UKC

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

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...     also this - https://www.instagram.com/p/CEGfCg7DbkK/?igshid=4a1o55jwpus2

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

Last weeks post - https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/walls+training/ukc_fit_club_week_719-7293...

New Year's Psyche Vid / Editorial

Leicester lad Orrin Coley and Leicestershire climbing wall proprietor Ton Randall discuss volume shuffling: youtube.com/watch?v=iglCKPwPay4& Interesting thought from Orrin @03:15:

What happens in that ten minutes is, I think, the answer to the eternal question "what actually is climbing technique?"

Happy New Year, Fit Club! Although I fear it will be a few weeks yet before it actually starts to get any happier.

AJM - having lived in the Midlands and North, I underestimate the subtropicality of the climate down south. Good seasonal bouldering tick. Good "work on weaknesses" resolution too - do you think you'll actually do it?

alexm198 - good running mileage. I think you'll find both the snow and hostile natives not conducive to ZUT recce at the moment

Ally Smith - you're still getting more training done than I did as a new parent

biscuit - impressive volume for Christmas week. You don't need me to tell you to be careful with the elbow.

Cyan - 'tis the season to chill & hibernate

Liam P - deload weeks are important. Even if in thsi case they don't involve deloading the stomach.

Neil Kazimierz Sheridan - time to think about declaring some goals?

planetmarshall - re training on dialled problems: I always struggle when I've done crimpd sessions (although not a full lattice plan) with repeating known routes for the physiological benefits, versus the more diverse route reading & movement skills that I feel like I get from doing more routes that I don't know.

Ross Barker - good attempt at Churnet. My one attempt to go there involve a lot of flailing about in the woods with no guidebook & some vague recollections of stuff read online.

Si dH - token session + overeating? Sounds pretty good (apart from the illness part)

Somerset swede basher - so Fit Club Drytooling Meet was just the beginning of your week of impressive efforts? Impressed.

the sheep - more Leicestershire bouldering coming soon. I never actually made it to Forest Rock; Markfield, Whitwick (rip) and Huncote (rip) were more my stamping grounds

Tom Green - impressive dedication to the cause in Christmas week - especially the Fit CLub Xmas Meet! 

Tyler - Sounds like a tough decision to make about the hip.

AlanLittle - another month or two of lockdown may seem like a daunting prospect, but just try to keep ticking over.

Absences this week don't count.

Thanks Alan. Back on it a bit this week.

M: morning fingerboard session re testing on 2 finger pockets. I can currently hang for around 8 seconds with bodyweight + 9 kg using middle 2 on the smallest flat bm2000 pockets, with bodyweight + 6.8 kg using front 2 on the middling bm2000 pockets and with bodyweight + 7-8 kg using back 2 on the big back2 bm2000 pockets. Definitely seeing some recent improvement (especially with Christmas podge) but it's difficult to isolate it from conditions - it was very cold so the fingerboard felt pretty sticky.  Then 5*5 pull-ups with bw+22kg.

T: rest

W: had a remote physio appointment for my left ring finger DIP problem in the morning. Some discussion follows below. I did the first set of prescribed exercises in the evening.

T:  rest

F: second set of physio-recommended exercises in the morning

S: rest

S: warmed up at home and then had a couple of hours at Pex Hill. I spent most of it trying Vitalite (V6) again. I got the closest I have been to sticking the final dyno in isolation, but felt weaker than last visit on the moves below that and didn't get close to doing the dyno after starting from the beginning. Maybe I should have a gap less than 2 months between visits... anyway it was nice to get out - sunny and cold with snow on the ground, lots of dog walkers and families but no-one else climbing.

Discussion with physio seems to have tentatively determined that the problem with my left ring finger is not primarily a pulley injury per se, but pain caused by compression of the soft tissue in my finger when loaded in a crimp position (Ie with my DIP joint extended.) We also determined that my 'hook grip' is really poor (ie I can't bend my fingers as much as I should be able to) but that I am hypermobile in how far I can bend my fingers backwards. It seems highly possible part of this is related to the injury. He also thinks there is a strong possibility the problem is related to the shoulder impingement problem I had on my left side 4-5 years ago.

