UKC

UKC Fit Club is not a substitute for the training diary but to use with (or without) it as a motivational tool for all.

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

A new thread is posted each week on Sunday for anyone to jot down their previous week's activity, noting goals, successes and failures and to swap ideas.

Anyone interested in starting is very welcome but 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 to help achieve your goals whatever the level of your chosen activity.

Link to last week's (280) thread:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=514668


Kevster – hope you managed to get out this week?
mrchewy – likewise hope you got?
Sankey – Amazing trip to the Alps, lots done! Did you get your goals sorted now you are back?
biscuit - Busy week! hope you managed to stay on the wagon and get some climbing in. And btw I like the “no points for style only kudos for grades” thinking, so true! I will adopt the expression from now on..
liz_j – good going on the half! That sounds quick to me!
grubes – Nice one on the V4. Sport climbing goal for this week, get any done? It’s been pretty wet....
NMN – Borrowdale race Saturday, how did it go? Forecast was terrible!
Daniel Heath – that’s a good week considering limitations you’re working with. Anything this week?
ayuplass – Ingleton is interesting yes. It has a bit of a homemade feel to it, mainly cos it is homemade! Wharncliffe sounds good, steady as you go while you get back into it.
AJM – busy week and some ace plans for future climbing. How’s the fitness training going?
Si dH – good effort on the E3, you were robbed!
Ian Bell –climbing at new venues, some good, some bad, at least you know now!
seankenny – busy week back at your old haunts. More wall training this week?
hokkyokusei – effort getting the cycle commute done every day. Should help keep up your fitness while you sort your calf, any progress with that?
pebbles – welcome! So, fingerboarding every day, how did it go? Crucifix, I know you have been scuppered by weather on this, hope next week is better...
IainRUK – lotsa miles there!
Eagle River – what you been up to this week? Really good going with Spent Youth at Trollers last Saturday, hope you’ve managed to get out this week and that you have kept on at the rehab.
mattrm – That was a fantastic week away in Switzerland, awesome. Get anything done this week or are you still basking in glory?
Curious Yellow – Good week for you, is that a new project at Cheddar? how’s it going with the elbow?
Eric9Points –R&R last weekend, how you feeling now?
leon – don’t listen to the doommongers! You are a wad! E2 is easy for you!
Ali – sounds like things are a bit more settled and you can start training and setting some goals now, any progress?
JimmyKay – Good start to the week in Yorkshire then finishing off in Wales, sounds like fun!
Quiddity – thanks for your thoughts on falling, it’s made me think a bit more about it and I’ll hopefully put some of the psychology into practice. And a great week for you, 7b+ in a day! And some hard grades indoor bouldering, all good!
markez - sounds good.

Not going to list absentees as I missed a few off last week.

In reply to Nomics4sale:


Surprisingly ok actually, cheers! Actually ended up doing a bunch of trad this week, which whilst it isn't the most conventional way of training for a sport trip beats the hell out of lappping a boulder for fitness!

Indoor/training priorities

• Desperately get fit!
  
• Rolling average weight/body fat - 71.7kg 12.7%
  

<STG> - before October sport trip if it happens

• Maintain fitness and sport head
  
• Tick some more of the pyramid, including trying at least one 7c+ [done: 1 7c+]

<MTG> - 2012

• Complete 7c+ pyramid (currently completed 7/8 x 7b, 2/4 x 7b+, 1/2 x 7c, 1/1 x 7c+)
  
• 20 x 7as/E2s or above in good style [completed: 5x 7a onsight, 7x E2 onsight, 1 x E3 onsight, 1 x E3 ground-up]
  
• 7a+ onsight

<LTG>

• Well rounded E3 leader, tackling routes in committing locations
  
• E4 onsight
  
• 8a before 30
  
• 7a/+ onsights at hard continental crags

<BHAG>

• Big mountain routes like Tempi Moderne, Comici etc
  
• E5 onsights
  
• 8a/+ redpoints
  
• 7b/+ onsights at hard continental crags
  
• Some big silly bike ride like Pyrenees coast to coast or Tour du Mont Blanc or something

M: Shredded and battered from the wall. Rest.
T: TCA. 6a+ & 6b circuit and some problems to warm up. Redpointed the 6c+ circuit first go of the evening. Repeated it later on and, after down climbing some easy jugs, started it again and got to hold 13, the first crux. Got on the steep board and got to about hold 32 on the orange 6c+ and had a couple of decent redpoints to the 20-move region on the yellow 7a. Skin shredded by the end.
W: Avon with Kevster. Seconded M1, an E1, to warm up. Got on Mirage, which is a bouldery E3 6a/b on the ramp. First go I faffed at the rest, wasn't recovering quite enough, upped and downed a bit, faffed when it started to shower, then finally committed relatively well but fell off. Lowered off, took a rest,, and then set off again, this time in heavier rain with no more expectations than "got to at least get to those top runners again to make gear retrieval less epic". Managed to nail the crux, which stayed dry, and then scared myself a fair bit on the topout which was flat breaks running with water in what was then a fairly heavy rain. Epic fun?! Definitely the hardest moves I've ever done on trad though, pleased with the ground-up tick.
T: Rest
F: Avon again. This time I managed to onsight New Horizons II, an E2, and Rancho Cucomongo, an E3. Very pleased. Feel like I'm still faffing like anything on those routes so hopefully if I can get my onsight head back in the zone and get more in the trad vibe again I should be able to do a bit harder - would love to continue the Ramp ticklist and try Them (hard E3) and maybe even Arms Race (super pumpy E4), but think a bit more miles under the belt needed first!
S: Rest.
S: Going to the wall shortly, will report back.

So a good week. Chuffed with the trad ticks, feeling like I can faff but still get the job done and they were good aerocap training too. Pleased with progress at the wall on the circuits too, feeling not that massively out of shape which is nice. Very pleased with the weight loss too which I think will help, kept a very good diet pretty much all week, and whilst I'm sure a lot of the loss is just water it's still a boost seeing the numbers fall, especially since yesterday was a new low of below 71kg for the first time in probably well over 10 years.

