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/

After last week's extremely helpful discussion of board technique for the weak & lanky, this week's psyche vid clearly has tae be the mighty Malc: youtube.com/watch?v=ngQbNJeCVls& Nae cutting, nae twisting

Last weeks post - https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/walls+training/ukc_fit_club_week_749-7373...

(Glances at BBC weather page) So, not so appallingly heatwavey for you guys this week then?

AJM - interesting analytical thinking about the Liquid Sun project. The heelhook-to-toe scum switches in that video you linked to do look quite intricate.

Ally Smith - congratulations on the FA, especially given the conditions

biscuit - embrace the poles - I've been a firm believer ever since I started lugging my son about in a baby carrier. Those autumn trip endurance needs are rushing towards us aren't they? I need to face up to the same question too, sooner rather than later.

Liam P - keep squeezing the maintenance sessions in

planetmarshall - German (of course) has a word for when schools are closed because it's too hot: "hitzefrei". Sensible of you too allow yourself the same at Lattice School. Never been to Harpur Hill, but from the logbook photos it does indeed look quite a bit less aesthetic than Dow.

Ross Barker - glad you were happy with your session. Sounds from your logbook entry like a net might be more useful than a mat. Did you get back on it this week?

Si dH - go hard on the training - big rest - tick. A strategy we can hopefully all learn from. Not entirely convinced one hip mobility session can have made the difference though.

Somerset swede basher - hope the holiday is going well. Any sea cliffing to report?

Steve Claw - thanks for triggering such an interesting & useful discussion last week on board weakness. Hope you're having a great time on the family holiday.

Tom Green - always good to get an old nemesis off the to-do list

Tyler - three sessions on the same route. Diligent. Are the required beans for the crack going to require dedicated endurance training, or are you going for an on-the-job training strategy, Sharma style?

AlanLittle - so, how did things go after the semi-voluntary deload week?

Cheers for statting as always Alan, a fine job well done. I've got 7th - 15th August booked off and completely free, keen to have a trip somewhere if anyone has any recommendations or fancies meeting up!

I did get back on it this week, another decent session. Boiled it down to two possible betas, one involves a stronger core and one involves bendier legs. Keen to get on it again in the next dry spell.

Almost had a complete meltdown on Thursday, thought I'd proper done myself in, but learned today that everything is all good. Phew.

Last Week:

M - Projecting Reckless. Feeling stronger in terms of tension but still no send. Passing shower soaked the topout but thankfully the rest of the holds stayed dry. Binned off a few different betas that weren't working and now there are only two real methods which could work. Going to work on my core for a few weeks until the crag next comes into condition. Contrast baths.

T - Contrast baths.

W - Contrast baths.

T - Intended session at The Terrace. Started warming up and there was an acute sharp pain near my right elbow on the 4th pullup. No noise, no warning or indication. About a 6/10 in pain, dulling down to 1-2/10 when resting for a few minutes. If I keep it bent for a few minutes (e.g. typing my angst on my phone) it ramps back up to 6 upon straightening, which eases back to 1 after a short period of time. Self-diagnosed as distal bicep tendonitis, don't think it's a tear as it's not debilitating and there's no pop-eyeing. Could possibly the be brachioradialis but unlikely because I can move my wrist any which way and it doesn't aggravate it.

F - Elbow feels much better. Pain is not noticeable but if I focus on it it still feels a little off. Seems me it's just a horrid tweak that should clear up soon. Core work and pushups to keep busy, and moving a few free weights didn't aggravate the elbow so I'm optimistic. Contrast baths.

F - Elbow feeling pretty much 100% fine.

S - Contrast baths.

S - Epic outing at the Roaches, absolutely soaked, escaped to Awesome Walls in Stoke. Good session, worked hard, elbow felt mint, 90 degree one arm lockoffs no problem. Words cannot express how relieved I am. Core to finish and will do some contrast baths tonight.

Next Week:

M - Pushups.

T - Local outdoor something, core to finish.

W - Rest and rehab.

T - Gym bouldering plus core to finish (might skip this depending on the plan for next week).

F - Rest and rehab.

S, S - Hopefully the beginning of a cheeky trip somewhere!

Goals:

Rehabilitate finger (going rather well).

Reckless.

Rigpa.

Certainly not for me! More temperate weather but showery.

Thanks Alan. Yes, I certainly find them fiddly - the grade voting seems to suggest it is hard for the grade and it is certainly not my style - a step up from the 7A+s I’ve done in the last 12 months in terms of the level of personal difficulty/challenge.

