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

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/

No choice for this week's psyche vid but Stefano Ghisolfi's amazing foot slip save at Briançon. And he doesn't even look particularly the burly type. youtube.com/watch?v=Zr8lbADTDus&t=3550

Last weeks post - https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/walls+training/ukc_fit_club_week_748-7370...

AJM - did you manage to get back on Liquid Sun? Cool looking problem

Ally Smith - any plans to get back on the proj with the thoroughly repeated middle 2? Or too hot? I get the feeling I'm going to need to keep more of an eye on .uk weather to keep statting effectively; the heatwave feels well & truly over over here.

biscuit - an excellent trad day after what still sounds to be like a very full week's training. Will be interested to hear how the new programme goes

Liam P - one maintenance session is infinitely better than no sessions. Did you get the day out this week?

planetmarshall - your week reminds of the day I did Hargreaves Original in the morning, then something at Horseshoe in the afternoon. From the sublime to the, erm, less sublime

Ross Barker - did Klem Loskot ever vist Wales? Or is it a different Klem? Good effort anyway

Si dH - good just in time recovery strategy before the jab. I once had a typhoid jab when I already had a cold, that was a mistake.

Somerset swede basher - another week in which it sounds like the lime is well & truly called for you. Did you get back on Moffatrocity yet?

Steve Claw - admirable determination to get out despite the heat - something I definitely let myself be too intimidated by. Sounds like your premonition on MWE was a good call.

Tom Green - "I think I just dismiss/forget about the successes and focus on the failures a little too much." - and who among us hasn't fallen victim to that at some stage? I always had a long wishlist in Cornwall, but it's just so far away that I never managed more than a couple of weekends at Bosi. 

Tyler - sounds like a promising start to the project

AlanLittle - work, weather, whisky - need to make some concrete plans to get some actual climbing days back into the mix

Vaccination deload week

STG: plan autumn sport trip, assuming no delta 4th wave / 3rd lockdown
STG: Board power phase: any moonboard benchmark, kilterboard 6A @ 40°
MTG: Summer 2021: Fill out my couple-of-goes pyramid around the 6c-ish level before moving onto to any more harder projects. 
MTG: Autumn 2021 sport trip. Ditch the lockdown weightbelt (3 to 5 kgs) beforehand and get fit 
LTG: Be a confident, well rounded low to mid 7's sport climber. For measurable definition see Fit Club 658

M: rest    
T: 40 minutes bike
W: Movement coaching session. Tempo & decisiveness improved since April - good. Now working on resting tactics & pacing.  
T: Jab #2. Half an hour stretching in the morning beforehand; 40 minutes bike to & from clinic
F: Sore shoulder, slight headache, generally woozy. Taking it easy.
S: Feeling much better, but rain. Probably best to take it easy for another day anyway
S: Wall, Freimann. Still wary of pushing too hard after the jab, and my left shoulder did feel a bit tweaky, so a fairly relaxed onisight comfort zone session without getting on anything ambitious. Except for failing to do the first move of a "7a" set by one of our local 8C/+ boulderers.
 

Thanks Alan. Yes, got back there yesterday, chipping away at it...

Been a busy week at work, and the hot weather has dented my motivation to do very much. Kudos to those who have soldiered on with training. Possibly out Tuesday morning, although the weather currently makes it look unlikely. Then in London for much of the remainder of the week, so will try to take some portable training stuff with me.

Monday - scorchio! Drilled some domes on the wall, discovered they were terrible. In the evening I ordered some better footholds, about half a dozen crimps, and got carried away and accidentally won an EBay auction for half a dozen pockets too.

Tuesday - scorchio! Headed to the big L with Rebecca. It wasn’t in primo conditions - oddly there appears to be some sort of seepage going on and it was a bit greasy too. But any day at Lulworth is a good day. Great to chat, some good swimming action, and I managed to do Maypole, Captain Bastard and Horny Little Devil. Got a quality flash pump on Horny so posed for the tourists in the knee bar for some time! Then ice cream, and back to work in the afternoon. I watched MiniAJM on the wall when he got back from nursery and it was fascinating - he climbs in his socks, and you can really see his toes curling over the holds, and seems to be twisting and outside edging a little bit entirely of his own volition.

Wednesday - scorchio! 

Thursday - scorchio!

Friday - less warm, at last. Another busy day, but with half an eye on a few days and weekends with parents/in-laws soon I started work on a portable fingerboard. I’ve been meaning to sort one out for a while. Also fixed some of the improved feet on the board.

