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.

Hi all, hope today’s boulder meet up manages to go ahead somewhere.  Conditions were good in the Peak yesterday and I think they will be amazing today.  The sky is clear, the rock is dry, the temp is cold and the wind is, err, windy!? Hopefully those with projects that need all this are out making the most of it and those that can’t get out are preparing or resting ready for next time.  What’s not to love.

Ross Barker – you’re not old yet!  You’ve only got Stevie Haston, Steve McClure and Ben Moon to look at for inspiration there.  Good work at Burbage and hope you get plenty done today.

Steve Claw – loads of indoor strength and general burliness there, is it worth doing some aerobic work too?  As someone who usually gets plenty of time on rock it will be interesting to see how different you feel when you go back to rock.

Liam P – Thanks for the podcast tip, I need to have a listen as I always struggle with slow recovery.  Nearly there now.  Impressive consistency as always.  Remember not to go too wild when the doc gives you the all clear!

AJM – Lightening Strike looks great, neither sequence looks easy but both look fun.  I guess which one you use will depend on what you’re best at.  Good brownie point accumulation combined with cross training on Sunday!

Si dH – a lower mileage weak than usual, planned or just life getting in the way?  Hope you’ve managed to get some training in this week without any bicep issues.

Tyler – Moving house is supposed to be one of the 4 most stressful things you can do in life so don’t feel bad about the anxiousness, it just makes you human.  Some solid treadmill sessions there.  Does the new house have a dedicated Tyler space somewhere you can build some boss training facilities?

AlanLittle – looks like you had a good week, great work.  Have you got an endurancy project back home you can deploy your holiday fitness at?

Ally Smith – at least you got a couple of session in before the next wave of illness arrives.  Its been a bit like that in our house – I’m hoping I was the first with the current wave and that its not coming my way.  Its hard to tell where one wave stops and the other begins!

The Sheep – I studied geography at University of Leicester 2003-7, which dept. do you work in?  I always regret never going to The Brand, have you climbed there?  Great swimming mileage this week, remember to keep at the running though you sound on form after the 10k last week.

Derek Furze – back up to previous form with the pull ups I see, well done.  If you’ve not done one then its worth doing a proper test session to find the best weight for max hangs.  Like Ally said, you want to see the max you can hold for 7s, then use 90% of BW+max added weight and do 6 10s hangs with that next time you do hangs.

Tom Green – hope you’ve recovered from the core work now!  Good work on Backhander and progressive training methods on Sunday.  The tooling isn’t going anywhere, though winter is looking much closer now, temps drop today so hopefully the ground will start to cool down.  A bit of snow melting into it high up should help things along.

Biscuit – Help me out, what’s BFR? Not sure how to train fish related bravery, get down the fish market!?  You must be looking forward to the job change if its going to allow time for more fun stuff.  Any ‘new job’ climbing projects on the horizon?

Mattrm – does your wall have autobelays or a boulder wall?  It could still be training night even if your mate can’t make it!

Thanks SSB and good to hear that the Peak was in good nick yesterday.  I rarely get out at the weekends, but had considered bouldering yesterday until work came in early on.  Good advice on the max hangs, as I haven't done a 'proper test', though last week's effort was a stab in that direction.

This week has been really poor, simply because I've been overloaded with work, including travel.  A bit frustrating, but managed some pull ups yesterday (102 in three pyramids) and will get some done later today - 6 sets of max hangs (I will set it at +15.9kg as it is one step up from what I have been doing recently), push ups and stretching.

Busy Mon - Wed, but things looking a little more relaxed going forwards, so hoping to get out on rock at the back end of the week.

Thanks SSB. Reduced volume last week was just down to life getting in the way. I think my arm is ok, just a small tweak of something. We are still very much in the zone of learning day by day what we can fit in around looking after the boys, especially at the weekend when my eldest isn't at school. Last weekend we planned a lot of family stuff and I just didn't have any time free. Unfortunately this week I've been knocked out by a cold...

