UKC

Evening all, apologies for the late post (and quite probably the quality of it). Some interesting lessons learned reported last week, thanks to all who contributed!

 

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_569-679102

 

 

Tom Green: I’ve never used a GPS tracker when skiing- 20+ miles sounds like a lot, but hard to know really! Did you get your strength sessions in?

Tyler: I hope you are feeling more positive this week?

The sheep: How did recovery from the half go, sometimes takes quite a while?

guy127917: Keep truckin

Bones: I think it will be easier for us to do the max strength sessions together- more benefit in having a partner anyway for psyche and spotting, and more time spent standing around. I hope you are ready to go heavy?

hms: Did the shoulder pain develop or subside?

AlanLittle: Do you think brick wall climbing walls will come back in fashion as a sort of retro thing? 

Powderpuff: Yes I think a lot of us have a bit of a mental block about actually using the fingerboard at home!

Cyan: Have you tried Trex style climbing to mix your training up? (elbows may not leave your sides)

AJM: Thanks for the inspiring video, definitely keen to get on some of those problems this year!

Si dH: Hope you just treated last week like a diet ‘deload’ week and got back on the train this week?

mattrm: Enjoy your trip to the coast!

Ardo: Sorry missed your message during the week- we are based in Insh mainly climbing in the Cairngorms. How’s your trip going/been?

LauraMorrissey: Iron deficiency is a great excuse to eat steak and/or kangaroo

planetmarshall: Nice set of routes! Good to hear to are psyched for getting back into training. 

Ally Smith: “how does anyone train effectively in these busy London walls in the evening?” With great difficulty… I use big visible red countdown timer, grunt loudly, try and look thoroughly unapproachable and ignore everyone else!

Dandan82: Very interesting workout, one I might try- Robin’s plan had something similar but it always felt too easy and I couldn’t quite get the balance of rest right (it wasn’t continuous 7/3)

wurzel: Probably a hard question to answer, but when you say you can’t do crux moves above 7aish- do you find that is genuinely a strength issue, or something else like not working out good beta or just not being able to try hard. Main reason I ask is because 7a seems to be a bit of a barrier grade- both getting to it, and getting past it- it’s so easy to think ‘this is too hard’ rather than ‘its only a bit harder’ etc. Either way sounds like you are going about training the right way!

biscuit: Very cryptic… how many miles is “a long way”?

MFB: “more surviving than exercise, great fun” good attitude that!

Climbthatpitch: Thanks for that, don’t worry about gpx, that is grand. Hope you have a good trip!

The Fasting: Ha I look forward to hearing the description you give the route for a guidebook… 

AWOL: Just Tintin, leon, Stuart William

 

In reply to guy127917:

Thanks Guy. Yes, diet ok thanks. Better week this week overall.

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

M: rest

T: Climbing Unit woodie. Really good session. Repeated a mate's 7A, completed my latest project (another 7A+) then put another 7A up for good measure. Unfortunately I think I overdid it a bit as my finger felt pretty bad for several days afterwards. On my right index finger DIP, where I had the pulley injury last year, it has formed a weird lump on the top of my finger. It doesn't hurt particularly when crimping, but just generally feels tender if I pull hard without warming up really well. Cause unknown.

W: rest/Valentine's meal

T: Bought some Kettlebells. Decided the best initial use of them was to hang them off my harness on the Fingerboard. Was planning to do max hangs on the 14mm edge, but due to finger issues I up-sized the holds fairly early on and focused on unassisted one-arm hangs on the good bm2000 pockets. I did 5-6 of these each side for 10 seconds, a short session. Still not really a good idea: finger grumbled a lot afterwards.

F: mostly a rest. I did some Kettlebell swings to learn the motion but I think I've still got it wrong. I also discovered that I can't do a Turkish Get-up even without a Kettlebell!

S: family stuff and parents' birthday meal

S: Got 3 hours in at Stanage. Felt pretty strong, repeated Green Traverse second attempt and got very close to topping Help the Young, but not quite, I wussed out of the final throw a bit. It gopped out from about 4pm. No finger trouble.

Considering this week involved two unavoidable celebratory meals I'm pretty pleased with the diet progress, as my weight seems to be back on a downward trend. Really pleased with Tuesday and happy with feeling strong today despite lack of any ticks.

Weight this evening is 73.5kg.

Cheers,

Si 

In reply to guy127917:

I do hope so, and given that it's the complete antithesis of everything that's currently fashionable I can see it having a certain hipster appeal. In fact my son (14 yo) regularly declares his intention to be a hipster as soon as his beard becomes a little more visible - I'll see if I can sell him on the idea.

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

Top out on the Big Intimidating Roof sector at Thalkirchen.

Average weight for the month of February 81.5 kgs.

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

LTG (2021): Redpoint 8a before I hit 60 

Meanwhile, snowboarding is retro these days too, non?

Family holiday in Zillertal. I increasingly think I've lost interest in snowsports these days until I set foot on a snowboard, then I suddenly get enthused again even though I am at best a VS boarder. Definitely noticed poorer leg endurance this year than in previous years, so my new strategy of not wasting time on hillwalking training is clearly working. Hurrah?