Saturday - Liquid Sun session #3. A good session - I sorted out the easier sequence for the top, and after a number of attempts linked from move 5 to the end (which is about 15 depending on how you count a share/match/shuffle of hands in the middle, although that’s only hand moves and some of the foot moves are hard and fiddly). This bit was mostly in the shade. I didn’t spend much time on the start, it was in the sun and is very knacky so I mostly flailed on it a bit. 

Adding the start section will be tough. Move 7 is tricky if the heel isn’t right, and on the link from move 5 you can make it right since it goes in from the ground. I find the feet moves around hand moves 3-4 probably the knackiest bit of the problem. I think the “big link” is from moves 3-13, but that’s more or less the same as doing it so in itself not that helpful. I think to send, in decreasing order of relevance, I need more time on the problem in close proximity to get the knack engrained, on cool cloudy days with (at this time of year) a decent breeze, with a bit more AnCap/short power endurance, or a few pounds less to carry. Unfortunately, my ability to control these goes roughly in the reverse of that order! 

Also finished off the fingerboard in the evening. Pictures below. It’s pretty simple - rounded top as a warm up jug, for pull-ups etc, and a pair of 20mm edges (fairly rounded though - I have an edge made from 15mm scrap wood that had about the same amount of incut to it, so the last 5mm is rounding outwards) for the fingers. There’s a space in the middle that is tbc - I had originally planned to put said 15mm edge there, but since it feels similar to the others it doesn’t really seem worth it. I might make a single larger (25mm?) edge for it, but on the other hand since I can’t hang that one armed I’m not sure it would get much use. I’ll see. If I want to make it smaller there is the space to probably take an inch or two off the height of it. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CRuVGHYDBsG/?utm_medium=copy_link

Sunday - achey and wrist a bit sore. But I promised MiniAJM we would go to the wall. Not a high intensity session, but did get a few problems done, so not too bad. Wrist was fine, as was a bruise I acquired from Liquid Sun on my foot when I missed a pad (it’s a long traverse so some prioritisation of pad coverage is necessary). 

- Also swapped out the screws for bolts on the fingerboard for a bit more solidity, although frustratingly it’s now moved away from being flush and lined up by about a millimetre, which won’t matter in use compared to the free hanging wobble, but annoys me out of proportion with the size of the impact  

- supposedly had the countersunk bolts I need for the new holds delivered, although all amazon actually sent me was an empty envelope. Annoying!

Cheers for statting Alan, been a mega sweaty week this time, only squeezed in one session but it was rather productive!

I believe it's Kristian Clemmow, but don't quote me on that as I don't actually have a copy of the NWB guide to confirm!

Last Week:

M - Contrast baths.

T - Contrast baths.

W - Contrast baths.

T - Contrast baths.

F - Evening session at Bickerton. Worked Reckless (f7B), which went very well for a first session. Not quite the ratty crimps prescribed by the physio but it's still reasonably good loading. Current struggle is letting the feet off without a wild swing, but afterwards it shouldn't be too hard a move to gain the top. I've scribbled down 5 or 6 different betas to try next time, ranging from "that makes sense, could work" to "so stupid that it just might work".

S - Contrast baths.

S - Knee raises. Might be needing the core depending on the ideal beta for Reckless. Contrast baths.

Next Week:

M - Reckless. Let's smash it.

T - Rest and rehab.

W - Rest and rehab.

T - Gym.

F - Rest and rehab.

S, S - Outdoor climbing, please!

Goals:

Rehabilitate finger (going rather well).

Suavito.

Tierdrop.

Rigpa.

Thanks Alan. Perfectly planned and timed! Glad your own jab doesn't seem to have affected you too badly. I only had the one day of feeling under the weather apart from a lingering sore arm for a few days.

M: afternoon - 3* 30 second density hangs, an hour on the board up to 6c/+ish and 5*5 one arm scap pull-ups with theraband assistance. As per last Friday I was being careful not to try anything too hard on the board but I got through the session with no finger pain, so that's good.

T:  afternoon - 3* 30 second density hangs, 3*5 one arm scap pull-ups with theraband assistance (ran out of time to do more.) Evening - 4*10 second mono lifts on each finger and a hip mobility routine. First time I've done the stretching for about a month, could definitely feel I had regressed slightly but I expect it'll come back quickly.

W: evening - 4*10 TRX hamstring curls and 4*8 copenhagens on each side.

T:  evening -  3* 30 second density hangs, 4*10 second mono lifts on each finger,  5*5 one arm scap pull-ups with theraband assistance.