Flying out on Friday so will probably report later this week on Mon-Thurs, after that I don't know, hopefully there will be some Internet at some point on my travels otherwise I'll be seeing you all in September...!

In reply to AJM:

Thanks Nomics,

Well done on the trad AJM, glad to have lit a spark. Dead jealous of your exploits. I have a couple of days planned in my head to get ticking around the ramp too. A good autumn venue I think.

Hats off to you for doing the E3 in the rain! My half ropes are still drying in the bathroom! They got wet through. And my jeans didn't dry out fully untill the next day. "Its not about style, just kudos for the tick"

My progress: I've felt I have been off the ball recently and getting podgy & unfit. I still think I'm climbing OK though. Whih is good, considering my mental image. Put a few more meters in this week. Plenty of motivation and fun. Loving the trad and sport at the moment.

Mon
Tues: indoors, tried to tick the hard 7b+ at the wall. A when, rather than if, route. Neeed to man up today and get it finally done.
Wed: Avon with AJM. See above for detail (thanks). I think I can now call myself competent at E1, rather than dabbling at it. Need to now get on E1's as warm ups and start pulling/tying onto E2 and E3 more often.
Thur: Reading climbing centre. Plenty of bouldering, and some routes (which I found tough). Think I was there for 6 hours.
Fri
Sat: Dorset/Winspit. Did a few lower grade routes, OS Freemarbler 7a with realative ease - smiles. Avenging the Haswell next. I got to the top over hang on my only previous effort. Did the same first try on sat. Sorted the sequence and thought "next go its in the bag" For the next 6 attempts I thought "next go its in the bag", getting it complete each time with one rest/fall. I sit here typing totally convinced that "next time its is definitly in the bag" - I can physically cruise the lower section now, and the crux move for move. Taking bets that it kicks my ass on next ascent!
On the plus side, laps on a 7b all day must be good training.
Sun: Going indoors today for that hard red.


So, in all. An excellent hi volume week.

Next week: Try to keep the volume up (indoors twice would be pushing the time limits I have), I fancy Millstone at the weekend to practice my crack climbing for Lundy. Time for tea on the hit list. Any other recomendations?

Mid term: Lundy is the big trip. - Get trad head into harder climbs (with a long list of E1 & 2s on the lundy list)
Sport: Finish of Haswell, Chillula and HOM. Continue 7a a day.

Longer term: 2nd clean 7c - assuming HOM falls soon, get on other harder climbs.
Trad consolidate E2 with some time and effort put into Avon and swanage routes.


Thanks, Kevin

In reply to Nomics4sale:

Cheers Nomics. Fell off the waggon spectacularly one night in the week but back on it now.

Have a great trip Andy and well done on the trad.

Last weeks targets:

BF - average of 12% DONE
Routes - 2 sessions, 1 hard 1 easy DONE
circuits - 1 DOING IT TONIGHT. Supposed to have been to Torcalito yesterday but car broke down.
fingerboard PE session - 2 NOT DONE DID 1
Core - 3 NOT DONE DID 2
Run - 2 DONE 4
Complexes -3 NOT DONE DID 2

M - Planned rest day
T - Routes in Chorro, core, complexes
W - Routes in Rosario
T - Massive hangover - unplanned rest day. Not good
F - 2 1/2 hr runs, core, complexes, 500m swim
S - 2 1/2 hr runs, fingerboard PE session
S - circuits, core, complexes


HOT HOT HOT here with any exercise feeling harder than it should. When sitting down outside under a shade causes you to sweat then you know it's a bit warm. Not many routes getting done in a session, maybe 5 or 6, as you just feel sapped.

Not a bad week. Bottled a steep 6c onsight on Tues but it was my 'warm up' and i flash pumped and grabbed a draw :0( I would have made the clip i am sure, it was just there in front of me and as soon as i thought: " It's OK if you feel you're coming off when clipping you can grab the draw." i had crossed the line and felt myself reaching out for it.

I wanted to try a 7a in good style so i purposefully top roped one with the intention of doing that a couple of times and really getting the sequences in my head and then RP'ing it smoothly and in total control. Got on-sight fever on the TR and ended up fighting through to the end and got it. Learnt nothing about the route though. Really hot and very sapping so decided to just go for it next time on lead. Struggled and wobbled up it, totally wrong handed in a 2 finger pocket that took some serious sorting out and i thought i'd blown it. I was pleased with my fighting on, even though i was sure it was a lost cause, got past the crux and promptly fell off on easy ground when i went for a hidden hold, that i had found on the OS, but it wasn't there - oops ! I got the wrong section. Good big fall though.

Routes at Rosario was mileage and nice and steady.

May have a new circuit location 10 mins from my house, going to look at it when it's cooled off tonight. Fingerboard PE went OK last night, right kind of intensity i think. 3 mins on. 8 secs both hands, 3 secs 1 hand alternating left and right. Obviously this is feet on. Repeated 5 times with 3 mins rest.

Swimming is hard ! Not done any since i was about 10 with badges sewn on my little speedos. i don't really like it but while i am there with the kids i may as well do something. When i started i could do about 3 lengths. Now i am doing 10 lengths at a time with a break in between.

Body fat is steady at 11.5% so target for this week is 11%

This weeks targets could be tricky. I can see me getting 1 routes session done but my car has to go in for some work and it could be 3 or 4 days with Spanish time keeping. So it may be PE fingerboard sessions this week. It's also the town feria starting on Tuesday until Saturday. That means loud outdoor music all night until about 6am. Sleep may be hard to come by.

Body fat 11%
Routes - 1 session
circuits - 1 hopefully
fingerboard PE session - 3 or 4 if i don't get to circuits
Core - 3
Run - 4
Complexes - 3

In reply to Nomics4sale: Cheers for doing fitclub nomics,

Back from Canada now, had a really great time. Weather wasn't amazing at times, often very hot and wet but still managed to get something done most days. Also had a few issues with my shoulder, but nothing Voltarol couldn't handle.