 

M: Snowboarding, Zillertal. Snowing steadily, so good piste conditions but zero visibility. Had a  bit of a play in piste-side powder: if you aren't falling you aren't learning, in the immortal words of Saint Ron.

T: Snowboarding, Zillertal. Still some powder left, and I find I can handle it better when I can see where I'm going.

W: Rest day outing to Innsbruck.

T: Snowboarding, Zillertal.

F: Snowboarding, Zillertal. Assisting a friend's daughters before & after their first snowboard lesson. This, plus practicing riding switch up & down the baby slope & draglift, turns out to be much sweatier zone 1/2 work than cruising around on reds & blacks is.

S: Snowboarding, Hintertux. Always used to like this place; haven't been for years but found I still do. Too much windslab for any off piste to be safe, but immaculate fluffy piste conditions. A great end to the holiday.

S:  Rest. Dry, clean & put away snow gear.

In reply to guy127917:

Hey Guy 

Well no fingerboarding this week but I did manage 3 wall sessions which by my standards is a good week!

Monday:threshold bouldering. Tried 3 hard problems (for me) and made small progress on 2 of the 3. Climbed 2 v5 problems also. Also managed a kids yoga session with my boys

Wednesday: easy mileage. Still felt tired from Monday. Climbed 5 of the v3-5 circuit.

Friday:variety session. Tried the comp circuit to mix things up. Managed 2 and worked a good few more.Finished with core and push up exercises.

Pleased with my week. I did however feel weak in my core on several problems so need to work on this weakness.

In reply to guy127917:

The other one is also good, although often there is less powerful beta available!

This weeks video dose -  youtube.com/watch?v=3u9z5_77NnI& - can be combined with a progress indicator from my Instagram pics here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BfTtlysgC_8/

In training and in general the week this week was rubbish. I felt ill, miniAJM wasn’t eating properly (teeth? Ear infection?) so kept waking up in the night hungry, work frustrations started to get to me a bit, and so between those and a Valentine’s Day meal my diet went to pot, my sleep was terrible and I didn’t do any training. Things started to get back into kilter a bit by Thursday but I just needed to relax by then, not to train.

However, this weekend was Dartmoor. We rendezvoused Friday night and headed up to  Bonehill Rocks. A morning shower had left the topouts damp so it took a little while to get going. But then it was a lovely day, light winds and some good sunshine. I managed to tick off a longstanding “project”, the V4 arête on the cube block which faces the Wave - I’ve tried it every time I have gone to bonehill, more than a decade ago. Never really managed to make it click. Except this time it did, the first move was nice and smooth and static and then I got the other hand up into compression and topped out. Very happy. Then there was a big team under Rippled Wall, something of a novelty since a lot of my time there has been solo or with the family, so with a bunch of pads and encouragement I did that too, first hard move took a couple of goes but then straight to the top.

Then we went to Saddle Tor, where unfortunately Hidden Traverse was wet. So, again with the comfort of more pads and spotters, I got back on Dancing Queen (f7B). I expected it to take a while to work out the knack of the moves again, but my first go I got back to my high point and I matched or exceeded it every go after that. I managed to get stable once on the intermediate before the jump, which is the last hard move. Just need to jump, next time! Really pleased. It’s by no means a done deal, in that everyone who does it makes the bottom look steady, I suspect, but nevertheless one of those sessions where you can quite clearly think “I’m definitely better than the last time I tried this problem”.

today, it was damp and horrible, so the team decamped to the Quay. It was my turn to childmind, so I didn’t actually climb, so instead I’ve done a good set of shoulder engages and flies at home just now.

Outdoor climbing going well. Home this weekend then back to Dartmoor the start of March. Hopefully get my weeks themselves back under control and all should be going well for Font. The only fly in the ointment is weight, which is going nowhere fast, but not a huge concern given at the minute it would appear to be the difference between climbing well and hypothetically climbing better rather than between doing ok and climbing well.

In reply to guy127917: Hi, I think and am ready and willing to come back to Fit club. Left last May following acute rotator cuff tear, the infraspinatus. This happened, surprise, surprise, whilst messing around rather than training and whilst tired-fell landing on elbow. Almost 4 months to the day i had an  operation to repair it, so that was September 4th-old style surgeon (thanks NHS) said I should rest for six weeks to allow healing which I did before starting working to get movement back and then some strength. Had private physio after the first few weeks.

Surgeon was uncertain whether it would be repairable but it seems to be working-got 100% of movement and now done routes twice and bouldered twice, no pain during or after, also been signed off by physio.

So I'm back. feeling weak, due to the pain at first and then the volume of physio I have not done any other exercise so feeling even weaker than normal, which was pretty weak. At this stage I don't really see any particular need to change my long term goal-7a onsights (done soft 6c+) and 7b/+ redpoints (done number of 7a+) quite when I might get there I am not sure.

Plans are to up the volume over the next month (and not get new injury or rip it again) with a focus on endurance (?) Can boulder 6A at TCA but blow up on 6b's and on circuits and then take stock.