F: rest

S: rest

S: session at Pillbox wall. Started slowly and feeling weak but got going better after a while and managed to do The Greek (V6), which I was pleased with as I couldn't do this when I tried it last year. Perhaps a bit better hip flexibility and a bit of extra shoulder strength? I also worked on Pillbox Original for a while, I was definitely a bit less strong on that than last summer but I managed to work out some better beta for the top that should mean I have a decent chance of doing it next visit I think. 

Achieved much more this week than last week. As hoped, work was much easier so I had more energy to do stuff. Finger held up well most of the week but there was one hold I was using today that aggravated it a bit and it's slightly tender tonight. Should have been more careful I think, but it's difficult to avoid crimps when the only suitable crags for a couple of hours bouldering in the heat are north-facing limestone!

Si

Cheers Alan. Unfortunately not. A mixture of all-night baby antics and decorating put paid to any climbing plans. I’ll be living my training-life vicariously through Fitclub Posts this week!

I did manage to squeeze in another maintenance session at my new wall. It’s all bouldering but has a big Digital Training Board with the cool light up holds - very psyched to use!

Sun

• 4s Frenchies - 3/2/2 (narrowing in on the 3x3)
• 10x Board - Figuring out how to use the new board. A 4a+ LH & RH, 4c+ LH & RH fail. 
• Max Time Campus Ladders - 40s
• Pseudo Planche Push-ups - 3x 12
• TRX Core - 15s Plank, Crunch, Side Crunch, Spider-Man’s, Plank

We’re now fully moved in to the new house so should have more time for training this week…and hopefully the elusive day trip.

Its good to be in project mode, especially on such a worthwhile route (albeit one I once had misplaced ambitions to flash! I would never have been good enough to flash this).

M: Second session on CRRH, equally short (two goes on TR) but managed to have a look at most of the crack which was surprisingly hard.

Thur: Stick clipped CCRH and then had one TR, managed crux and worked sequences for the crack. 

Sun: Parents visiting for the weekend so another truncated session. Went bolt to bolt for the first time then had one go from the ground. Got one bolt into the crack which I was well pleased with but the hoped for knee bar came to nothing. Crack still physical and not something I’ll be able to sneak my way up. 

Do you mean you couldn't find the knee, or couldn't get much out of it?

Saw a lot of comments last week here and on ukb about continuing heat in the uk. Will start checking uk weather in order not to be too harsh on you all about slacking in terrible conditions  

Weird weather here for the last couple of weeks - temperatures "only" in the mid to high 20s, but combined with a level of humidity that makes it feel ten degrees hotter. Particularly when it also necessitates going to crags that are in the sun that might dry quickly. I tend to wilt badly in the heat, so my motivation for getting outside is pretty much shattered.

The biblical floods elsewhere in the country haven't directly affected me, luckily. But reports from Berchtesgaden suggest that the Watzmann Ostwand may be starting to  look like a viable DWS option!

It was pretty unbearable Monday-Friday, a little better since. A big electric fan in the garage is the way forward!

Yeah, it's fascinating to see when they start young. My son climbed sporadically from about the age of five or six. He was never keen enough to acquire much finger strength or ambition, but he always seems to have a good instinctive sense of movement and body positioning. When he last bouldered regularly, aged about 15, he was starting to burn me off on slabs  - both volume shuffling in the gym and polished grattons in Font.

Hi everyone. Thanks for the stats, Alan. Glad to hear you haven't been washed away -some harrowing stories from western Germany.

A poor week for me this week. A combination of lack of motivation and excess of work.

Week 29:

M: Rest

T: Alpine start/finish for work

W: Alpine start/finish for work

T: Alpine start/finish for work

F: Nowt. Pure laziness.

S: Trail run. 9.5km, 259m vert, 6:20/km.

S: Llanymynech sport. Didn't get on the big proj -there was a team on the adjacent line. Did however, finally do Curfew (6b+) -a route I should have climbed literally years ago, but I always manage to mess it up! Disproportionately chuffed to have put this one to bed! 

Week 30:

Need to up the ante with the discipline and organisation if I'm to get my STGs done before the hard deadline of leaving the area. So will try more detailed week plans for a bit to try and maximise training and performance days...

M: Fingerboarding.

T: Run.

W: Climbing -given the weather forecast this may turn out to be either dry tooling or board session.

T: Rest.

F: Fingerboarding.

S: Maybe Llanymynech, cons depending...

S: Run.

