UKC

 

Thanks all for the track suggestions, I had no idea fitclub loved techno so much!

 

FitClub Ultimate Earworms playlist

 

Misstress Barbara - Four On The Floor  youtube.com/watch?v=xELPAsL20Vo&

AronChupa - I’m an Albataoz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bznxx12Ptl0&index=8&t=0s&list=L...

Killer Mike - Reagan -   youtube.com/watch?v=6lIqNjC1RKU&

High Contrast - Racing Green youtube.com/watch?v=F68UlRwXbFM&

Faithless - Insomnia youtube.com/watch?v=P8JEm4d6Wu4&

Sash! - Encore une Fois youtube.com/watch?v=qz2bOXLEvuE&

Kavinsky - Pacific Coast Highway youtube.com/watch?v=-5FKNViujeM&

Gesaffelstein - Pursuit youtube.com/watch?v=oRSijEW_cDM&

Renegade Soundwave (Leftfield remix) - Renegade Soundwave youtube.com/watch?v=QLjQRgBuN9M&

Hot Natured - Benediction youtube.com/watch?v=PXx1CLAJ-OA&

Chemical Brothers  - Star Guitar youtube.com/watch?v=0S43IwBF0uM&

Beastie Boys - No Sleep Till Brooklyn youtube.com/watch?v=07Y0cy-nvAg&

Ice Cube - It Was a Good Day https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4UqMyldS7Q&index=7&t=0s&list=L...

Flight O the Conchords - Part-Time Model youtube.com/watch?v=89zOtd6VAiU&

Bauhaus - Terror Couple Kill Colonel youtube.com/watch?v=89zOtd6VAiU&

 

 

 

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_572-680498

 

The Fasting: The photos from Jotunheimen are awesome, thanks for sharing!

AJM: Regardless of whether life allows you to get a 7B before/on your font trip, you’ve made good and consistent progress on your bouldering goals.

Richard Popp: I think TRX is quite interesting because it’s the quality of the movement that tends to improve over time rather than sets/reps. It’s a bit more subjective than weights etc.

Si dH: Ha so you’ve got so strong you turned into the guy who walks in and crushes and pronounces everything to be 2 grades lower than reality

AlanLittle: Thanks for extremely euro-sounding track! I find the smaller edges on the transgression board are heinous (think its the sharp edge)! 

Powerpuff: On the subject of body tension, if you wanted more specific info, I have been looking at getting “applied body tension” from power company for a while, it gets good reviews. http://www.powercompanyclimbing.com/ebook

guy127917: more more more

mattrm: Nice to see you’ve got a little home workout routine going!

Tom Green: Sorry to hear the conditions weren’t to your favour- I didn’t realise winter routes would be so condition dependent! 

Laura Morrissey: Whats the finger diagnosis?

Planetmarshall: Yeah I guess it can go either way- sometimes you can really grow from being pushed into situations like that, but it’s important to know where your limit is!

Ally Smith: Snow in Spain is not part of the deal! Apart from the 4/1/4 structure how did you feel compared to your pre trip benchmarking expectations? 

wurzel: Ah boo to cancelled flights, though conditions would probably have been pretty horrendous anyway.

Brodes: Welcome on board! Very interesting idea using scales to measure your hang board assistance, I like that a lot!

the sheep: Hows the back? Do you do any foam roller, stretching etc in addition to all your cardio work?

Dandan82: Fully recovered from illness? (I say yes to anything put out on Hospital Records!)

Hms: Sounds like a lot of positives from the trip. Was that 7c one you have been on before or was this the first time?

cyan: Nice to meet you this week, good luck on your trip

Ardo: I suppose doing a rubbish winter route every now and again makes the long trips north seem more worthwhile!?

mrchewy: Good to hear the ARC training is feeling good, I don’t think it takes that long to make a really noticeable difference.

Tyler: Nice work on a rare and solo ice tick!

Bones: Hopefully looking at the total time spent in the Scotland week helps you understand the fatigue! How are you going to factor Blockfest into training this week?

Andy Nelson: Sorry to hear about your Gran, and a lovely perspective on it. Maybe you/I/Bones/others could link up for an alpine training weekend in Wales at some point?

Climbthatpitch: Is that an old knee injury or just aggravated from increased running etc?

Just Tintin: I must make it over to Harrow, you’re the second person to say its amazing is as many weeks!

 

AWOL: leon, MFB

 

In reply to guy127917:

thanks guy

Poor start to the week - off work Monday ill and then thought it best to rest Tuesday to make sure I was recovered.

Picked up a bit after that.

Wednesday I went to the wall - ticked a bunch of stuff including the project from last time. Also got on the campus board (I’m going to try and do either board or campus each session in the run up to Font to get the fast twitch properly engaged) - 1-2-5, 1-3-5 and 1-4-5 on the slopes and then 1-4-6 tickled with the better hand on the medium edges. I’ve done 1-4-6 before, very occasionally and only when I’ve really been going well, so it’s my benchmark for being on top form. Fingers crossed progress will occur in the next few weeks on it.

Friday I did a fingerboard session. Lattice edge hangs, topped out at 65.5kg pulled which is 1kg down on pb. So not too bad (I find this a very variable benchmark with conditions etc), and I accidentally hit my winter STG of >90%, although by a reduction in weight rather than as yet progress on the hang itself.

Saturday I snuck in a few sets of dips and some rows before our friend arrived.

Today we went for a very soggy walk in the new forest, good exercise. Going to try to do something else later, just not sure what yet.

Benefit of barely eating over the weekend last weekend is that I’ve had some good readings in the lower half of the 71-2 range (71.3 ) which is very near to my aim of 71 and also proves I can still get down to fighting weight if I think about it.

