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UKC Fit Club Week 772

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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,

I’m not sure where this week has gone, it feels like two minutes since I did the last lot of stats.  I’ve really enjoyed reading the 2021 round up thread, and echo Tom’s words about it being inspiring to see everyone’s successes and learning experiences.  Bring on 2022.

AJM – well done for committing to the strength and conditioning and I’m loving the urban concrete crushing.  Great dedication with the portable finger board.

Si dH – Shame Moria was wet but at least you’ve got parts of it wired now.  Wednesday is looking very promising in the Peak, mostly dry mon-wed and temps dropping on Tues which should see off some of this condensation.

Ross Barker – impressive dugout ticklist.  I tried In His Head when I was there and found it desperate (I didn’t do it).  Can you reach the good hold with feet still on the good bit near the back?  If you’re consistent on that move (which it sounds like you are) maybe try the linking the R to L traverse into it (7B+/7C I think?)

Derek Furze – some good maintenance sessions there in preparation for being ‘back on it’.  I like your goals from the roundup thread.

Steve Claw – hope rest week has helped the elbow, I suspect it will precede crush week!

Alan Little – ah, the dreaded training killer of the booster jab! Got to be done though, I need to get mine done next week too.  Think of the goose as preloaded energy!

The sheep – swimming rest week?  Probably due one! 3 good runs in there though, well done.

Liam P – I bet you’ve just got a massive smile on your face every time you touch rock at the moment after the long lay off! Take care with that bone!

SteveJC94 – I feel like there’s a good story behind ‘tweaked my knee on the stairs’?  What’s your next Scotland target?

Tom Green – good to see you in high spirits again despite the injury, well done for getting into the new training regime.  Did you sort out the nutrition for bone repair?

Ally Smith – unlucky not to tick something at the dugout but at least you got out given how wet everything has been recently. Your board sessions have been mega recently so Sub Moron and Pete’s link must be pretty hard.

In reply to Somerset swede basher:

I'm going to jump straight in with my week as I've no plans to exercise today!

Mon. Still in Somerset with wet rock and no training facilities so worked out in the park while the kids played.  90pull ups, 30 press ups and some odd looks from other parents.

Tues. 58km on the bike - this brings the yearly total to 925km, not quite my 1000km aim but within a reasonable distance.

Wed. 10km, god this felt hard after yesterdays cycle. Managed to maintain 5mins 6 sec/km though.  Takes my yearly total to 500km which is what I was aiming for.

Thurs. shrugs, 6x max hangs (+24kgs). Felt very steady.

Fri. rest.

Sat. Drove over to the western peak to meet Ross.  There was a lot of wet rock, quite a lot of damp rock and a very small patch of what we decided to call, with a bit of imagination, dry rock.  We managed S & M Left-hand Sit-start (f7A).  I did the hard bit of the direct version but the top was too wet to top it out so no tick there.  One for another day and was pleased to feel confident taking some big feeling lobs from high up onto our massive stack of pads.

Sun. back and quads a bit sore after yesterday's lob fest, going to take it easy like an old man today!

 Derek Furze 02 Jan 2022
In reply to Somerset swede basher:

Thanks SSB and Happy New Year to all fitclubbers!  I need to think a bit more about my general goals and probably pick (and state) some actual named target routes.  I've decided to include some grit as it really challenges my motivation going back to grit, but I do still have things to do.  

A better week for me, though I have been partying hard and have picked up a bug (not Covid according to tests).

Mon  Max hangs on tips 6 sets at 10 secs at 13.6kg (faded a bit on last couple); 3*3 pull ups at 13.6kg; 60 push ups ; stretching and a short (2k) run as I felt rubbish

Tues  Nothing

Wed  105 pull ups - these are beginning to feel solid again.  Because I do these on a one minute or less cycle, it is difficult to fit anything in alongside, so I might go back to doing pull ups as my alternate day with some stretching and running, with three sessions of fingerboard work on the other days.  This leaves one rest day per week, which was my routine six-week pattern last Jan - Feb.

Thurs  Short run with Julia as she is just starting back

Friday Max hangs as above, but only five sets - struggled a bit, but under the weather.  50 push ups and stretching.

Sat  40 pull ups in two pyramid sets (not many, but this is New Year's Day and didn't get in until 3 am).  Short run with Julia (2k) to help with return to running - so mild out there!

Hoping to climb Monday.  

 Liam P 02 Jan 2022
In reply to Somerset swede basher:

Cheers SSB and Happy New Year Fitclubbers.

> Liam P – I bet you’ve just got a massive smile on your face every time you touch rock at the moment after the long lay off! Take care with that bone!

Yeah it’s such a mental release. Can’t beat the driving home from the crag feeling. I Just need to stop myself pushing it too far.

Weather didn’t align with family commitments this week but got 2 good training sessions in.

Mon

  • 5x Max Pullup (17,12,10,10,8)
  • 5x Max Pushup (26,22,20,20,20)
  • 5x Max Hang 20mm +17kg (12,12,12,10,8)
  • Pinch Block +12kg 5x 20s

Sat

  • Scap Pulls 3x 8 BW, 3x 8 One Arm (+10kg)
  • Max Hangs 5x 20mm Half Crimp (+17.5kg) (12,12,10,10,6)
  • Weighted Pull-up 1RM (+41.25kg)
  • Campus Longmove 2x 1-4-4-7-7
  • Campus Offset pull-ups 2x (1-4
  • Campus Pull throughs 2x 1-4-5-8 (touched 8 but couldn’t latch)
  • Campus Bumps 2x 1-2-3-4-5
  • Campus Go-agains 2x 1-4/5
  • Campus Ladders 1-3-6-8 (fail) 2x 1-3-5-7
  • 2 hours bouldering (V3-4)

Too scared to step on the scales. I’m back healthy eating this week so will declare the damage next Sunday!