I have also joined a gym (argh) first time, in part to do some classes and trash myself and in part to continue to strengthen my shoulders which probably sit far better than before.

Did the induction today and a bit unclear as to what beyond the flys/arm raises etc might be useful. They have a TRX set up so any advice or direction there would be appreciated. Will also be up for wall or rock sessions around Bristol.

Work has been mad-winter pressure on NHS and likely to stay that way for a while but can still carve out time. Last week was hectic so mainly did rehab though got two strength/physio sessions in and a session bouldering.

Definitely feels quite good to be back, I did think climbing might be over just as had finally got some real focus and progress.

Cheers Guy et al.

 

In reply to guy127917:

Thanks Guy. I was very lucky with the shoulder - because I recognised the symptoms straight away I started rehabbing it straight away and hopefully it has turned out to be a minor annoyance rather than the start of a downwards spiral. This was my first taper week so less volume but not that much less somehow.

M - cycle commute. Yoga.
T - cycle commute. TCA in evening. It was extremely busy - did the 4x4s by being pointy elbowed, then ended up back on the moon board as the only quiet place. Went at it quite gently rather than really hurlinh as didn't want to risk the shoulder. No ticks but was starting to feel a bit more possible as a concept! 
W - cycle commute. Home via UCR, FoC x 2. Figures showed a pleasing steady increase over the previous week.
T - cycle commute. UCR routes in evening. Easier ones in pairs then a few singles trying harder stuff. Purple 7a+ still has an impossible move. Purple 7b+ is extraordinarily hard through the roof - goodness knows how one is supposed to hold the smooth blobs!
F - 2 miles urban walking, core session, drive to Dartmoor.
S - got spanked on granite boulder problems. I don't think I ticked more than the heady heights of 6a!
S - Minging weather so went to The Quay and concentrated on trying the longer routes. Obviously all onsight goes as I hadn't climbed there for 5 years. Got up to 6c+ clean. Dirth of nice looking 7as. The one I tried was a valiant fail as there was a rock-over throw that I could not get the length on, and absolutely no way to do it with my beloved outside edge. Fun session.

Less than a week until Spain, will need to consult coach on what to do as today's routes don't really fit in to the plan (but at least I have preserved my skin ~intact!)

In reply to guy127917:

Monday: Lead session at the Castle- sent a 7a+ and flashed 2 7a’s. I can’t actually remember that happening and it sounds too good to have been me, but that is what I wrote down. 

 

Tuesday: 45 minutes z1 run, few drinks and over food indulgence amongst friends

 

Wednesday: Rest, accidentally ended up in the pub after work

 

Thursday: Rest/Travel

 

Friday: Ignored the avalanche report, walked in to Sneachda to do Haston Line (III,4) with Jen.

 

Saturday: Long walk to Lurchers Crag to do Central Gully (III, 4), great fun

 

Sunday: Back to Sneachda for Invernookie, (III,4)

 

I felt bad at the start of the week- I’m terrible at rest/recovery for more than a day! Ended up going out for drinks two nights in a row which didn’t make me feel great mentally or physically pre trip. Having said that I have felt great every day so far on this trip- walk-ins are feeling fun rather than a slog! Climbing-wise Bones are I are here to consolidate experience and get some training effect in the mountains so I probably won’t be pushing it technically, but everything has felt really solid thus far. We have 5 more potential days of climbing (it’s getting pretty warm!)

 

I’ve been estimating the TSS for the days for TrainingPeaks rather than using a HRM. I don’t want to wear a strap all day or leave an activity running all day really. Tonight I planned the next 4 weeks of training, to take me up to around 80 CTL, with a little rest just before my 4 days in Rjukan. 

 

 

In reply to guy127917:

Mate, I was born ready.

Having said that, this week I rested a bit as I felt kinda tired and didn’t want to do much before Scotland. So far had three days in the Scottish mountains winter climbing and it has been awesome. The weather has been great, blue skies, snow, spin drift (not so fun) and the climbing has been brilliant.

Transitional phase - week 6 summary:
Energy levels - level down from ok
Recovery - fair
Hydration - good
Aerobic activity - 60mins walking in London and then hours and hours in Scotland
Zone 1/2 (walk/running) time - lots (no running)
Aerobic climbing - 0 mins
Climbing sessions - 2
Fingerboard sessions - 0
Strength and core sessions - 0

Transitional phase - trip (more climbing in Scotland and recovery)
Aerobic activity - lots
Zone 1/2 (walk/running/stepper) time - hopefully some
Aerobic climbing time - 0
Fingerboard sessions - 0
Strength (and core) sessions - 0

Monday: lead climbing - tried an orange 6c and got a couple moves from the top before chickening out. Also had another go at my nemesis purple 6b+ after no real warmup and froze in the same place. It is like it has carved a deep path in my ice brain and I can now just not do it! Other than that I did some fun routes and felt quite happy leading. Then did a 7a on auto belay which seemed reasonable and had a go on a 7b which did not.