M: morning - 3*30 second density hangs, then 5 sets of 3/6/9 hangs on a 23mm edge, the first set with bodyweight + 20 kg then the rest with bodyweight + 27 kg.

T: morning - crimpd app hip/leg flexibility'C' routine. Afternoon - had an hour on my board, working a new problem.

W: cancelled training plans as I could feel a sore throat coming on (family had all been ill before me.) However, a lot of walking around christmas shopping probably didn't help.

T: grot

F: more grot

S: more grot

S: still grot! Bit gutted as I had to cancel on Ross and conditions look brilliant today. I'm just going to sit at home and try to get better...

Colds seem to hit me far worse than they did 5 years ago. They tend to really knock me for six and also need about a week to get over. Something to do with being a parent I think!

Si

A couple in principle, but despite being on a south facing crag they weren't climbable in December last year. Except the one on the spray wall at Boulderwelt  Let's see

I grew up in Leicester, but moved away - and started climbing at uni - just before Steve Allen & Co started developing The Brand and other places. I occasionally hung around with them when I was home on summer hols, and did some early repeats of stuff at Huncote (rip), but never made it to The Brand. Missed opportunity.

Final instalment of trip report to follow in the evening

Thanks SSB,

I probably should do aerobic work as well, but it can be hard to find the time, so I've been concentrating on strength as its where I need the most improvement.

M - Nothing

T - Indoor Bouldering and Comp.  Unfortunately they set this one significantly harder than previous, so I can't use it for comparison, however I think I did ok. Upside is that there is a load of project problems there for the next few weeks.

W - Nothing

T - Outdoor Sport - Weather was against us and it rained as we arrived in Cheddar.  Worked Circus, Circus (7c) as all the hard (overhanging) bits were dry, but damp pockets etc made it all feel hard.  Linked all moves, ready for a dry RP another day, however I think it will be a hard one to stay on, as really sustained.  Cheddar really is not my preferred style, so need to do a load more of it and improve.

F - Indoor Boulders 2hr. Max hangs 6*10s +15kg (still only getting to 7-8s). Then tried to get some extra problems from Tuesday done, but didn't manage any.

Evening all, shame there wasn't a meet, would've been fun! A good week from me overall, despite a naff session in the middle.

Last Week:

M - 2 mile walk. Moonboard power hour, and a bloody good one at that. Managed to flash three Font 7s (Applesauce, Crossover and Ladybug), though I think they all suited me very well. Of course fell off several around that grade as well, but it nicely massages the ego. Groin and hamstring stretches, then 3x10 strict pushups.

T - Rest. Spied up a few MB 7Bs to try out in the next session like a true grade chaser.

W - 2 mile walk. Contrast baths.

T - 2 mile walk. Poor-ish session on Rigpa. Couldn't repeat "the move". Lessons learned:

-13⁰C is too warm (unless there is good wind?)

-Don't leave the 120cm sling at home, handy to rig the warm up board

-Get a good night's sleep beforehand

-Bring send fuel®️

F - Rest.

S - Rest.

S - Cratcliffe/RHS. Started on T Crack (f7B), fresh as a daisy. Warmed up, dialed the top moves, rehearsed the bottom, and was ready for the send. A catastrophic foot pop caused my to scrape my forearm a few feet down the rounded blob and it right stung! Long rest, swig of water and finished it off next go.

A bit of mooching around then did The Kid (f7A), but not without bashing my knee in first! Afterwards was a play on some gentle slabs and some optimistic goes on RZA Roof (f7B). Ate a fingertip, but a neat one to try next time.

Next Week:

M - Rest.

T - Rest.

W - Rigpa?

T - Rest.

F - Rest.

S, S - Outdoor punting.

Goals:

Rigpa.

Suavito.

T-Crack (tick!)

Finally back to the training game after a long injury stint...