To start with I've been given some exercises to do that should check/develop my left shoulder stability and hopefully also help stabilise my finger a bit. This is basically doing lengthy hangs with shoulder shrugs (30 seconds total with 3 reps of shrug/unshrug in that period) on a decent sized hold that is incut, such that I can exert pressure on the hold with my fingertips without my DIP joint being fully extended (hence avoiding the compression problem.) 6 sets of these twice a week. I've also got some finger stretches to do to see if I can improve my hook grip. The plan is to review progress in 4 weeks.

I want to try and put more structure to my training again this year. To start with this just constitutes doing the above exercises twice a week alongside one day per week climbing either outside or on my board. Min one rest day after each climbing/training day, ie largely 1on/1off. I'll probably update this in a few weeks. I've listed some goals for the year on the yearly review thread that Rebecca started.

P.S. ref trudging around the Churnet - that made me chuckle a bit too. I've certainly done the same. There is absolutely loads to do at the Churnet nowadays and the guide that Stuart Brooks wrote is really good (and will mostly stop you getting lost, maybe not always.) So for Ross or anyone else interested I'd definitely suggest getting the guide.

So you’re stronger on back 2 than front two? (Appreciate they’re on different size holds, I assume you mean the middle rung pockets on front 2 - but I need a stretchy band to stand in to do back 2 in those pockets whereas I think I could do bw+5 or bw+10 on the lower rung pockets on middle and front 2 respectively)

Thats an intriguing combination by comparison with me. I hate those b2 pockets, but maybe I should be trying them more...

Thanks Alan, the Churnet can be a bit of a maze! No (lack of) guidebook to blame, just my partner who had a bit of trouble in terms of directions, haha!

Unfortunately wasn't able to find any of my goal problems in condition this week, and with the new rules it might be a long while until I can try them again.

In line with the new tier 3 and 4 stuff I'm gonna be remaining in Shropshire for a bit until things cool off a bit. A shame, but going afar just wouldn't sit right with me.

Last Week:

M - Couple of hours at the dugout at Grinshill. Impressed with the weatherproofness of this cave, and not abysmal quality rock either. Some nice hard stuff to go at, tried a 7A involving a meaty hand jam and a slappy tensiony 7A+. Nothing ticked but seems decent, just wish it wasn't such a slippery approach! Will be back for both.

T - Rest

W - Driving and sliding around the icy Peak, eventually ended up at Higgar trying Witness The Gritness, it's hard! Further confirming my belief that I'm shit at undercuts, but unsure if it's a technique issue or a strength issue.

T - Rest

F - Rest

S - Dugout. A lot of sitting and shit-chatting while occasionally throwing myself at the hand jam problem. Got really close today, almost stuck the last move twice but just not quite enough left in the tank. Removing tape from my not-very-hairy wrists is horrendously painful, anyone got beta on that? Crack gloves?

On another note, Grinshill is just magical in the snow!

S - Rest and a nice long walk.

Next week:

Aiming for two or three sessions at local venues, weather permitting, else hangboarding.

Two sessions of stretching.

Not bothering to plan specific days, just working around the weather and winging it.

Goals:

Don't get injured

Suavito (on hold)

Tierdrop (on hold)

Rigpa

Thanks Alan. Perseverance with working weaknesses - depends whether you call me out when I fail ! More seriously, with lockdown redescending I’m going to try to inject some structure into my time. I’ve put a calisthenics push-based goal on my list, and the paralettes live in the living room to reduce obstacles to use. And I’m still dreaming of the frankenjura this summer which gives me a focus for burl and pockets. So I’ve got a chance at least!

After an optimistic post last week about how much climbing I might be able to do this week, in the end I got nothing done. I was too tired on Tuesday, and Tier 4 descended on Thursday morning.

