag,  it has better friction.

Good week, really happy. Weight down to 74.7 kg this evening.

Si

Just a one-off to see if there was anything major I was doing wrong.

STG: another 7a indoors or outdoors.
MTG: 7a+ indoors or outdoors.
LTG: 7b indoors or outdoors.

Session 01:15 mins autobelay warmup. 3 routes 6a to 6a+. Attempted 5 routes 6c to 7a. 15 mins boulder cave.

Session 02: 15 mins autobelay warmup. Campus big rungs 0,2,4,6 matching. 0,2,4,6 no matching on 2,4 tried twice but couldn't get from 4 to 6 today. Woody board problems 30mins. Boulder cave 20 mins. 2 attempts (route) on a steep black (7a ish). 

Session 03: 15 mins autobelay warmup. Campus big rungs 0,2,4,6 matching. Medium rungs 0,1,2,3,4,5 matching x 2 sets. Woody 2 quick problems. Boulder cave 2 quick problems. 3 routes 6a to 6b+. Attempted 4 routes 6b+ to 6c+. Spent some time working a 6c+.

Session 04: 15 mins autobelay warmup plus some easy routes. Attempted 4 routes 6c to 7a. Spent some time working a 6c+.

Decided against a 5th session today as the elbows were feeling slightly achy.

I'd always wondered about this myself. Difficult to test, in that I don't fancy hanging 80% bodyweight off myself or my lattice rig for 2-arm (180%, in theory?) Vs 1-arm (90%-ish) comparisons. Shoulder girdle isn't the sole limiting factor, in that I can hang one armed off a bar or jug, but it isn't exactly effortless and pretty which does tend to suggest it's working pretty hard and potentially contributing towards the failure.

i had been wondering about whether to work on some 1-arm pullup eccentrics as part of the training over the next few months - this may have convinced me to give it a go and see if I see any improvements on 1-arm finger tests. 

STG: Addressing the head game: fall or jump off every time I have a rope on. Tick.

Top out on the Big Intimidating Roof sector at Thalkirchen - have never succeeded on this in all the time Thalkirchen has been my local lead wall. Didn't go there this week.

Average weight for the month of January below 82 kgs: currently 82.3 no change from last week. Could be worse.

MTG (2018): Onsight 7a; redpoint 7b multiple times on routes that aren't pure boulder problems

LTG (2021): Redpoint 8a before I hit 60 (now with Vote of Confidence from somebody who has actually climbed with me several times)

M: Rest 

T: Rest. Half an hour elbow antagonists & eccentrics

W: Wall, Boulderwelt. Was too late at work to do my regular Wednesday evening routes session, so went & did circuits instead. Played on a new 7a, which I managed to link in two (just, barely) overlapping sections. And learned summat in the process - there was a crimp on it that I simply couldn't hold, until I watched a guy do it by sinking his hips way down underneath it. Tried that, held it. *And* got a couple of decent links on hard sections of my old 7a project when already tired from working on the new one. So all in all a rather good session.

T: Rest. 45 minutes mobility, elbow eccentrics, antagonists, armaid.

F: Wall, Boulderwelt. Had hopes of a quick success on the new circuit project, but didn't feel good on it at all; suspect I wasn't fully recovered from Wednesday. Got within half a move of the previous high point though, so could have been worse. Then had a play on a "6b+" that has a move on it that I simply have no idea how to do. Such are the random wonders of indoor grading.

S: An hour shoulder & elbow p/rehab

S: Wall, Freimann. Eight routes up to 6c, and jumped off the top of a few of them. Good. Partner left before I felt completely ready to quit, so attempted to round off with 8 sets of lattice board ancap intervals. Managed six: was evidently more completely ready to quit than I thought.

Im a similar vein I listened to a power company podcast episode recently (I picked up on these from Guy I think) where they were comparing different Fingerboard protocols.  Possibly worth you searching out (should be obvious by its title.) One of the guys was talking about shoulder girdle strength for 1 arm hangs and proposing that this is one of the main benefits that 1 arm hangs can give you. His recommendation though was to use a bigger hold without additional weight, rather than taking weight off on a smaller hold. The theory being that you get much more shoulder girdle workout if you aren't holding a rope or similar to take weight off (because your loaded arm is taking all the twist.)

So could be worth doing some unassisted hangs on the good pockets on a bm2000 or something like that.

Thanks Guy. Second week of TFTNA plan worked better and I feel good. I am using HR zones as a rough guide to get into the habit of doing all my sessions but think as the weeks go on I will probably do a little more running which will get me into zones 3/4/5 according to the estimations in TFTNA.

