UKC

HAPPY FOURTEENTH BIRTHDAY FIT CLUB. What did you do fourteen of? Where it all began on 25th March 2007: https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/walls+training/ukc_fit_club__training_dia... 

Meanwhile I gather you're all allowed out as of tomorrow? Does that include driving to crags?

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

And for those looking for more theoretical background, there's a useful subject index of published research studies on the Beta Angel project. Not sure how actively maintained if is though. https://beta-angel.com/research/research-inventory/

Last weeks post - https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/walls+training/ukc_fit_club_week_731-7325...

The Lockdown Locals Esoterica psyche vid moves on from Leicestershire to (so I'm told) Shropshire:   vimeo.com/10217852 

AJM - an l-site pike to handstand from the floor, without paralettes, would be a very impressive goal indeed; I have seen it done though. Good to have squeezed a couple of midweek sessions from the jaws of work commitments, and it sounds like you handily made up any training deficit at the weekend.

alexm198 - hope the knee continues to behave itself.

Ally Smith - impressive commitment to gardening fitness. "This coming week I will do my 14x >7As" ...?

BarneyLoosemore -  "6A+/6Bs, which felt a bit too easy" Ha! Get some laps in on Bleak House, that should sort you out. At least it does me, big moves on good holds being precisely what I'm weak on too.

biscuit - liked the sound of the Fairy Steps session, there's lot to be said for vert limestone bouldering I think - fingers, effectively getting weight onto small slippy footholds etc. Isn't Fairy Steps home to one of the Gaskins Apocrypha?

Liam P - look forward to hearing about the effects of the new finger strength. I'm sure you don't need me to remind you that it could take a while before new steely fingers outweigh the effects of terror and lost footwork…

mrchewy - glad to hear the knee & finger are hesling nicely. Does the reference ot mountain granite mean Switzerland again this summer if permitted? Or Cairngorm aspirations?

Ross Barker - I fear I may be passing on the Shropshire Choss Meet, HM Gov unlikely to be allowing the Great Unvaccinated into the country. So, Ramp Up?

Si dH - sounds like a solid training week. Raring to go after the deload?

Somerset swede basher - great looking Jerry Route tick in a week with a whole lot of great soudning outdoorsing. 

the sheep - glad to hear you're back on your feet

Tom Green - If I'm reading correctly, you have three days to go in Q1 and two Q1 goals that should still be feasible: So, bagged that last kilo on the weighted pull-up? Jug circuit?

Tyler - any hills nearby you could hike up & down with a heavy rucksack until you get the calf sorted, without feeling like you had joined some kind of crossfit/spartan cult? (Sorry, forgotten where you live)

AlanLittle - so, properly back on the antagonist strength wagon? (Spoiler: no)

Thanks for statting Alan, classic psyche vid for Shropshire, that is!

Boooo!

Didn't go back in the end, finger is still giving me grief so opted to stick with some easier stuff for a while.

Last Week:

M - Rest

T - Rest

W - Rest

T - 40 pushups

F - Rest

S - Afternoon circuit around Grinshill, highlight was Thompson Twins (f5+). Also had gander at Shropshire Gold (E7 6c), looks really good but might take some time to dry, not to mention the boldness!

S - Rest

Next Week:

M - Rest

T -  Nesscliffe most likely, would be nice to have a pull on Golden Sally (f7A) if it's in condition, if the finger is a pain I'll just take some lovely pictures.

W, T, F - Rest

S, S - Thorn Crag, unless the weather (or covid!) changes plans.

Goals:

Recover strained A2

Suavito (on hold)

Tierdrop (on hold)

Rigpa

Thanks Alan, great stats as always. Loving the link to fitclub wk1 too. Unfortunately the only '14' I've managed this week is 'number of consecutive hrs worked in a day' as such I've done no training but have been out a few times.

Mon. Worked. All day. Brief pause to spend some time with the kids then crack on til late late.