I’m not really quite sure what to think about our move to Tier 4. On the one hand it feels entirely necessary, but, maybe because all the local climbing and many of my friends are still Tier 3, the whole thing leaves me feeling oddly frustrated. I think it’s because I’d assumed that we’d all go into a Tier 4 at the same time and that the geographic restrictions might then look exactly like November - at which point lockdown doesn’t really impact me other than the climbing wall being closed. Or maybe because it’s stolen a few days of good weather and removed a prime way to occupy the children at the same time, maybe it would have felt less bad if I was back at work. It also frustrates me the big gap between the law and the guidance - if they wanted me not to do something I wish they’d just write it into the law and have done with it - and it’s lack of risk based underpinnings, certainly as it impacts what I actually want to do. This is probably a rant for another thread, but for some reason the whole thing felt like a bigger blow than lockdown in March (maybe because in March it felt like it might make a difference and because of a greater sense of pulling together, whereas this time I feel like we ought to know that outdoor transmission risk is tiny and the social consensus feels infinitely more fractured. Possibly also partly the weather and time of year. Perhaps just because with nurseries closed last time it just wasn’t really an option because at that point I hadn’t realised I could sensibly take miniAJM out with me) and that has got into my head a bit this week.

Anyway, my week.....

Tuesday - missed it on going outside, tired and a grey morning meant I didn’t generate enough enthusiasm to frame that to MiniAJM as what he wanted to do, which meant that when it brightened up later he wanted to do something else. Did some push training in the evening.

Thursday - 4 miles of walking/jogging with miniAJM along the seafront in glorious weather. For a child who didn’t know how to ride a pedal bike under a week ago he is coming along fast. Later in the evening (after Die Hard 2!) I did some more sets of pushups and static holds.

Friday - push/pull training

- 3 10s static holds, basically leaning as far forwards as possible in a standard press-up position to load up the shoulders.

- 3x4-5 pike pushups

- couple of sets of planche style pushups, still trying to sort out the right thing to hit the intensity here.

- about half a dozen tuck front lever holds but it’s fair to say my shoulders were past their peak by now

- 2 sets of dips on the park equipment whilst on another mile or so walk with the smallest member of the peloton.

Saturday - achey. Some stretching. Another 4 mile loop along the beach with TSMotP. More jogging this time I think.

Sunday - short campus session. I’ve not been on the campus board since probably the run up to Northumberland so my expectations were low; let’s just say those expectations were met! Plugged away with some things - the snap will come back given time - but not a session in which anything of note was achieved! Then another mile or so with TSMotP again.

Aspirational lockdown gainz goals for Jan:

- complete Sharkathon

- climbing maintenance, ideally 1 aero and 1 fingerboard/campus per week

- 2 pull sessions per week - weighted pull-ups, offsets/one arm eccentrics, archer rows or front lever progressions

- 2 push sessions per week - planche progression stuff, pushups and static

2021 Arbitrary training goals:

- 1.5-x-5 solidly on the campus board, then 1-x-5

- L sit to Tuck Planche on the paralettes as a marker point for having worked on a weakness

- 5x5 @95kg, and actually do some stuff on offsets

- some progress on a front lever

2021 Climbing goals:

- make use of continued working from home and hopefully greater tolerance of more remote working in future to do some longer hybrid climb/work trips (not ridiculously long, but extending beyond the usual 2 week mark)

- make the June-June 12 months my best period of bouldering yet (current score 6700, score to beat c7200)

- climb 7c/+ again

- work on my “why haven’t I already” and “harder local things to try” ticklist (start position 0% & 13% respectively)

- nail at least one of my Portland dws projects, try mark of the beast, and do some more stuff at Swanage and in south Devon.

Happy New Year everyone! Thanks Alan for leading us forth in to a brave new year!