Non climbing friend visiting this weekend so more indoor training over the week but nothing likely outdoors. Just try to keep the progress going and hopefully sneak a day in up north on the 23rd or whatever that Saturday is prior to Font the weekend after.

In reply to guy127917:

Thanks Guy, good effort pulling all those links together.

Not much volume for me this week. On Friday I went to the Climbing Unit comp and scored 210,  which was fairly poor.

I spent most of the week allowing myself too much food and beer in celebration because on Tuesday I took a last minute afternoon off work and sent Tetris (f7C). Boom!

Have just arrived in Munich for a 3/4 day work trip. Need to put together a short term plan to Font after that. 

In reply to guy127917:

Thanks Guy. I hadn't been on that 7c before - the ones I have done so far come very firmly into the tech/flat wall fiddly category so this was ultimate anti-style for me. Need to go back in better weather and see if I can get the tick - anyone up for a Margalef trip later this spring or in the autumn?!

This week was incredibly inactive. At the start of the week I just felt totally pole-axed, suspect a combination of 8 days climbing in the previous 9 plus a small touch of something. Didn't even cycle in to work on Monday, and that is rare. By Thursday I was feeling more with-it and the shoulder/wrist aches were calming down so had a fun routes session at UCR. But then the end of the week was totally taken up with domestic stuff - 2 day visit to parents and then retrieving D2 from uni. 

Hope to get more done this week. Need a plan of attack for the rest of the year but that depends on what trips might be in the offing. Definitely Portland to try Nightmare Scenario, that's for sure (Cyan - I haven't forgotten about dates!)  

In reply to hms:

In terms of the rest of the year, we should pic up on that autumn discussion again if you’re still considering it.....

In reply to guy127917:

Monday: Woke up at 6am to go to the gym and immediately knew it should be a rest day

 

Tuesday: Planned 1:30 morning run, but legs were super heavy, so just did 45 mins. Did the other 45 minutes at lunch. Met Bones and cyan for bouldering at Stronghold in the evening. Had a really fun session, mainly doing lots of the yellow (comp) and white (v4-6) circuit. Didn’t work anything super hard. Man, that wall is chalky!

 

Wednesday: 1 hour stairmaster, 45 minutes running, sacked off gym session in evening

 

Thursday: 45 minutes running with Bones, max strength gym session:

core warmup

5x60, 5x80, 5x80, 5x80 bench

2x 32kg, 2x32kg, 1.75x32kg pull-up 

3x60,3x80,3x100,3x100,3x100 back squat

5x40kg x 3 split leg squats

4x40kg x 3 box step ups 

Some front lever tucks

 

Friday: 1 hour stairmaster, fun session on comp wall at the castle, sent everything up to route 15 (they recently made the circuit harder by not setting the first 8 or so problems at V0).

 

Saturday: 2:10 fasted run, henious

 

Sunday: 1:35 run, max strength session:

core warmup

Pull-ups 3x25kg, 3x27.5kg, 3x30kg, 2x32.5kg

Squats 4x60kg, 4x80kg, 4x100kg, 4x110kg

Deadlifts 5x70kg, 4x110kg, 4x150kg, 190kg

Bench 5x60, 5x80, 2x90

Some front lever tucks

 

Total 8:45 cardio this week, 2 strength sessions, 2 climbing sessions. 

 

Not a bad week, definitely a fair amount of fatigue, but recovering well in each small period of rest. Haven’t successfully managed 3 workouts in a day yet (I don’t really count this Tuesday as I failed the morning workout), but I feel like I’m listening to my body and making reasonable decisions. According to trainingpeaks I’m now at 81 CTL, the lower bound of my goal (for August), hoping to get this up to 100 in the next couple of months. Climbing-wise I’m feeling really good considering I’m not doing any structured training at the moment. Feel really finger and body strong, and really enjoying it!

 

This coming week I’m flying to Rjukan on Wednesday night, and should get 3.5 climbing days in. I’ll try and do one bouldering session before I go to keep the fingers stimulated and a bit of cardio.

 

In reply to AJM:

certainly am!!

In reply to guy127917:

My knowledge of Italian-Canadian techno is more limited than you might think! Will be setting up the playlist on Spotify.

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.

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

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

M: Wall, Freimann. ( youtube.com/watch?v=_J5_vJXXX18&) First time at the wall with a colleague I haven't bouldered with before, and my best indoor bouldering session for ages. Very refreshing to climb with an adult partner at about the same level to push & be pushed by: not a role my son can fill just yet, although he will in a year or two.

T: Rest. Half an hour shoulder mobility & armaid.

W: Wall, Boulderwelt. Bouldered for a while to warm up, then good progress working on a circuit project.

T: 

F: Spent most of the day in bed with a virus

S: Ditto

S: Slight improvement. Contemplated declaring myself fit to go to the wall but eventually thought better of it & watched the CWIF on telly instead.

The run-up to Font at Easter is not going too well despite what looked like a good start to the week.

In reply to guy127917:

Thanks again Guy - comprehensive listing there!

 

Goal - Salbit West Ridge (summer)

Weight is going down okay, I've lost 5kg since Xmas. Down to 84kg now which is what I was when I ran the ultra a few years back but it'd be nice to be 80kg in the summer. I normally notice the fingers get happier when I'm sub 82kg.

Mon - Working away. Long day.

Tue - Working away. Long day.

Wed - Awesome Wall Stockport. Traversed over and over on the Purple V2/3 but I skipped the three big volumes so taking V3. Going left is a bit of a nightmare with the right wrist but the flexible back is helping loads. 