The tally of ticks above 7a/E3, in fourteen days, is something like this:

All of them are onsight, again I didn't bother redpointing on holiday -

7a

Criterium Short - 10m power-endurance route, fun and pumpy - Lake Louise.
Honeymoon's Over - 15m power endurance, much harder than^, not dissimilar to a campus board with very far apart rungs - Cougar Canyon
Half-assed Amputees - 35m technical and sustained vertical wall climb, brilliant - Skaha
Unnamed? - Nasty crimpy polished thing at Nordic Rock, didn't enjoy!

7a+

Rainy Day Women - The classic of the crag so very polished but also very good! Lovely small jugs everywhere.
Lay of the Land - Long arete which was feeling really easy till the holds ran out at the top, hard to O/S - both at Little Si
Arapilesian Dog - Short route which was basically two tough boulder problems separated by a sit down rest. Top route though - Mazama

7b

Beefcake Pantyhose - Short, fairly steep and very technical arete. Lots of heel/toe hooks and holds the wrong way round - Mazama

7b+

Grip reaper - Another arete, this one much steeper, less technical and very pumpy! Easier if you use the arete less - Cougar Canyon
Animal Control - Massive crazy roof thing, loads of big flat holds in horizontal/upside down land. Really fun, lots of nice rests with heelhooks and bathang-type-things - Mazama

4xE2

E3

Grand Wall first pitch - really sustained laybacking up a thin crack on little smears. Probably only 5b the whole way, with no rests - Squamish
Tower - Basically a 30m 6c with four bolts and decent but runout gear in between. E3 6a? - Little Si

E4

Block and Tackle - Classic, really fun and thuggy. Quite grit-like climbing, round holds and jamming through a small roof. E4 6a - Murrin
Horrors of Ivan - Very popular route, starts with two bolts up an unprotectable section then finishes up a steep, pumpy crack. E4 6a - Murrin
The Grand Wall - This was the best thing I did all holiday, the classic big route on the Chief. A long multi-pitch route with loads of famous pitches (Split Pillar, The Sword.) Two E4 pitches and a few E2/3 pitches. Dad led the Split Pillar pitch and I led the (supposedly crux) Sword Pitch, which I actually found easier than Split Pillar. The most physically draining thing I've ever done! - Squamish Chief

So I'm pretty happy with that ticklist, however I would've preferred to step up my sport onsight grade to 7c, which had been my goal for a while now. I'm glad to have done a lot of trad climbing though, and I think Grand Wall is a really cool thing to have done. I think I've properly consolidated my 7a onsight now, having got each one I tried with not too much difficulty. Lastly, it was also an educational experience learning to climb on so many new types of rock - I learnt to jam properly when we climbed on Granite, as well as Gneiss which is all crimpy, and quartzite stuff at Lake Louise.

Sorry that was such a long post!

Cheers, Jake

In reply to Nomics4sale:

Thanks Nomics.

Goals: 7b+ by the end of the year, Hasta Luego Luca at Loja.

Mon: Elbow rehab
Tues: Elbow rehab
Wed: lethargic routes session at MCC. Went there for a bit of a change but they hadn't changed the routes since I was last there......in May. Still had 5 goes at 7b+s on the main wall (falling each time) then energy levels fell off a cliff and I felt really weak.
Thurs: got ill
Fri-Sun: still ill.

Illness not serious but enough to stop any sort of physical activity. Coincidentally it has been a pretty decent time to sit on the couch and watch TV, what with GB smashing the olympics. Annoyingly the left hand side of the catwalk at Malham is dry for the first time since May so I've missed that but hopefully it might stay dry for next weekend.

Aiming to be fully fit elbow-wise and stamina wise for the week trip to Spain in October. Any time I get outdoors until then should really be spent on 7b+s as that is the overall goal for the year. Done 6 7bs now so need to push on.

In reply to Nomics4sale:
Cheers Nomics
Well, have to say that my legs were a tad tender after last sundays efforts so went along to the club on wed with the intention of a steady run. However, I had forgotten that it was 'out and back' and ended up doing a shade short of 4 and 3/4 miles in 40 mins. I did try to really slow it up on the way back as I was feeling tired but the knees protested so I had to continue in my chosen pace!!

I decided not to run then until today, spent yesterday mainly eating and have just run 11 miles x-country without it even feeling hard. Mind you, we did have lots of stops as there was a bit of pruning to do on several of the stiles and my legs are tingling from the nettles now.

I've just put my name down to do the Bristol Half at the end of Sept, so plenty of hill training and x-country and hopefully I'll be fit enough to get under 1.50 this time on a flat course!!

Does anyone want to buy a load of climbing gear??

In reply to Nomics4sale: 90 plus miles this week, feeling it.. very tired and sore..

m: am; 5.1 miles. pm: 6.1 miles.
t: am: 5.1 miles. lunch: 5.1 miles. pm: 5.1 miles
w: 16.9 miles
t: lunch: 5.3 miles. pm: 6.8 miles
f: lunch: 5.3 miles. pm: 6.1 miles.
s; 12 miles hot and humid.. blew up after 6...
s: am: 7 miles. pm: 6 miles.

In reply to Nomics4sale:


Yeah, the calf is much, much better thanks! Enjoyable week with a mixture of activities. Not as much cycling as I would have liked, but just because of practicalities rather than a lack of motivation. I ran with a guy I haven;t run with for a while and was pleased to be able to out sprint him at the end of our run as he usually has a bit more left than me. First time bouldering at the barn, must try and make it a regular thing.

m - Road biking 5.55 km, 5.56 km
- Trail running 5.01 km
t - bouldering at The Climbing Barn in Crossflats
w -
t - Trail running 5.52 km, 5.12 km
f - Road biking 5.63 km, 5.62 km
- Walking 23.87 km (First half of the Yorkshire Three Peaks - we bivvied at the summit of Whernside)
s - Walking 15.51 km (Second half of the Yorkshire Three Peaks)
s -

In reply to Kevster:

Cheers kev - with the ease you pissed up M1 I reckon you would nail that stuff I did Friday pretty steadily. If you're about in future drop me a line, reckon on our uneven belay stints (you on Mirage, then me on Chulilla the time before) it's my turn To do some serious rope holding next!

