UKC

Placeholder for tonight, stats tomorrow. Feel free to jump in and do stats this eve if you are feeling keen! 

Evening all! Looking forward to the stats tomorrow, always enjoy a roundup.

A good week from me, bit of hangboarding and a bit of board climbing. Not touched rock for a while, but the weather next weekend looks somewhat salvageable, fingers crossed!

Last Week:

M - Hangboard. 6 sets of ~12 second BW hangs on 19mm edge, about 3 or 4 mins rest between. Wasn't feeling like pulling too hard or with much structure, but was surprisingly nice.

T - Rest.

W - Rest.

T - Moonboard power hour. Couple of 6B+ to 6C problems. Slowly getting back into the groove of it but not going too hard too soon. Few sets of pushups afterwards.

F - Rest.

S - Rest.

S - Gym. Hangboard, 6x10s +15kg on BM1000 bottom outer edge. Did some setting on the MB for fun and came up with "Eunice" about 6Cish. Would recommend if you use the 2016 set. Then set a 7Bish thing which is great fun, all moves done but will need more sessions to link. Felt strong. Few sets of pushups to finish.

Next Week:

Got a lot on to try and plan, so will just try and squeeze these in a bit on the fly:

Max hang session.

Board session.

Outdoor bouldering.

Goals:

Rehab finger tweak.

A Mon With A Spade.

Rigpa.

Brass Monkeys.

I'll step in with stats; g'parents are here looking after Squiglet this morning.

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.

Link to last week’s thread:

https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/walls+training/ukc_fitclub_week_778-74418... 

Morning all,

Derek Furze - Was the traffic any easier this week with it being half-term? Make use of the extra time to train?

Liam P - What a fantastic sounding trip! I think you managed to make quite a few of us jealous and re-consider our retirement from winter climbing

the sheep - how's your covid recovery coming along? Is the family doing alright too?

Randy - Did you switch to max-hangs this week? Will you set a new benchmark to train at a fixed percent of maximum output?

Steve Claw - I'd count your roped solo efforts as adventure with a capital A! Did you get back to Portishead to try any of the mentioned RP projects/new routes between the storms this week?

SteveJC94 - Good news on the finger pulley rehab. How's the Scottish trip going?

Si dH - Another one with encouraging results from finger rehab. 25kg is a fair chunk of weight to hang around your waist - have you invested in a dipping belt to save your lower back?

AJM - Did you make it out to perma-sunny Portland this week, or was it more plastic sessions for you? Is the skin surviving?

Ross Barker - Always good to know where you weaknesses are, but another thing altogether to have the discipline to focus on correcting them! Tom Randall has talked about surfing a wave of progress by tackling the lowest lying fruit, maybe you can do the same with getting stronger digits?

Moi - Did you manage to leave the house this week...?

AlanLittle - Any more attempts at black run immersion therapy?

Somerset swede basher - Fully recovered from the lurg? Any outdoor sessions snatched from between the storms? (Sorry the toe beta from Graeth didn't work on Submergence - that sloper match is DIRT!)

Tom Green - Solid progress with the leg and general body prehab/conditioning. More of the same this week?

biscuit - Big old volume session at Kendal, and overall lots packed into the week. Did you continue at the same intensity this week, or reign it in a little?

Ger_the_gog - you're more than welcome to join UKCFC - the more the merrier :-D Lots of walking this week? Any with load?

Another week of barely leaving the house - weather forecasts haven't been conducive to outdoor bouldering forays with half a chance conditions will be dodgy.

Week 7

M – Warm-ups of most starred 6B+/C’s. Lattice block lifts F3SHC. 6x6 38kg L&R. 1-on/1-off aero-cap on jugs. 4x12 40kg bench press. 1-arm jug hangs/scap engagements for shoulder rehab. Full bodyweight for 30s – hard after everything else, but got it done

T – Light aero-cap 5/3/5/3/5. Crimpd Bar Core “A”.

W – Splits and side-split stretch routine

T – Linked boulders an-cap. Up a 7A/+ down a 6B+/C on the board. Better intensity than last week – more powered out than pumped. Density hangs using critical B3 left/F3SHC R. Bodyweight a bit too intense. 3x30@BW-8kg seemed pretty good. COMPEX core & shoulder ROM exercises.

F – Rest. Stretches.

S – Felt strange mild soreness/tweaky forearms so didn’t train before planned pub lunch with friend. Storm Eunice abated fairly quickly and got out for 24km flat ride before it got dark.