STG (End August):

Eliminator (V4) and Yates' Layaway (f6B+) 

Grid Iron (6c) and Jack the Smuggler (7a)

Red Square (E2) and Black Wall Direct (E2 5c)

Edale Skyline and Cheshire Gritstone Trail

2021 Goals:

35 E-points

Run 30km vert and 1000km

He sounds like a mini-Charles Albert! He'll be smashing out the barefoot 9A's before you know it!

Could get nothing out of it, I have a pad so might try that. 

Where are you off to?

I wonder if it’s just that the kiddie rock shoes aren’t great - flat soles and I assume not very sensitive - so he prefers being able to feel what’s going on, especially since the footholds are reasonably sized and not very friction dependent. I also don’t know how well they fit him, in that when I first got them I got the smallest decathlon make which was a bit big for him at the time. Certainly at the indoor wall where he does wear them his footwork never seems to be that neat (unsurprisingly, I guess, even excluding other excuses - he is 4!)

North Yorkshire. Got my copy of Franco’s moors masterpiece, so there are going to be some moors goals appearing soon!

I wish I could use the excuse of being four for my crap footwork! 

Me too!

Well, it's funny you should say that...

Last Week

Lattice Week 11

Training went a bit to pot due to the apocalyptic heat, so took my scheduled rest week early

Wednesday

Nimrod (E1 5c). Really pleased with this, found it very sustained for a mountain route and edging toward E2 which is where I want to be.

Thursday

Too hot even for Dow Crag. Went for a swim in Blind Tarn, returned to the valley for a swim in Coniston.

Sunday

Harpur Hill Quarry

• Wile E Coyote (6a)
• The Candyman (6a+)
• Attempt on Apollo Creed (6b), done in three sections. The line is obvious enough but found the bolting a bit confusing - mixture of glue-ins and newer expansion bolts.

Last week's goals

• Struggling a bit with the training regime in the hot weather - need to start early. Yeah that was a continuing theme this week.
• 33km trail running or equivalent - some hiking around the Lakes with a heavy pack, but probably not quite the equivalent volume.
• Two leads at E1 or above - Done!
• Two leads at 6b or above - One 6a+ and an attempt at a hard 6b

Next week's goals

• Have a think about the next training period. Have enjoyed the Lattice program and the App is excellent, but it feels a bit impersonal. The full-on Elite plan would be wasted on me, but maybe put something together myself and put the money towards a few coaching sessions.
• 33km trail running or equivalent.
• Two leads at E1 or above
• Two leads at 6b or above (return for a clean ascent of Apollo Creed (6b))

Thanks Alan,  quieter week for me, due to heat-vaccination-holiday.

M - Hot indoor rope session, all 7a-7b+

T - Met up with local club for an easy evening doing sport. Generally as much teaching as doing.

W - Quick bolder session. Circuits and another attempt to get going with the Woody. I definitely have an issue here, and find the Woody so hard to use. I can barely make it up 5A (and feel close to causing an injury), yet am then happily playing on a f7b circuit next to it. I think its my body tension on steep ground (I'm tall). I climb hard on ground vertical or slightly overhung (15deg), but any more and I just can't keep my feet on.

T - 2nd jab and drive to Cornwall 

F - felt rough and lay on the beach

S - feeling a bit better, but on holiday 

S - holiday, arm to sore to do the press- ups etc

This week, still on holiday, but hoping to take the children out for fun on the granite.

Sadly with hot weather, warm air meeting cold from the cave/mine at the back of the gogre causes horrid condensation. It was virtually running with water the one evening I got out this week. managed some other stuff though...

Week 29

M – 1-arm max-hangs @BW-11kg. Unsurprisingly terrible in the hot garage with a bunch of 9s hangs, often as pinkie slipped. 4x6 1-arm shoulder shrugs @BW-11kg. Stretches.

T – Melting.

W – Gorge itself was predictably saturated from condensation, but that didn’t matter as I only had pads with me. Took a while to warm-up without ruining skin, then pieced together a more reliable sequence for the new 7A from last week. Then completed FA of the obvious link of Thug Mantel (f7C). Very encouraging to recover on the jug with overhead heels and shows ~7A is within the realms of aero-power now. “Chilled” for a bit by doing some final scrubbing of the gorge 6c I did joint FA with hms, then set about another FA link. This one initially felt a little easier, but required a couple of RP attempts to close the deal, so maybe 7C too, but low in the grade? Mental Brown (f7B+) Finally, spent 20min trying to figure out beta for Sunset Sit and think I have something viable, but need it to be drier and for my kneepads not to slip because of sweat!

T – Even more melty than Tuesday.