In reply to biscuit:

Cheers Andy!

Joughton - awesome sounding trip!!

In terms of my wall session I pushed a few moves further on the yellow 7a, had an ok go at the orange 6c+, and did a load of problems. Good session. Meant to be down tomorrow too so made an effort to conserve skin. Overall a decent session. Going to maybe hit some weights and core later to increase the workout a bit more.

In reply to Nomics4sale:


Thanks for doing the stats Nomics4sale.

Borrowdale was hard, the long A's always are, the weather was great, if anything a bit hot for most of it. The time and position were bad, but given how much I have been running recently I don't think I could've expected much better, no problems just plodded on round.

STG: Snowdon Race - beat last years time. - Fail
Cuillin Ridge Traverse - 2 day attempt. - Tick
Just to get out climbing again (struggle to run and climb, running has won for the last 2 years or so).

MTG: Ben Nevis Race - beat last years time.
Get back to regularly onsighting VS / HS.

LTG: Push trad grade.
High Peak Marathon

M - 6.02m trail run, 690ft.
T - rest.
W - 5.84m trail/road run, 274ft.
T - rest.
F - rest.
S - 17m Borrowdale Fell Race, 6,500ft.
S - rest.

In reply to AJM:
Effort on the e3 beast.

Joughton that is one amazing onsight ticklist for a fortnight, nice one.

Will post my bit later when at the PC.

In reply to Nomics4sale:

Thanks to Nomics for doing the stats this week, and big up to all the posters doing good stuff. Pretty impressive tick list there Jake!

Goals: 7a+/12a, E3/10d/11a, El Cap

M: Rest
T: Four hour wall session at Westway. Bouldering to V4 for one hour. Then 7 full circuits, approx 3m on/4m off. Pumped on last, tried 8 but fell off after about 1m30s. Laps on autobelay - [6b up, 5 down], [6b up, 5 down, 6a up], [2x5+up], 5+ up. 3x10 press ups.
W: Rest
T: Another four hour WW session. 1hr10m Bouldering up to V4/5. Circuits. 5 laps, 3m on, 3m30s off, fell off absolutely pumped at 2:57 on final lap. Autobelay routes, 5 laps. [6b-ish up, 5 down, 5+ up], [6a+ up, 5+, 5+], [6a up, 5, 5], [3x5], [3x5]. 3x10 press ups. Absolutely exhausted after this. Had to have a sleep for an hour at home afterwards.
F: Westway session. Bouldered a bit, could do nothing harder than about V2 - totally knackered from the previous day. Then made a little circuit and did it about six times, to failure from being pumped.
S: Nothing.
S: Nothing.

So, the benefits of unemployment = long hours at the wall. Felt like I really had some good training sessions this week, if I could train like this for a couple of months I'd be in unbelievable shape. Decided not to go climbing outside this week as the weather forecast was iffy, but go for it at the wall. I wanted to get as pumped as possible, as often as possible - endurance has always been a weak point and I'm off to the land of endurance climbing, so best get on it. Did about 300m of climbing on my two big days which is the same as I'd hope to do on a long day route in Tuolomne/the Valley, or indeed a day on the Nose.

It was interesting trying to climb two days on after such an intense session. My usual medium problems were utterly impossible, I just couldn't pull on the holds at all.

Hopefully next week will actually get out on the crag.

In reply to Nomics4sale:

Nah had hoped to get out today but mate said he was not gonna risk it.

STG (end of Nov):
7a sport in UK
7a in Chorro
Onsight 6c in Chorro
MTG (end of 2012):
No major injuries
Do some sea cliff's
Do some DWS
LTG (June 2013):
7b
7A
E3/4

This Weeks Goals:
More sport? - Fail 1 trad two wall sessions bouldering skin is appauling.

M: Pule hill. Soloed about a bit one new S tick onsight
T: Rest
W: Rest
T: Rest
F: Rest
S: Climbing works. 4 hours did pretty much the entire black circuit. plus a few harder things and a lot of easier stuff.
S: Depot. Entered the comp score 167 pretty happy with that being tired from the day before

Next Weeks goals:
Get out on rock

feeling really tired not aching all over two intense wall sessions. Been a bit distracted from climbing by the olympics

In reply to Nomics4sale:
Thanks Nomics. Not sure how much I can claim falling off Mad Dogs was the guidebook's fault, after all, it is supposed to be an onsight

Short term goals (spring/summer):
- maintain weight at just below 11 stone **currently 11 stone 2**
- Tick off a good list of E2s including Darius **so far this year done Savage Messiah, Black Wall Eliminate, Erasmus, Soyuz, Armageddon, Scoop Wall, Darius and The Strand**
- Do a High Tor E3 and one or two others on limestone **none yet - failed on Mad Dogs and Englishmen**
-Start working towards 7c pyramid - **for progress see below**

Medium term goals (autumn):
- Grit E3
- Complete 7c pyramid (8*7a+, 4*7b, 2*7b+, 1*7c) **now need 2*7a+, 1*7b, 1*7b+ and 1*7c**

Long term goals (2013): - Tick 7c in France or Spain - Multiple grit and limestone E3s