Thu - Stretching and rolling session

Fri - Pinnacle bouldering. Flashed V3s which is good for me indoors.

Sat - Stretching. Fingerboard - better but still struggling on the Crusher rail. Felt like I was hanging on long enough to make a difference however.

Sun - AM Stretching and weighted mobility. PM Pinnacle boulder, then a 40min autobelay plus a 20min autobelay session. Felt tired.

Happy enough with this week. Did lots of bodyblade too, left shoulder feels okay, not right but the best it's been I think. 

In reply to Si dH:

<fist bump>

In reply to Si dH:

Awesome, congratulations!

In reply to AJM:

a few sets of flies and a solid fingerboard session - pushed up to about 0.5kg from pb. Still going, might get there, but either way some solid stuff...

In reply to guy127917:

For hip-hop headz who liked the Ice Cube track, I recommend, Cannibal Ox, Dr Octagon, and a bit of vintage Schoolly D - his brilliant track from the Bad Lieutenant- pulled when Jimmy Page's lawyers got pissy.

youtube.com/watch?v=FBJghl_wmto&

youtube.com/watch?v=V9VYzNUXGDA&

youtube.com/watch?v=xNHC9EXm-IY&

In reply to guy127917:

Hi All. Thanks for the DJing Guy.

Wow, some bangers there -good taste FitClub. I wish I'd made a more serious selection now!

Back from my Cham trip now. I must admit, I hadn't really factored in how conditions dependant the higher mountain routes could be either! I think this year is unusual, in that it is the culmination of a bad year for building conditions... last winter was very dry, then there weren't many spring storms, then summer and autumn were warm and dry, so the early winter snow was falling on dry rock and old black ice meaning it hadn't really stuck before the high winds blew it all off the routes. The result was very little fresh ice on the higher routes. And it wasn't just us being a bit soft... there are almost zero reports of these routes getting done!

Anyway, it was still a fun fortnight, with loads of positives to come away with.

Last Week:

M: Stella Artice (WI-5) -stunning route, with a pretty bold second pitch (90' freestanding pillar) and a beautiful sustained fourth pitch.

T: Skinned up to the Chabod Hut, (about 4km with 900m vert ascent, medium bags)

W: Ski ascent (apart from last 0.5km bootpack) and descent of the Gran Paradiso (about 5km with 1400m vert ascent) -a relatively straightforward route, but felt good to put all of my new ski-touring skills in to use on Italy's highest mountain (i.e. that isn't also in France!). 

T: Lazy ski down from the Chabod hut. Would be a rest day for good skiers, but deep powder on the upper half felt like a good thigh workout and skiing down the skinning route up through the forest was super technical, so I felt like this was a good session for both my strength and technique!

F: Supposed to be a chill-out day skiing the Vallee Blanche with light bags (to make a change from the normal big bag struggle down!) -however, whiteout conditions on the Midi Arete, followed by masses of powder on the upper section (close to 2' deep) meant it was actually a pretty intense ski for me! Completed the workout by eating my bodyweight in Raclette and having a celebratory pub crawl around Cham.

S: Drive home.

S: Lots of eating.

So, didn't achieve my STG of 3 routes of ED1 or more, but partially ticked it in that the old Italian guidebook rates Stella Artice as ED -so I'm taking that! It seems unlikely I'll get this goal done until next winter now, but I'm not too worried as I feel like I'm flirting around achieving it and that building up my ski experience and keeping working on my mountain fitness will get me there.

Next Week:

I'm going to put in two extra TFTNA transition weeks before starting my base training weeks, as I feel like recent trips will have led to 'detraining' in certain areas. 

One long Z1

Two shorter Z1

One short Z3

Two strength sessions

Two climbing sessions

STGs (Q1)

Scottish VI -ticked

Ski 5+ blacks -ticked

3+ ED1 routes -33% ticked!

MTG (Q2)

E1 on 5 different rock types

Boulder 6B in Lofoten

Sandstone trail in <10h

LTG (Q3)

'El Cap Nose' day

New routes in Kyrgyzstan

In reply to guy127917:

Ha, that sounds better than plodding up some low angle stream not much higher than the average highball!

M: Rest I think 

T: Really poor session at BUK

W: Really poor session ar BUK but at least managed to get around the green circuit.

T: Went to House of Pain expecting more misery but actually felt best ever on board (i.e. I linked two moves) then matched my max timed deadhang.

F: Out to dinner, start of a bad weekend for my diet.

S: Really poor session at BUK then out for dinner  

S: Went to Rockover in search of a circuit board. Enjoyed it, managed some V5s and some ungraded comp problems. Finished up on the Moonboard first time for a year, I still can't climb harder than 6B+

Busy work week so not sure what I can do this week but need some volume for Kaly trip

 

In reply to guy127917:

Thank Guy, it's a bit of a lingerer, I've been coughing all week and the snot began in earnest this morning but I think this is just aftershocks from the main event, i'm pretty much back to normal now.

M: Ill

T: Ill

W: Aero Fingerboard; 7:3 hangs for 10 minutes at 30% of max hang. This went ok, I think it helped that it was just a quick 10 minute session to get back into doing something.
Lower body flexibility.

T: Indoor Boulder; 7 reps of 80% problem with 2.5 min rests. 3 sets. I kept it on relatively easy problems and just did 2 out of 3 sets, seemed to go ok.
Core; dish, crunch,plank, leg raises, rinse and repeat

F: Indoor boulder; 3 min on 30 sec off x4, 2 sets. Felt pretty rotten for this session, very much just going through the motions.