Tuesday: rest - hour walking into Central London (doesn’t count much)

Wednesday: bouldering - had a really good session climbing on the re-set of the competition wall. It just got harder! There are 30 climbs and sometimes I start at number 10 or 11. Not on this day! I got crushed by 11 and 12! It was really fun to work them and it’s nice to have a wider range of harder climbs to try. Then did some grey routes in the cave and got them fairly quickly. I think I need to start trying the pinks (v4-v5) although I did have a go at one and couldn’t get off the ground.

Thursday: rest

Friday: Walked into Coire an t-Sneachda and did the Haston Line (III 4). Great day with superb weather. I felt tired and weird on the walk in but felt good on the climb. A couple of tricky bits which I cheated on a little bit - the pleasure of seconding! Then we practiced some navigation on the way out. Worthwhile doing this on a day with good visibility so I am not useless in a whiteout.

Saturday: Went to Lurchers crag around the back of Coire an Lochain. Really long walk in which I found pretty hard going. I’m not sure if I am slightly ill but also just not very mountain fit! We climbed up one of the classics of the crag, Central Gully after some confusion about where that was. Great climb. Thin ice at the bottom but a couple of great ice bits, especially the steep ice at the top. The walk off was beautiful.

Sunday: Went to Coire an t-Sneachda again. This time we went over to the far right hand side of the crag to Fiacaill buttress and climbed Invernookie (IV 5). I was not feeling well again this morning but as we went pretty slowly the walk in actually felt fine. Managed to drop my ball of gloves gearing up close to the bottom of the climb. They rolled forever! The climb was really good fun. A couple of technical sections which felt totally fine. Freezing spindrift. Very good day.

LTG:
To climb a big wall - El Cap
Lead 7a+ 2018
Run a trail marathon
Lead E1

MTG:
The Matterhorn 
Lead 30 x VS trad routes
Lead 5 HVS trad routes
Lead The Great Slab at Millstone Edge (HS 4b)
To lead one 7a lead indoors from each reset
Run a trail half marathon
To complete the TFTNA training plan starting with the 8 week transition phase
Goals for Australia in September tbd

STG:
To build some skills in Scotland
To work a 7a on lead once a week when I have a partner - did one on autobelay 
To flash 2 6c/6c+ indoor routes for every reset - tried very hard last week!
To plan my week every Sunday - tick

In reply to Solsbury:

Welcome back Rich and good luck.

I found this video useful for TRX exercises:

youtube.com/watch?v=X2-77jC6BT4&

 

In reply to guy127917

Compared and updated from original wk 563

ST - get down to 80kg - still hovering at 84kg

MT - climb an E1 before end Feb - struggled up damp VS today, E1 seems a long way off

LT - ignore joints and keep breathing, 2018 - exercise on 75% days, climb 300 routes of all types - ticked

Read another tiny bit TFNA this week - 'setting base level fitness'

On the House scale I was poor or worse, fairly happy with that

In 60 sec

6 pull ups (in about 30 secs)

30 sit ups in about 40 secs 

30 step jumps in 30 sec 

15 push ups well below a min

Take home is I can't exercise hard for more than about 30 seconds so I need the 'how to train for the base setting' book next.

Any way this week

M- 5hrs on the hamster wheel of downhill skiing with kids 

T- Stickle ghyll 350m - roughly 25mins 

W- Stickle ghyll 350m with Isobel - about 30mins deep snow

T-Harrison Stickle 650m with Isobel, hilarious icy gully just manageable without an ice axe and 60mph headwind, memorable.

Kendal Wall 10x overhanging auto belay up and down one push, 30 mins

F- (Man flu day one) Middlefell butress and scramble 250m with Isobel

20 mins on bike.

S- (man flu, dying) slow bike for 10 mins and old man walk, 75m ascent to stickle hydro plant.

S - (recovering)  Sticklebarn crag, -Main wall left hand HVS second, - Main wall crack VS lead (bit damp, felt very tough for a repeat)

Not great week for diet, holiday in the land of the deep fried Mars Bar, back to work this week, easier to control intake. Could have lived without the snotty nose

In reply to John Kelly:

Please don't tell me they've moved Langdale to central Glasgow?

In reply to guy127917:

Thanks guy

 

Sounds like u are having fun in Scotland. I can't wait to get up there at the end of this month

 

Just a quick update from me.

 

M - rest

T - rest 

W - indoor climbing. Nothing really special but 6b felt really easy and I should start pushing higher

T - 40 min run

F - packing

S - fly and drive to Oppdal in Norway

S - I seconded 2 grade 2+ and top roped a 4. Temperature -13 and the ice was very hard. On with the leading tomorrow

Some pictures of today

https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=bookmarks

 

Lee

 

In reply to guy127917:

Not about climbing unfortunately. I didn't do much this week, I took it easy with the climbing sessions for fear of aggravating injuries. I didn't do much rehab because I'm lazy. 

I did the BUK comp which I enjoyed but my performance was awful, next week I'm going outside come hell or high water. 

In reply to guy127917:

Cheers for the tip Guy. Psych video of the week:

https://www.climbing.com/videos/t-rex-attempts-iron-man-v4-traverse/

Mon: Wall. Fingerboard. 20 problems V2-4 25 mins x2. Circuits.