Transitional phase - week 2 summary:
Energy levels - very good
Recovery - good
Hydration - drank plenty of water
Aerobic activity -  467 mins
Zone 1/2 (walk/running) time - 377 mins
Aerobic climbing - 90mins 
Climbing sessions - 2
Fingerboard sessions - 0
Strength sessions - 2
Core session - 3

Transitional phase - week 2 plan:
Aerobic activity - 240mins
Zone 1/2 (walk/running/stepper) time - 150 mins
Climbing sessions - 3
Fingerboard sessions - 0
Strength (and core) sessions - 2

Monday: 2 hrs 15 minutes bouldering including around 30 mins on the wave trying a new sequence and the easiest line on there which is a crimpy [roughly] v6.

Tuesday: killer core from TFTNA - found this session harder than usual, muscles felt quite stiff and uncooperative. 
58 mins, 9.15 mile cycle in zones 1-3.

Wednesday: rest

Thursday: Core and strength session at home. Most of these exercises are fine at home but some are a bit tricky. Definitely work better in the gym.

Friday: 14.11mile, 4hr49mins walk in the hills - 4hrs in zone 1, 28 mins in zone 2, 13 mins in zone 3

Saturday: Gym - 30 mins zone 2 on the stepper (level 4) then core and strength. Worked methodically through all the exercises and felt good. I had lots of energy, drank quite a lot of water and did a long stretch afterwards including some upper leg flexibility work.

Sunday: rope climbing session - 5 leads 6a/6a+ and attempted a handful of 6b+/6c.

STG:
To complete this week of TFTNA and keep a record of progress, assessing it on a weekly basis - tick
To work a 7a on lead once a week when I have a partner - nope
To flash 2 6c/6c+ indoor routes for every reset - nope
To plan my week every Sunday - tick

Well.......

So in general we managed a few hours per day around childcare faff. Not massive days, which given keenness was at times a little frustrating but with a child the only activities which allow anything like 100% application are those which knackered you really quickly - like bouldering where 2 hours of sustained effort can be a solid day. We enjoyed ourselves and are hopeful that we can do the same next year.

Sunday - a few hours on the nursery slopes. My cousin (who we were staying with) is married to a ski instructor, so we got the benefit of a few hours of pointers/tuition to get us started. 

Monday - practising the lessons

Tuesday - wet. Managed a bit more instruction and got on some bigger runs and lifts and things

Wednesday - a little frustrating. This was the day when childcare faff (miniAJM was being looked after my my cousin's childminder, which led to some logistical faff most days except on Wednesday) should have been absent. Unfortunately faff reared its ugly head anyway and by the time we got going it was no longer a day than the others. More practise on the runs etc from Tuesday.

Thursday - good day out on different and longer runs 

Friday - a taste of something different. Over to Chamonix to meet an old friend who is now an aspirant guide. Bit of a shock to the system. Chamonix blue runs are a significant step up and my flexible approach of sometimes parallel and sometimes snowplough wasn't the done thing. So I got shouted and prodded into doing the whole lot parallel. I fell over, quite a lot. Not good at linking parallel turns when it's narrow and you have to do it fast! (And many other failings). I felt like I learned a lot though. 

Saturday - early start and travel home

Sunday - mainly admin and faff. Also some training. Trying the eccentric one arm stuff I seem to be able to do 2 (2-arm) pull-ups into (one arm assisted) eccentric lowers with ~10% assistance on the lower with good form. So that gives me a baseline from which to work - 68kg pull, give or take (just shy of 76kg minus 7.5, ignoring friction/etc). Also random other bits and bobs. 

After a few unstructured weeks post Xmas and then this holiday, I'm hoping to knuckle down this week and get some structure back - eyes on the prize with Font only just over 2 months away. Hoping for decent routine and a good diet through the week. Friends down this weekend so unlikely to get out - miniAJMs birthday, which is mental. Somehow despite that 2017 was my best bouldering year ever, going by 8a.poo score and other yardsticks. 

Cheers Si. My bm2k is on the back of the foot on campus board so one arm stuff doesn't really work as you can't get under it. And I don't think I can hang the pockets one handed anyway, although I've not tried for ages - I'll try and check at the wall. 

But I can do it on a bar. I'll need to try and find the podcast to see what the protocol they recommend is, but I've detailed what I've just been trying in my main post. 

Edit: trying to hang off a bar one handed just now was a bit embarrassing... certainly a weakness identified!

Thanks guy

True but even if I was able to use circuit board for an extended period of time I'd feel bad about hogging it. Fortunately someone pointed out the kiddie area which is 50% jugs and 50% medium holds with some steep bits so this seemed to work fine although I was very self concious getting on there when kids are around. Still, the sight of a sweaty middle aged man in Lycra and stripped to the waist is enough to ensure parents soon move their children out of the area! 

First week of the Polish Program.....

M: Second rest day

T: Played on the 7b+ circuit and re-did one of the cruxes for the first time in ages, failed on the other. Battered myself repeating my easy variant on the black circuit. Beastmaker app session, went down hill during the second half.