S – Felt a bit off warming up pinged off a couple of what should have been steady 6B+/Cs. i even failed on a strange “6B+” (with caveat it was typical MB grades, some users actually giving it 7A). Got as far as first reps of a 6in6 session and realised actually it was minging damp causing me to have random failures, so going to invest in a humidity meter.

Instead of board, stuck to simple exercises: 6 sets 5 reps lattice block lifts 48kg R & L. Then 5sets 3 reps assisted 1-armers; BW-12.5kg. HARD!

Thanks for stepping in with the stats. Decided to dial it back a bit on the black runs until I'm a bit more confident & competent on reds: permanent survival mode isn't the best way to learn technique.

Considerable improvement in the state of things at work, but still finding my climbing/training motivation a bit on the low side. Haven't been getting anywhere near enough sleep; need to start fixing that.

STG: coming week. 2 x boulder, 1 x routes. 1 x skiing if somewhat ok conditions. Sleep average >7½ hours, minimum 7 hours per night
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

M:    Rest
T:    Apathy. Eventually managed to summon motivation for half an hour of stretching before (early) bed
W:    Wall, Boulderwelt. Horrible session. Blob shuffling in crowds basically sucks - but I still think blob shuffling has value in terms of movement repertoire etc. Need to adapt my home office schedule so I can go to the wall at quieter times.
T:    
F:    
S:    Wall, Kaufering. Bouldering. Attempted to address lack of motivation by changing things up and going to a wall I only visit rarely. It was ok, certainly a better session than Wednesday.
S:    Skiing, St Johann. Worst conditions so far this season: alternating concrete & slush. Part of learning is learning to handle non-ideal conditions.  Couple of goes down the one black run here, but after the second run went badly I decided to dial it back and spent the rest of the day on reds & blues.

Learned this week that a new bouldering wall is opening ten minutes' bike ride away from me in March. That should help with the training motivation if it's any good.

Thanks for doing the Stats this week Ally, bit hectic over at Chateau Swede last night/today! Lots of work busyness enforced rest days this week.

Mon. Rest.

Tues. 3x10 shrugs, 6x max hangs (+25kgs), 5x5 on the min pull ups, crimpd static core, 3x10 press ups. 

Wed. Rest.

Thurs. 3x10 shrugs, 6x max hangs (+26kgs), 6 sets of repeaters (+5kgs) (felt like I was deep in the red zone on last two reps of the last set so used the big flatty instead) 5x5 on the min pull ups, crimpd static core, 3x10 press ups.

Fri. Drive to lake district in a storm.

Sat. Walked the kids up Latterbarrow in the snow in the morning, everyone pretty cold afterwards so headed back to the Youth Hostel for lunch and use of the drying room. Afternoon 8km run with Mrs. Swede with the kids on the bikes along the side of Windermere. It's only mini swedes 4th ride using a pedal bike and she was determined to get a decent ride in before she's 4 so everyone pleased with today.

Overnight. Part of the roof blew off above our room. Much arranging of buckets and towels in the middle of the night. Kids slept through the whole thing. 

Sun. Small mooch about but everyone was tired after yesterday/last night so we headed home a bit earlier than planned. Hard work driving back in the weather. Very early night. 

Cheers Ally,

I have been fine recovery wise, a little short of breath on uphill sections of runs but otherwise fine. Kids have all been good too, unfortunately the wife has been very poorly with it, barely able to get out of bed, no energy, short of breath. She was like that form the best part of the week, only now on the mend. 

Safe to say its been a mentally busy week looking after the wife, kids and taking them to all there various training sessions. Wednesday being a highlight, up at 4 a.m. to get the youngest to swim training and finally back in the house at 9.30 p.m. with the eldest as she was training in the evening!

Exercise wise week went as follows;

Monday, 1km swim

Tuesday, 1km swim

Wednesday, 1km swim and 5k run

Thursday, 1km swim and stretch class, 5k run

Friday, told not to go into work due to the storm so much needed rest day, made various flavour sausage rolls with the kids

Saturday, 7.5km trail run

Sunday, rest

Hi Everyone. Thanks for being super-sub, Ally.

Week 7:

Dropped a fingerboard sesh and swapped the runs for walks but otherwise a good week.

M: Max Hangs. Pull-ups. Prehab -shoulders.

T: Rest.

W: Prehab -elbows and shoulders.