Tues: Pancakes, prosecco.

Wednesday: Pancakes, whiskey.

Thurs: Wall. 7x reps of V5, 4x reps of hard V4. Tried to do minute on, minute off x10 but flaked halfway through. 

Fri: Rest.

Sat: Dartmoor. I was rubbish but had a lovely day out

Sun: Wall. Short toprope & boulder.

In reply to guy127917:

In reply to Cyan:

These exercises sound like my kind of thing, what kind of reps/sets are you doing...?

In reply to Cyan:

well some shocking tail dabs there I thought!!

In reply to guy127917:

 

 

Hi All.

Thanks Guy. Yep, I'm not sure what a 'good' mileage would be for downhill skiing either. I guess it's very dependant on what your skiing. Days spent mostly off-piste felt knackering for the same mileage as days with more on-piste stuff. I guess if you were skiing laps on longish blues and reds you could smash the 30 mile mark easily. The tougher it gets the slower I go, so less miles! Ultimately, it's probably a pointless record as it's all gravity anyway! -I feel like even in 9 hours of skiing there was very little cardio (although muchos leg strength).

Last week was supposed to be W6 of TFTNA transition phase, before a mini taper next week in the lead up to Cham. However, I bought some French lurgy back with me, meaning W6 was actually endurance training for coughing, wheezing and moaning. Great timing as always!

 

Last Week Review: (NOT!) W6 of TFTNA 

 

M-Su: Lurgy/Rest.

Have used the spare time to do my homework for the Cham trip, see below...

Next Week Plan: 

 

Mostly rest to make sure that the lurgy is properly gone before heading to Cham on Sunday. I'm working out the country Thurs-Sat so think I'm going to discontinue the TFTNA transition now and just put two easy Transition weeks in after the Cham trip before getting in to the Base phase. 

 

STGS -Q1

 

Scottish VI (TICKED!!)

 

Ski 5+ Black Runs (TICKED and more... much happier on crud, powder, steeps, techy forced turns under pressure of disaster!)

 

3 Routes ED1+ (dropped from previous goal of 5 as had to reduce trip length) from this list of 'possibles'...

 

Charlet-Ghilini (ED1 5) La Face Perdue (ED1) Star Académixte (ED1 6) Supercouloir (ED1 6) Profit-Pérroux (TD) Vent du Dragon (TD 5) Eugster Direct (TD+ 5) The Shroud (TD- 4) Modica-Noury (TD+) M6 Solar (TD) Madness Très Mince (TD 5) Rebuffat Gully (TD 5)

 

and plenty more options to suit all conditions (conditions of mountains and condition of us!)

 

 

 

In reply to guy127917:

This size limit on posts is a pain in the proverbials for FitClub. I appreciate that I waffle on a bit, but even so... It's not really fit for purpose when you're trying to detail last week, next week and S/M/L/BHA Goals. Highly irritating!

In reply to guy127917:

Not this week though. The combination of soft tissue injuries in my lower back and shoulder are severly restricting what I can do at the moment. They're getting noticeably better though - seeing a sports masseuse for the back injury.

Just some core and bodyweight this week. Can do suspension exercises but can't do leg lifts of any description (toes to bar/windscreen wipers). Can do pullups but not pressups due to the shoulder.

Will continue testing to see what exercises I can do.

 

In reply to Tom Green:

I’ve found it’s often actually non visible characters that cause it to say ‘post too long’, seems to happen when copy pasting from google docs, OS X notes etc. If you just copy as plaintext you can post quite a long post /geek

In reply to guy127917:

Thanks Guy, I did this workout again on Saturday at 30% of max weight (32kg assistance!) and was able to complete the whole 10 minutes but it was still hard work! After about 3 minutes it gets to a level of difficulty and then just stays there until the end.

Good week for me, was able to actually try hard in a boulder comp and got outside at the weekend too.

M: Indoor Boulder; Board Ascending (0.5) - I actually get a legitimate excuse to use the woody in anger! Basically have 3 tries at 8 problems of increasing difficulty from do-able problems to projects, with good rests between. I managed to tick my 7A+ project which was pretty awesome. 
Aero - 3mins on, 30 secs off x4, 2 sets.

T: Core and lower body flexibility

W: Conditioning: used this as a warm up for the comp, shoulder press, low rows, hanging shoulder extensions, prone IYT, rotator curls. It's awesome having a gym at the wall!
Boulder comp; The elbow felt good so I was able to actually try hard for the first time in a while, it seemed to work because I won! 221/250 and one of the two routes that I couldn't do was down to flexibility on a slab, another sign that improvement doesn't have to come from getting stronger...
The elbow felt amazingly good after the comp, almost zero soreness, amazing.

T: Nowt. Felt surprisingly fresh after the comp.