W: 45 mins on the kiddie wall, thought it might be too easy but almost over cooked it at the start. Ruined my skin as only had a boulder bucket so couldn't chalk up.

T: As promised I gave Eagle River his assessment, was easy to see where he was going wrong, lacks focus and just wants a short cut to 8a, just like me! Did a boulder circus at V4, possibly a bit lax on the amount of rest I allowed myself.

F: Rest

S: First chance to see how costly Xmas has been as I went to Depot for first time in ages. Got off to a bad start as I failed to get off the ground on 3 of the first 4 I tried but things quickly imporoved and I left with just a slightly below par score (flashed more than I usually do but there seemed about 3 I'd never be able to touch).

S: 45 mins on kiddie wall, this time with chalk and lots of preemptive tape. Out of curiosity I tried some hangs with weight and could only manage about 3 secs with 10kg extra and about 6 with 7kg. 

Weight's been an issue since Xmas, I've been a bit more circumspect about what I eat in the last two weeks and although it continued to rise for a bit (up to 11'2" but there's always a lag, I find) I think it is now heading in the right direction, albeit slowly. I've also been slightly better about some conditioning and stretching. 

Well that's got to be a good thing

You can always use the jug on your lattice edge, right? 

Bought TFNA dull as ditchwater but I will keep at it

Mon - work

Tues - bouldering, James, shows me how crap I am

Wed - family( boys football)

Thursday - Stickle Tarn powder snow 350 ascent with Eddie , evening , 30 mins auto belay 11 routes up and down 176m overhanging no rests, up to 6b

Fri - bike ambleside, 50mins sleet 

Sat - am Stickle tarn sledging 350m with James, Isobel and 2 other 13 yr old fell runners,  pm return for Jake's rake 500m dnf, didn't like the warm afternoon snow descend from crux

Sunday - am Stickle tarn 350m sledging with family (blizzard and deep powder), pm 500m swim ( indoors grim)

Guy - in answer to your question, to lose weight just eat evening meal 5 days - it's a kilo per week just about sustainable but mentally pretty tough, generally do this when weather not wet and snowy, I am fired when I can get on trad routes feeling light 

Currently fat as a pig 84kg

STG - still get to 80 kg

MTG - E1 next month and get on Ben for NEB or similar

LTG - keep breathing and ignoring any twinge

Thanks as ever Guy.

biscuit: Good to hear you are feeling the effect of changing what you’re eating. I always find the hardest bit with nutrition is the non-direct/observable effect because there are so many variables. A good bonk on a long run/ride sorts your head out pretty quickly!!!!

I was. I've been ill since Tuesday. Which strangely enough was a day when I was 1000cal under my target. Not sure if they're connected but I was obviously run down enough to succumb to this winter cold that's doing the rounds. 

I'm going with the 'i'm feeling good and the numbers make sense with the knowledge I have' approach. BUT I think I've put some weight on my legs. This is practically unheard of for me. They still look like twiglets, but slightly thicker twiglets than before. I can only think my body is getting what it needs to respond to what i'm doing more of - cycling. That's what I need it to do so that's all good.

I found my previous way of eating (high protein/fat and low carb) worked very well for me to stop bonking and getting hangry. That low blood sugar feeling definitely came back but I think has settled now.

I'm wittering on about this stuff as I've done nothing else all week. One commuting day, one climb then ill. Got spanked at BUK as the new set was very hard. Managed the 7a circuit 4 times (I think?) with a short rest after the boulders. 

As far as calories go now I am going to eat a bit more the day before and after big days so I don't have to stuff myself on the day.

This week will be a couple of climbs, biking will depend on my cold buggering off and exam on Thursday. Got an easy week next week as far as work/uni goes so hoping to get biking and climbing as much as I can before starting my placement.

Is that 4 times without stepping off? 

I ended up using fingerless via ferrata gloves when I was doing my high mileage phase last summer

I did consider this bit thought I'd look even weirder! 

Hi All.

Thanks Guy. CTL concept is interesting. Like you, haven't been able to unearth much detail behind it, but will share here when I do.

Last Week Revue: W2 of TFTNA

Hit all of the week's goals except the 20min Z3. Thought this would be the easy one to achieve so left it until last and then ran out of week.

M: Rest. Tired, but not too sore after weekend's climbing.

T: Indoor climbing, Huddersfield wall. 105m climbed, average 6a with working rests. Some fall practice by dropping at lower off. Felt good.

W: Rest.

T: Core session and strength session. Dropped some strength exercises due to slightly sore back.

F: Road run. 7km, 60m vert gain, 44mins. Seems that 6:30/km pace on flat tarmac gives a reliable Z1.

S: Core session and strength session. Can't get weight high enough for 10rep max on box step -need higher step. Back hurt on wall squats -drop this for now?