Tues. Managed to grab a couple of hrs free so detoured on the way home to Sugworth Edge. It was soooo cold. I really struggled to warm up and fell off all 3 of the Font6a warm up problems before I did them. Comedy moments chasing my pads along the edge in the wind. Managed to do Boulder 6 - The Lonely Little Choad (f7A) but it involved folding the pads around me to keep the wind off between attempts. Blown over twice on the way back to the car trying to carry 4 pads. Too shivery to pull onto anything hard in the roof.

Wed. Warmer and less windy. An hr soloing at Curbar, about 15 routes, nothing harder than E1 and mostly much easier. 10km run after dinner.

Thurs and Fri. More long work days. Fat boy chippy dinner on Friday.

Sat. Roche Abbey visit. Brain too tired to get stuck into something projecty but really enjoyed a milage session on gypsy buttress. Worked through the high 6Cs at the right hand end. Hardest tick was Passion (f7A+) but I thought the best problem was the 6c+ on the far right of the crag which took us ages to work out.

Sun. Mrs Swede working all day so just did fun stuff with the kids, 4km walk round the woods. 

Thanks Alan. Not sure about fully rested with my son's current sleeping habits, but I had a fairly light week and touch-wood my finger hasn't caused me any trouble, so hopefully it's in the best state it can be to get outside with.

M: Afternoon - power pull-ups as per the crimpd app (bodyweight on the lattice jug). I found it quite easy to get my chest level with my hands (the level at which lattice advise adding a little weight) and I'm sure if I had a pull-up bar that would be easier still as it would make more difference at the top of the pull. However I definitely think I should have gains to make in absolute speed, so not convinced adding weight is the right approach. I might try doing more of these in a few weeks.

T: rest

W: Short board session at lunchtime.

T: hip mobility routine in the afternoon.

F: rest, finished work for a fortnight.

S: decided to venture 25 minutes to Pex Hill in the morning. First time outside since just after new year, pushing it a bit but my mindset changed with starting my 'holiday' and there only being two days of the current rules left. Tried Vitalite, but it was surprisingly really warm in the sun - I was lying around in a t-shirt - and friction in the pockets wasn't great so I didn't do it, but it was good to get outside on rock. Tried the classic Hart's arete before leaving, which is only v4 but seems to be well worth it's reputation as a problem that is difficult to read!

S: hip mobility routine in the afternoon again.

Travel restrictions in England end tomorrow. Weather permitting I'll be doing lots of climbing and very little training for the next fortnight

Si

Morning Alan - yes a definite reference to Swiss granite but if we're allowed to go, it'll be late season for me. Being honest, I'll need that long in the gym building up aerobic capacity.

Mon - 12.5k walk with the knee brace on, was left with a pretty sore ACL and lots of swelling.

Tue - Sidepull things. 3, 2 and 1 finger, all open hand.

Wed - Hangs on jugs, little finger still sore.

Thu - Painting ceilings all day, completely trollied after.

Fri - Lunges. Solid legs after.

Sat - Had to work. Fingers claw like after using a big brush all day, just not used to it anymore.

Sun - 14k walk along the Nene valley. No knee brace and it was okay, if a little sore and swollen after.

A huge improvement in the knee over the week but three full-on days at work broke me if I'm honest - I actually had a lay in bed on Sunday morning. Fingers are waking up to work and being used. Roll on the gym opening.

No traveling for me to climbing yet, it's a 4hr round trip to the Peak. Definitely not 'local' and with my PTSD currently bad, my hypervigilance would be at stupid levels driving there and back. Not much fun.

Leicestershire's closer!

Although (not all!) of the rock quality might be cause for another bout of PTSD.

Hi Everyone. Thanks Alan.

Unfortunately I haven't earnt any 14th Birthday cake as a didn't complete my fourteen crack laps.

Week 12:

Training was slightly derailed by making the most of the good cons at the start of the week for climbing. Obviously not sorry!

M: Rest.

T: Bouldering at Harmer's Wood: warmed up on some old favourite V2s then spent the sesh working Leppert's Leap (V4) -some inspiration from Tom Leppert himself turning up! (His beta has hopefully set me up for a quick tick next visit).

Trail run: 5.5km, flat, 4:45/min (Z3).

W: Bouldering at Grishill: some sigificant progress on Eliminator (f6C) -this is actually starting to feel possible! Then a massive mileage session as it was too nice a day to stop. 