M: 6 x 10s @ 90% of max (bw +15kg) 20mm edge, half crimp. 5 sets of 5 pull ups (+5kg). 4 sets of 10 push ups. 4 sets of tricep dips

T: Knee rehab gym work (squats, leg presses, hamstring curls etc)

W: Rest (felt groggy after a flu jab)

T: Hangboard repeaters 7s on, 3s rest x 6 (3 sets half crimp, 2 sets 4f open hand, 2 sets 3f drag) all at 75% (bw) of max, 20mm edge. 4 project boulders on the Moon Board

F: Rest

S: Cold multi pitch trad on Dinas Mot

S: Hungover sport climbing on the slate after the club annual dinner.

Next week: 

M: Bike ride in the sun

T: Max hangs on 20mm edge (open hand)

W: Knee rehab in the gym

T: Hangboard repeaters on 20mm edge

F: Rest

S: A day on the grit

S: Rest

The anxiousness was about whether it would actually happen rather than the more usual issues around packing and moving, I'm reasonably sanguine about that as we have all the time in the world to officially decamp. That said BT have done their best to raise my blood pressure today!

Yes and no, there is loads of spare room in the house as there is only the two of us, the ceilings are nice and high and the floors feel solid, the problem is the previous owners recarpeted throughout and it seems a shame to trash them as they are of a better quality than anything I would ever buy and are virtually brand new! There are a couple of other options with lower ceilings but I expect nothing will be built before next spring.

W: Walked up Crimpiau summit (summit) as we had a spare couple of hours. The effort to reward ratio if you start from Crafnant must be second to none as you can see virtually all the Welsh 3000's from the summit - a really stunning 360 view.

F: Set out to walk to Cwm Dulyn bothy, about 200 meters short of the parking (i.e. the middle of nowhere) I clipped a rock with my tyre. No service on my phone, by the time we got service I discovered my breakdown cover had run out (as had my wife's). Eventually it got sorted out but low profile Pirelli P Zeros, Welsh mountain roads and strained cashflow do not make happy bedfellows!

S: Set out to walk to Cwm Dulyn bothy, about 200 meters short of the bothy we turned back as we were soaked and cold and hadn't seen a view for over an hour, happy to be out in our new back yard though. Less happy to be in a cold house with unreliable 'hot' water and heating so drove back to Lancashire!

S: As if to rub my nose in the paucity of climbing wall options near Llanrwst I visited another new wall 40 mins from current home (three have opened since lockdown). Freeklime in Huddersfield was another excellent friendly facility, would recommend.

yeah it’s a cool line. Keen to put a bit more time into it.

visiting my parents this weekend with the kids so no weekend climbing, some decent wall sessions early week though.

Monday - good start to the week with a solid wall session. On my own for a change and spent a bit of time on each of the three problems I’d tried and wanted to come back to. Got to the last move on one (just need some oomph for a looong final move), to the last hold on the second (but after matching it there is a heinous looking mantle onto it to pull off, definitely not all over!) and on the third I made a bit of progress. Skin pretty sore by the end though!

Tuesday - achey! Decent stretching session. I could kid myself I might be seeing small progress here.

Wednesday - short trip to the wall before the comp with miniAJM. Ticked the first of the three problems above, got into the mantle on the second (but in all honesty I don’t think I have the grunt, it’s horrendous!). Didn’t try the third, but had a few goes on a new project, a slightly overhanging crimpy number. Probably had a dozen goes and touched the last hold on my last go, so hopefully one for next time… a good session! In the evening, I did some stretching and compression too, for extra dedication points.

Thursday - more aches again - a sign of having worked hard! Chilled out.

Friday - should have done something, ran out of time. Drove to visit parents in the evening

Saturday - chez parents. Did about a half hour of stretching and compression in the morning, good session. After lunch, an hour or so walk carrying microAJM. Feeling pretty wiped!