S: Trail 'powerwalk' 60min at Z1.

Next Week Plan: W3 of TFTNA

Don't forget shoulders!

One climbing session

Two general strength sessions

One long Z1

One short Z1

One short Z2/3 

STGS -Q1

Scottish VI (TICKED!!)

Ski 5+ Black Runs (2 down, 3+ to go!)

3 Routes ED1+ (dropped from previous goal of 5 as had to reduce trip length)

MTGS -Q2

E1 on multiple rock types: Fall Out (E1 5b) Californian Arete (E1 4c) Millsom's Minion (E1 5b)

6B in Lofoten 

Sandstone trail in <10h

LTGS -Q3

'El Cap Nose Day' 880m climbing in <24h (probs N Wales)

New routes in Kygyzstan

BHAG:

Droites N Face The Colton-Brooks (ED2 5)

Salbitschijen Westgrat

Monty's Axe at Lower Montcliffe 

Le Couer at L'Elephant

Yes

Not really, bad typing. I did it 4 times with a short (couple of mins but untimed) rest between. 

I’m flattered you think I could go round 4 times. 

Have you tried going round the central island? Not all jugs but more fun than round and round in the kiddies area? 

Thanks Guy,

I'll give that a go today, I've basically rinsed Training Beta dry, Grimer doesn't put podcasts up half as often as I wish he did, and I find the Enormocast a bit too American sometimes. I need to check out the power company ones too...

Ok cool, then you might get the pick of the crags depending on the weather, we stayed in the sun in December/Jan but even then it was not too cold to climb in the shade if you had a particular project you were keen on.
I really should re-read Dave's injury book, I've not looked at it since having the Golfer's, he might have some useful info even though i'm over the worst of it now.

Pretty good week, although a little aimless, after doing the Lattice re-test on Monday I kind of eased off doing any planned sessions, a shiny new plan is on it's way any day now so I wanted to be rested and ready.
The elbow is ok, not great but not bad, it dealt with the Lattice test fine, even the 1 arm hangs, but it's still not completely fixed so I will begin any new plan with care, but I reckon it's at the point now where I can fix it by pushing it and forcing it to adapt. It no longer hurts when climbing, the soreness is only evident afterwards, so it's definitely on the mend.

M: Lattice Re-Test; Ok, strap yourselves in, this is where it gets weird.
In Dec/Jan in Margalef I could not complete a steep 7c, despite it having a hands off kneebar before the headwall, I just peeled off the last few moves on easier ground. Twice. I thought my stamina was shot after not training for 3 months or so, and I expected the Lattice test to prove it. My last max moves score in June was 114, and 7c *should* be do-able with a score of around 40. Even if you factor in the seemingly huge void between my historical Lattice scores and my actual rock performance, I was expecting to hit something like 80, so imagine my surprise when I managed to hang on the board for 113 moves...

The decay was admittedly steeper than ideal, 85, 74, 54, 42, 37, 37 which may show some lacking in the aerobic area, but the base line is still pretty good, hell it's almost 7c on it's own!

But i'm not finished there, here's the weirdest part, my previous max hang in June was +4kg or 106% bodyweight. I only did the left hand as the right had a dodgy finger. 
This time around, with very little strength work since June and none in the last 3 months, I got +6kg or 109% bodyweight on the left, and unbelievably managed +8kg or 112% bodyweight on the right!

Essentially, I should have been warming up on the 7c in Margalef...

(cont'd) It's clear i'm particularly adept at the format of the tests (I really like the hang edge profile for example) which may skew my results a bit, but it's also clear that i'm doing a terrible job of transferring my strength and fitness onto the rock.
I think there is an element of functional strength missing, making me weaker in a variety of positions found outdoors than I am on a controlled straight hang, which is why I am working on shoulder and back stability and strength. The ring muscle-up is a good example, in the transition between the pull-up and the press, I have practically zero strength, this shows a lack of functional ability.
I also think my mindset wasn't ideal in Margalef, I was babying the elbow and was convinced I was unfit so I wasn't really committing to the climbs 100%, perhaps this had a larger effect than I thought.
I'm also still not an efficient climber, I just don't move that well on rock to make the most of my fitness, it's the biggest issue in my mind and something i'm keen to improve.
The bottom line is I need to do a lot more training, but none of it particularly physical, I don't need to get stronger, I need to get better.

T: Core; Back to an old core session from lattice, I got zero DOMS from this so it seems I've kept some core strength going.

W: Indoor Routes; continuity 8 on 5-8 off at around 6a/b. Concentrating on moving fast but keeping good technique. High volume made the elbow sore but hoping it will get used to it in time.