Prehab (arms and legs).

T: Trail run: 8.5km, 216m vert, 5:59/km (Z1).

F: Max Hangs.

S: Strength sesh (Pull-ups total 83.6kg -STG TICK).

S: Weighted Hill Climb: 7.25km, 317m vert (+15kg), 8:48/km (Z1).

Board sesh: 9 laps (up and down) of hand crack, 2 laps (up only) of fist crack (14 Bday goal FAIL); Jug Circuit 5-on, 3-off (STG TICK).

Week 13:

Daily prehab -need to do more for elbows (a bit tweaky at last strength sesh).

2 x climbing

2 x max hangs

2 x strength

3 x run

Old STG (End Q1):

Max Hang total 79kg (TICK, 81kg)

Weighted Pull-up total 83kg (TICK, 83.6kg)

Jug circuit 5-on, 3-off (TICK)

Board Problem 'GTH' (TICK)

Curfew (COVID FAIL)

Run average 25km/week and Edale Skyline (FAIL -four weeks off poorly didn't help)

New STG (End Q2):

Max Hang total 85kg

Weighted Pull-up total 88kg

Thug circuit 1-on, 1-off

Eliminator (V4)

Grid Iron (6c)

15 Pembroke E-points (I'm going to be based in Pembroke for work for a chunk of time)

Edale Skyline and Cheshire Gritstone Trail

MTG (End Q3):

Yates' Layaway (f6B+) 

Jack the Smuggler (7a)

Black Wall Direct (E2 5c)

Cairngorm Classic Rock IAD, El Cap nose-day (880m climbing) and Welsh 3000s

2021 Goals:

35 E-points

Run 30km vert and 1000km

STG: Weight back below 85kg. Start Couch To 5k. Get back on one of my local project/goal routes
MTG: Complete one of my local (Zellerwand) 7a projects - short, sharp power endurance. Complete Couch to 5k
LTG: Be a confident, well rounded low to mid 7's sport climber by 2021. For measurable definition see Fit Club 658

German lockdown only extended by another three weeks. For now.

M: Repeaters, half an hour stretching
T: 1½ hours bike.
W: Bouldering! Weather finally good enough to make Buchenhain, our local lockdown esoterica venue, viable. And it's a lot better than fingerboarding! Just tentatively getting a feel for it today: flowstone-covered conglomerate that has been trained on for over a century - traversing the footsteps of Hans Dülfer. Hence the glassiest footholds I've ever encountered (yes, I have been to Stoney Middleton) Will have to bring softer shoes next time - and more body tension.

T: FIT CLUB FOURTEENTH BIRTHDAY. In March to date I have climbed or fingerboarded on fourteen days.
   Today I just stretched for  half an hour

F: Max hangs followed by ...
    Spitzingsee moonlight snowshoe tour. Excellent idea to get out on the hill with my son and a couple of mates who we hadn't seen during lockdown. This also took me, just one day late, to fourteen hours Z1/2 cardio in March.

S: 
S: Schönhofen sport climbing. A day may come when I pull myself together and get back on some serious projecting, but this was not that day. More moderate mileage up to 6b, getting reacquainted with concepts like footwork and being above the gear.

14th anniversary fitclub goal - 14 quality relevant sessions by 25/03 [14/14]

Quiet week for training, intentionally trying to make sure I’m fresh for next week. Busy at work as ever trying to tidy everything up before holiday. 

Got to the 14 sessions though. And all in all it feels like quite a decent block of lockdown training, I do feel like I’ve made some progress on the planche stuff and I’m definitely campusing better than ever. 

- The next two weeks my focus is mostly going to be on climbing, and skin preservation is probably going to be key so any supplementary training will probably be planche stuff first and bar work second to preserve skin.

- After that once I’m back at work I think I’ll have to come up with a mini plan for 5-6 weeks in preparation for start of June. Ill mostly be bouldering in June but as soon as I get back I probably want to be out on the dws so will need to have the fitness for that too, so I’ll have to mix and match a bit.