M: Nothing (working late)
T: Nothing (ditto)
W: Nothing (ditto - very busy at the moment)
T: Short bouldering session at Alter Rock. Did some nice problems, felt reasonably good but only had about 45-50 minutes (working too late again)
F: Nothing (skiing lesson at Tamworth - much-improved this week and am now allowed to ski from the top on my own Think we'll look to book a late deal trip this winter.)
S: Cheedale. Did the 6b on max's again to warm up then went up to the Embankment and got on Mind of a Turbot, a 7b I'd had my eye on as the next step in my pryamid. Typical of the Embankment, the bottom wall is ridiculously hard to read and thin on sidepulls, then you get some good jugs in a break where it steepens and make two stiff pulls through the roofs to easy ground. I had two working goes to figure out my sequences then thought I'd give it a go despite not being 100% on the lower wall. In the event I got through that ok but then unexpectedly ran out of juice and fell off the second hard pull through the roof. Doh! I then repeated this twice more and realised I was too tired to get it that day. Double doh!
S: Had been planning a day at home to do housework and maybe a short wall trip. However at the pub on Saturday night my mate told me he was going back to the Embankment today...hey presto, ended up back on Mind of a Turbot (after the de rigeur warm-up on Max's). This time ticked it first go putting he clips in It's amazing what difference being completely fresh makes. Then had an onsight attempt at the 6c+ next door, managed to get through the crux bulge but then faffed too long before getting my feet up and got too pumped to clip the next bolt, cue fail. That was a mental issue.

Overall not got much done due to workload and concerned this might be the case for a while. However was pleased to do Turbot today, another 7b ticked off.
This coming weekend I've got another trip to Gogarth or else to somewhere else in N Wales lined up. Hoping to get a few E2s done, maybe an E3. After that I'll be focussing mostly on sport for a few months until the limestone gets wet again...

Si

In reply to Nomics4sale: Thanks once again for the effort of putting the thread up, appreciated.

Mad week at work, silly hours, so no training..

Wales this weekend and did Outside Edge Route in Cwm Silyn - what a cracking climb! Was pouring down heavily but Will led the first two pitches as I was having non of leading in that rain, the sun came out and the rock eventually dried for what turned out to be a cracking evening.

Pleased with my ability to see the little foot holds, a new talent for me and down to the bouldering and sport in Switzerland last month. Happily ran out my pitches, foot jamming in the wet crack felt solid and feel like I've pushed on a huge amount, even tho I struggled in the Alps. All the failure did me some good.

AJM - leading E3 in the rain... insane!

In reply to mrchewy:


Unplanned!

In reply to Nomics4sale:

Thanks for doing fit club Nomics4sale. Lost two pounds this week. Which is good.

Continuous - Shoulder / knee rehab / ankle strengthening
STG - Consolidate VS (2nds DONE | 7/10 leads), 11st 12lbs, 6a onsight.
MTG - Lead HVS, 11st 9lbs
LTG - Lead E1, 11st 7lbs
VLTG - Lead E2, maintain weight - 11st 12lbs
Aspirational - Climb E5/6, Scottish Winter VI, WI5, Redpoint 8a, stay injury free & maintain 11st 7lbs

Weight - 12st 2lbs - lost 2lbs

M - T - Rest
W - 5k
T - S - Rest
S - Stretches and exercises

Lost two pounds this week. Had a fairly lazy week, doing lots of DIY. Nice to be able to get into running again. Need to take that easy, build up really slowly. Got a place in the OMM in Cat D. So need to keep up the weight loss and build up the running fitness. Not sure that I'm going to get much climbing done this year really. Lots of family stuff the next few weeks and then it'll be more DIY and spending time with the wife.

In reply to Si dH: Cheers, and good effort on Mind of a Turbot! I did it not long ago, it's hard! You should try the 7b further left as well, Beef It, it was my first 7b and I think it's easier than MoaT once you've got the sequence worked out, though maybe a little more powerful. Oh and that 6c+ is definitely 7a! Some holds fell off making it harder.

In reply to AJM: thanks Andy, good to see you getting loads of hard trad routes done - I'm going to Avon on the way to places further south so I'll give some of those routes a go. Also you're trip to France sounds great, just had a look in the guide and it looks like an awesome crag.

In reply to Joughton:

Not that I've tried either, but on the Ramp I figure with your sport fitness Arms Race and Low Profile are probably the big hitters, although there's tons in the E4-6 range up there..... Be interested to see how you find it!

In reply to Nomics4sale:
STG: Do a full week of training(tick)
MTG: Nothing
LTG(2012): 1*V8, 2*V7, 4*V6(2), 8*V5(5). Something on the main cliff @ Gogarth(tick). Lead a 6c
VLTG(2015?): Classic e5 (Positron?, Right Wall?)

Falls: 0(92)
Fat %: 9.4%
Focus: Strength(3/4)

Mon: Weights. Core.
Tue: Bouldering @ Stockport (VIR to V7/8). ARC.
Wed: Pushups, pull-ups, weights. Core.
Thu: ARC. 4x4(v3,v3,v3,v2). Repeaters.
Fri: Rest.
Sat: Core. ARC. Repeaters.
Sun: Bouldering @ home (VIR to V6).

Thanks Nomics, shame I wasn't climbing with you last Friday!!

A good week of training at last. All sessions went well except for the two VIR sessions where I couldn't top the pyramid, at Stockport is was down to the fact all the problems were knew to me. At home I was simply too mentaly tired towards the end of the night (early start coupled with a day of being screamed at by the kids).

Two weeks of very light training coming up because I've got 3 days over at Gogarth next week & then I've got 5 days climbing in the lakes the following week YIPEEEEEEEE. After that I'll probably be concentrating on completing the bouldering pyramid & getting out sport climbing when weather & partners allow.

STG: First e3???

Goals for me

10 more 7a (2/12)
2x7a+ (1/2)
1x7b

T - WW. Went to do some bouldering but elbows aching a bit after 5 or 6 v2-v3 ish problems. Did roped climbing, 2x6c, 1x6c+, 1x7a also.
S - Castle and the bouldering comp. Did 25 ish problems with maybe 6 or so around v3 i'd guess and the rest easy. Elbows aching a bit but not too bad.

Super busy at work at present which is cramping the climbing. However elbows are grumbling a bit so maybe thats not the worst thing in the world. Much olympics watching this weekend also.