F: Outdoor; Portland. Met up with Remus (off of Lattice) and his girlfriend Michelle, they had come down to Portland for the weekend, presumably because there is no climbing around Sheffield.
We had a fantastic day at Battleship, great weather, not another soul around, and everyone ticked something good. Remus and myself got Shape Shifter (7c) Mrs Dandan and Michelle flashed Sink the Bismarck (6c) (which was excellent) and Michelle redpointed Jurassic Shift (7a) on lead.
Shape shifter felt like a different climb to 2 weeks ago, on the reachy crux move it felt like I had grown 2 inches, despite clearly using the largest, most obvious footholds, it was completely static and not at my limit, where it was a throw to a full stretch 2 weeks ago. 
I was most proud of my foot beta though, every hand move was in balance and static, hard routes on Portland often have me snatching between holds. I can't recall a route that I have worked out my own beta for that went so smoothly and i'd like to think that is the result of conscious effort on my part to improve my movement.

S: Aero Fingerboard; as mentioned I did it at 30% of max (-32kg bodyweight) which seemed to work but it's still not easy!

S: Indoor Routes; made progress on the 7c+, managed to do it in 1 hang which was quite an improvement, the top section took me 2 or 3 hangs before. Beta is now pretty much sorted apart from perhaps some clipping positions. Elbow felt ok but not a patch on how it felt on Wednesday, hopes of a miracle cure have been dashed but it's still improving overall.

In reply to guy127917:

STG: (last week)
* Don't go too crazy at Boulder comp - went a bit crazy but did really well!
* 30 second handstand - nope but did pick up some tips from Supercoach Emily

STG: (next week)
* Stick to plan, no extra-curricular climbing unless outdoors
* 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 - 24/150
* tick 3 x 8a
* tick 10 x 7c/7c+ - 1/10
* 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

In reply to guy127917:

That makes sense... probably when I try to put the route links in.

In reply to guy127917:

Good work getting over to Lurchers. Did you go in through the Charlemaine gap and did you use my approach beta?!

Hope the next few days are equally good for you both. I'm jealous!

In reply to guy127917:

Cheers Guy - another reason (as if i needed any more!) to avoid working in London for as long as possible!

 

Saying that, i will be down there a lot more, and possibly end up on a 2-3days a week in town job by the end of the year, so any London training partners would be very welcome. You and Curious Yellow are the ones i'm thinking about...

 

 

STGs for next 2 weeks:

- 3x lap of the Depot 7a (fail – been reset) and 7a+ purple circuits (tick – super pumpy)

- Less steep 7a on teeny footholds ("7b") – fail - reset

- Double lap of the orange 7b+++ (fail – reset)

- Complete Lattice (Tick - sort of) and FoC benchmarks

- Stretch more regularly.

- Complete double set of pocket repeaters wearing 5kg weight vest. 

MTGs for next 2 months:

- 2 or more f8a's in Margalef. Meconi (8a) and Sàtiva Patàtica (8a) top of the list.

- OS 7c or harder in Margalef.

- Box & conventional split improvement.

- Get a beastly (kneebar competent) core.

- >90% BW hang on home Lattice edge.

- Ramp up an-cap and do a hard route (>8a+) in a sustained bouldery style (Parisella's or Tor cave?) >180s 10:3@60%

 

 

In reply to guy127917:

Week 7

M – Depot. Slow warm-up. Aero-power. Triple 7a+ circuit (STG tick) – finally felt like I could keep fighting through the pump. Worked new 7b++ circuit x3. Double lap 7a+ x2. Flash new, less steep “7a” whilst tired. Complete set of red (V2-4) to round out session.

T – Felt broken. Did nothing but stretch, foam roller and 2x 100 crunchies.

W – Quick test of max hang on BM2K lower rail. BW+25kg for 10s. Failed (8s only) at +27.5kg. Brew, then an-cap test with 10:3@60%. 176s max – just a second off PB, and near identical decay curve to previous best (which was just before doing In Life, f8b+/8A) – encouraging stuff for Margalef in 10days time. Split a glutinous valentine’s day dinner: starter, main, pilates, pudding! Sore glutes from some of the stability work in pilates class. Extra hip stretch.

T – Lunchtime bike ride. 50min & 411kcal predicted by Strava, but probably more due to the very blustery conditions. Hip stretch. First time tying on indoors since last Jan. 10x routes 6a-7b. Failed on 2x 7b and 1x 7a+ as unwilling to fall off with belayer still using crutches!

F – Rest. Stretch.

S –Nesscliffe boulder. Tried various things, but only got up a new warm-up and repeated the 7A. Keen to come back and try the 7A+ and 7C traverse.

S – Nuttin’ Wedding planning day.

In reply to Bones [:B:

Jealous of you guys up in Scotland this week! Enjoy!

Good work on last week's routes, especially for stealing a march on Guy by using the new grade for Invernookie!

In reply to hms:

really? You are so negative.

You didn'tc climbanything >6a because you didn't try anything more than 4 times, on a rock type you're unfamiliar with in an area with stern grading. Thats tactics, not a spanking. You did probably (if static) the hardest move on the arete, after a few goes, which gets uk6b on javu. You could have ticked that if you had tried it earlier.

You did the first move on DQ, which can't be much easier. 