Monday - rest

Tuesday - some tucked front lever holds and some planche style pushups

Wednesday - rest

Thursday 25th - pinch block. Good session - up to 17.5 (+block +pin), so as before, but feeling a lot more solid and like I could push another kilo or so onwards next session.

Friday - rest

Saturday - about 8km pushing the pram on the beach with microAJM & miniAJM.

Sunday - rest

Straight arms and legs? That's impressive if so, especially off the floor!

Week 12:

M – 45min strength session. Warm-up on the board (up to 7A+), then 5 sets x6 Lattice edge lifts @ 51kg.

T – Squeezed in 40min board session in between finishing work and cooking dinner. Warmed up, tried a problem; ticked it on 6th go; 2 grades easier than the advertised 7C+? After squiggle and mum had gone to bed, snuck back out to garage and did 10x 1-on/1-off using reset wooden hold circuit; felt hard on the last rep (unfit!) but think I’ve got the intensity right now.

W – Rest. Grass/moss mowing!

T – Board – delayed starting session until after squiggle and momma bear bedtime. My original UKCFC b’day challenge was 14x >7A problems, but thought I’d spice it up with 14x >7A benchmark retro-flashes…

Getting past halfway was fine with some familiar 7A/+’s that I’ve used for an-cap training. Celebrated with a cheeky “7C” and then got distracted by trying a couple of 7B benchmarks I’ve not done before

After this I dropped three flash attempts at crimpy 7A+/B’s, making the last few problems feel fairly desperate!

Closed out with a soft 7B (reachy = peachy!) and an extra 7A for luck!

F – Holibobs! Beer o’clock

S – 2hours of hedge cutting. Late night board session. Did another super-soft 7C+ in half a daozen goes (7B?), and then spent 30min setting and doing a new 7C, which I called “Squiglet”. Great session, felt like I was firing on all cylinder again.

S – Should have been rest, but another 2 hours of hedge cutting was needed to bring garden up to scratch. Fairly beasted to be honest.

Some nice little spots there but lots of it was too tough for me - and places like Cademan have been silly busy this last year at various points, enough for locals to complain.

Dee doesn't climb much at all, so there's her to think about too, Harborough Rocks is probably as suitable as it gets in terms of nearness.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FITCLUB!

Cheers Alan. Despite the festivities, not a great week of training for me. I think I’ve finally reached my HBT (Hangboard Boredom Threshold) and with my Lockdown now over I’m psyched to return to real rock.

Mon - Hangboard Moving Hangs 9:00/3:30/2:30

Tue- Handstand push-ups 3x 1.5 (seemed to have stalled on reps so will add another day later in the week.)

Wed- Rest

Thu- 14 MINUTES OF BIRTHDAY HANGBOARD MOVING HANGS (sort of)

I managed 10mins with my feet on a stool but the pump got too much. Instead of bailing on the whole thing I kicked the stool away and did the last 4mins with my feet on the floor out in front - which was still pretty spicey!

Fri - Pull-ups 5x 8 (40mm edge)

3x 8mins Hero Pose

3x 8mins Pike Stretch

Sat - Rest

Sun - Went for another 5km run and was on pace for a 25min finish but stopped at 3km due to a double-calf strain. As it’s both sides I think it’s due to running on a pair of Merrel Barefoot Trainers so I may have to invest in some actual running shoes and join the Calf Prehab Club.

I’ve got 3 days of climbing booked over Easter so will use this week for testing and get a baseline of Lockdown GainZ / think about new goals and training plan.

Enjoy Thorn. What an awesome crag. 

I will! I've been meaning to go for... [looks at calendar] far too long! I think my finger will be too crap for some of the harder stuff but regardless I'm excited for a big fat day out. Good work on Eliminator, by the way, it's bloody nails!

Cheers Alan. Happy14th birthday fit club. To celebrate i may well have put on 14 new lb's of weight. Still eating like im full on ultra training!

Steady progress is being made with running distance. Managed a 10 and a  12,5km trail run with a stretch session in between. Not up to previous levels but an improvement. The only negative i have is that since the jab i am feeling absolutely wiped out after going for a run. On a par with when i first started. Still a small price to pay!