Should be outdoors the next quite a few weekends so looking forward to that.

In reply to Nomics4sale: cheers nomics
mon- sun - nowt

Turns out the chest infection I was battling last week was actually whooping cough. Been off work all week, sat on sofa watching Olympics - good fun apart from the illness and feeling rubbish bit. Had to cancel a trip to wales this weekend. Taking this week off work as well probably. Off to Lundy on the 14th so resting now and hoping for a speedy recovery, my climbing isn't as good as I hoped it would be for this trip but should still be fun if I'm well enough.
On the plus side I have no appetite so I've lost a few pounds!

In reply to ayuplass:

Arse! Hope you're well for Lundy. It looks ace there, I'm sure you'll have a great time.

AJM - Good ticklist there.

Great too see that the send train seems to be back in town!

In reply to Nomics4sale: ha! too many targets. The only one i reached was getting up early every day to fingerboard or do core/antagonistic exercises. which I actually managed, so make it a bit harder this week. Finally had a go at the bouldering targets sat morning, but heart wasnt really in it. Mostly for good reasons as took friday off to climb at stanage, and was still knackered. Think I need to get some routes done this week (indoors or out)-to get ready for a lundy trip ) - need to get some stamina back

In reply to Nomics4sale:
You've got a newbie... *gulp*
Need some motivation to get out more and achieve and simply keeping track isn't doing it, some public humiliation might! Basically have been climbing/travelling since last Oct and starting to lose all motivation, now I am more 'settled' again as well I need to start making and working towards some goals that I have abandoned while travelling.

M: Walked into Envers hut, 4 hours ish.
One pitch 5c, hut crags.
T: 7 pitch TD-, led 2x 5c, 1 easy.
W: 1x 5a, 1x5c, hut crags.
Walked out from hut.
T: Nothing
F: 45 min mtb, ~ 200m ascent
S: nothing
S: nothing

Goals for this week:
- one big trip tues/wed/thurs, tbc but at least D level on rock/AD snow.
- get out before/after work other days - run/mtb.
- at least one 10km run
- come up with some realistic and well thought out long term goals, post them next week...

In reply to maria85:

Hello and welcome! Where are you at the moment? Seems like you are in a good place to get some exciting things done.

In reply to Nomics4sale:

STG: Lead E1, V4 traverse at Almscliff, more running mileage
MTG: do trek
LTG: RP 7a in a day in UK, lead E1, onsight 6c/+ abroad

Mon: 6 mile run, 310m ascent, Forest of Bowland
Tues: circuits Ingleton
Wed: 4.5 muddy run Beacon Fell
Thurs: trad day with Nike Jennings at Almscliff, onsight VS x 2, HVS x 2, and FIRST TRAD FALL!!
Fri: 9.5 mile run, 410m asecnt Forest of Bowland
Sat: Almscliff bouldering, bit half hearted.
Sun: Almscliff bouldering, bit better, worked the Crucifix traverse

Really good day out with Nik on Thursday. I'm dead chuffed to have led Great Western and Overhanging Groove, both 3* HVS routes. I know I probably wouldn't have done quite so well on Great Western if Nik hadn't been there giving encouragement but it was good to experience climbing confidently for a change. And I'm very pleased to have taken a trad fall too. Hopefully I can use it to talk myself out of being too gripped on the lead in future.

Nik sent through a report which has some interesting food for thought.

Boudlering was a bit half hearted on Saturday, none of us were really up for it. Did better on Sunday though and really anjoyed working the traverse so I have added it as a STG.

In reply to maria85:

Welcome to Fit Club. Living in Cham? I'm very jealous. Don't forget you'll need some sensible short & medium term goals as well as the long term goals.

In reply to Nomics4sale: Cheers Nomics,

Good luck with the Crucifix traverse, is a project of mine too, been able to do all the bits but seem to always slip off the tough bit after the rest. Getting feet on the stone wall at the end is an effort as well.

Had a quiet week, mainly watching the Olympics, hopefully getting away for some UK trad next weekend which should provide some motivation

M:
T:
W:
T:
F:
S: Road Bike 20.5 miles 2500 feet ascent
S: Laid back bouldering at Apparent North Stanage

Goals still in the planning...

In reply to Nomics4sale:
I'm living in Chamonix until the end of September, so obviously a great place to do lots... which is one of my main reasons for trying to kick my ass back into gear! I spent from Oct to May travelling after leaving Canada where I'd been based for a few years (States, NZ, Patagonia and back to Canada), before coming to Cham - after that long with lots of time on my hands, I've been struggling with motivation to get out lots, have found myself just climbing 'for the sake of it' a bit recently, and not doing much else fitness wise. I'm working again now but still have lots of time to play, and really want/need to make the most of being here before heading back to the UK.
It's a weird situation sometimes as this is so many people's 'dream lifestyle' - yet I actually found myself more motivated when I was working 50-hour weeks and trying to squeeze everything out of time off I could.

Matt: yes, short and medium term goals are also being thought out!

In reply to Nomics4sale:

Lost a lot of climbing psyche this week. Gutted not to be getting out of the UK this summer.

M- Indoor session.
T- Rest day.
W- Running session. Laps with recovery.
T- Track session. 6x800 with 100m recovery jog between each set.
F- Work/Rest day
S- Park run and indoor leading at RP.
S- Did a route at Masson Lees. This broke my promise of never climbing in another inland limestone quarry. Why did I break this promise? Truly woeful places.

In reply to IainRUK:

Change of plan for Sunday, did 16 miles at noon.. in 90F heat.. superb idea.. needed 2 swims in a reservoir and a few drinks stop.. was in a right mess..

In reply to Nomics4sale:

I'm a plastic (and wood) obsessed training geek... I'm using my mid-wall-session break to announce the completion of a totally meaningless indoor training goal (even more so perhaps than the others ):

- finger joint rungs (medium size)
- left hand leading (ie left hand goes to 4)..... 1-4-5.5 x1
- right hand leading (ie left hand throws for 6)... 1-4-6 x2

YYFY

Who would have thought that getting lighter improved your power:weight ratio...? May not have had as long for pe training as I would have liked, but at least I have some power to endure... Bit more break then off to the circuits...