S: Indoor routes; No training session, just climbing for fun, felt pretty rubbish again so didn't try anything particularly hard. Had a couple of fails on stuff I would expect to do ok usually, but then climbed one of my benchmark 7a+ routes probably the smoothest i've ever climbed it! Bizarre.

S: Lower body flexibility.

STG: (next week)
* Repeat woody project as part of a session
* Do all sessions on plan to show i'm over the lurgy
* 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 last test

LTG: (This Year)
* 150 ticks in logbook - 31/150
* 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:

Nice to meet you guys too, let's do it again once I'm back

Having fun in Siurana. Caught up with sleep and feeling fiercely keen. Anyone done La Muerte del Sponsor? It looks great and I am sorely tempted to try it.

Proper post next week...

Hms and AJM - yes to all!!! 

In reply to Cyan:

Not done but have heard good things .would be high on the list were I there .

 

Venga!

In reply to guy127917:

 

I guess, at least now I know what makes me tired! Also, apologies I didn’t get in a song last week - it probably would have been Nicki Minaj.

I was just going to rest on Friday and go to Blokfest on Saturday. That is as much as I have factored it in! Also, a boulder session on Wednesday to practice.

Transitional phase - week 7 summary:
Energy levels - good but wasn’t too well
Recovery - as above
Hydration - could be better
Aerobic activity - 381mins
Zone 1/2 (walk/running) time - 285mins
Aerobic climbing - 0 mins
Climbing sessions - 1 (planned 2)
Fingerboard sessions - 0
Strength and core sessions - 1 (planned 2)

Transitional phase - week 8 plan:
Aerobic activity - 367 mins
Zone 1/2 (walk/running/stepper) time - 277 mins
Climbing sessions - 3
Fingerboard sessions - 0
Strength (and core) sessions - 2

Benchmarks:
Boulder grade max: V4
Lead climb max: 6c+
Top-rope max (it does count): 7a 
Weighted pull-top max: 8.75kg x 1 rep
Max bench press: tbc
Max dead lift: tbc

Monday: gym - 70 mins stepper (level 4) - my heart rate was significantly higher with 61% in zone 2 at this level instead of all in zone 1. Av 146bpm, max 153bpm. Core, 3 x strength but no time for legs (squats and box step-ups)

Tuesday: 20 mins z1/2 walk/jog. Great boulder session at Stronghold - good atmosphere to work hard and great to meet cyan.

Wednesday: 65 mins walk zone 1 - av hr 121pbm, max 137bpm

Thursday: 130 mins walk to and from central London in zone 1 with a 46:45min/4.48mile run with Guy sandwiched in the middle (avHR 173, maxHR184, 49% - 4, 46% - 3, 5% - 1/2) - ill with migraine after

Friday: rest

Saturday: rest

Sunday: run with Guy then ill with migraine 8.59miles/96mins - av hr 171, max hr 182 - 24% z4, 72% z3, 4% z1/2.

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 enjoy lead climbing, maybe top-rope a little more on harder grades to take some pressure off and have fun
Fall practice each rope session - no rope sessions this week but will do this today
To plan my week every Sunday - yes
To keep a record of benchmarks in climbing and gym work
To keep an eye on my plan for the week so that I make sure I get in all my zone 1 - wasn’t very well this week

In reply to Bones [:B:

Good luck at Blokfest! 

In reply to Cyan:

I did it in December, it is brilliant with a committing last move, but above a good rest. Felt so long on my first go thought it was going to be really hard but got it second or third redpoint I think (second day so actually went up it 4 or 5 times in total). Needs to be out of the sun really so late afternoon/evening depending on time of year.

In reply to guy127917:

"Apart from the 4/1/4 structure how did you feel compared to your pre-trip benchmarking expectations?"

Physically i was there or thereabouts, 8a 2nd go in my favoured long tufa style despite the wet holds shows that, but with regards to the specific physicality style of Margalef, i was off the pace.

 

I can take many positives from the trip and pre-training though;

- It forced me to train on pockets - my ring finger hasn't felt this strong for 3 years

- It stopped me from doing a high volume of stamina training and work my weaknesses (i.e. weakness)

- I could and should have done more an-cap, and specifically done it at the wall rather than just FB

Hence, new STGs...

 

 

STGs for next 4 weeks (base phase again):

- An-cap twice a week

- 1x LI 1x HI aero-cap per week

- Core twice a week

- Proper open crimp fingerboard; no matter how demoralising the counterweight needed is!

- Stretch more regularly.

- Complete double set of pocket repeaters @ BW+ 8kg

 

Week 10

M – Rest day. Proper sat-on-my-bum-doing-nothing kinda rest day.

T – Actually felt more knackered than yesterday! Surprised myself by weighing in at 76.2kg Did 3 rounds of TRX as my skin was still trashed from Margalef pockets.

W – Shoulders achey from TRX. Pilates evening; glutes singing.

T – Cave Wet cave Played around for an hour trying to dry out We've a Beaver (V9); got a boss sequence now – all comes down to 2 hand moves and 3 foot moves on the link. Too wet in the end - sacked it off and did 3 rounds an-cap linked boulders. RWT x4, Cave Life x4, LWH (to mid-point) x4. All near perfect 50s climbing chunks. Tired, but not totally powered down at the end – need to watch shoulder engagement though. 3x25 kneebar sit-up finisher whilst packing up. Good session.

F – Nowt.