T: Hill walk and Climb. Brief window between storms turned out to be pretty dreamy cons. Dropped a rope down Borboletta (none 5c) -felt absolutely nails! Not sure if this is me being shit, or the f6A being a massive sandbag! Also did a few crack laps on the brilliant Stretch (none 5a) -eliminating the left wall of the corner to make a thin-hands 5b-ish. Leg sore after foot jams, but eased off enough for a decent walk on the way home.

F: Core. Prehab -elbows and shoulders.

S: Max Hangs. Pull-ups. Prehab -shoulders.

S: Walk -fairly gentle. Core. Prehab -elbows and shoulders.

Week 8:

3 x short runs or long walks -need to prioritise getting hill fit again.

5 x Prehab.

2 x Core 

2 x Max Hangs & Pull-ups

2 x Conditioning

STG -end March:

Run my usual running loop.

Max Hangs: 90kg total.

Pull-ups: 95kg total.

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

2022 Arbitrary training goals:

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

Weighted Pull-up: 100kg.

Max Hangs: 95kg.

Weighted hill climb: 2 laps of RT in 30 mins with 15kg.

2022 Climbing goals:

7a (Possibly one of: Arc en Ciel (7a) The Jim Grin (7a))

ALL of my local must-do list: 0/15

Visit at least five of my 'why haven't I climbed here' list: 0/5

Get at least one session at each of my 'I should climb more at this crag' list: 0/8

Start properly getting to know: Brimham, Almscliff, Caley, Slipstones (Going to solidify this to 3+ days at each -a bit more measurable!)

At least two days from big mountain list: 0/2.

Late summer/autumn alpine trip.

Thanks Ally for jumping on with comments.  My (theoretically) easier week turned out to be just as busy as a week where I am travelling, but at least I slept at home most nights.  This week is another where I am away for the next four nights, but then my pattern changes and I will only have one night away each week, so I'm hoping the sun will come out in March!  Desperate to get out now.

Training ok considering.  Two sessions of max hangs at plus 21.4kg (5 sets at 10 secs); 60 push ups; 5x5 pull ups and stretches.  Also managed two runs of 5.5km.  

Looking at a rest week as don't have much time Friday this week either.  Then I can schedule Sunday, Tuesday and Friday for training every week thereafter, so will be able to step up the programme.  Definitely aiming to keep developing basic strength even when I am climbing outside regularly.

Have a good week all.  As ever, some great sessions being reported across the group.

Sounds like an intense weekend!

Hopefully! I'm going to play around with doing max hangs once or twice a week for a bit before Font. Then after Font, I think I'll aim to get a benchmarking session on the BM1000 bottom outer edges (16mm?) and begin some max hang cycles!

What's the general consensus on this sort of thing, 3 weeks of regular intense hanging, then a lower volume week to deload, and repeat? From what I've read, structure and discipline are the most important things to consider.

Forecast is currently for a big snow dump on Friday & Saturday, if this doesn't change looks like I'll be skiing on Sunday. Perhaps even at one of the little local Bavarian resorts instead of driving all the way to Austria.

Forgot to report;  73.5kg down to 69kg (4/4 achieved).  Now heading to 6/4 and have briefly been at 68.5kg over the weekend.  Lighter than I have been at this stage of the year for more than a decade, so hopeful that I might get to 65kg as a summertime fighting weight...

Thanks for stepping in with the stats Ally.

Currently running a sizeable brownie point deficit after Rjukan. Worth it though!

No climbing and lots of baby wrangling this week. Kept the cogs turning with a few sessions of Weighted Pullups and Lattice Pinch Block. Very happy to get 3x 12 weighted pull-ups with +12kg and my flexor unit strain seems better. Feel like I’m at the stage were using it will make it heal quicker so will try a light wall session next week and stay away from pocket pulling.

Mon

• Weighted Pull-ups 3x 12/12/10 (+12kg)
• Lattice Pinch Block 6x10s (+8.5kg)
• Lattice crimp Block 6x30s (+8.5kg)

Tue

• Bit of rehab in preparation for running again: Romanian Deadlift 3x12 (20kg), Calf Raises 3x12 (12kg), Glute Bridges 3x12 (BW)

Wed

• 45min swim

Thu

• Lattice Pinch Block 6x7s (+12kg)
• Lattice crimp Block 6x20s (+18.5kg)

Sat

• Weighted Pull-ups 3x 12 (+12kg)
• Lattice Pinch Block 6x7s (+12.5kg)
• Lattice crimp Block 6x12s (+30kg)

Ally, with the Lattice Pinch/Crimp Block is a rep one lift and lower to the floor? I feel like I’m wondering aimlessly in the dark with it at the minute. I’m holding for time but unsure of the best protocol to increase max pinch/crimp strength with it?