Post edited at 10:35
 AJM 02 Jan 2022
In reply to Somerset swede basher:

Thanks SSB!

I’ve got more training planned for the day still, but I thought I’d jump in and get the 2022 goals out there in the wild….

Outdoor climbing

- as last year, I’d like to do some actual sport climbing again. Preferably a quality project at 7c/+, although a bunch of onsighting at 7a or up would be a substitute

- I’d like to fill in some gaps in my DWS CV and make a slightly better effort on Mark of the Beast

- Hardest to organise but it would be nice to do some trad again. Lots of classics, ideally some E grades, be nice to get back to E3 again

- Progress on my “why haven’t I already” and “harder things to try” ticklists.

- Bouldering - I’d like to do Stomping with Bez, try the direct, do Liquid Sunshine, and do some harder problems away from home.

Indoor/training

- better and more balanced shoulders. In terms of what this might look like, I’d like to be able to hang off a bar one armed without assistance, lock off one armed at a few angles, continue to work on regaining and extending the tuck planche, and get to a point where say ten dips in a set feels ok.

- Work on some weaknesses. I have many weaknesses, so specifically in this case I’d like to get better at climbing face on, and at getting my weight onto feet that are high, away to the side or generally not underneath me. Working something into my circuits and doing a bunch on the board feel like obvious ways of approaching this.

- Try to build a stretching habit

Life

- less doom scrolling. I’m usually quite tired by the evenings so have a bad habit of ending up vegetating staring at my phone - Instagram, FB, clips on YouTube, other similar wastes of time. I am not going to pretend to aim for wholesome but unrealistic - more training, heavy reading, or whatever - but even easy to read fiction would be a big improvement!

- Support MrsAJM in doing more stuff again. Between spending half her maternity leave in lockdown #1 doing full time childcare, then subsequent lockdowns, and the fact microAJM is quite a handful, she hasn’t really managed to get back into things much (she used to climb a bit, do aerial circus, etc) and often feels a bit stuck in a rut. Would be great to help her out of it into something, whatever that might be!

 Si dH 02 Jan 2022
In reply to Somerset swede basher:

Thanks SSB.  

M: morning - did a crimpd app 'Board 10' on my board. 1 6B+, 4 6C, 5 7A (I failed on the last 7A.) Really pleased with this - the most try-hard volume in a board session for a long time and my fingers/shoulder were ok. I did my physio shoulder exercises afterwards.

T: rest

W: another damp session at Rhiw Goch in the afternoon trying Moria. Conditions gradually improved and I think I probably used my best efforts too early although I'm not sure how much difference it would have made. Basically, I made some progress but not as much as I hoped. I have now done all of the moves, and made a couple of decent links at the start and end, but these felt hard and there is a sequence of three moves in the middle that I haven't managed to link together yet. I think realistically I need to improve my current crimp strength as it's letting me down on small positive edges. In hindsight it's also possible I wasn't fully recovered from Monday. Still, nice to get two sessions on the problem in the Christmas break despite poor weather. No injury problems.

T: rest

F: N/A family trip to the zoo (I think I might have done my shoulder exercises)

S: N/A trip to see my wife's family

S: N/A trip to see my wife's family

Ran out of time/energy for any training in the second half of this week but first half was fairly good overall. 

We're away until Monday afternoon.

Si

Post edited at 12:35
 Tom Green 02 Jan 2022
In reply to Somerset swede basher:

Happy New Year everyone! Thanks for kicking us off with the 2022 stats, SSB.

An ok week, given the Christmas festivities and ongoing one-leggedness.

Week 52:

M: Shoulder Prehab. 

T: One-legged turbo session -30 mins, 15.6km. As someone who doesn't cycle I was surprised that this didn't feel very taxing from a cardio perspective, but maybe that was because going one-legged made leg endurance the limiting factor -my leg was pretty pumped by the end?! 

W: Max Hangs and Pull Ups.

T: Prehab. Shoulders and Elbows.

F: Max Hangs and Pull Ups.

S: Intensive day of crutching/hopping -first up to the top of our local hill to see the first sunrise of the New Year, then a day at the races. Left leg v tired and triceps and shoulders pretty well worked! 

S: Prehab. Elbows. Had planned another turbo sesh, but leg is tired after yesterday.

Week 1:

2 Core Sessions.

2 Fingerboard Sessions.

2 Strength Sessions.

2 Turbo Sessions.

2022 Planning:

Climb as productively as possible, as often as possible. Embrace anti-style routes, climb with intention, always fit in one more route or problem.

Utilise the double-sesh day more -an easy run or climb doesn't mean I can't/shouldn't do a session on the board.

Make prehab as much part of my daily routine as cleaning my teeth. There is literally NO reason for me to be so bad at this -it takes very little time or logistical effort! I just need to form the habit so that I do it every day unless it clashes with other training.

Form the habit of including core and conditioning work EVERY week. For this to work I either need to get A LOT more disciplined, or find less mind-numbingly boring ways of working out the core.

2022 Goals:

Arbitrary training goals:

Roll over of last year's running targets: 35km vert and 1000km.

Weighted Pull-up: 95kg.

Max Hangs: 85kg.

Weighted hill climb -2 laps in 30 mins with 15kg.

Climbing goals:

7a.

ALL of my local must-do list: Fallen Arch (HVS 5a) The Prow (E1 5a) Stewker (E1 5c) First of Many (none 5b) Borboletta (none 5c) The Lion King (HVS 5c)Hara-Kiri (HVS 5a) Top Gun (HVS 5a) No Prisoners (none 6b) Wombat (E1 5b)Sphinx Nose Traverse (S 4a) The Night Watch (VS 4b) Otter Hill Eliminate (E1 5a) Countdown (HVS 5a) Gauche (VD)

Visit at least five of my 'why haven't I climbed here' list: Lundy, Kilt Rock, Neist, Sgurr Mhic Choinnich, Shelterstone (in summer), Ben Nevis (in summer), Scafell, Napes, Hen Cloud, Kilnsey, Range West, Grinah Stones (shh!).