Ifyou'd spent more time on either youd be coming away with a tick of something respectably hard or a few moves done on a problem many would say is fb7B.

talking yourself down is self sabotage to no particular benefit. Think happy!

In reply to Tom Green:

It’s definitely not IV!!

In reply to Tom Green:

It’s been great so far. Guy went up the easy way. It’s most definitely IV or even V the way I do it

In reply to Tom Green:

Due to a slight navigational error we went over the chalamain gap (on the left of it), and then ignored your advice and cursed our way across the snow covered boulder field! Not sure dropping down would have been better though given the snow conditions. Spoke to a guide yesterday who said the best way is over the col west of Lochain and then drop down the gully.

In reply to guy127917:

Cheers Guy, recovery was pretty good. Also helped that I had a lazy week as it was half term so had the time booked off to look after the kids 

Monday and Tuesday were rest days. Popped out Wednesday evening for a 7k run. Back in work on Friday so got a 1km swim in.

Saturday and Sunday saw a couple of 7km trail runs.

 

 

In reply to guy127917:

I'm fairly sure that strength is the main limiting factor. It's been the same as I've progressed up through lower grades. I don't feel there's any real barrier at around 7a, I just know  it's going to be slow progress (although I am confident I am making that progress!). I would say my strength, in so far as the maximum force I can apply through my fingertips is concerned, is relatively poor for someone who climbs a lot. But, that is offset to a degree by me having a low BMI and good power endurance for the strength I do have. I'm also quite stubborn and will work a route over weeks, watching others on it too, to get everything optimised. And I can try very hard on a redpoint attempt if it's a route I really want and will keep pulling until I fall off.

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

Session 01: 30 mins easy bouldering. Campus big rungs matching 0,2,4,6,8. Medium matching 0,1,2,3,4,5 two sets. 30 mins woody. Autobelay up the 6a and down the easy one continuous for 5 laps.

Session 02: 10 mins autobelay warm up. 8 routes 6a to 6c+ with some dogging on the harder ones.

Session 03: 14 routes (indoors) 6a to 7a. Harder ones climbed until I fell off, apart from a couple I worked quickly between clips.

Also a 4km run, press ups, sit ups.

Decided against a 4th session as my elbows needed a rest.

 

 

 

 

In reply to guy127917:

Haha! I think it's a pain to access by any route. Great once you're in there though!

Did Window Gully look fat?

In reply to Tom Green:

Not sure I'd say fat but there was certainly ice formed all the way up. I imagine it would have been doable- big thaw today (annoyingly we are taking the day off) so I'd wait for another cold snap before considering it. Hopefully that will be tues/weds!

In reply to guy127917:

Haha, Invernookie was the peak of my fairly limited winter climbing career, in that it was the only thing I did with a tech 4 move in it (I did a few other IIIs.) I had no idea it had been upgraded!

In reply to guy127917:

Howdy

First post over here in FitClub. I'm supposed to be getting dinner ready... but I committed to myself I'd at least get something out today, and then build on that in the coming weeks... so insert amusing introduction and commentary yourselves please

 

So statement of intent:

STG : April - Le Flipper Font 6B (not the sit start) 

MTG: Aug -  Swim 1km open water

MTG : July 31st (hut booked) Matterhorn via Hornli (or similar objective depending on weather)

I think STG will adapt as training gets going, and will be replaced with training goals. 

 

Approach: mainly TFTNA method, though with some adaptation to meet the short term bouldering requirement. I have half heartedly done about 6 weeks of establishing base volumes, joining gym, getting a finger board routing sorted etc. So intend to do a 4 week cycle of 'transition' and then hit base fitness training, but split with bouldering strength to peak 3rd week of April. 

Basics: wgt - 80kg at 6"4' so not carrying any spare, bouldering at 6A Font (when I'm 'on game') or V5 indoor. Coming back after a while off though - injury and travel - but pretty active and like many here do a bit of ice, mtn biking, surfing, being outdoors. Haven't done an outdoor lead in over two years(!) 
Diet is pretty lean, the other half is a fitness coach so its easy enough to follow a shared menu.

Based 200m from WestWay climbing wall in London, handy.

 

OK so last week, and I appreciate this is a little late for last week..

M:
a.m. 1 hr treadmill run - zone one 125bpm
p.m. nowt

T:
a.m. nowt
p.m. bouldering medium (broken toe so in approach shoes) beastmaker HB routine 5A - still finding that hard to complete 100%
 

W:
a.m.
p.m.  general gym strength routine (#1 so establishing base line wights and reps)

T: rest

F:
a.m. nowt
p.m. hr stepper machine in gym at 125-130 BPM

S:
a.m. gen strength in gym
p.m. nowt

S: Christening back in Skegness, with 8 hours driving.

Aims for this week:

Increase duration of cardio Monday and Friday, autobelay laps/bouldering and HB Tuesday, do a max strength boulder session to explore new training at Biscuit Factory on Thursday and get a gen strength session in too.

Heading skiiing on Friday afternoon, so weekend is out, and a dinner on Wednesday so will be dreaded pre-work session in gym. But will also be back on commute to work via bike, which, this week adds about 3 hours of base cardio.