T: Yoga core session

F: Nothing apart from some DIY

S: Indoor routes; Just climbing whatever I wanted, there's a good new 7a in the cave at Calshot, they currently have the best selection of routes in the 7's than any time in the last few years. There's even a new route that is apparently 7c or 7c+ which will be worth a look soon.
I finally tried the men's comp route, it's graded at 7b+ and I got one move from the end on the onsight, basically an all or nothing dyno from slopers, not enough commitment from me!

S: OG session, I managed to touch the floor on the German hangs, STG achieved! Handstands also felt very controlled, negative muscle ups are still painful of the meat of my palm when transitioning.

Lots to think about there, i'm interested to see what the new Lattice plan looks like, and i'm wondering what steps I can take to keep working on, well, basically all aspects of my climbing bar my actual fitness!

STG: (last week)
* Complete all sessions on new base phase plan TICK
* Perform Lattice Test TICK (shocker)
* Touch the floor on German hangs TICK

STG: (next week)
* Get new plan put into place and get started 
* 30 second handstand 

MTG: (next few months)
* Pull on Nina mala/flash over in Margalef in May
* 7c in a day on Portland
* 8a in a day in Margalef in May
* Pick a lattice max moves target for May based on result from todays test

LTG: (This Year)
* 150 ticks in logbook - 15/150
* tick 3 x 8a
* tick 10 x 7c/7c+
* Go to Kilnsey
* Get to December without any new injuries
* +bodyweight pull ups (2 reps) 
* Enter BLCC and don't come dead last 

BHAG:
* 9a by March 2022 (40th Birthday)
* Stage 1a of BHAG is 8b by the end of the year

Hi Dan,

i plotted out your figures and compared them to mine from nearly exactly a year ago.

Your numbers should put you at f8c RP, and with 33% an-cap, something like Mecca or Mecca extension should be on your radar (you've also got the finger strength to rinse the moves).

However, 7c is currently challenging for you...

You're either massively over strong and fit for the routes, and moving shockingly slowly and with zero technique, or, like me you're losing confidence in the absolute correlation of the lattice board to outdoor performance.

Let me explain:

- old lattice; threshold used to be 70-80 moves = f8a on-sight. I got 69 moves a month after OS'ing a Kalymnos 7c+/8a. Pretty convincing.

- new lattice; i went to Chulilla brimming with confidence because i'd frigged my way round the board and scored 196 moves! That should be 9a redpoint, right? (>180 moves = 9a RP) Wrong! So wrong; I got up an 8a+ that suited me (admittedly i wasn't moving that well, but you wouldn't expect to be a nearly whole number grade out on your correlation?)

So, to my mind, the lattice is good to measure your own progress, but external benchmarking against route grades misses out on so many other factors to be a practical tool.

p.s. i see a visit to Kilnsey is still on the MTGs - get yer ass in gear! Team up with AJM or other South coasters/Bristolians and i'll put you up for the weekend

ooh - fitclub meet-up! Yes please. Does rather rely on you having a house though...

Morning Guy - thanks for the stats and comments.

Double fingerboard sessions in a day just means long breaks - i tend to fit them in around working from home. A session at lunchtime, a few hours work then another before the fiancee gets home from the lab. the warm-up for the 2nd session is quick because you're already got some recruitment going.

Week 3

M - Hotel gym – cardio fun (!?!) Stationary bike 303kcal 30min. Elliptical trainer 150kcal. Back to the bike as the erg was broken. 100kcal. Leg extension/weighted crunch @ 50kg x4. Floor core 90moves. 15kg 12 rep hammer curl eccentrics x3.

T - First fail at Sharkathon – visiting London really is bad for you! All day sat on my ass followed by an evening curry

W - Hotel gym again. Similar to Monday. Skin still shredded from The Joker so could go to any of the London walls.

T - FB after traveling home from London. Middle-2 + 22.25kg 10s x3. 4-finger drag (swapped to Lattice instead of BM2K) attempt at +36kg 8s only. +31kg 10s x3 (not easy – gains to be had here!) Front-2 +26kg 10s x3. Back-2 +13kg 10s x3 (PB on back-2).  Rest over dinner then an-cap hangs. 10/3/5/4 BW+16kg x6 just as hard as last week. Failed at rep 5 of set 4&5. Set 6 the lady made me giggle and it just wasn't happening!

F - Another Sharkathon fail. House viewings and entertaining the soon to be in-laws 

S - More house viewings, then evening at the Boardroom. Moonboard session up to 7A+. Nailed "Hard Times", 7A – the “classic” Ben Moon problem. Getting into the board style and can see how it transfers to rock well. Hoping it’ll make the difference to Kilnsey project this year. Auto-belay 1on/1off on a “7a” that felt 6c, but there weren’t any other options as i didn't want to go round in circles.