Rested early part of the week due to a sore wrist, which thankfully seems mostly to be ok as I type. Several days with my parents was nice although a bit too much food and drink! It’s caught me rather by surprise that I will be in Wales in a few weeks now; I certainly don’t feel like I’ve been training to peak for it!

The portable fingerboard worked well; I think I shall be using it more in future although I do plan to maybe glue it all together and perhaps make it a bit smaller in the process (allows me to correct the millimetre inaccuracies noted last week!).

Monday - wrist a bit sore, decided to rest.

Tuesday - ditto. Weather too poor to get out dws, thought resting better than the wall.

Wednesday - hectic day and then drive to London in the evening

Thursday - very hectic day. Unpacked the portable fingerboard and the mini paralettes at the end of the day, did a couple of sets of pushups and a few pull-ups on the jugs, pull into tuck lever and hangs and pull-ups on the edges. The easiest place to hang them is the top of the stairs, so didn’t feel like a time to go all out! Even bolted through there is some creaking from the edges so I may just glue them, once I am sure the portable fingerboard is a concept here to stay. 

- Definitely good as a warm up tool. 

- Enough to keep things topped up as a travelling training tool

- Hard to say whether you could try hard enough for it to be sufficient for longer periods as a primary training tool, although since that would inevitably require weights and whatnot, not a concept I can easily imagine working for other reasons.

- something like repeaters if you could get the intensity right might be the sweet spot training exercise?

Friday - surprisingly achey shoulders. Not sure if it is not having done the pseudo planche pushups in a while, or some sort of stabiliser getting hammered by the free hanging board, or some combination of the two.

Saturday - still kind of achey! Another session on the fingerboard - some hangs, some pull-ups on the edges, some pull-ups and tuck front lever holds on the jugs. Also sets of pseudo planche pushups again.

Sunday - nothing as yet. Busy day driving from London to Poole via Cheltenham - a circuitous route but I got to saw a lot of old friends from uni, far more than I had expected, so very worthwhile.

Haha, thanks Alan. One session wouldn't make any difference but, apart from the previous few weeks (paused due to injuring my knee a bit) I've been doing the hip mobility work twice a week for several months now. I've definitely got better at it since I started, although some stretches more than others and I'm not sure how transferable it is on rock. Either way, on the greek I definitely managed to lock in to a better position on the crux than I could last year.

M: evening hip mobility routine

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

W: evening - 4*10 TRX hamstring curls, 4*8 copenhagens on each side, 5*5 one arm scap pull-ups with theraband assistance.

T:  evening - 3*30 second density hangs, then 3*10 second 2 finger pocket hangs on each of middle, front and back 2. Felt weak on 2-finger pockets, blaming poor conditions

F: 'rest' walking a long way around Chester zoo, half of it with a nearly-four-year-old on my shoulders.

S: rest, Sol's birthday

S: morning -   3* 30 second density hangs, short board session,  5*5 one arm scap pull-ups with theraband assistance. Was pretty happy with the board session, still doing mostly easier things but I managed a couple of 6c+ and a 7a. Felt the finger a couple of times but no significant pain. Evening - hip mobility routine.

Too much stuff on this weekend to be able to get outside but this morning's session was fairly good. Should be able to get out next Sunday I think.

Si

Hey Ross, if you don't get any better offers I'll be free for a half day (morning) session on the 8th somewhere around the north west or the more accessible bits of north Wales. Would be up for meeting up.

Stressful times at work, and not getting enough sleep. Nevertheless an ok 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 back onto 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: Discovered in the afternoon that a presentation I had written in German is going to have non German speakers in the audience, so that put paid to any evening training plans.

T: Boulderwelt, kilter board. Short session (due to more slides in need of translation) but feeling much stronger for having had a lighter week last week. Very close on a 6A+ at 40°, albeit with two footcuts and a heelhook so nae Smith Points for me (Malc or Ally)

W: Half an hour stretching & mobility  

T: Too tired to go to the wall, max hangs at home instead. Have added some one arm scap pulls on jugs to my routine for shoulder stability - was worried that these might irritate my persistent slight impingement issues, but so far as long as I stay properly engaged they feel like they're doing more good than harm
F: 
S: Konstein. Was (a) one of the few nearby crags forecast to be dry today and (b) home to an old project of mine that I haven't been on for a couple of years. Conditions turned out to be absolutely perfect, the first climbing day I've had for weeks that wasn't like trying to climb in a sauna, and I had a typical-for-me good projecting day. First go felt hopeless, third go I slipped off the target sloper of the last hard move just as I was starting to think it might be in the bag. That was game over for the day, no more power, but still promising. Really nice route: bouldery sequence with intricate, powerful, hard-for-the-grade moves. Proper limestone tic-tac too: ten hand moves and eighteen foot moves in the crux sequence.
Got a bit chewed by mosquitoes in the evening, but that was really the only blemish on an excellent day.
The  slight problem now is that the proj is in a relatively obscure & unfashionable sector, and I have to lure somebody there at least one more time.