Whilst out for a bike ride today I discovered one of those kids‘ vertical jug climbing walls in a playground, except this one is about thirty metres long.

Guess where I‘ll be doing some ARC sessions until climbing walls (probably don’t) reopen in three weeks.

Thanks Alan. I seem to remember i tried to motivate myself to do some core with 14 sessions for the 14th birthday. I managed 1. Shameful....

This week i felt like i was starting with a cold/a bit run down. No reason for it so i think i did have an underlying something. It never turned into anything other than a runny nose and being a bit 'meh' but did affect the week somewhat.

M - Strength A, legs - felt too tired for a board session

T - work - stretching

W - Work - stretching

T - Boulder at Fairy Steps - messed about with alternative beta on The Groove and then pulled on to Ash Tree Wall (f7C) I could pull on but couldn't move. Same with all the moves basically. There's only 3. Just found out today i was trying the harder low start (bloody local beta) so will try again sometime soon. 

F - Climb Strong rhythm intervals - PUMP!

S - Fairy Steps again - did a 1 move 7A then went to look at Shuck's Lair. Pretty cool. Tried The Cappel (f7B+) mainly as i couldn't do a really powerful move on a 6C+ that was key to a 7A+ i wanted to look at. I got all the moves and linked a couple. But it'd be a very hard job to put together. But i really liked it. I'l be back. I think i need to focus a bit and work a problem instead of flitting around. I'm loving discovering all the local bouldering i've got but i need to tick something!  

S - Bit wiped out. Partly a couple of gins too many over a zoom call, partly the cold. Nothing done.

This week my plan is to get all my training done and get a decent load score in. Last week was 590 which is a third down on my peak. I need to build back up to that again and get feeling sharp.

BH weekend will hopefully be a trad day and a bouldering day in the Duddon.  

Thanks for the stats Alan. Rather a disappointing week, started off with promise but by the weekend the knee issues had returned with a vengeance. I think (sadly) the prudent thing to do is to write off the race and focus on doing lots of recovery work, trying to maintain the fitness I've built, and laying a solid foundation for ZUT 2022. Will definitely consider seeing the physio you suggested, too. 

Honestly, I'm gutted. I was really enjoying the training and the visible improvement, and I was really looking forward to participating in an actual race event for the first time. Plus the running was definitely stopping me from going mental, so I'm definitely a bit lost at the moment, now it's gone. I think the reason I'm a bit late posting this week is I haven't wanted to face up to the reality of it!

If anyone has advice on the best way to structure a couple of months (??) of recovery, I'd love some input. 

Week 17:

Really nice to be running again. Until it wasn't. 

M Rest. Knee exercises.

T 10.20km Z1. Knee exercises.

W Fast 8.41km, range of HRs. Knee exercises.

T 16.43km Z1. Knee exercises.

F Rest. Knee exercises.

S 19.17km Z1. Knee felt good until about the 18km mark, when it wasn't very happy at all. Knee exercises.

S Lots of knee pain, scrapped the plan to do 16km and just rested. Some knee exercises.

Last week's goals:

• 70.8km running [54.2/70.8]
• 1 core workout [-]
• 7 prehab [x]

Goals:

STG (This Week)

• ???

MTG (End of June 2021)

• Finish the Zugspitz Ultratrail [Fail - knee injury]
• Himmel und Hölle on the Zugspitze Nordwand [Tick - 7/3/21]
• Optimist on the Schneefernerkopf Westwand
• Eiger nordwand if borders are open and partners can travel

(Window rapidly closing for last two)

LTG (End of 2021)

• Himalaya Expedition (or plan B)

Oh noes! Very sorry to hear that, you must be gutted.

Cheers Alan. 

• Yoga every day
• 14 mile half marathon (750m vertical gain) - let’s call that an accidental fit club nod!
• Session on the Oxford canal bridge traverse (Yellow to controversial arête finish, start to A hold, missing some beta in the middle section from A hold to yellow) https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/the_lockdown_lowdown-13358
• School wall setting and testing - current record holder on speed course (first half of Olympic route)... twice Shauna’s time on half the distance 😜