S - Gym. Lacklustre. 3300m Erg row. Lat pull downs and Smith machine bench press. 2x4, 2x8, 1x15 reps with varying weight. Felt nauseous. 30min low intensity stationary bike (250kcal) watching Netflix.

Yep - mine sold in just 4 days this week - so i very much need something to move in to!

Seen something that would be amazing with a huge garden to build a board in, but the price is wrong. 

More viewings tonight...

New kit, happy days! Its always nice to get something sparkly and new 

Last week went as follows;

Monday, day off as it was the wifes birthday so we went out for a nice 10km run in the morning

Tuesday, busy day, no activities to log

Wednesday, 1km lunchtime swim and back on the bike at last for a 27km ride home. Legs were not sure what to make of cycling again

Thursday, pool seemed to be full of fu*kwits so ditched the swim. Went out for a run in the evening. Turned out to be bit of a cold wet trudge. Not enjoyable

Friday, 27km ride home, legs getting more into it this time. Also one of those really crisp clear winters nights where you can se every star. Beautiful

Saturday, rest day apart from ferrying family here there and everywhere

Sunday, nice 8km trail run through snowy woodland

One of the great things about commenting on a thread like this is that it gets you to look back over your activities. Last week felt a tad disjointed and I had a feeling i hadn't done much. However logging it all in one go made me reassess and realise it wasnt too bad after all    

I would love to get back to Kilnsey (or, better, goredale? Crlh calls!). We may do some long weekend trips later in the spring/summer and Yorkshire is a possibility, in which case I could maybe try to squeeze a day in. 

You might have something here, perhaps scores like ours are sitting in among the Lattice results of so many talented climbers who have the 'je ne sais quoi' that makes a top end climber, the full package so to speak, that it puts unrealistic grades against punters like us (mostly me) who don't have great movement skills or laser beam mental focus...

Also, Kilnsey sounds like a plan to me!
 

Could this also be partly down to variation between boards now that there are many around? I've no experience with the lattice boards per se but my experience with other notionally identical wooden boards is that friction varies an awful lot between locations due to level of use and conditions, never mind getting into manufacturing tolerances and grain direction.

I wonder if the lattice guys are developing data to compare their different boards - would make interesting reading although no doubt proprietary.

Note, I still agree with everything else you said. 

I've used 5 different boards now (4 assessments and one just messing around) and I can't say I have noticed any significant difference in 'conditions' as such, and that includes the original board in Tom's garden.

I can see the comments about different beastmaker boards feeling different based on material used or amount of use it gets etc, but that is for limit grips like the tiny pockets or the slopers, you tend to fall off the Lattice board because you just peel off the (very positive) hold from fatigue, not from a lack of friction.

A slight change in the angle might have more effect though, I wonder if there are any trends on different boards, I mean a tolerance of +-1 deg would only result in an overhang difference of +-50mm which may be considered reasonable over a 3000mm length board, but that extra degree of angle might change the results a lot...

For max hangs the specific board/conditions definitely affect the 20mm crimp type holds by +/- a few kg, it's not just slopers and small pockets, but I'll defer to your experience on the endurance tests then - you've got lots of it!

Edit to clarify: it's possible to hang a high friction board with a lot less effort than a low friction board and hence fatigue more slowly. This is obviously much more pronounced if you drag. If you force a half crimp, less so. 

Agree totally - the new/commercial lattice board with resin diamonds between the rungs have so much more friction than the wood only board that Tom had in his garden. So much so that the last time I did a lactate curve on the lattice board i got blood blisters on my pinkies from "jamming" them in the corner - I never experienced anything like that during the 4 assessments I did on Tom's home board

Sorry, the max hang totally slipped my mind, yes that's going to be a factor there for sure.

And perhaps you are right, a small difference in friction might have a large effect when multiplied by a lot of moves on the endurance tests. Food for thought.

I feel I'm making a little progress in upper body strength; either the depot are setting softly on overhangs or I'm getting stronger and able to to pull and lock off better instead of flailing about. Still have a big grade difference between what I can climb on a slab and what I can climb when things get steep, shall keep working at it! 

Tuesday: long bouldering session, mostly messing about. Followed by upper body session on TRX and some assisted pull ups with a theraband. 

Thursday: due to start a run of nights, woke up very unmotivated to climb, popped for a quick boulder, excellent session, got a burst of energy when I arrived and sent quite a few problems which require dynamic movement (not my strong point) which I was pleased about. 

Quick core session to finish

Friday: deadlifts, various upper body exercises with dumbells and a very brief set of dead hangs on the fingerboard (trying to ease myself into fingerboarding gently)

Sunday: planned to climb routes but it was so cold we ended up bouldering just to stay warm, tried a lot of things at my limit, had a few surprise successes

Next week: continue strength work

This was a good week for endurance training and climbing, mediocre week for strength training.