Actually feeling pretty psyched for 2021. The FitClub 2020 round up made me realise that, despite the year being a general shit sandwich, I personally got off relatively lightly and still managed to have some very positive times. What seeing so many people in dire situations has done (combined with my own, relatively low key, challenges and stresses) is give me a bit more appreciation of what I've got, highlighted how easy it would be to lose it, and made me determined to have a pretty positive year -both in and out of climbing. Anyway, to move away from the deep thoughts...

Week 53:

M: Max Hangs. Strength Sesh.

T: Board Sesh: relatively steady as it was first time on board in five weeks since crocking ankle. Problem pyramid, aerocap circuits and tooling circuits.

W: Rest.

T: Sport climbing. A mixture of sublime and ridiculous!! Climbing in T-shirts, watching peregrines and feeling like finishing the year on a high. Managed all of the moves of Jack the Smuggler (7a) then noticed Grid Iron wall had dried in the sun and came within a whisker of ticking my (written off) Dec 20 goal when I dropped Curfew (6b+) on the last hard move, three moves below the chains. Followed this by slipping on ice, smashing my back and winding myself (what a mental feeling being winded is!)

F: Rest.

S: Max hangs.

S: Skiing! Getting some turns in on some of Shropshire's premier off-piste! Unbelievable Jeff!

Week 1:

Fingerboard sesh x 3

Strength sesh x 2

Climbing x 2

Run x 2

STG (End Q1):

Max Hang total 79kg

Weighted Pull-up total 83kg

Jug circuit 5-on, 3-off

Board Problem 'GTH'

Curfew (6b+)

Run average 25km/week and Edale Skyline

MTG (End Q2):

Max Hang total 84kg

Weighted Pull-up total 88kg

Jug circuit 10-on, 10-off

Board Problem 'Le Grimpeur'

Eliminator (f6C)

Grid Iron (6c)

Black Wall (E1 5b)

Run average 35km/week and Cheshire Gritstone Trail

LTG (End Q3):

Max Hang total 88kg

Weighted Pull-up total 92

Mug circuit 10-on, 10-off

Board Problem 'Mission Improbable'

Yates' Layaway (f6B+) 

Jack the Smuggler (7a)

Black Wall Direct (E2 5c)

Run average 40km/week, Cairngorm Classic Rock IAD and Welsh 3000s

2020 Goals:

35 E-points

Run 30km vertical (and >1000km)

El Cap nose-day (880m climbing)

Thanks for statting Alan. I agree with you, and decided not to risk the hostile Garmischers! Mildly frustrating, since part of the rationale for choosing to run the ZUT was the advantage of being able to recce a local course! But hey, a pandemic's a pandemic.

Week 5:

Another steady mileage-building week this week. From next week, I'll be loosely following a training plan from Relentless Forward Progress, so hopefully everything goes smoothly. Didn't get around to any core work this week, which is shameful. I did, however, sneak out to Berchtesgaden with a friend for the first climbing I've done in a few months. Hopefully, as long as it remains legal and sensible to do so, I can continue to make little forays into the mountains in amongst the running. I've also started to incorporate some daily, shin-focused prehab since I've struggled with shin splints when increasing mileage in the past. 

M 6.5km Z1

T 10.7km Z1

W Berchtesgadener Rinne (III+) with a new Munich-based climbing partner. My watch logged this as around 10km round trip on the approach, with 750m ascent and descent. Didn't feel too bad. The three pitches of climbing were mellow but fun. Some ice in the gully but mainly limestone mixed at around Scottish tech 4/5. Fun just to get out.

T 5.5km Z1

F Rest (shin prehab)

S  21.1km Z1, felt mega on this run. Came in a little under 2 hours, as well. That is, of course, very slow by many people's standards. But I am pretty pleased with running a sub-2h half marathon very comfortably in Z1. 

S 6.7km Z1.