Get at least one session at each of my 'I should climb more at this crag' list: Carreg y Barcud, Stennis Head, Gogarth, Cloggy, Cromlech, Welsh Slate, Malham, Ilkley.

Start properly getting to know: Brimham, Almscliff, Caley, Slipstones. 

At least two big mountain days from: Cuillin Ridge, Cairngorm Classic Rock, Ridges of the Ben, Welsh 3000s, El Cap Nose Day.

Late summer/autumn alpine trip.

STG -end Jan:

Stay sane despite not being able to get outdoors as much as usual.

Max Hangs: 75kg total.

Pull-ups: 77kg total.

Average 2 core sessions per week.

Walk my usual running loop (14km, 450m vert) with a climbing weight rucksack.

MTG -end March:

Run my usual running loop.

Max Hangs: 80kg total.

Pull-ups: 83kg total.

Some Scottish winter routes -no longer fussy what... just anything white on tools!

Post edited at 13:33
 SteveJC94 02 Jan 2022
In reply to Somerset swede basher:

Cheers SSB. Nothing too exciting for the knee story - one too many Gins meant I decided to jump down the bottom two stairs and landed awkwardly on a rug, whoops! All feels better now thankfully. Conditions permitting, main Scotland targets this year are to do the Tower Double (climb Tower Ride then Ski Tower Gully), East Buttress (Winter) (IV 5)Orion Face Direct (V 5) and The Shroud (VII 6)

Not the best week last week, finished the year off with a suspected A2 Pulley Rupture (off to see the specialists at Sheffield Climbing Clinic next week to confirm) so training will take a bit of a hit the next few weeks. 

Last week:

M - Rest

T - Hangboard max hangs and bouldering

W - Rest

T - Doing a power session on the MoonBoard, foot slipped while crimping and resulted in a suspected A2 Pulley Rupture

F - Rest

S - Rest

S - Core workout

Plan for next week - finger immobilisation, core workouts and reading Dave Macleod's Make or Break cover to cover

Post edited at 14:39
 Randy 02 Jan 2022
In reply to Somerset swede basher:

Happy New Year everyone!

After lurking for a while i've decided to start the new year by joining the fit club and hopefully get motivated to consistently train hard.

Goals for 2022:

Sport Climbing:

  • Finally climb my multi-year project: Slimline (8a+)
  • Climb 7c in one session
  • Flash 7b
  • Onsight 7a; i know looks easy compared to sending 8a+, but i suck at onsighting and probably won't be putting much effort into trying onsights
  • Have more than 50 outdoor sessions

Training:

  • 7s single arm max hang on 20mm egde with 95% BW for right and left hand
  • Finally do a one-armer with both hands and good form
  • 10s Handstand with good form30s L-Sit on the floor with good form

Recap of Last week:

Mon: Fingerboard repeater session, 6 sets of 6x7s,3s with ~ 3:30 min rest between sets: 

  • 20mm egde:  52,1% of BW average with right hand, 49,6% of BW with left hand
  • Pinch Block with 11kg
  • Pullups: 3x 10

Tues: L-Sit (floor) 2x10s, Handstands against the wall, 2x8 pike pushups, 2x8 fingertips push ups, 10-12 Lunges, Pistol squats (2-3 on each side), 30 normal pushups, 45s V-Sit-Ups

Wed: Fingerboard repeater session, 6 sets of 6x7s,3s with ~ 3:30 min rest between sets: 

  • 20mm egde:  54,6% of BW average with right hand, 50,7% of BW with left hand
  • Pinch Block with 11kg
  • Pullups: 10,10,10,9 (very bad form at the end of last set)

Thurs: L-Sit (floor) 2x15s, Handstands against the wall, 2x8 pike push-ups, 2x8 fingertips push ups, 10-12 Lunges, Pistol squats (2-3 on each side), 30 normal pushups, 45s V-Sit-Ups

Fri: Fingerboard repeater session, 6 sets of 6x7s,3s with ~ 3:30 min rest between sets: 

  • 20mm egde:  57,5 % of BW average with right hand, 53,0% of BW with left hand
  • Pinch Block with 11kg
  • Pullups: 4x10 (slightly bad form on the last set)

Sat: L-Sit (floor) 2x15s, Handstands against the wall, 2x10 pike push-ups, 2x8 fingertips push ups, 10-12 Lunges, Pistol squats (3-4 on each side), 30 normal pushups, 45s V-Sit-Ups

Sun: Rest

Quite happy with this week, after a deload week with basically no training thanks to the booster injection. I have focused more on max power the last months and hence lack endurance for the repeaters, but i feel it is getting better every session. 

 the sheep 02 Jan 2022
In reply to Somerset swede basher:

Cheers SSB, bit of a cock up this week. Slipped on wet decking ramp and smacked my elbow and hip hard so no activity to report 

On the plus side all seems to be healing well so no excuses. Got some challenges that I find really inspirational so should make training that bit easier.

 Derek Furze 02 Jan 2022
In reply to Somerset swede basher:

...and now, some flesh on the bones of targets

Peak District stuff - mainly stuff I missed out on years ago

Dangler, Unprintable, Auricle, Black Hawk Bastion, Rasp,  I'd be pleased to do any of these, as grit isn't my favourite style and I'd have to commit some time to grit to have a chance.

Black Grub, Armageddon, Robert Brown, Phil's Route, Tower Direct - all three star routes that passed me by for some reason.  Only been on Robert Brown of these and just couldn't find the way...