 

 

In reply to guy127917:

Hola amigos,

New STGs, (Jan-Mar)

• weight target 10st 7lb/bf 15% (started at 11st 1lb/18% 1/1/18)

• e1 trad leads

• lead 7a indoor

MTGs, (Apr-Jun)

- weight target 10st/bf 12.5% (started at 11st 1lb/18% 1/1/18)

- e2 trad leads

- lead 7b indoor, 7a outdoor

 

W/C 12/2/18

Mo: General walking, 6.8 miles Bouldering hypertrophy, (24 problems).

Tu: General walking, 7.4 miles. Rest day.

We: General walking, 6.0 miles. Bouldering hypertrophy, (22 problems).

Th: General walking, 6.6 miles. Rest day.

Fr: Hill walking, 6.9 miles, 12.7 total. 4 winter climbing routes.

Sa: Hill walking, 8.9 miles, 13.5 total. 1 winter climbing route.

Su: Hill walking, 12.1 miles, 16.3 total. Proper mountaineering day out!. 

- weight 10st 7lb/bf 16.2%

Missed ARC session, but three hard days in the hills. No rock climbing, but some winter stuff done at last. Weight goal met, so now to shed some bf.

 

@guy127917, excellent trip to the Lakes thanks: some winter routes, hill bagging and a long day out, with pretty much everything going on, including an ice axe arrest! How’s your trip going?

In reply to Dandan:

Maxing out on both of course

In reply to Ally Smith:

Just say when. I think you'd like Stronghold if you've not been. Guy/Jen, ditto, give me a shout if you ever fancy a change from the Castle!

 

In reply to guy127917:

Cheers Guy.

I was being cryptic as I am aware that my hard ride is not very hard. But you've rightly called me out. It was 80k with 1500m of ascent. This weekend is looking like a 100k and 2000m. Gulp. Target for middle of May is 112miles (whatever that is in km) and 4000m. 

Slightly frustrating week as after the last 'big' ride the lurgy returned. So no more riding done and no climbing either apart from the Plywood Masters at BUK. As expected I didn't do very well. Not bothered about the place/score I just didn't feel like I was climbing very well. I've had a bit of a grump about my climbing this week. But I can't improve that whilst trying to drastically improve my cycling (for a very ambitious goal) and be on placement and have a life, kids etc. So I've had a word with myself and i'm going to try and do a bit more if I can but not beat myself up if I can't. I think it may be more frustration that I've not been doing much of anything exercise wise and the lurgy refusing to go away for weeks. I do get grumpy if I don't do anything.

This week my target is to survive the big ride and get a couple of smaller ones in. I'll aim to do a bit of climbing on Wednesday after coaching. 

In reply to AlanLittle:

Wow fluffy piste! We normally get Hintertux as the rock hard fitness touring mileage option so glad you have lovely conditions

In reply to AJM:

Nice job on the Cube arete - if it's the one I think, it was one of the few times I rejoiced in my relative stumpiness while Ben was cursing his limbs...

In reply to Just Tintin:

Maybe I've been lucky on the days I've been there. My only ever big first tracks powder run was one Sunday morning years ago, down the Schwarze Pfanne  in the days before they starting pisting it. It was brilliant.

In reply to guy127917:

Thanks for your patience Guy.

Back from US to find house broken into so trying to work out what week it is, why the bastards took (among other stuff) my hoover, and how to maintain professional credibility with a sunglasses/bandana tan mark...

The missing week was a combination of not climbing before the trip, flying and 2x piste skiing, 3x yoga, 2x indoor bouldering sessions at altitude and 2x light touring - in some order and some on the same day.

M - AM piste skiing with women's yoga session in the middle

       PM apres ski yoga

T - Piste skiing. 

W - 5 mile tour up to a hut (sleeping at 11,400ft). Tour above the hut.

T - Tour around the hut, then back down. 

     PM apres ski yoga.

F - Piste skiing with women's yoga session in the middle. Lots of packing.

S - Early start for 11 mile tour up towards 14er (Mount of the Holy Cross). Took 9 hours due to sticky snow and a 45l pack so arrived in the dark and had an epic trying to snow stake out the tent in 60mph winds in a powder/crystalline snowpack then melt snow for hours...all this effort made it relatively easy sleeping at 12,000ft in said winds.

S - Touring above the tent (delightful to be back in daypack mode), woodchopping and reinforcing camp.  Terrible cold night's sleep with Nalgene that I had taken into sleeping bag as a hot water bottle starting to freeze overnight...?!

In reply to Just Tintin:

Start in a break on the arete on ok holds then a vague pocket/break/crease sort of thing up and left and then getting the right up and on something to compress...?

In reply to Cyan:

I missed this message the other week. Definitely up for a Stronghold sesh. Maybe we can go in the next couple weeks?

In reply to guy127917:

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 4lbs

M - Nowt

T - Indoor routes - 13

W - S - Nowt

As this was a while back, I can't really recall why I didn't do much.  But I did get down the wall, so better than nowt I guess.  At a guess I was probably dog tired, as I only managed 13 routes.