Last week's goals:

• 50km running [Tick]
• 2x core routine [No, very lax on this. Get back on the horse next week.]
• ZUT segment recce [N/A]

Goals:

STG (This Week)

• 55km running 
• 2x core routine
• Daily shin prehab

MTG (End of June 2021)

• Finish the Zugspitz Ultratrail
• 3 x big winter alpine routes

LTG (End of 2021)

• Himalaya Expedition (or plan B)

Cheers Alan.

Feels like any meaningful training/goal-ticking is on hold due to lockdown. Spent the week hammering the hangboard with slow and steady progress.

Mon: Minimum Edge Hangs 5x4(7s/30s) 18mm Edge.

Tue: Minimum Edge Hangs 3x4(7s/30s) 15mm Edge.

Wed: Desperate trip to Newbury Bridge to try out the ‘Buildering’ Routes. Surprisingly tough and crimpy brickwork. Ticked 4x routes and maxed out on a f5. Can’t say I’ll be back.

Thu: Rest Day.

Fri: Minimum Edge Hangs 4x4(7s/30s) 15mm Edge.

Sat: Bimbled round Huntsham Crag, Wye Valley for a couple of hours to look at the bouldering. Too wet to climb without damaging the sandstone so left without climbing.

Sun: Minimum Edge Hangs 5x4(7s/30s) 15mm Edge.

Think it will be more of the same next week, although I may shunt some easy routes if weather permits.

I’m moving on to the 10mm edge next week. Once I’ve maxed out progress on these my plan was to increase intensity by starting afresh on 40mm edges with one-arm hangs. That or possibly pick up some micro crimps (8mm & 6mm). Essentially, I’m trying to max out the intensity at BW before adding weight. Any advice on the best method for strength: weighted hangs on larger edges or BW on the smallest edges possible?

STG(14 Feb)

Max Hangs. Cycle of 15mm@BW (Done)

Moving Hangs 53535 w/feet on stool

Pull-up 3RM BW+35kg

Climb V5

10x VS Leads (7/10 done)

MTG (25 Apr)

Max Hangs. Cycle of 10mm@BW

Moving Hangs 10on 10off

Pull-up 3RM BW+40kg

Climb V6

10x HVS(incl DoWH)

LTG

E1

Alpine Routes (Migot Spur)

Happy New Year all. 
M: Depot, New set of reds, felt harder than last time.

T: BUK, too early to try two days on so ended up trying links on the circuit board  

W: Went for a walk with my wife and saw an amazing cloud inversion - like really amazing.

T & F: Nothing

S: Another local walk with Fi, no cloud inversion but fun snow storm.

S: Big day hanging insulated dry wall in the attic, counting it as a shoulder work out although it was more like mixed climbing with some perilous tool work in precarious positions and bridging on ephemeral fixings.

Weight: 11’8”, if nothing else happens this year this needs to change. 

I probably wouldn’t routinely train on smaller edges than about 10mm because it just starts to hurt my fingers.

I probably also wouldn’t do assisted one arm on quite such a big edge because I think the way you grip it will be so different. 

I’d go for weight on 15mm or 20mm as a sweet spot personally.

Cheers.

I’ll do a cycle of 10mm to ‘complete the board’ as it were, and then start adding weight on the 15mm.

Yer, back2 in the back2 pockets is stronger than front 2 in the middling pockets (the ones just inboard of the back2 pockets). I can't hang the smaller (bottom row) pockets with front 2 at bodyweight. To be honest I think a lot of it comes down to relative finger lengths, although I'm definitely notably stronger on middle 2 than front 2.

Agree with all that.

Also suggest that doing 4 days of max hang training in a week is overdoing it, Liam. Especially if trying to fit in a climbing session as well. I would stick to 2 in a week with a climbing session or 3 in a week where you aren't climbing.

Monday: About an hour walk. 60 mins yoga. First longer session post covid, felt it afterwards. 
Tues: Back to work. Pneumonia jab pm, sore shoulder.
Wedns: Rest. Shoulder still sore.
Thurs: Rest.
Fri: Long walk.
Sat: Working. As for many people, things are tough at the moment.
Sun: Long walk. Intended to do more but utterly wiped out. 