Sunday - in the morning, a few sets of pushups (these felt very hard, I’m not sure if this is just that I’m out of practise or trying to do them concurrently with the rest) and a short session on the portable fingerboard - some deadhangs, some pull-ups on the edges, some one arm hangs on the jug at the top assisted with a theraband. Then, another walk, microAJM got a bit cold and refused to go in the rucksack so I spent rather a long time carrying her in my arms which is always harder work than it should be. Then drove home. 

STG: 2 x 7a (yes) and/or 6c+ onsight (no) in Leonidio.
MTG: 1H 2022: onsight 6c+
LTG: Be a confident, well rounded low to mid 7's sport climber. For measurable definition see Fit Club 658

Third week of the holiday fizzled a bit, as the end of a trip so often does. I tried hard-for-me routes every climbing day, and I wasn't far off them, but I'm just not quite at the level yet where I can count on managing 7a/+ in a day, multiple days in a row. I'm there or thereabouts in terms of strength and physical fitness, and more limited by confidence and move-reading ability. So now I know what to train (though not necessarily how). Encouraging.

M: Leonidio: rainy rest day
T: Leonidio: more rain in Leonidio, so drove down to (idyllic) Kyparissi where it was forecast to be dryer. It was, a bit, and in between showers I played around on the powerful boulder crux of Jumping Fish (6c+), but it was too powerful for me today.
W: Leonidio: Yellow Eyes. New sector bolted last year that was highly recommended to us by a local, and it seems he wasn't the only one enthused about it because it was packed. Can't see why though, it was easily the worst crag we've been to here so far. Best event of the day: my first big winger for ages. I've been taking plenty of falls on this trip (good) but mostly little foot slips next to bolts, or controlled jump-offs. Not this one: well above the bolt, broke a handhold and spun off backwards. Thirty metres of rope out, belayer surprised & launched, ended up upside down three bolts further down. And completely unhurt both physically and mentally - good for clearing the head. 
    Made good progress late in the day on a flash attempt on the 7a+ my mate was working on, Aftershock Extension (7a+), but bailed as soon as I fell off to let him get his redpoint in before dark.
T: Leonidio: Theos. Bolt-to-bolted Talvisota (7a) (see below) and should have got it second go, but the rest of the route after the boulder crux was crap so tried the rather better looking Festival (7a+) instead. Actually made good progress on that figuring out the start of the crux sequence, but still got to a point where I couldn't see what to do what appeared to be one move before the next bolt. More falling practice.
F: Leonidio: pouring rain. Pack & drive to Athens
S: Fly home from Athens
S: Wall, Freimann. Got a few routes in with my son before we went to see Dune. No sense in doing a voluntary post-trip deload when I'll most likely be in involuntary lockdown deload in a week or two anyway.

Here's an example of the sort of thing I'm not good at seeing how to do. 7a with a boulder crux coming out of a small cave. Two good opposing sidepulls on two tufas; both feet up over lip so hands are now at waist height. Slap to mediocre pinch further up right tufa, left foot up, left hand cross through to good undercut high up, Job Done. 

At first I just get to the two-sidepulls-and-feet-high position and have no idea at all what to do from there. After hanging on the rope and looking at it for a while, (and my belayer telling me to get on with it & use the crappy pinch whether I like it or not), I actually did the move first go, although I still found it hard. But I'm simply not quick enough at seeing what to do in these situations on onsight attempts.

Why not? Because I spend too much of my time on a rope - especially on plastic, but not only on plastic - climbing at a relatively comfortable onsight level, so I just don't get that much practice at reading and trying non-obvious sequences on the fly. I justify this to myself as aerobic base mileage, which it is to a degree, but it's also reluctance to step outside my comfort zone. Need to spend more time on harder things

Cheers SSB. I have my 12 week X-ray this week so (fingers crossed) I should be able to lose the cast and sign off from Recovery Club!