Twice a week for 3 weeks then a deload week sounds like a sensible approach to fingerboarding, focusing on a weak grip type or a generic 20mm edge half-crimp for broad applicability to other grips.

I do not think that there is sufficient scientific evidence to recommend one protocol over another, but what is clear to me is that training fingers with a hangboard is something that takes years to build up a good history of training and cement in gains.

When I started doing systematic fingerboarding with max-hangs I was able to increase loads fairly spectacularly over a 3month period. I was avoiding actual climbing at this time because of a shoulder injury (AJM might recall the Portland boulder with Mark?), but could still happily load my soulder in a controlled manner on the board.  This block of training took me from BW+20kg to BW+48kg on a 20mm edge and I felt almost invincible when I finally unleashed in Chulilla with a first day back OS of El muerto matao (7c)

I've never seen the pace of gains I had in that first sustained block, but over the following years i've fingerboarded every year and increased the loads a few kg each winter, eventually hitting the lofty heights of BW+ >70kg back on a cold day at the end of last year.

Petty Thief (f7A), I think? You spent a while trying Before Ava Arrives (f8A), but injured yourself on the V6?

Cheers for the good beta. I don't want to get my hopes up for massive gains but it's given me some good psyche!

I'd tried Petty Thief (f7A) briefly as well a while back, proper disgusting couple of moves in the roof if I remember correctly.

Cheers Ally. More plastic, sadly - busy at work still and (perhaps it’s rose tinted spectacles) but I don’t seem to have been able to catch as many sunny weekend days as I’d hoped. There was quite a lot of blowy dank greyness where in my view there ought to have been crisp northerlies and sunshine! I’m hoping that this coming weekend I might be able to get a few days somewhere.

Body continues to grumble. 

- My finger is still not quite right - it seems to be manageable for climbing if I climb fairly open but sometimes random things set it off - oddly hooking a nail behind a ring pull, that sort of curled in finger position, seems to be a thing it really dislikes.

- I’ve tweaked something in my right leg which limits me a bit heel hooking

- I made the mistake of weighing myself earlier this week which suggests there’s rather more of me than there should be - from next week I think I will have to put a bit more focus on this. I try to comfort myself with the idea that I’m not climbing that badly and that perhaps that means underneath there’s a slightly stronger me just waiting to be unleashed

Monday - rest

Tuesday - wall after kids were asleep. Heaving to start but quietened down later. Spent a while trying and failing on a variety of things, got close to one project at the end with a tricky bicycle move (I find all bicycle moves tricky!)

Wednesday - wall again with miniAJM. Got the bicycle problem done reasonably swiftly, did a bunch of new things, spent a while flailing on another few harder things

Thursday - does scanning the frankenjura guide count as training?

Friday - see Thursday 

Saturday - wall in the morning. Ticked a project from Wednesday first go, it’s amazing what being fresh will do, and did a bunch of the easier problems from the recent comp. Then in the afternoon at home I did a 5-3-5-3-5 aero session.

Sunday - nothing. MicroAJM woke up at 4am with settings turned to battle mode. No suggestion could be needed, no instruction followed, no cooperation given. A sapping sort of a day.

Thanks Ally.

M – Rest and no gym work

T – Flexibility

10 x 7a circuit with 1.45min rest. Completed Need to reduce rest again.

W – Very short boulder session and no circuits – flashed up to V6 on the slabs, didn’t get any V7’s

T – Rest – no gym again

F – Kendal – pyramids

6b 6c 7a 7a+ 7b 7a 7a

All ticked apart from the 7b. Fell off the last hard move. I was supposed to do one more but I was hungry and had sore skin and didn’t feel a 6b+ at the end would contribute much.

S – Rest - flexibility

S – Flexibility. Lancaster wall. Boulder league. Got a couple more but that’s it I think. Went back on the board and flashed stuff up to 6B+ and got two 6C’s. Harder then moonboard benchmarks!

No psyche for planned circuits.

Not a great week. Missed gym stuff twice due to appts with my daughter and Wednesday was an appt with my son meaning I got very little done.