F –  Warming up it was apparent my shoulders were still pooped from Wednesday evening. Scrapped an-cap in favour of lower intensity aero-power. That was a bit of a mess too as I failed on ~50% of the planned boulder intervals and by the end my left elbow was beginning to ache. D’oh!

S – Full day of squiggle wrangling at Tatton Park Flower Show.

S – 1hr 45min / 45km hilly loop on the CX’er. Some great Cobble riding – so much faster on those sections with 35mm tyres, but on the road they’re a bit draggy.

This morning my thumbs are like jelly from squeezing the hoods on an epic 3.5km cobble / off-road / cobble downhill section I've found at Alderley Edge.

Your woody experiences sound similar to mine on boards. One of my local gyms has a variable-angle kilter board, on which I'm occasionally flashing 6B at 20°, and have so far managed exactly one, blatantly soft, 6A at 40°

hms, formerly of this 'shire, has shared exactly the same experience.

I suspect you would all be well described as "twisty" climbers and deploy Egyptians or outside edge techniques for lots of moves and lack shoulder stability ansd finger strength to be able to climb more "open", a technique often necessary to avoid spinning off when you catch the next hold on steeper boards.

Hypothetical diagnosis over; the solution is probably to deliberately practice "open" climbing on less steep ground to polish the "toe-grab" technique needed to maintain tension before moving on to steeper boards. A variable angle kilter board sounds perfect training ground for this.

Front on climbing on steep walls and boards also tends to use quite a bit of compression power in the shoulders. I think that's a good thing to train for people not used to it, as well as toeing down on things.

It's probably a diagnosis for me as well - the woody at the wall has feet decent enough to outside edge on and it is always very illuminating to watch how I climb things versus peers who are more used to traditional "board style" burling. Certainly I know I have a big gap between what I can lock to the opposite shoulder (i.e. side on) versus what I can lock to the same shoulder (front on).

So basically Malcolm Smith rules then?

I recently discovered this issue. I thought stiff down-turned Solutions were my best bet, but I couldn’t make 2 moves on the warmup problems without my feet skating off. I swapped to softer shoes and found I can put a lot more force through the toe which seems to have worked.

Thanks Alan. Only two sessions this week due to driving around the country but nice to be away on holiday.

Mon. Rest.

Tues. Tried to boulder but even a shady crag X was greasy in this heat and couldn't hold anything that's wasn't super positive.

Wed. 10km run.

Thurs. Rest. Drive Sheffield to Somerset.

Fri. Chased the shade around Cheddar Gorge and had a good natter with someone I've not seen in ages. Some 6s to warm up and down plus an onsight of Screwballed! (7a) and 2nd tie in redpoints of Playboys (7b+) and All Hands to the Pump (7b).

Sat. Rest.

Sun. 42km bike ride early doors then drive on down to Cornwall.

Might be difficult to get out much for the next week or so to allow for in-laws management but we'll see. Hopefully get some swimming and a run or ride in here and there. 

you mean climb like a boulderer? Never!!! All hail the outside edge!

That sounds pretty similar to my experience at  The P yesterday. I thought I'd give the limestone bouldering a go but just found the undercut nature of the crag immensely frustrating and could barely get off the ground on what seemed to me the World's Crappiest Footholds. Maybe I just need to persist with it.

Thanks as ever Alan. 

'an excellent trad day after what still sounds to be like a very full week's training. Will be interested to hear how the new programme goes'

I am just trying to get some consistency in. I have my eyes on September trip to Arco (lots of mileage and on-sighting) and October to(El Chorro (in a day redpointing) so i need to start now.

I had to get another lot of anti-biotics as my foot infection flared up again. I couldn't get it in my better climbing shoes due to the swelling. It wasn't painful until i tried to squeeze it in a climbing shoe.

M - Mobility

T - AnCap hangs 7:3@70%

W - Mobility, Max hangs, Aero Pow (foot on campus), Aero Cap (easy circuits 1 on 1 off x10)

T - Mobility, AnCap

F - The Yellow Slab (HVS 4c) on East Buttress.  A grand (but hot) day out. A slight delay meant we got there a bit later than planned and we were also reduced to a 3 as someone bailed last minute for legit reasons. So we only got one route done. I used poles on a walk in for the first time - i'm sold. It makes me officially middle aged but it felt WAY easier.

S - Rest

S - My partner decided she was too knackered to climb so it was Red Wall traverse in the shade but still a million degrees. I couldn't face the fingerboard or homeboard. I didn't do the traverse in either direction but did a lot of getting pumped and recovering.

Not a bad week but lacking in actual climbing.