More trad limestone from further afield includes Digitron, Solo in Soho, Tearg Wall and Black Wall Direct - getting to Llangollen is pretty straightforward and I love the outlook and the less familiar crags, so I am drawn to the area - only trouble is that there isn't much to warm up on at some crags there.

Sport - project something hard for me.  I'm drawn to the triple around I Punched Judy First for reasons above, but Countdown would be a more local goal.  Onsight a 6c+ at least, though 7a would be better.

Visit Scafell - only done one route up there despite living in the Lakes for a while.  Get back to the Cromlech - also viable in a long day.  Get back to Cloggy - had a day last summer demonstrating that it is also possible in a day.  Spend more time in Pembroke - just love it.  Do Mousetrap and Wendigo.

Training goals - keep it going through the heart of the season so everything is maintained.  Run twice a week.  Pull ups - build up reps to 15 while keeping overall quantity at 100 - 150 twice a week.  Do weighted pull ups in threes at plus 20 kg.  Max hangs at 135% on main grips.  Work towards a one armer, though it always feels a long way off.  Practice one-arm hangs as it isn't something I have done.

Move weight down from 73 kg to 69 kg and keep it there.

Declarations made.  Starting the sport sessions on Tuesday.

 Steve Claw 02 Jan 2022
In reply to Randy:

Randy Welcome to the club, good stats

Are you in Frankenjura? I went there about 15 years ago, but didn't record anything we did, being young and assuming I would just remember. Sublime looks like a good project with a bit of history about it.

Out of interest, why do you do the hangs 1 arm,?  (when the 2 arm amount would only be about +10%)

or have it read that wrong and your doing 1 arm +53% of BW?

 Steve Claw 02 Jan 2022
In reply to Somerset swede basher:

Thanks SSB,

As previously said I am on a full rest and de-load week.  I don't plan to jump back in too hard, but ramp up and stay injury free.

Instead here goes with my goals for the year:

I thought about individual routes, but this doesn't leave me the flexibility to do what I want, when I want to, so instead I plan to have a grade pyramid of goals.

Sport

- 5 x 7c If possible be able to generally do this in a session.

- 3 x 7c+

- 1 x 8a  If I manage this then the goal automatically becomes another 1.

Trad

- Onsight lots of E4s

   Ground-up Headpoint (with only cleaning and safety/gear inspection):

- 5 x E5

- 2 x E6

   Full Headpoint (top rope practiced Redpoint):

- 3 x E6

- 1 x E7

Training

- Build enough general strength to allow for training without strains and niggles

- Max hang +25kg (as a 90% of total)

- Max Pull up +30kg (as max total)

- Woody a range of problems at 7A (not just the odd one that suits me)

- Campus 1,3,5 with relative ease

Post edited at 19:23
 AJM 02 Jan 2022
In reply to Somerset swede basher:

Monday - another wet day. Tried to take the kids to the park during the bit where it was just mist rather than actual rain, and managed to sneak in about 20 dips on the bars. Then back at home managed a decent stretching session. I got Beastmaking for Christmas so have been trying to broaden the range of stretches a bit to cover the lower body stuff in there.

Tuesday - the dug out with Ally and Ross. It’s fair to say this was a learning/reminding experience rather than a crushing session! A lot of the problems I was trying start with hands and feet in a break just above the lip of the roof, so hands and feet are quite close together and there’s limited opportunities for things like outside edging or other side on stuff. There were some other places where there was a heel you had to get quite extended on. I know deep down I am basically a weak sport climber who likes climbing side on with my feet underneath me, and am not necessarily very good at locking to the same shoulder (I.e. climbing face on) or getting force through my feet when they’re high, awkwardly placed or off to the side. It was a fun day out even if actual achievement was fairly low and it is a useful pointer at some weaknesses that I should work on.

Wednesday - achey. Walk to and fro the park carrying microAJM, probably 30-40m in total.

Thursday - much packing faff and returned home. Stretching in the evening. Is it normal on a toe-touch for the calves to be the limiting factor?

Friday - about 10km walk pushing microAJM in the pram whilst MiniAJM cycled, with pizza for lunch in the middle. I got some new holds for the board for Christmas - some 2-finger and mono holds and a pair of dinner plate jugs - so when I got back I swapped out two of the poorer holds on the green circuit for dinner plates, which should help make it more conducive to aero base, and managed to squeeze a pocket circuit in to join the jugs and the crimps. I had a quick go to test it out, and with some minor tweaking it seemed to work fairly well. Doesn’t feel too dissimilar to the orange in terms of difficulty but early days, not a concrete view yet. Might have to warm up more for the 2-finger holds than for the 4 finger crimps mind you, and I’ve not put any of the monos on the board as yet!

Saturday - the forecast - of morning rain followed by the sun breaking through in the afternoon - lured me out for an afternoon at the new cuttings. By the time I arrived the forecast had cruelly shifted to no sun breakthrough, low hanging cloud, and >90% humidity with a damp feeling wind blowing along the crag. Not primo connies! Either way, we were there by then, and there was one other hardy soul in situ, so I warmed up and had a few goes on Stomping with Bez. Fair to say none of the holds were feeling as crisp as the last time I was there, but I repeated some of the moves and tried to repeat others, and I worked out one useful piece of micro beta which is that I think a double heel clamp is the best way to get weight on my feet for the difficult hand match.

Sunday - 30 min walk/jog in the park with the kids, interspersed with 25 dips in 4 sets 6,6,6,7. Then later on some stretching, and a few laps demoing things on the board for MrsAJM.