S – An-cap FB/boulder session experiment; has much potential. Little play on lead routes, then 20min continuity. TRX core and press-ups to finish (foot in stirrups)

S – Beastly core, shoulder and antag session (AKA 3.5 hours dangling on a rope putting 8 bolts in and cleaning a 10m horizontal roof newbie. Still needs 1 more bolt and lots more cleaning)

 

In reply to guy127917:

Cheers Guy, the back was somewhat knackered early in the week so rested up and now getting back to normal again if you will excuse the pun. Im crap at foam rollering, doing propper stretch sessions. More like the old rugby player stereo type where a warm up is touching your toes and having a good fart. However the gym where I go swimming are starting a stretch session on a Thursday lunch time so will give that a go next week as im busy this Thursday. Anyway week went as follows;

Monday, very gentle 1km swim

Tuesday and Wednesday, rest

Thursday, 1 km swim

Friday, 1 km swim and 30km cycle home. Swapped pedals on the bike to spd's so good fun getting out of the city at rush hour Still once off the busy roads they do make a difference.

Saturday, 4.5km gentle run

Sunday, planned to do a brick training session for the sprint duathlon. Happily did the 5km run and had a good paced 20 km ride. Felt good when I got in from the ride so popped my runners back on and did the 3km run that would complete the event. Going to have to get myself more used to the transition between cycling and running as it felt really strange going from a speedy ride back into running. 

 

In reply to guy127917:

guy127917:  Maybe you/I/Bones/others could link up for an alpine training weekend in Wales at some point?

Yes, very keen, will be planning next trip in the next week or so (calendar planning, not the actual trip). Likely to be May now, since there is tons going on (Mtb in Italy, surfing in Portugal, Font in April. Very exciting, and I will consider these trips as, erm, cross training . Will post dates once clear.

Question: how does everyone keep track of conversations on these threads, is there a view that I'm not using? I have to scrolll and read through lots of seemingly disjointed chats.

Also, Enjoy Rjukan. I was there a few weeks ago, soooo much snow, all the lower grade classics were completely socked in (Fabrikfossen etc).

 

OK, last week, lot of disruption with funerals and wedding planning. And the associated headfck of all that. But: this is week 4 of transition, and probably last one. Going to have to compress this phase and move to base phase now. Also having to blend in more bouldering strength training to make the Font 6B goal in 5 weeks time...

Total exercise time approx:11 hours

M:
a.m. Was still in Ogwen valley. Solid 10 hours sleep in my car. Then good and steady solo ascent to Carneddeau. But at top white out conditions and deep snow gave me hesitation so had coffee and came back down. Getting sensible? Watch battery failed but approx 600m ascent, and 7km. 4 hours. 
p.m. - Drive back to London

T:
a.m. 30 min zone one commute
p.m. 30 min Z1 commute home
 

W:
a.m. nowt - Skegness
p.m. nowt - Skegness

T:
a.m.  nowt - Skegness
p.m. Met Nial, and bouldered hard with him for 40 minutes  - 3xV1, 3xV2 3xV3, then V4 flash and worked a V4-5 and got it with a slightly cheating rest prior to foot swap. BACK IN ROCK SHOES WOOO!

F:
a.m.  General strength - solid and strong workout
p.m.nowt

S:
a.m. Stepper machine 1h10mins. HR = 135avg
p.m. drove to skegness

S: nowt - Skegness
am. nowt - Skegness

In reply to Cyan:

Thank you! I hope you are having a good time on your trip

Week 2

Thanks.  Sooner or later I will install a pulley for greater accuracy.  For reference - I weigh 71 kg.  Right now I'm just getting used to the hangboard.  Learning a lot about my finger strength, and what activities do/don't bother my back.

Monday. 11 miles bike.  1 hour Beastmaker workout. I did the 5A program but replaced the 4 jug hangs with 2*3 fingers and 2*4 finger hangs and put more weight on scales. I might be able to finish the full 5A with reduction of 25Kg. 3*7 chin ups on jugs.  And throughout the day: 10*10 push ups. No booze.

 

Tuesday. 8 miles bike. Rest. Half pint beer.

 

Weds. 16 miles commute. 1.5 hr CrossFit bodyweight workout. Handstands (against wall, for ages), ring dips, and work towards cartwheels and muscle ups. Hollow body position core work. No booze.

 

Thursday. 8 miles bike. Rest. Tired shoulders! 2.5 pints beer.

 

Friday. 8 miles bike.

Morning: BeastMaker 5A workout. Bodyweight hangs on the jugs. Made it to end of 4th rep 3rd hang on bodyweight. After that tried to keep weight on scales below 20-30kg.

Evening 4 sets 8-10 hanging knee raises. 2*30s hollow body position on floor. 15min stretching. Hamstring stretching made my back sore. Also tried to do a set of 7 reps on 4 finger pocket on Beastmaker (7s on/3 off ). Failed right at end of 6th rep. Drank 3/4 bottles wine.

 

Sat. Rest. 3 pints beer. Sore back muscle from hamstring stretching on previous day.

 

Sun. 5 sets of 5 bodyweight ring dips. Work towards muscle up, having feet in resistance band.  Managed 2 muscle-ups with the thickest (green) resistance band. One small glass wine. Back feeling fine.

 

In reply to guy127917:

Thanks Guy and sorry to miss out on the playlist! As promised (finally) a 2018 climbing so far analysis/confessional...

Basically, with the exception of a freakishly good session in Colorado and some my-style V5s outdoors, I have been generally weak and un-dynamic since Christmas. Last year built really well from May-October as we trained for Squamish then carried momentum through the summer and into Morocco in October. Lots of E3s and V6s. Then got gym strong Nov/Dec and did some good stuff outdoors towards the end of the year.