S: Wall, Weyarn. Autobelay mileage. Session aim was to work on my generally lamentable second-day-on endurance, from which point of view it went ok. Curious to note that my lats felt more sore & worked from yesterday than my forearms, even though I wasn't working on anything particularly steep.

Cheers Alan. Had a little more time this week so managed a few sessions. This was supposed to be my endurance phase but I’ve also got a bit addicted to Board Training.

Tue

• 4sec Frenchies 3,3,2
• 15x pulls on the Woody (4c+)
• 6x Campus Ladders. First time I’ve done these properly with the rest time being the same as the set time. The pump is real!

Thu

• 4sec Frenchies 3,3,2&1/3
• 10x pulls on the Woody (4c+)
• 3x 5 Pseudo Planche Push-up (concentrating on lean forward)
• TRX Core

Sat

• 4x IYTs
• 20x pulls on the Woody (flashed the 4x 4c+ problems I’ve been doing this week, worked a couple other 4c+)
• 6x Campus Ladders (improvement)
• TRX Core
• 3x6 Pseudo Planche Pushup (big lean)

Really enjoying the Digi Board but for a 40Deg Woody the grades are complete sandbags!

Sounds good! I'll keep you updated.

Thank you Alan. Once I'm back, I will definitely be working on my Woody board technique.

Been on holiday this week, and despite original plans to do some training, the best I managed was sandcastles on the beach.

Mon-Fri - Nothing, on holiday, weather was a bit all over the place, so didn't manage to go out in the evenings.

Sat - Evening went to Bass point to do some Top Rope Solo.  Did Tickle My Pink (E1 5a) as a warm up, then Dawn (E4 5c), followed by a go at Lazarus (E6 6b), which is definitely a goer, but not that session as the rope was in the wrong place, and it was getting dark.  I also didn't bring all my gear on holiday with me, so found it hard to commit with the kit I had.

Sun - Took the children out to  Rosemergy Towers for a fun day out on the granite.

I will be in Whitchurch for the weekend. If you've not gone off on a jolly already, I'll be havig a Sunday morning session on Shropshire Sandstone. Not sure exactly where yet.

Foot cuts and heel hooks have a place too.

It's just that you can't ignore the need for front on style as it's an important movement pattern for steep board climbing.

Thanks again for stat'ing. Mixed week for me. Just two sessions and unplanned resting...

Week 30

M – Rest.

T – Gorge – it was dry but partner had bailed so bouldered.

Warmed up repeating a couple of things up to 7A, then spur of the moment decided to try some alternate crux beta on Be Ruthless Sit-start (f7C). The heel seemed promising and with a change of boots a solid sequence emerged. Briefly worked the other moves and pulled on for a go from the sit start. Despite some faff with unnecessary foot swaps took it to the top first go 😊

After that, spent 2 hours trying Sunset Sit-start (f7C+), 7C+++? Eventually found some viable beta but it still feels brick hard. Keen for a re-match.

Throughout those 2 hours, I started to get a gut ache, which I thought was probably linked to tired core muscles. This got worse when driving back and once home my bowels opened with explosive force and continued to do so until the early hours.

W – Rest – mostly spent on the sofa feeling sorry for myself.

T – More R&R

F –  Bounced back. 90min board session; feeling light but no successes on any of the 7C/+ things I was trying.

S – Walk to Hilbre and back at low tide. Squiggle happier in the rucksack carrier for longer periods now.  

S – 26km / 50min flat ride. Legs felt tired.

Hi Alan, thanks for the continued stats run. Holiday going nicely but weather seems to do its own thing down here and ignores the forecast. Been really showery which hasn't helped getting much climbing in. Lots of generally being active though.

Mon. 1km swim.

Tues. 9km run.

Wed. Did The Wave (f7A) which I found hard but really really good and worth it's 3 stars and on good quality rock. Tried some other stuff but it was mostly either choss, wet, half buried, needing more pads and a spot or I couldn't find it!

Thurs. 36km Road bike.

Fri. Rest.

Sat. 6km run.

Sun. Called into  Cheesewring Quarry on the way past to remind myself how terrible I am at granite. Had the family with me so just did a handful of onsightable easier problems and a few low solos. 