 AlanLittle 02 Jan 2022
In reply to Randy:

Welcome to Fit Club. I'd happily give you a belay on Slimline some time - there's plenty of stuff I'd like to have a look at nearby on the Maximilianswand or 4. Dimension

 AlanLittle 02 Jan 2022
In reply to Somerset swede basher:

Happy New Year Fit Club. I have climbed every day this year so far, go me

STG: see where I stand on jwi's sport climbing fitness benchmarks, scaled from 8a down to 7a by the simple expedient of subtracting one number grade across the board. Done: lactate theshold (bad), ancap (good). To do: anpow, strength
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

2021

M:    
T:    
W:    Half an hour stretching/mobility
T:    Boulderwelt. Severely lacking in both oomph and motivation; pottered about desultorily on some onsight level stuff. At least getting a bit of movement & mileage in.
F:    Forty minutes hike/jog intervals in the woods, bringing the year's cardio total to 123 hours.

2022

S:    Zellerwand. Ten degrees and sunshine - start the year at the crag! The 7a+ I wanted to look at as a potential Next Local Project was soaking wet, as was much of the rest of the crag, but we managed to find enough dry routes for a pleasant day out pottering on easy stuff.
S:    Zellerwand. Another 7a/+ from the Potential Projects list turned out to be (more or less, mostly) dry, so had a bolt to bolt then a toprope play on that. Felt way too powerful and pretty hopeless initially, particularly the first crux section on opposing sidepulls with small, polished footholds. But on reflection realised that the reason I felt I was lacking power was because I wasn't transmitting load effectively through the small, polished footholds. And the reason I wasn't doing that was lack of confidence and/or body tension, not lack of power. So now I know what I need to work on. Good.
 

 Tom Green 02 Jan 2022
In reply to SteveJC94:

The tower double is a great aim! That will be such a satisfying day out. Almost makes me want to improve my sketchy skiing!

 Tom Green 02 Jan 2022
In reply to Derek Furze:

Nice Llangollen goals. Three of them (I’ve only done SiS) are unfinished business from when I lived nearby… Especially Black Wall -annoyed I never pushed myself to get on it. Maybe I’ll get back for them at some point!

 biscuit 03 Jan 2022
In reply to Somerset swede basher:

Arrrgh! I typed a post twice last week, got distracted, never finished it and never posted. Sorry!

I've sorted out some goals:

5x7B - over Winter

5x UK 7b - Spring/Summer

3x UK 7b+ SPring/Summer

Sunset Boulevard (7c) - 2022

7c in a day in Spain Xmas 2022 - that feels a big one. 

I have some trad aspirations as well but as trad is so wonky for me i am not putting them as goals. I just want to enjoy my trad and get comfy at E3 and do some E4's this year.

SSB - you asked about my training plan the other week. It's nothing exciting. But looking back at where I've failed previously it is from the 'doing something every day'. This results in lots of little failures that feel demoralising.

So I have 3 days off a week and they are going to be big training days. There will be some supplementary work as well but not much and 3 rest days a week - i do seem to need them nowadays. 

I have also got my nutrition back on form and am going to start taking beta alanine as an experiment.

M - weird thumb injury. I picked a box up containing a new tap for the kitchen and got a sharp pain in the meaty bit of my thumb. Thumb sore after. Went to Lancaster wall and could only back 3. Any use of the thumb or first finger was shockingly painful. Did back 3 laps on the 6b circuit.

T - Thumb feels a lot better. Had a stretch and went for a local walk

W - Thumb totally fine - the body is weird. It was my flexor pollicis brevis muscle that was obviously having some kind of spasm. Maybe it's allergic to DIY?

Leg strength day - home based not the gym. 3 sets of 5 reps. Will build up to 5 sets over next week or two.

1on/1 off x 10 on the home board - blue finger jugs. Felt just right so need to change to poor footholds for a rep or two next session. Ripped a flapper, not used to volume on resin.

T - Leg DOMS! Very gad i only did 3 sets.

Quick gym visit - turkish get ups and incline bench press

F - Leg DOMS and now upper chest and shoulder DOMS. All as expected though. My HRV signalled rest day required. This was a climbing day so I warmed up and believed the HRV. Had a really good technique session instead of try hard and then went to try out the Gresham/Matheson circuits in the training room.

1 on/1 off x 10 on the 6a was my target. 14 moves long. Failed on the 3rd rep. 6a my arse! Got 9 sets done ( i changed to the easier 6a+ circuit on the Malham board and 1 on 2 off after 5 reps, but still failed) and then got interrupted by the Matheson's and after lots of catch up chat i'd lost any pump and bailed. Good sesh and starting to remember how addictive circuits can be.

S - Walk up Warnscale to Haystacks, over to Seat and then bailed as we couldn't stand up in the wind. 11km and 718m ascent. A bit attritional at times but fun

S - Stayed at the FRCC hut in Buttermere. Met a good friend i haven't seen for ages for a brew first thing. Then went to swim in the lake with some friends and for a brew and cake. Driving home spotted two other friends had just finished a bike ride and went for more brew and food. A great day of brews, friends and food.

I had started to feel like i was coming down with a cold after the Saturday walk (negative test that night and this morning) but the swim seems to have kicked it into touch. HRV knew before me (Friday) that something was up.

This week will be more of the same - 3 climbs (boulder outdoors if i can), 2 str sessions, eat well, rest well. Simple!

 Liam P 03 Jan 2022
In reply to biscuit:

What’s HRV?

 AlanLittle 03 Jan 2022
In reply to Liam P:

Heart Rate Variation/Variability

As I understand it, there should be a slight level of random variation in one's heartrate, and when it gets too regular that's a sign of Badness.

 Ross Barker 03 Jan 2022
In reply to Somerset swede basher:

Morning all, cheers for stats and was good to meet you this week SSB!

> Ross Barker – impressive dugout ticklist.  I tried In His Head when I was there and found it desperate (I didn’t do it).  Can you reach the good hold with feet still on the good bit near the back? 