Objectively my indoor grades aren't too bad at the moment, but I don't feel like me when I'm climbing. No power endurance and really awkward around lock-offs which used to be one of my superpowers. I think my 'problems' at the moment come from a few different things:

1. Too much talking about climbing and not enough doing - being on the BMC ORG has meant I've been applying lots of brainpower and writing time to it (and fielding abuse for it - yay), but not necessarily doing as much myself. It's also been a bit of a crunch on WCS in the last month too. Both these things are really really important though, so I just need to make sure I get outside when I can. 

2. Doing more ski-touring/skimo than normal. Normally we get in some winter sport climbing in Mallorca around New Year, but did Austrian Alps instead this year. Fitness gains but lack of sun (which works wonders as I think we are generally vitamin D deficient) and sport climbing. The bonus is, I'm loving the skimo. We are going to squeeze Mallorca in at Easter to kick-start outdoor again, so something to aim towards short term.

3. Feeling a bit low. Mum's cancer rollercoaster continues. Work psych is very low and not too keen on staying in Oxford for ever - probably need to make some brave decisions soon. The obvious consequence of feeling a bit low is eating lots of cake, which leads to...

4. Training heavy (without the training) = probably 2-3kg extra that is slowing me down a bit. The upside of this is that when everyone else collapsed senseless after an 11-mile day skimo ascent last month, I was still fine as I had plenty of reserves left to burn...

5. Still sleeping badly. This is a hard one to change but I am trying all the obvious things really hard.

6. I've also been nursing some tweaks - left elbow and right middle finger A2. Neither catastrophic but niggly once in a while. Feel okay that I'm managing them at the moment but need to keep an eye out if getting back to proper training. 

Suggestions and comment welcome. 1,2,4 - I know I can do something about. 6 - I am actively managing. 3,5 - trying, but harder to change.

Yesterday I was beginning to feel I was climbing a bit better as I was making good progress on the blue circuit at the Unit (V5-7). So maybe it's turning. This week:

M - Campus session 

T - core 

W - worked Banff at Cheltenham. Love this film - funny and a great song: http://www.theclymb.com/stories/viral-videos/homage-badass-adventurous-ladi...

T - Mum hospital appointment and launched WCS18 on International Women's Day

F - stopped into Climbing Unit and did comp problems before the comp started and ran away. 195 - good score for a normal round for me, but didn't feel like it was great for this set.

S - Wirksworth WBL. 197. 

S - went looking for dry rock, found none, and ended up back at Climbing Unit doing blues and oranges.

In reply to Just Tintin:

The obvious answer to 2 is get into hardcore alpinism- skimo + technical climbing

In reply to guy127917:

Getting my ducks in a row a little in advance, would any of the FC northern contingent be interested in a day out Saturday 24th?

We are up north (ish) for the weekend and I think I've got a free day on the Saturday - driving up/back from Birmingham, possibly via Ashbourne. Basically happy with anywhere in the classic eastern grit, Churnet, Staffordshire sort of area in terms of driving/faff. 

In reply to Si dH:

Nice one!!

 

In reply to Just Tintin:

Sounds like you’ve got a lot of things coming at you at the moment, including some tough stuff. 

Might be worth taking care that your climbing goals don’t turn in to extra pressure... if life is grinding you down it would be all to easy for training and climbing to start feeling like ‘additional burden’, rather than ‘fun escape’, especially if you feel like you aren’t achieving as much as you’d like (perfectly understandable if other stuff is taking your time and effort). 

I guess for some people, beasting themselves in training/climbing is pretty cathartic when life is tough, but equally it could be a bit counterproductive if you’re tired, pressured and semi-injured. 

Basically, just look after yourself and don’t expect too much of yourself! And embrace the ski-mo... it’s the future!

In reply to guy127917:

Thanks Guy

I missed the tunes last week so ill add mine now. Basically anything off this channel

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAEwCfBRlB3jIY9whEfSP5Q

I think my knee was from poor stretching/cooling down on previous weeks. I spent all Monday evening foam rollering and stretching it and it was fine for the next day. It has been fine all this week. Really should re test but I will have an easier week coming up In 2 weeks so might do it at the end of that

Have fun in Rjukan. Have you got any routes you would like to get done over there

Next Weeks goals

9 hours zone 1 running

35 min z3 running

2 Max strength session

1 Climbing session

Loads of stretching

 

M - Rest

T - AM weighted box steps

     PM Run, 9km, 7:35 min perkm pace, 220 meters accent. I am basically doubling and adding a bit compared to my moves count as my watch died 1/3 of the way.

W - Max Strength session.

       Run 13.39km, 8:25 min perkm pace, 292 meters accent

T - Run, 4.81km, 5:03 min perkm pace, 35 meters accent

F - Indoor climbing really easy keeping at 6a

S - Max strength session

S - Run, 23.2km, 09:02 min per km, 707meters accent

 

Lee

 

 

In reply to AJM:

Yes, I'm planning to bring two bouldering pads and a Solomon to see you. I'm hoping you'll take away the two pads but you can't have him. How much climbing I can do on the day depends on how long he lasts.

Churnet or Peak would be fine. 

In reply to guy127917:

Cheers Guy. You missed that I was missing last week. So i'll grass myself up. It was a busy week and the weather meant no cycling. Nothing done (hence my forgetting to report) except for an FTP test on a turbo trainer. That hurt and wasn't a very good score. Oh dear! 

In better news last week was a lot more productive. A couple of commutes on the bike to work and then my biggest ride so far yesterday. 127km and 2100m of ascent. Went OK all things considered. Decent average pace and felt a lot better than the 100km two weeks ago that didn't have as much ascent. Basically two months to the Fred Whitton now so need to keep gradually pushing it up.