There are some impressive looking walls on the seaward side aren’t there, pity the rock’s not more solid 

So, is next week's Psyche Vid going to be the fairly obvious - moah Malc! - or the really obvious - something from the Olympics?

Stayed tuned to find out.

Although it goes the ethos of what this forum is about I don’t think I have ever got better through training! When I did my two hardest projects I rarely visited the wall from starting working the route, all gains were made through sieging, time indoors prevents to much deterioration or is good for going from a low base to ok again but the rest comes from time on the rock. That said CRRH is now wet so not sure when I’ll get back on it.

M: Rest

T: Screwed a bit of wood to a perlin in my office so I can do pull-ups, did sets of 5, 7, 9

W: 3 sets of 10 pull-ups (BIG rests in between!). Depot, restricted myself to three goes on each, felt I was climbing well (must be the new pull-up regime!) but still failed on at least as many as I normally do. 
T: Rest, should be back on the yoga. 
F: Rockover, felt knackered (definitely the new pull-up regime). Did a couple of hours with very little rest but fell off everything remotely hard. Lots of big modern sloper holds which I literally cannot even hold, never mind move off.

S: Skirting boards in the attic. 
S: Listless at Kilnsey so after warm up decided to clean Balas (E5 6b). Stick clipped Frankie to get to the top and did enough moves of that to remind myself it’s unforgiving of poor footwork. Lowered down Balas and cleaned some of it, surprisingly tiring.  My second TR got me from the ground to the junction with Frankie in a oner, felt hard but that might be because it’s still a bit dirty and relies on smears etc for feet. Finished with a very poor attempt to TR Frankie which left me wasted so a good day in the end. It now looks like I have my first ever headpoint project!

Weight was going well (I bottomed out at just under 11’2” ) but that might be creeping back up so need to watch that and do some yoga  

Thanks for the cleaning effort.  You've got me intrigued...

Cheers Alan. Yes the return of rainy weather and entering August has made me realise that if i want to get fit for sport in Autumn i'd better start now.

M - Mobility and AnCap

T - Mobility

W - 55 degree board at BUK, Aero Pow (foot on campus) - didn't do Aero Cap as too busy with work

T - Mobility An Cap

F - Feeling tired. Had a day of nothing apart from some light DIY and a very easy 30 min jog

S - Chapel Head Scar. Warmed up on Witherslack Alice (6c) twice then looked at Electric Warrior (7b) which was actually dry for the first time when i've been at the crag. I'm still sticking with no clip stick apart from the first 1 or 2 for safety. Worked up to the 4th clip and then had a break. Next go i pulled past the start as even after one go my fingers were on fire. Worked the crux out and to the top. 

Had a flash go on a 7a/+ that is a mash up of two existing 7a+'s that takes the best climbing from both. Made a wrong decision right at the top and came off. Good fight though, but a bit disappointed.

S - Stretch and Aero Cap

Not a bad week but i'd still like more outdoor climbing. WIth that in mind and conditions due to change for chapel mid week i've taken wednesday off to go and do Electric Warrior.

It's very burly and will require full commitment. It's pure AnCap and i reckon i've only got two goes on it before skin gives up. So i'm taking two rest days and we'll see what happens. I am feeling psyched for the first time since i got ill in April - so that's a good thing.

That was the idea, a bit of chalk to lure people in. There was a bit of interest at the crag but mostly from people who had already done it! 

Have they made this significantly easier or is it still nails?

It's still nails - but better nails. You won't come off because you can't crimp something now. It's all about the tension and contact speed. 

I'm going to get back on it for a second beating next week s o it can't be that bad.

I managed the easiest problem recorded - flashed it in fact. That was the high point. Anything allegedly half a grade harder is impossible, for now......

Hi All. Thanks, as per, for the stats Alan.

Rubbish week last week... The detailed week plan was ripped up on day one due to various work/life constraints.

Week 30:

M: Nowt

T: Nowt

W: Fingerboarding. Trail Run. 10.25km, 248m vert, 6:07/km.

T: Nowt

F: Nowt

S: Trail Run. 10.4km, 286m vert, 6:16/km.

S: Nowt

Week 31:

M: Climbing

T: Run 

W: Fingerboard

T: Board

F: Run 

S: Fingerboard

S: Rest

STG (End August):

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

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

Red Square (E2) and Black Wall (E1 5b)

Edale Skyline

2021 Goals:

35 E-points

Run 30km vert and 1000km

Just pointing out that if the weather turns out as forecast, I'll be driving back from the Frankenjura on Sunday evening so next week's posting might be a bit late