Almost, I can get LH on the sloper just beneath the crimp, but have to take the RF off the good foot to pop to the crimp. There are two other betas I know of:

LH to sloper beneath crimp, RF on a good smear on the face, cross over RH to the crimp

Just straight-up dyno to the crimp

> If you’re consistent on that move (which it sounds like you are) maybe try the linking the R to L traverse into it (7B+/7C I think?)

Might be worth a try, I need to work out the first 6C segment first, I've not actually done that yet!

A busy and active week for me, great to meet a few more friendly faces and climb a good bit! I'm also participating in Sharkathon on UKB this year so hoping to do a little something each day this month.

Last Week:

M - Rest.

T - The Dug Out with Ally and AJM. Fumbled around trying various knee trickery on A Shropshire Mon (f7A+), but in the end it was a minor sequence change and a bit of try-hard to get me through it. Also tried a few other bits. Great time!

W - Digging and lifting.

T - Tension Board session. Bit of a monster, absolutely dug myself into a recovery hole, and now my fingers are unhappy. Cool climbing though!

F - Rest. Bit sore after yesterday but I don't think I've accrued any new injuries.

S - Grit! Good session with SSB, didn't manage anything too hard but topped S & M Left-hand Sit-start (f7A). Finished off playing around the Peace of Mind jumble at Roaches Lower Tier. Lovely start to the year!

S - Light stretches in the evening.

Next Week:

M - Stretches and fingerboard pick-ups.

T - Dugout.

W - Stretches and fingerboard pick-ups.

T - Density hangs, antagonists and stretches.

F - Stretches and fingerboard pick-ups.

S, S - Get outside!

Goals:

Rehab finger tweak.

A Shropshire Mon. Success!

Try every segment in the dugout.

 Randy 03 Jan 2022
In reply to Steve Claw:

I am based in munich, so although Frankenjura is not the closest climbing area, it is basically my home area because i seldom climb elsewhere.

My setup for fingerboarding is the following: I have a portable hangboard (https://tindeq.com/product/v-rings/)  attached with a sling to a pullup bar and a force measure device (https://tindeq.com/product/progressor/) that has a bluetooth connect to my phone. Then i just pull with one hand without lifting my feet from the ground and measure the force, that i am producing.

A little bit nerdy way of doing fingerboarding but it has a couple of advantages imo:

  • I don't need to mount a hangboard, just a pullup bar that it inside one of my doorframe and does not require any drilling is enough
  • You don't need any weights and adjust the intensity at any time, even during a set if you feell that is getting too hard or easy
  • You isolate both arm, so you can detect and work on imbalances. E.g. i never knew that my right hand is about 3-5% stronger before training this way.
  • As the portable hangboard is quite small you can easily take it with you, when you are traveling (not that this is much of a benefit in these days )

@AlanLittle:

Thanks for the offer. Maximilianswand would also be fine for me, i still have Chasin' the Trane (Helmut Albrecht Gedenkweg) (7c) and Hitchhike the Plane (7c+) on my todo list.

 AJM 03 Jan 2022
In reply to Randy:

I tried Slimline (8a+) once, at the end of our trip to the 'jura. Would love to do it one day - it'd be one of those things where if I could do it it would definitely be a marker of having improved as a climber!

I spent a bit of time on Hitchhike the Plane (7c+) at the same time, a really fun route, and also for me had the advantage of not really needing to be super strong on pockets (I.e. for me it would have been doable where I suspect a lot of Frankenjura 7c+s wouldn't have been). Somewhere, I have a load of beta written down - if its any use then just ask.

Fingers crossed for a trip out there soon!

 biscuit 03 Jan 2022
In reply to Somerset swede basher:

My post yesterday was just a quick dive in. I'm reading through stuff tonight.

Seriously - 1000km on the bike, 500km running (10km at about 5min per km) and the level that you climb at. 

If I knew how to find or make a clapping emoji on here I would do. 

 biscuit 03 Jan 2022
In reply to Somerset swede basher:

If you ever want to discuss how to reduce old man back/quads form lobbing off drop me a line.

 biscuit 03 Jan 2022
In reply to Derek Furze:

> Wed  105 pull ups - these are beginning to feel solid again.  

I have not done 105 pull ups in the last 5 yrs. Beginning to feel solid again......

 biscuit 03 Jan 2022
In reply to AJM:

> - Hardest to organise but it would be nice to do some trad again. Lots of classics, ideally some E grades, be nice to get back to E3 again

I discovered last year (after a long lay off from trad) the way to get back to E3 was to get on an E3. Albeit only 3 of them, but they all went fine and none of them were planned. That's always worked for me. I can't plan trad. It happens as a combination of so many other things. Get out, see a line that makes you believe you can climb it and have a go,

> Indoor/training

> - better and more balanced shoulders. In terms of what this might look like, I’d like to be able to hang off a bar one armed without assistance, lock off one armed at a few angles, continue to work on regaining and extending the tuck planche, and get to a point where say ten dips in a set feels ok.

It's odd isn't it? I can do dips, hang off a bar one armed, do multiple sets of single arm scap shrugs. But i can't lock off for even 1 second at 90 degrees. Yet we're pretty similar grade wise. 

> - Work on some weaknesses. I have many weaknesses, so specifically in this case I’d like to get better at climbing face on, and at getting my weight onto feet that are high, away to the side or generally not underneath me. Working something into my circuits and doing a bunch on the board feel like obvious ways of approaching this.

I have always climbed wide and am trying to get better at having my feet underneath me!

> - Support MrsAJM in doing more stuff again.

This could be your best goal of 2022. 

 biscuit 03 Jan 2022
In reply to Derek Furze:

Anytime you want to get out in the lakes give me a shout.

I normally need a bit of notice (a few days?) but am quite flexible with that notice.

 Tom Green 03 Jan 2022
In reply to Ross Barker:>

> A Shropshire Mon. Success!