Week 53

Sleep deprivation starting to catch up with me at the end of this week.

M – Board session. Warmed up, then did one of the 7B+’s I’d been flailing on for a while. Felt steady with a change of boot. 30min break for bottle feed and burp, then back on it and managed the other bugbear 7B+! (Minor beta tweak was the key here). Tried a 7C+ benchmark and did all the moves pretty quickly, but it’ll be awkward to complete as need an excess of control to avoid dabbing the garage wall.

T – Fingerboard. Felt heavy [weighed in >80kg ] and weak. 5x6 BW wide-grip pull-ups. 1-arm Crimpd max-hangs @BW-11kg. 2-arm 7s “varied grip” F3SC hangs @BW (felt a bit tweaky). 5x5 bench @60kg. 1-arm shrugs 3sets 5reps BW-5kg.

W – Nothing but a gentle walk into town with sproggle. Suffering from cracking headaches again; I was beginning to think that this due to some of the exercises I was doing, but in reality, it's child wrangling that is the problem. Need to sort out my posture when lifting/holding/burping etc.

T – Not a lot. Some stretching and COMPEX core.

F – New Years Day walk. Wife now managing 4km. Moonboard; honestly took more effort to do the final “7A” benchmark than my second “7C+” benchmark. Go figure…

S – Another sproggled walk; 3km. 5x6 on-the-minute lattice edge pull-ups (good warm-up). Slopers 6x10s max hangs @BW+33.5kg. Deadlifts for groin (p)rehab; working up to 6reps@75kg. Finished with rolling thunder lifts; 3x triples on each hand (left easier) @60kg+widget weight. (Could do a poor rep at 65kg but 70kg was welded to the floor.)

S – 3km walk. Aero-cap gripper session; 7/3/60/3 x4 with old easy grippers. Feeling distinctly grotty and nauseous from lack of sleep.

Yeah, take care. I always thought bad backs would be a thing that happened to other people - I'm young, I'm active, climbing means I'm working the muscles, etc etc - but I've had several bouts of it since having children. Picking them up with poor form, runs of time where they needed lots of bouncing etc to settle them, all that.

“why haven’t I already” list looks good... (well most of the trad, the classic 7b at Portland and AoA...)maybe later in the year...

Yeah be very keen to tag team on some of those in happier times a bit later in the year. Some obvious gaps on the CV to fill!

Cheers Alan. Whilst I enjoyed visiting Forest Rock there was no real middle ground for a punter like myself. The problems were either dead easy or really hard and very high!

Markfield quarry however was a lovely spot to spend a summers evening. Did you ever visit The Brand? Possibly the prettiest climbing spot in Leicestershire and Mango possibly the finest route in the county. Mango (VS 4c)

Anyway had a good week, although remembering what days I went out is a blur. Got 4 runs in, couple of 5k's a 10k and a 12.5km muddy bog trotting treat 

Youngest daughter has really enjoyed going out on her bike so have been round the village a few times with her. 

Ultra training starts now, with the first leg of the Leicestershire round due some time early spring I need to get my distance up considerably!!

Sadly not. I knew Steve Allen quite well at the time he was putting up a lot of the hard classics there in the 80s, but I had already left to Uni & was only around for a few weeks a year so I never really got involved in any of the new routing. Did some early repeats of some good routes at Huncote though.

Looking pretty much certain that Frau Merkel's summit meeting this afternoon is going to announce extended and tightened lockdown here too, including travel radius restrictions. So even if the weather improves I won't be able to climb or ski until at least February, probably longer.

Eva Lopez recommends altering one's routine every few weeks to avoid stagnation. I'm contemplating a switch from Islay to Speyside.

It's coming back with a vengeance isn't it. My musings about tier 3 Vs 4 etc feel rather dated already!

I've been going for a wholesale change of discipline and have been experimenting with rum.....