I also climbed twice. A session doing The Depot Winter League. Usual story of flash everything up to 20 then struggle. Felt an OK effort though and there may be one more I can get.

I also climbed at The Marmot Masters at Kendal wall. 2nd on the night and 2nd overall from the 4 rounds (best 3 scores go through). Considering i'm climbing in fits and starts and not doing anything extra on top climbing wise I guess i'm doing OK. I also got a routes session in at Kendal today which is for next weeks report but went OK.

I'm off this week and next (I do have some work, kids, and an essay to do) but should be able to get a decent ride or two in and some climbing somewhere. Unfortunately my van is in the garage and may be for the rest of the week so that stuffs a lot of plans up. Main focus is to keep on biking though. I feel i'll be ok to keep going further distance wise but the Fred is 4000m of ascent in very sharp bursts so I need to get on that terrain.  

 

In reply to AlanLittle: That looks like a wall and a half, thought Bristol was well sorted but.....impressive.

 

In reply to guy127917: Thanks Guy, last week not a bad week for me, accepting shoulder is fixed, needs ongoing work but at the minute I think I can look to the future-new short term goal, training plan for the year, will give myself two weeks. MTG (over the next year) 7a onsight, 7b/+ redpoint.

Indoor pyramid 6a 2/8, 6a+ 2/4, 6b 0/2, 6b+ 1/1-Whoops.

M-Long day at work, shoulder rehab weights.

T-TCA circuits, got the next one up sorted, 6bish but tough for the tall at the end, useful advice from local guru re TRX.

W-Weights and TRX-good session, expanded repertoire.

Th-Yoga, weights, fingerboard.

Fr-Redpoint-good session, flashed a 6b+, think Redpoint grades very generous, bit hung on through the pump.

Sa-Yoga lesson, first for a while, much more intense with a teacher. Only six months ago I was using a leki sick to push my arm up 18 inches.

Sun- Chill, yoga, weights, fingerboard.

Look forward to the Spotify play list, went to t great gig Friday night but easy to get stuck in a rut and i kind of missed the house thing.

Rich

 

In reply to Solsbury:

Well, I built it but have no idea how to make it public. 

Here's what the Spotify desktop app gives me as the link, if it helps: https://open.spotify.com/user/11102354080/playlist/1xFlbNTflMqEbiBXLiMY0R?s...

Couldn't find one of the tracks

In reply to biscuit:

Oh no, sorry! Hope you’re not too offended. My reconciliation of posters week to week is a very quick scan! 

In reply to AlanLittle:

It's there Alan, thanks.

In reply to guy127917:

In reply to Solsbury:

Had a listen to the whole thing last night, and will give it a go on my next aerocap base phase. There are a few things in there that aren't entirely conducive to sloth-like minimum energy movement though.

In reply to guy127917:

Sorry for the late reply.

Thanks Guy , I will definitely check the link out.

Only one climbing session this week which didn't about to much apart from climbing a couple of the v3-5 circuit and trying a couple of harder problems.

Felt tired in general all week probably due to a stressful business trip involving delayed trains and a visit to the emergency dentist which was far from pleasent!

In reply to guy127917:

Only managed a couple of sessions this week.

Mon - Had planned to do some 1 rep maximums in preparation for a new training phase but didn't quite have the energy. Some light supersets instead. Core warm up, Pullups/Shoulder Press. Front Squat/Deadlift. Pressups

Sun - 1 rep maximums. Pullups - 90kg (70kg BW) DB Shoulder Press - 17.5kg (per DB) Front Squats - 67.5kg Deadlift - 97.5kg

These are well below my PRs, think I've done a lot of detraining over the last year.

STG

At least two strength sessions, working to ~70% of 1RM.

Do a 1RM test for Bench Press, Ring Dips and Box steps

Get outside for at least 2 Z1 sessions

Come up with some new goals for the year

MTG 

Rectify the detraining effect of the last few months. Retest 1RMs after 4 weeks.

In reply to guy127917:

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 5/3/18, (recruitment)
Mo: General walking, 6.6 miles. Bouldering, (15 problems, 20 mins limit bouldering, 20 min hangboard).
Tu: General walking, 6.3 miles. Rest day.
We: General walking 6.4 miles. Bouldering, (12 problems, 20 mins campus’ing).
Th: General walking, 6.9 miles. Lead climbing, (9 routes).
Fr: Commuting walk, 7.4 miles. Rest day.
Sa: General walking, 6.6 miles. ARC session, (sort of: easier boulder circuits ~20 mins).
Su: General walking, 5.3 miles. Quick gym session before Mother’s day took over, (1k row, 5k ride, 3k run).

- weight 10st 6lb/bf 15.9%

 

Another messy week: Wed session too early after and power’ed out in no time; missed 7a on Thursday and didn’t warm up properly for boulder circuits and got flash pump. Need to get balance right and want to avoid injury and still have some skin for the training target, (Provence), at the month end!

 

@ guy127917: yup, I'll certainly be offering to drive to proper climbing next time someone suggests Peak winter esoterica!! 

In reply to Ardo:

Hi at the wall today I was recommended a book called something like "fitness after 50" but cannot find it anywhere anyone got any idea as not 100% got correct title or a link

Thanks.

In reply to Ardo: 

Peak esoterica is the best!!!

What route did you do? 

In reply to guy127917:

Was I absent last week?  Time loafing about goes quickly!

This week 1 session in my bouldering wall & 6hours skiing at chill factor. 

Skiing next week & then I'm hoping to properly up my game.