Nice one! Good effort.

Got me all nostalgic for Grinshill!

 Tom Green 03 Jan 2022
In reply to biscuit:

> I have not done 105 pull ups in the last 5 yrs. Beginning to feel solid again......

It’s been making my elbows hurt just reading Derek’s weekly updates! ;-p I did 5x5 this eve and felt like I’d earned my beer!

 biscuit 03 Jan 2022
In reply to Liam P:

Yes Alan is right.

Have a look here:

https://www.hrv4training.com/

It's very well researched. But it doesn't mean you should follow it blindly. You may want to be inducing real fatigue in your training etc. But it's a very good objective measure to help you decide what you should do that day.

 AJM 03 Jan 2022
In reply to biscuit:

> I discovered last year (after a long lay off from trad) the way to get back to E3 was to get on an E3. Albeit only 3 of them, but they all went fine and none of them were planned. That's always worked for me. I can't plan trad. It happens as a combination of so many other things. Get out, see a line that makes you believe you can climb it and have a go,

Up to a point I agree, but my trad stamina (both in arms and legs!) and my gear placement skills (I think I led 2 trad pitches last year, and possibly none in 2020) could probably do with at least a modicum of dusting off first!

> It's odd isn't it? I can do dips, hang off a bar one armed, do multiple sets of single arm scap shrugs. But i can't lock off for even 1 second at 90 degrees. Yet we're pretty similar grade wise. 

I've not tried locking off recently. I was always best at full lock, then when I was going well I could do 90.

I guess hanging and shrugging must just be hitting a different set of muscles to locking. And perhaps climbing, too, from what you say! I definitely find it's one of those things, mostly bouldering, I do a long move and then I can't do anything, because I can't engage the shoulder and actually do anything practical with the hold I'm holding. Or a jump - I can't jump one armed to a hold, and any kind of Dyno that leaves my arms at very different heights I then can't do anything with it until I get a foot back on to allow the load to come down enough that I can start to use the shoulder properly.

The dips in all fairness seem to be coming back fairly well. I'm not sure quite what range of motion but I could do 6-7 of those in a set yesterday so I expect ten on bars won't be too bad. Ten on rings, especially turned out, might be a different kettle of fish!

> I have always climbed wide and am trying to get better at having my feet underneath me!

Do you mean wide as in away from the centre of mass, or wide as in bridging (feet outside the c-o-m but not as strenuous)

> This could be your best goal of 2022. 

 Liam P 03 Jan 2022
In reply to biscuit:

Cheers Alan, Biscuit.

All interesting stuff. My rest days seem to be getting longer and I’ve been looking at my diet (mostly protein intake) to try and train longer/harder. Looks like another good tool.

 Ross Barker 03 Jan 2022
In reply to Tom Green:

Cheers! If you happen to be visiting Grinah on a weekend give me a shout as I'm keen to get up there for an explore at some point. Might have to go slowly for my wee bouldering legs on the approach though

 biscuit 03 Jan 2022
In reply to AJM:

> Up to a point I agree, but my trad stamina (both in arms and legs!) and my gear placement skills (I think I led 2 trad pitches last year, and possibly none in 2020) could probably do with at least a modicum of dusting off first!

Yeah i had to get that sorted first!

> I guess hanging and shrugging must just be hitting a different set of muscles to locking. And perhaps climbing, too, from what you say! 

Absolutely. If I can get to a hold I can normally hold it. For me the issue is getting between the holds. I can hit a hold and engage on it, but often can't use it to make upward progress. Strength through range is needed.

> Do you mean wide as in away from the centre of mass, or wide as in bridging (feet outside the c-o-m but not as strenuous)

I naturally go as wide as possible. I rarely look down for a foothold, i look to the side. That then makes making upward progress tricky. So the two (arm strength through range and this habit) may be connected.

 Derek Furze 03 Jan 2022
In reply to Liam P:

Some of those max levels are seriously impressive!

I did used to do my push ups in sets of thirty, because it has a very strong association with low levels of heart problems, but to be fair, it just gets boring!

I haven't done max pull ups for a while and probably won't for a few weeks, but it is an interesting stat you provide.  Not sure I could do seventeen at the moment.  How long rest between sets?  This is interest only, as benchmarking to somebody thirty plus years younger is a fool's game!

Still haven't got on the campus exercises, but I have to go down to town to do so and I've been too busy.

I'm guessing 1RM means 1 rep max?  For a weighted pull up 40kg looks massive - are you doing these on a bar?  I only have the jugs on my fingerboard to work with, but seems to work ok.

 Derek Furze 03 Jan 2022
In reply to biscuit:

Thanks for the offer.  When I know my work patterns I will let you know - always good to extend the circle further.  You're in the Lancaster area aren't you?  If so, we probably have some common acquaintances though I know the Lancaster Club is disbanded now.

 biscuit 03 Jan 2022
In reply to Derek Furze:

Yes we live near Carnforth.

The climbing world is a small one. I’m sure we’ll know mutual acquaintances. 

 Tom Green 04 Jan 2022
In reply to Ross Barker:

Awesome. Will do. You won’t need to worry about me racing ahead for a while anyway!!

 Tom Green 04 Jan 2022
In reply to Derek Furze:

> …are you doing these on a bar?  I only have the jugs on my fingerboard to work with, but seems to work ok.

I swapped from pull-ups on a beam (essentially a massive flatty) to a bar recently and was amazed at how much easier they became (almost 25% jump in performance overnight). 
It hadn’t felt like like the grip was the limiting factor (I only changed for practical reasons) but it seems it must have been!

I guess this begs the question of whether doing pull-ups with a more natural, open-handed grip is better (greater climbing specificity) or not (limiting the specific thing you’re training by weakness in another area)?

To be fair, the difference is likely to be a lot less on a fingerboard jug so maybe a bit if an academic question!