In reply to AJM:

I like that, it a good excuse for not doing any PE training

Currently also mid training break on the fingerboard...

In reply to AJM:

It's the little YYFY's that add up to big YYFY's. Especially quantifiable ones that show improvement.

I had a minor one this morning. My first ever reading on the body fat scales starting with a 10. OK it was 10.9% but it's still a 10

In reply to Nomics4sale:

I toproped the USAFA bendcrete line clean 2 days before I left the country!

It was a first ascent, and about 5.12a/b or 7a+/b. It feels great to leave my mark at the academy like this.

We had survival training with was 4 days eating about 1000 calories in total, but that probably made me light for the send

In reply to Daniel Heath:

Go team GB !!!

In reply to Si dH:

Given the amount of notice I had, it's more a reflection of reality than an excuse - I wish I had had a good 9 weeks to train power endurance but the timescales of this Loup trip just didn't permit.....

In reply to Nomics4sale:

Anyone seen this ?

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/climbcoach/id487204612?mt=8

My phone doesn't even have a camera never mind being able to do apps but i will download it tonight on my wife's apple laptop thing.

It's got graphs and has been touched by the hands of Steve Mc

In reply to biscuit:

On another "did anyone see it" note, I've just caught up with last nights Horizon on ageing/diet/fasting.

For those who didn't see, it's talking about different ways of dieting to try and lose weight and improve blood glucose and all that stuff. Focus was on fasting, the guy was doing a 5:2 structure where you eat whatever you like for 5 days and do some serious calorie restriction (600 cals or so) on the other 2 days.

I've no idea how on earth you would or even if you could do it whilst also trying to train, perhaps you fast on your rest days to ensure you're fuelled properly on your training days. But nevertheless, I've realised that if I'm not doing anything on a weekend I can often get through until dinner without eating much/anything, and when I went to the Caff talk a while back he said he was on stuff like mackerel salad and not much else on his rest days, and I'm also as I type wondering whether it's also similar in application if not in the reasoning to the glycogen dumping stuff that McLeod mentioned a while back.

So yeah, I thought it was quite an interesting program, although exactly where the ideas go next I've no idea....

In reply to AJM:
I have thought youd want to have a bit more than 600 cals the day before a hard training session. Not sure though.
I know I could never get anywhere near that, I tend to eat more on my days off then my days on - certainly when I'm at home, I just get the munchies too much.
Mind you, I suppose I could just eat carrots all day with a couple of slices of bread for dinner...

In reply to Nomics4sale:

Monday - gym.
Tuesday - Costorphine hill, 3.9 miles, 350 feet.
Wednesday - rest
Thursday - Bad day. Intended to do the Mamores but had to abandon the attempt after Munro no. 6. Sore knees and ankles. Looks like my next goal will have to wait until next year now. I'd given myself until the end of August to do it (wanted 14+ hours of daylight) and really needed to do this today and one more long day out before going for it.
Friday - sulked.
Saturday - desultory bouldering on Salisbury crags.
Sunday - gym, mainly legs muscles. Need to think about how to train for long hill days without battering my joints so much.

In reply to Si dH:

I'm not sure either - I don't know how long it takes to recharge the glucose (ie whether a good breakfast the start of a training day would do the trick). That glycogen dumping idea probably holds an answer to that, will have to re-read it.

I've no idea how many calories I could do with on a rest day but at a less extreme version I reckon a couple of bits of bread and a couple of eggs is about 450 (120 per slice and 90 per egg based on the stuff in the house atm), so I could probably manage on about 1000 without being too troubled, if I wasn't active. Maybe less actually I suppose if you did omlettes rather than the bread (I find eggs very filling which is why these numbers are egg-based!).

In reply to biscuit:


Good work Andy. Dont let it slip when single digits are in sight.

AJM take note...

In reply to AJM:

Since trying to be more disciplined with my diet my appetite has become a lot smaller. Small things like one less sausage, a couple less spuds, more veg and a bit more protein combined with timing of eating i.e. after exercise instead of just whenever have slowly led to me not having the massive hunger i used to. I would rather that than fasting personally but i too have noticed that i can go without eating much on rest days.

I saw on Robbie Phillip's blog a while back that he had experimented with glycogen dumping before a comp and lost either 2kg or 2lbs i can't remember which and he felt it made a significant difference for that comp. He wasn't viewing it as a long term thing though o don't believe.

Caff's dieting is along the lines of Dave Mac's much discussed runs of up to 6 hrs in the fells. It's the final piece in the jigsaw for guys who are already doing as much as they can with climbing specific training and already have top notch technique and mental strength.

I am slowly getting down to 10% and i will leave it there and enjoy unleashing my abs on the beach for a while before considering any further loss - maybe for the 8a push.

I lost 10kgs about 18mths ago and that had a marked impact on my performance. Trimming these last few %'s of fat isn't doing that much, in fact my weight hasn't changed, but makes me feel less lardy at the crag when the tanned climbing machines take their tops off

In reply to AJM:

Fried egg butties are my food of choice at the moment. Wholemeal bread, no marg 2 eggs fried with that spray on oil. This is after exercise not for breakfast.

Omlettes are also awesome IMO. Loads of peppers, veg and smoked paprika is my favourite at the moment.

In reply to shark:

Calling me fat Simon?

In reply to shark:

You are like the voice of conscience on my shoulder.

Today is the first day in ages where i thought sod the diet and i have done no cardio, i was very tired and it's very humid, and ate a ( very small ) box of chocolate cookies. I am sure i weakened because of the fact that yesterday i got my first reading with a 10 in front of it.

Back to it tomorrow and thanks for the reminder.

I did do an aero cap session though !