Monday:

- 1.5 hour indoor bouldering session. Flashed a 6B and a bunch of 6A+/6A problems. On the third try did my first 6B dyno: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd-y68tjKt2/?taken-by=thefasting

- Finished with 0.5 hour on the autobelay trying to do as many routes as I could within that time frame. I think I did 13 for a 230m vertical day in total. Mostly did F5a/F5b routes and autoflashed one 6A. Think I need to increase the difficulty next time to get a pump.

Tuesday:

- 2.5 hour box step session. 1228m vertical.

Wednesday:

- Bodyweight strength training. Only listing PRs: 2 wall supported handstand push-ups, 6-7 second one arm chin-up negative, held one-legged front lever for 5 seconds.

Thursday:

- 1.5 hour box step. 817m vertical.

Friday:

- Lead climbing indoors. Flashed a 5c, failed on a 6a and a 6a+ (first time I've done that since getting over my fear of heights. Not down about it since I know what I did wrong, goofed on the footwork as usual).

- Then wanted to try a 6b+ route I'd seen on Magnus Midtbø's vlogs that seemed to fit me very well (jugs, long moves, overhanging). Figured I need to increase the difficulty after doing very well with routes recently. This was my first attempt on a 6b+ ever, and I managed to flash it! So that was nice. Must mean I'm progressing some way, even if it's soft.

I've been sharing the video to get some pointers for what I'm doing wrong. So far I've heard that I match my feet too much, and faff around too much with the footwork. Which is good considering before I was told I didn't spend enough time on footwork.

Video:  youtube.com/watch?v=N0c8s4FZWMc&

Sunday:

- Winter ascent of Gaustatoppen (1883 masl). Had very nice weather so I took a bunch of video and edited it together:  youtube.com/watch?v=9mQM-li04Nc& (btw do you guys think videos like this are better with or without music? Without it will be a bunch of wind and breathing was what I thought)

Made it to the summit in about 1h55m according to Strava, which means we were 30+ minutes below the estimated average time. I guess that must mean the training is working. I could keep pace with my two cardiobunny partners at least.

Nice training also winter-wise, temps were about -10C to -15C (according to the car at the end), with windchill up to -18/-19C, but we had mostly very little wind.

I can't downhill ski so I mostly scooted on my butt going down. God I hate downhill skiing

I saw this the other day and was astonished what an improvement there's been, you do do a lot of putting your feet out to each side and outside edging but I wouldn't worry about it as the important thing is you kept moving on steep ground, clipped from good positions and got the top with, what looked like, something to spare. 

Thanks Guy.

Currently I am just using the free app for Training Peaks because it syncs well with my watch so I don't have to keep writing down what I am doing as for some reason even though my Job is all about making sure I have everything documented I cant seam to do it with my training  and I keep trying to remember everything. You only get the TSS score on the free version which is not very helpful on its own (or I don't really  understand it).

If I do get seriously into training I might consider paying for the full app but it is over $100 (too early to work out a conversion into £)

Got up early on Wednesday to do my strength session and realised that my body does not like lifting weights at 4am. Got through 2 rounds but called it a day. Not sure if experimenting with strength training in the moring would be a benefit or not. I am thinking it might tell my body to try harder.

Short term goals - This week

3hr 30 min zone 1 running - Tick

25 min zone 2/3 running - Fail

3 x TFTNA conditioning - Fail

1 x climbing focusing on endurance. - Tick

Short term goals - Next Week

3hr 45 min zone 1 running, 3000ft accent minimum

25 min zone 2/3 running

2 x TFTNA conditioning

1 x climbing focusing on endurance.

M - 3.8 mile run, pace 11:44 min per mile, 645ft accent

T - Indoor rout climbing up to 6b

W - Am - 2 rounds TFTNA conditioning

       PM - Indoor climbing up to 6b

T - Rest

S - 11.3 mile run, pace 13:29 min per mile, 2163 ft elevation

S - Rest

Did want to get the rest completed on Sunday but had family around so it all got put on hold

Lee

Agree, compared to the previous video I saw from Fasting taken outside this is a huge improvement.

Fasting, do you think it's real learning or also has anything to do with not being as comfortable outside?

Either way well done.

Well done.

A classic example of what Tyler said is at 0:30 to 0:50. You place your right foot way out to the side, and then pull yourself across onto it. In fact at 0:41 - after you've clipped mid move in a strenuous position - you have *both* feet off to the side of your centre of gravity, and so have no option but to do the move entirely with your arms.

Hard to be sure from my breakfast table, obviously, but it looks as though a right outside edge on the little foothold to the left might have been a more economical approach.

Maybe learning to flag would help a little?