 Si dH 04 Jan 2022
In reply to Tom Green:

I used to do pull-ups and scap pull-ups on the lattice edge jug but found I was failing on one arm scap pull-ups on my left (weaker) arm due to grip strength towards the end of a set, not shoulder strength. (To clarify, I was not dropping off, but my grip was slipping sufficiently that I could no longer engage as well on the hold by the 4th or 5th rep.) I decided to get a pull-up bar 2-3 months ago and it's much better. I was immediately able to make sure I was shoulder limited when doing them on that arm, and progressed more as a result (although since stopped doing them and regressed...) I haven't done any 2rm or 1rm pull-ups on the bar yet - my 2rm on the lattice jug was +40 kg after a period of training 5x5s, and I suspect that will change very little as I wasn't grip limited. It might be easier to get slightly higher at the top of a rep when tired.

Admittedly some fingerboards have much bigger jugs than the lattice one.

Post edited at 08:25
 AlanLittle 04 Jan 2022
In reply to Somerset swede basher:

Inspired by all the discussion of people's goals for the year, so I thought I'd write mine down too.

My main goal remains as it was pre-pandemic, having basically been on hold for two years: become a well-rounded, consistent low-to-mid 7's sport climber. 

Measurable? Climb half a dozen routes 7a & upwards in a variety of styles, rock types and areas. Style needs to include some seriously steep ones, since that's my biggest mental weakness. Diverse rock types could be tricky: nearly all the sport climbing areas I go to regularly are limestone, and the ones that aren't are alpine granite/gneiss which I tend to find sandbagged and desperate. But if it were easy it wouldn't be a worthwhile goal.

The 7a/+ I tried on Sunday felt utterly desperate, which doesn't seem promising. But that's just coming out of a month of semi-voluntary, semi-involuntary deload after my Leonidio trip, and at post-Christmas bodyweight too, so I shall try not to let it worry me too much.

Subsidiary goal (1): my son has expressed enthusiasm for a repeat father-son bonding experience on Kalymnos. He finishes his exams in early June, which might be a bit on the warm side, but it would still be great if this came off.

Subsidiary goal (2): I'd love to get a bit of trad in, either a few days in the Dolomites in the summer if I can rustle up a partner, or a trip to North Wales depending on the situation with covid and UK travel.

 Ally Smith 04 Jan 2022
In reply to Somerset swede basher:

Thanks for the astute commentary; 

> Ally Smith – Your board sessions have been mega recently so Sub Moron and Pete’s link must be pretty hard.

Yeah, they're both pretty stout affairs!

Week 52

M – Gentle canal walk with in-laws

T – Final Dug Out session, this time with interlopers AJM and Ross B. Trying and failing at hard undercut moves again.

W – 25km/50min flat ride during a short weather window. Evening shoulder ROM exercises

T – Board 10; half 7A+ half 7B+. Not quite at the normal level. Left shoulder and elbow achy.

F – Floor core & lots of stretches. Bed at 10pm as Squiggle snotty/feverish and wife on-call.

S – NYD walk around Tatton 9.5km with Squiggle in rucksack carrier.

S – 2hr round trip for Squiggle PCR test. Shoulder physio and YouTube hip mobility workout.

2022 Aims/Goals

1) Stay happily married and be the best dad I can

2) Have a whole year of healthy elbows, shoulders, hips, knees and fingers (i.e. keep up plenty of conditioning and (p)rehab)

3) Climb 3x new sport routes of 7a or harder (I’ve lines bolted and waiting at Kilnsey, Devil’s Gorge and on the Orme

4)  ≥Bodyweight 1-handed deadhang on the BM2K lower middle rung (good aim as it’ll need improved shoulder strength, some weight loss and of course, increased finger strength)

5)   ≥8a redpoint

6)   ≥8A

In reply to biscuit:

> My post yesterday was just a quick dive in. I'm reading through stuff tonight.

> Seriously - 1000km on the bike, 500km running (10km at about 5min per km) and the level that you climb at. 

> If I knew how to find or make a clapping emoji on here I would do. 

Cheers, I was always inspired by the late Ueli Steck who used to combine strength training with insane amounts of cardio very successfully. I guess I just can't quite let the running go. I'd probably be a better climber if I did something more specific to that on my cardio days (stretching, flexibility, etc) but it's a nice way to socialise with my old climbing buddies that don't climb now. Also, finger boarding and running seem to fit together on consecutive days in the winter. I generally find I can run after climbing no problem (I'm a bit slower but it's fine) but I can't climb after running.

 AlanLittle 04 Jan 2022
In reply to AlanLittle:

> 2022: Climb half a dozen routes 7a & upwards in a variety of styles, rock types and areas.

It occurred to me I should probably compare this with 2021: redpointed three 7a's. In thrree different areas (Bavarian Alps, Kalymnos, Leonidio) but all of them short/vertical/crimpy/techy on limestone. Two of them single day redpoints.

Post edited at 09:44
 Liam P 04 Jan 2022
In reply to Derek Furze:

Cheers Derek. If I’m pulling and climbing as hard as you in 30 years I’ll be very happy!

I rest 3-5mins between sets and just warmup fingers/stretch in between to keep the session time down.

Yeah 1RM - 1 Rep Max. I do max reps on Beastmaker jugs at home when I can’t make it to the wall. Weighted pull-ups are on a bar at the wall. 

As Tom and Si said, a bar is the easiest to grip so you can target pure pull strength. I separate my finger training and use max hangs which are woefully behind. Campusing is a hybrid of the two for climbing specificity (pulling hard on 20mm edges).

If you only have a fingerboard jug you’ll still make gains on weighted pull-ups, you’ll just squeeze out more weight in the lower rep ranges (1RM & 2RM) on a bar I imagine.


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