In reply to JimmyKay:


Too fcuking right. I have to bite my tongue at Area Meets when someone, yet again, applauds GG's contribution to Peak mid grade sport climbing.

I'd rather climb indoors

In reply to AJM:

You were on the chunky side at Malham but on the % figures I reckon you must be a bit leaner since then

In reply to shark:

Malham a year and a half ago I was probably nigh on 10kg heavier than I am at the minute, although it was before I got the scales so no idea on the fat %.

Malham earlier this year I was probably a percent or so and a kilo or so heavier than now, so not a massive change. The big change for me was probably between March and October last year, which was probably the low hanging fruit where relatively easy diet changes had a big impact... changes since then have been smaller and a bit more up and down, I've wavered as motivation has come and gone.

In reply to AJM:

Well done.

In reply to biscuit:

Very much the same - have been eating a lot less and noticing not eating on rest days a lot less.

I think this is highlighted at the weekend because during the week I have a more steady routine in terms of food (I have to bring stuff to work with me as otherwise I have no willpower when I'm hungry so buy shite from the canteen). I was just sitting there with him talking about his fasting days and it let me to think that without even realising it I probably hit a reasonable calorie deficit on an unstructured rest day.

Anyway, that program wasn't something I was considering actually doing at the minute, but an idea I found quite interesting when watching and thought could be of interest to others. Just an extended session of thinking out loud really beyond that.

The glycogen dumping always seems to be a short term thing as you say, the only reason I brought it up I suppose is that it would give a clue as to how soon before training you need to start replenishing the glycogen stocks, which might be important if you wanted to train heavily the day after a calorie-deficient day.

In reply to AJM:
Speaking of malham anyone up for yorkshire sport this weekend?
Norwegions say saturday will be cloudy but no rain and sunday rain.
BBC say cloudy both days no rain

In reply to grubes:

I'll be in Gorges du Loup I'm afraid

In reply to AJM:
You lucky £&$!

Have fun mate and enjoy the break.

Any goals/Targets?

In reply to grubes:

Don't know really. Deverse sector, which is where the rest of the group are currently spending most of their time, looks super steep so I'd be happy to be honest to just improve my abilities on that sort of ground and learn some stuff to make me a better climber on that angle. Some of the other sectors look a bit less steep so maybe more chance to tick stuff there. I'm going to play it by ear really - obviously finishing my pyramid and getting some good onsighting done too would be amazing but so would learning some good stuff from the climbing and from the others, who are all moderately good and very psyched - hopefully a good atmosphere to try hard in.

In reply to Nomics4sale: Thanks Nomics! Bit more progress, but as I was going from nothing that's not hard! Feeling pretty psyched for training at the moment (must be Olympic fever) so just trying to fit in what I can.

STG (summer/autumn) - onsight 6c, finish Want Out (7b), Empire of the Sun (7b), Something Stupid (7b)

MTG (2013) - onsight E2, 7c pyramid

Last week:

M - 4 mile brisk walk to pick the car up following wedding the night before
T - nothing (watched women's football at Wembley!)
W - short run, abour 30mins flat - felt tired but determined to do some exercise!
T - Biscuit factory, mainly worked on Blue/Green/Reds plus a few on the competition work. Some interesting problems!
F - nothing
S - nothing
S - bouldering at the Reach - got spanked on v1/2s Finished off with pull ups/push ups and leg lifts.

The weekend was pretty much wiped out with two night shifts on Fri and Sat night, plus taking advantage of the Olympics events and live sites! Well, it's only going to be here once... Elbow holding up ok, which is good, but really felt the fact that haven't been doing any strength training (pull ups/push ups etc) or core recently. Need to improve fitness massively before Sept trip! However trying to make sure I get at least 2 sessions in a week should help.

In reply to Ali:


It'll come!

As promised a quick round up of my training week this week. Off to France tomorrow so posting will be intermittent whilst I am there. I'll try and keep my logbook updated for any stalkers, but I can't promise much!
Monday - as mentioned, some bouldering, then my campus progress, then went and did a few circuits. Not many though as skin was getting thin and I decided that I really needed good skin for France more than the marginal benefit of doing another circuit.
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - last day at work meant I had to bring cakes and whatnot in. Temptation meant I figured weight would go badly. Went to cheddar in the evening, dogged Circus, circus (7c, brilliant) to remember the moves. 2 good redpoints, both coming off the redpoint crux which is the last hard move. Third go my shoulders/core said no lower down, but after a rest I managed to link from bolt 3 through the crux to the top. Good session - would have been awesome to nail it in my second real session on it, but nevertheless very pleased with progress. It's quite pumpy too so all good training.
Thursday - will be resting up before the flight.

Somehow despite yesterday's brownie-fest at work I managed, by dint of not eating any actual breakfast or lunch and having a small post-crag dinner, to record a new weight low this morning of 70.3kg (11 stone 1lb) and a new low body fat % of 11.8%. "weight to lose to racing weight" is hitting new lows as well of about 1.4kg. Overall rolling average is now at 71.0kg 12.2%, so I'm happy with that for my week or two of progress on it. More work to do obviously before I'm able to show my face at Malham again, but I'll get there

Happy crushing folks, see you on the other side...

In reply to AJM:

Have great trip.

In reply to AJM:


But will I be able to show mine? You weigh a bit less than me now.

In reply to shark:

Given that I'm taller than you as well i think (5'11" or so), I can only conclude youre a walking block of muscle...

But it's ok though, I've spent my first morning of unemployment baking cakes. My logic is that if I can't raise my game to Barrows' level I'll bring enough cake with me to fatten him down to mine.

If that fails, I'll chop one of his hands off, that should do the trick.

In reply to nomics:

Flights to Antalya - Booked!!

YES. Psyched.

In reply to Nomics4sale: Seeing all these toned Olympic athletes is making me think I need to get on the diet bandwaggon - so, it's the no-cake diet and extra core work for me... if I don't have time to fit in training at least I can try and stay light! I may even have to weigh myself - uggghhh.