I have to admit to not watching any of your previous videos but this looked pretty good to me, it certainly didn't look like your physical limit.
In the video you climb very similarly to how I climb when i'm really focusing on technique, as in you tend to over-egg it a bit and put in more foot movements than is totally necessary. It's a fine line but sometimes the perfect foot position for reaching the next hold with a lovely straight arm and minimal effort is just so much bother to get into that it's not worth the time and effort, you are better off just bending an elbow and pulling to keep things flowing.

The video was, what, 3 minutes long, I imagine that with practice you could do the route with good technique in half that time. It's not about rushing and messing up the technique, just keeping a pace so you don't spend too long hanging around. On steep ground, 1.30 on the wall is going to be easier than 3.00 on the wall!

I'm giving this advice as much for me as for you, I need to move much better, maybe I need to do the same as you and put a video or two up...

P.S How does it feel to be stronger than Olav Midtbo?

I agree Guy stretching is so important, Ive started stretching my forearms in between problems at the wall to keep the elbows in good health. Thanks for the reminder!

After a super light week I  (and my elbows! )feel a dam sight better.

Just did the one session on Friday which was a more intense session climbing problems that feel harder for me. I worked 2 problems in the v6-8 range and climbed a couple of v5's. Also did a session of my usual exercises on Sunday. 

Im aiming to get alot more training done this week.

Well done! That looked well within your grade (whether it was soft or not), big improvements have been made.

My opinion would be to carry on doing what you've been doing - consolidate. There is a lot of thinking going on whilst climbing. The new techniques you have undoubtedly discovered need to become engrained. Lots of climbing during your warm ups/downs focussing on the feel of moves. They have to be easy enough for you to be able to assess the move as you do it. Experiment. Find what feels good for you. By good I mean least effort. Try to climb as quick as you can (without losing form) on a route you know well to feel how quick you can go. Still have a go at harder routes though - that's important too. 80/20 balance between routes you can do/routes you can't.

Route reading would also be something i'd look at developing. Decisions that can be made on the floor make it much easier on the wall. It's a skill that takes time to develop. Start it now. The amount of detail you can get from skilled route reading is immense.

Keep it up!

I would say those are pretty SMART no? On target still with January goals just, despite the fact that I am eating my way through my feelings at the moment. Pull ups are bloody difficult when you're heavy.

M - coaching and fingerboard

T - rest

W - routes Brookes to 6c

T -bar and rings

F - routes Brookes to 7a

S - travel. Hour walk in snow.

S - Ski Chamonix

Nothing again last week I was sick.  This week I certainly took your advice

Sorry for posting so late.

STG - Re-establish exercise 'normality' and loose some weight
MTG - 6c at Navigation, then WFD
LTG - Probably bouldering, bearing in mind Trad will be hard for the next few years...

Weight - 14st 6lbs

M - T - Rest

W - Indoor routes - 20 fr4/5

T - S - Rest
 

Had definitely not been feeling at my best this week.  Was quite ill over the weekend.  Hence missing this post. 

I should probably piece together the training I did last week to reply here...

I think I had a slow week after summitting Gaustatoppen the sunday before. IIRC it was because I didn't get my sleeping back on track until wednesday/thursday or so. Night work can be a bitch.

Tuesday: Ice climbing at No match for crag id:21589. Snow was dumping on us so much we got small powder avalanches coming down from the trees above the route. I was thinking about leading it, and my plan going forward when starting to lead is to toprope first to see how things feel, and practice placing screws. Things didn't feel 100%, and decided to buy ice clippers first because trying to use the screws without it was very tricky.

Wednesday:

Bouldering session. Really struggled most likely due to lack of sleep. Flashed some 6As and fell off most things harder than that. Felt like I had no juice left.

Friday:

Limit autobelaying. Onsighted a 6b and then tried and failed another 6b a few times. I can't quite figure out what to do with this second-to-last move: https://www.instagram.com/p/BeftloCBE44/?taken-by=thefasting

Then did lifting and hangboarding. Started a new hangboarding setup, because I mildly hurt my finger one or two weeks ago. Not enough to stop me climbing but enough to rethink having full crimps in the program. So instead I only do open hand and half crimp, but increased the volume for those.

Hangboarding: Open hand (20mm edge) and half crimp (20mm edge +2kg), 5 sets of 3-6-9 each.

Squats: 1 set of 8 for 60 kg and 70 kg each. Then 80 kg x 10 for the final + set. 70 kg beltless for backoff set for 6-8 reps, can't quite remember.

Deadlifts: 2 sets of 8 with 120 kg, post-injury PR.

Future goals progress:

- Found someone willing to try Bukkeholstraversen in winter with me. Now just need the avalanche conditions to improve and a weather window, plan is last weekend of February.

- Booked a hostel in Chamonix

- Got my vacation time approved for all the projects I have until and including Chamonix in early July. Also my regular alpine climbing partner is willing to attempt Andrews renne (M3) in winter with me...

I watched Trolljegeren last night - be careful out there.