Really enjoying the offset pull-ups at the minute. I’m using a rope and reached my limit at a 43” offset. Think I may invest in some pull-up bands to replace the rope and increase the difficulty.

RecoveryClub Goals

• Recover
• 3x3 5sFrenchies (tick)
• Max Hang 20s 20mm +12kg (tick)
• Bent Arm Planche (tick)
• Full 20x Core Circuit (tick)
• Front Lever (on One Leg FLs)
• Weight <175lb

Mon

• Max Hangs 6x 10s One Arm Half Crimp 40mm (rope assist on non-weighted hand)
• 3x 8 One Arm Scap Pulls (+8kg)
• 4x 1 Offset Pull-ups (27” offset)
• 4x 1 Offset Pull-ups (31” offset)
• 2x 1 Offset Pull-ups (36” offset)
• 4x 1 One Arm Eccentrics
• 10x 25 Calf Raises (+2kg)

Wed

• Max Hang 5x 20s Half Crimp 20mm +(14kg/118%)
• BA Straddle Planche 7x 4-5s
• Planche Leans 5x 4s (34” foot-hand)
• LSit to 45degVSit Reps 3x 5
• 30degVSit Hold 3x 5s
• 10x 30 Calf Raises (+2kg)

Fri

• Max Hang 5x 10s Half Crimp 20mm +(15kg/119%)
• 3x 8 One Arm Scap Pulls (+10kg)
• 2x 1 Offset Pull-ups (39” offset)
• 2x 1 Offset Pull-ups (43” offset)
• 2x 1 Offset Pull-ups (47” offset) Fail
• 2x 1 Offset Pull-ups (43” offset)
• 4x 1 One Arm Eccentrics

Weight: 175lb

I’m still getting good results from my diet trial. An extra 500kcals a day (mostly from protein) and no major weight gain - although I’ve had family down this weekend which resulted in lots of Guinness and watching the rugby. We’ll see what the scales say tomorrow…

Have a good week!

If you liked those...

...Seventension, ACG64, Five finger discount

Jordan 2 Var, Kokolo, Hangboard not required

Chapeau. 

Mon. Rest.

Tues. Not been on the fingerboard for 6 weeks due to a left pinky injury so had a tester session today. Mostly fine but needed to be steady and backed off when I was struggling. 6x max hangs (+24kg). 6 sets of repeaters, first two sets with +5kg,ditched the weight for the 3rd set then had to alternate between the larger 25mm edge and the big flaty for the last 3 sets. Pinky felt OK but on the edge so didn't go wild. Shoulder shrugs (2 and then 1arm), 5x5 pull ups, 3x10 press ups.

Wed. Shrugs, 3x10 press ups, got the rings outs for crimpd tension and compression, 5x5 pull ups.

Thurs. 11km run at 4.40/km.

Fri. Rest.

Sat. Sport climbing. Warmed up on the brilliant On the Road (Sport) (6c+). Had a play on a 7c+ and did all but one of the moves but decided to come back to it another day. Onsight of Shore Leave (7a+) and then Princess of the Streets (7a).

Sun. Nice walk with the kids around Froggatt then headed out with the lamps after the kids had gone to bed. This eve was the kind of grit conditions everyone dreams of. It was about 2 degrees and falling, some wind but not enough to freeze you, clear skies, full moon, super low humidity and every sloper felt amazing. Managed Beach Ball (f7A) in a handful of goes or so. Amazed to flash Zaff's Problem (f7B). Don't think I've flashed a 7B on grit before so really pleased with that. Went on to do Pistol Pinch (f7A+) and then Pistol Pinch Right-hand (f7A+). Walked out with the frost just beginning to form and the gritters getting started on the roads. The only not perfect thing was that someone had chalked and brushed the living daylights out of literally every hold on every problem at secret garden. It must have taken them ages, even the high ones you'd need a ladder for were caked. So unnecessary.