Agreed! I'd be keen to get some of the Portland section done if either of you wanted a partner for any of them

Pretty sure Huncote no longer exists any more and has been consumed by Croft quarry which is itself an impressive sight now. I love a run up and over the top. In fact the bottom of the quarry is currently below sea level. Oh and occasionally you get to see the resident peregrine falcons which always makes my day 

Yeah, I'd be keen if/when the situation permits...

Looks quite dire, doesn't it. But am I right in thinking that Munich is not yet classified as a hotspot? The RKI's dashboard has the 7-day new case average per 100k population for Munich at 150.8, and 15km travel restrictions are in effect for areas above 200?

Yeah, we're still under the decisive 200 limit: https://www.muenchen.de/aktuell/2020-03/coronavirus-muenchen-infektion-aktu...

But given what I'm seeing about popular spots like Spitzingsee being totally overrun, and locals up in arms, I'll be looking for somewhere a bit more out of the way to go for a snowshoe hike with my son at the weekend.

And I wouldn't be heading back to Berchtesgaden any time soon if I were you.

Well put. 

Yes, agreed!

In the mayhem of daytimes looking after my kids or key workers kids and evenings recording remote learning I've just realised I've not posted for last week yet.  I can't remember exactly what I did now but I think it was 4x training/climbing and 3 x rest days.

Cheers Alan.

What is climbing technique is THE question for me. One of my reasons for my boulder goals is that i want to move like a boulderer. I am so slow to transition from one postural set on the wall to another. I resist rather than relax and letting the move happen. As i said to someone this week - if i get these problems done i can be sure i am either moving like a boulderer or i've got so statically strong that i won't care. 

This week was again OK. I completed my general strength, power and endurance sessions as per Climb Strong. I need to up these now to 2 strength sessions and possibly two power to replace the lack of climbing that is going on. 

M - Volume session at BUK - V4's.

T - Trowbarrow - would have been better training but got a late shout for Ned's. 3rd day on, elbow was sore and i wasn't feeling snappy. Not a good day to try hard. But it was nice to be out with wads - inspiring. I am now certain Ned's will go. I just need to be sensible with when i try it.

W - Volume at Depot for elbow rehab - reds and some purples focussing on heel and toe hooks

T - Strength session - maxhangs - testing out my new Tension block. 1 arm scapular shrugs 3 x 6. Ring dips 3x 6. SLRDL 3 x 6. Paloff press - x 6 10 sec holds.

F - Power - weighted jump squats - 3x4 with 10kgs. Power push ups 3 x 8.

S - Endurance. Dumbell complexes - deadlift, highpull, clean, push press, front squat, bent over row. 40 seconds each exercise, 3 min rest, twice.

S - Messing about with tension block pinches - wide grip - + 6kgs seems to be the limit. 

This next week will be poor (as i now know) due to lockdown meaning work went mental and me having to go and stay on my boat with my son so i can be sure he's 'clean' before he goes to his mum. 

But i am psyched to use this time to train hard and make the best of it. 

STG: 4 weeks

1) Un assisted 1 arm shrug x 6 on left arm.

2) Max hangs with wide fingers half crimp (6x10seconds) @ + 15kg. Currently +10kgs

3) Wide pinch tension block max hangs (6x10 seconds) @ +8 kgs. Currently + 6kgs

MTG: 10 weeks

Pistol squat x2 both sides

Kleptomania (8a)

Angel Deelite (7A)

Sun of Krypton (f7B)

Voodoo People SS (f7B)

Ned's Problem (f7B)

The Crushinator Low Start (f7B+)

Texas Hold Em' (f7B+)

Wild Rose (f7B+)

Ash Tree Wall (f7C)

LTG: 1 year +

Not sure on climbing specific goals, but i'm not getting any younger and you can't go wrong with getting strong. So:

1) Front lever - 10 seconds good form

2) One arm pull up both sides

"You look like a route climber trying to boulder", said a local to me at a Frankenjura bouldering spot once

Ha ha! I feel your pain.