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 - scared to weigh myself tbh M - 40 lunges 40 sit ups 20 push ups 40 squats

T - Rest W - 3x10 of lunges, squats, situps and pushups T - Rest

F - Rest

S - 3x15 of lunges, squats, situps and pushups

S - Rest

Definite improvement in terms of getting some exercsie done.  Hope to keep up the tempo up next week.  Need to start some kind of diet again soon.  And blimey the formatting of the new editor triggers me.  Wonder if there's a code block option.

In reply to Si dH:

Mam Tor gulley: loosely bond choss, with the remnants of snow that hadn't been whipped away by the wind and  occasionally some frozen turf!! It's certainly an experience, though I won't rush back for a second ascent.

You got an recommendations, in case the next beast from t'East brings some conditions?

In reply to robert-hutton:

What you asking me for?!?! I'm years away from 50, though closer to it than 40. :-/

Is it general training or climbing specific? I don't think that my training needs to change as I age, though I have noticed that the ability to go 'deep' has receded.

In reply to Ardo:

Try High Tor Gully.

Or better, Kinder... 

Better still, go bouldering  

In reply to Tyler:

What a route! But wow, that last move... :-0

Finding the set up for it tough, too, potentially heartbreaking!

In reply to guy127917:

Would anyone be able to stand in and top post this Sunday? I’ll be getting back from Oslo so will post pretty late otherwise

In reply to guy127917:

I can give it a go if noone else wants to .

In reply to Cyan:

Ah yes I remember now there is a big move up the groove, think I jammed fingers in the horizontal crack, feet high to the left and then threw my RH up to catch a big flat hold in the e groove then matched before moving out right .

In reply to guy127917:

Trying to get this one in under the wire

So last week I didn't have much time to climb or train, so I ended up with 2 sessions for the week I think, along with some box stepping.

Tuesday:

2 hour box step, 935m vertical. Legs felt heavier than usual (but I realize now I went skiing for 3 hours on sunday so that could be why).

Wednesday:

1 hour box stepping, 400m vertical. Did some pull-ups and front lever training in between box stepping, so less vertical than usual.

Also did my core circuit, 8 minute circuit of

V-ups, Hitlers dog, Windshield Vipers, Two point push-up position, Hanging leg raises, One leg bridge with leg up to ceiling, L-sit, Hollow body hold and ab wheel rollouts alternating

Thursday:

Went to a gym that has nice crack climbing to start practicing before the trad season. Will be doing this once a week going forward, if my partner doesn't have to stop because of his bad elbow.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgEs1kwlv4Q/?taken-by=thefasting

Sunday:

Went to  Heggedal and toproped some difficult ice. Toproped a WI5 two/three times and a WI6 one time. Last time I tried a WI5 I only made it up one lap, so definite improvement there. Debated leading the WI5 but the ice had a lot of pockets of air in it when I screwed the screws in, so I decided against it. I figure I have another 30 seasons to lead WI5, so no need to rush.

In reply to guy127917: Hi, sat down trying to work out a training plan-goals are 7a onsite and 7b/+ redpoint. looking to have a peak end of October. I had someone supporting me last year willing to look at the longer picture. I have the first 8 weeks (strength) which I will probably repeat as my shoulder seems to be standing up well. He was putting four weeks worth of session in to a shared google calender and I was writing in what I did, this however ground to a stop when I injured my shoulder.

I am struggling to work out the blocks of a periodised plan stretching over 30 weeks or so. I am willing to give up a bit of fun for gains but am also aware I have lost familiarity with the rock due to the enforced break, I know I climb better when I climb more on rock but may be able to make gains by bouldering outside, something I have not done much of.

So can anyone point me towards any articles looking at longer periods, I was also wondering whether it is worth getting input from a coach to help-any recommendations in the Bristol area?

Will probably launch in with the first four week block of strength training I have next week, with fill in sessions of shoulder work still.

Ta 

 

Rich

 

In reply to Solsbury:

End October isn’t far from 6momths so the stuff in Alex’s pdf linked in the header post should be about right - that works for that sort of time period.

In reply to Solsbury:

Hi Rich, before fixing on a plan I would recommend thinking about what type of route you want to aim for so that you can target your training a bit more. Eg, if you want to climb something fingery/bouldery then don't bother with aerocap.

I have also found it really useful tocidentto intermediate goals that motivate me at the end any particular phase. So, if a 6 month period was split into 2 months strength/power, 2 months ancap and 2 months aeropow (for illuatrillus - I'm not saying thatst right for you) then I would have an outside bouldering goal I was psyched about in the spring, a short sport route or boulder traverse I was psyched for in summer, and the final longer route maybe on a trip in autumn.

The intermediate goals can be just as important as the end goal sometimes, and whole plan can adapt if you realise half way through that you're qctuaactmore motivated to stick with one of the intermediate stages. This helps keep me motivated.

Si

 

Edit: sorry about the strange typos, I am having real trouble with ukc text input on android since they updated the forum.

In reply to Si dH: Cheers Andy and Simon, I had forgotten about the Alex barrows article, it fits perfectly with what I was doing before-sorted.

Agree about some intermediate goal, need to firm u something for about twelve and 24 weeks, well hopefully by 24 weeks I will be hitting local project. 

Quite clear about the type of route 18-30m slightly overhanging limestone, or vertical S Wales Sandstone, not very bouldery and euro-endurance, staying clear of tufa fests.

Thew route that springs to mind, Fragrance abuse at Tintern, is a bit of a big ask probably and it is in a quarry with dodgy access. Thinking cap time.

How do you put links for climbs in?

Rich

 

In reply to Solsbury:

when you are writing a post, there is a little text search box above to 'insert climb link...' and another for a crag link.