Some thoughts on strengths and weaknesses. Feel weak on really small crimps and on dynamic movements. Feeling strong endurance wise and on more shoulder compressiony stuff than before. Recovery between session is improving too. I guess that reflects what I've been working on recently so maybe it's all working  

Good effort on the quick 7s! I've not been to Secret Garden but I heard the climbing is pretty ferocious indeed!

In reply to Ally Smith:

Cheers for the recommendations, will have a go next time I'm on it!

Cheers SSB, I'm currently in Neuroscience, Psychology and Behaviour, but would have been in Cell Physiology and Pharmacology back when you were here. The Brand is a truly beautiful little spot, whilst a lot of the routes were way out of my league my partner and I always made sure we went at least once a year to do Mango. One of the nicest routes I think I have climbed anywhere!

Anyway a very up and down week gone by;

Monday, 1km swim

Tuesday, working from home as i was getting my covid booster jab later in the day so escaped for a nice 6.5km trail run first thing

Wednesday, felt crap, spent most of the night sweating and shivering. Ached all over and generally not happy. Took a load of pain killers and tried for a swim at lunchtime. Got 1km in but really wasn't worth it!

Thursday and Friday were taken up delivering practical classes so no exercise. Probably a blessing in disguise all things considered.

Saturday, morning spent ferrying kids to various activities. Got to sit down in the afternoon to watch England Vs the Boks and then did home made pizzas for the kids and their guests in the evening.

Sunday, Really nice 8km trail run whilst my eldest swam 

Ah yes, those little local "as good as anything anywhere" gems. I thought Pig's Ear at Whitwick (rip) was as good as anything I'd ever done on the same scale on grit.

Thanks for stating. I might have dodged the latest wave of viral lurgy, but i'm fighting off a bacterial infection instead and over the weekend started with toothache!

A good week of training though and feels good to be back trying hard (even if not succeeding) on the Moonboard.

Week 46

M – Nowt. Waiting for the antibiotics to kick in.

T – Also nothing – work kicking off as well.

W – Shoulder rehab and some more fingerboard benchmarking:

5s 1-arm lattice edge L+R @BW-2kg

5s 1-arm campus rung L@BW+2kg; R@BW+1kg

7s 8mm edges @BW+27.5kg

7s 6mm edges @BW+12.5kg

T – Warm-ups, then 6x6 an-cap using fingery 7A-B problems. Could feel the (hopefully last) dreggs of lurgy.

F – Rest.

S – “Board 10” from Crimpd. 5x 7A+/B and 5x 7C/+ projects. Managed just one of them. Picked up a little split.

S – 5on/3off low-end aero-cap. F3 drag repeaters x4. Shoulder rehab. 25km flat ride. First time out in 5 weeks.

Hi FitClub. Cheers for the stats SSB.

Starting to get excited about the advent of real winter... Just need to make sure I'm organised (or disorganised!) in terms of booking in work and family stuff so that it doesn't interfere with Scottish climbing over the next few months! Hoping to make the most of this season.

Week 46:

Highs and Lows...

M: Fingerboard and Strength Sesh -TRX.

T: Prehab

W: Trail Run. 22.5km, 721m vert, 6:51/km

T: Rest. 

F: Bouldering at Captain Cooks. Awesome evening exploring/pottering.

S: Prehab -felt a cold coming on.

S: Lurgy has landed (serves me right for being smug over the last few weeks when half of fit club was complaining of lurgy!)

Week 47:

100(?) mins running -supposed to be a light week, but I might just crack on... I have enough unintentional light weeks that I don't feel like I can justify intentional low mileage!

1 x climbing

2 x core and strength

3 x prehab

STGs (end 2021):

Heavens Above (TICK!)

Chelly Express (TICK!)

White wall (M8) 

Run all segments of the Cleveland Way (4/9)

MTGs (end March 22):

Lots of Scottish mixed at VI and VII

Something long, hard and suffery in the Alps.