Sunday was a bit of a meh session, though I felt fine. Couldn’t be arsed with circuits or to try really hard on stuff.

Re-set and back to it this week. I’m going to drop the rest to 1:1 for the 7a circuits and get monstered. It’s time to get the pump on. I may change pyramids to more pumpy work too as it’s 4 weeks to the trip and I’ve only been doing aerobic stuff so far.

Lack of psyche may have been due to a build up of fatigue. I got a good nights sleep but still felt tired this morning and HRV agreed I should take it easy.

Thanks for the stats Ally. Yes, i switched to max hangs and tried to ease into it with 2 short sessions. Apart from that i did not too much and mainly rested. I did not do a real benchmark session, but a couple of hangs with 9/10 effort, which is enough for me to know where to start next week. A couple of interesting findings:

• Half crimp and pinch strength is roughly at the same level as before christmas when i stopped doing max hangs
• Open hand is about 5% weaker. A possible explanation could be worse skin or condition as i think that open hand is a little bit more affected by that.
• One-Arm Lockoff strength has improved by a couple of %
• Somehow it feels easier with less weigth on the pulley system when i lock off at 90°. At larger angles the laws of physics are still valid and it feels much harder. Any theories that would explain that are more than welcome

Thanks Ally. Short answer is no, I have never used a dipping belt. A good question as I have never really thought about it. I used to use more than 25kg for max hangs in the past when I was stronger, but above around 28kg it got awkward due to the sheer volume of the weights I used to own (only plastic ones back then) so my approach was just to switch to one arm hangs rather than adding more to two arm hangs. At the moment I just use a harness. I do now have some plate weights so could add more if I was stronger or doing a pure max rather than 3/6/9. I take it you think a dipping belt is worth the investment then?

Goals:

- Maintain my physio rehab on finger/shoulder every week and aim to stay uninjured

- Subject to above, maintain a consistent pattern of 2 fingerboard sessions per week until at least the end of March (starting with 3/6/9 protocol but I plan to move to one arm max hangs at some point)

- Go climbing once a week, have fun, try hard and maintain movement skills

- 3 Font 7s in Font at Easter, assuming we go

- 2 Font 7Bs across the year

These goals feel fairly modest but let's see how it goes... I will plan to review them post Font.

M: rest

T: in-laws visiting and took the kids out for a long day with my wife = had some free time after work! Went to the Hangar. Did one (very soft) white, a couple of V5s and then spent the rest of the session working on a yellow. Just didn't manage to do the last reach to the finishing hold, an awkward mantel/standup move after the end of the steep bit, but pleased with trying pretty hard on the problem and getting close. Shoulder/bicep rehab in the evening.

W: rest

T: lunchtime - density hangs, then 4 sets of 3/6/9 on the 23mm edge. Felt very weak, dropped from 25kg to 20kg for the fourth set and then skipped the 5th set completely. Lack of sleep, conditions? Not sure.

F: rest

S: morning - 5 sets of 3/6/9 on the 23mm edge, the first with +20kg and the rest with +25kg. Felt better than Thursday but less strong than last week. Afternoon - shoulder/bicep rehab.

S: rest (mum's 70th)

Si

Dipping belt was a revelation in comfort for big loads.  A great investment.  50kg doesn't bite.  60kg barely.  70kg is back to unpleasant though! 

Thanks Ally,

No, not been back to Portishead for the hard routes yet.  I do plan to at some point, as once I get my head dialled into hard slab on tiny holds, what at first seems impossible starts to come together.

I'm interested in what you said about the max hangs, twice a week for 3 weeks and then de-load week.  In your early days, at what point did you decide to add more weight?  When you made all 6 to 10s? or just when it no longer felt like max effort?

M - Rest

T - Boulder league comp.  I feel I climbed ok, but should have got a few of them in less attempts if I had been concentrating more. Came in 5th, and as most of the good boulderers were there, that's a win for me.

W - Rest

T - Indoor Training.  6*10s hangs +15kg strict half crimp.  Felt tired so left it at that.

F + S Nothing

S - Indoor training - 6*10s hangs +15kg. Then 3 x circuits of: 5 x T's and Y's (front and back), 10 x leg raises, 10 x Scalp pull up +15g, 10 x Press up.

Thanks Ally. Going well so far. Had a soggy ski on Creag Meagaidh yesterday. Not the best snow but nice to be out again. 
Today’s been great, with a trip up North East Buttress (IV 5) with planetmarshall. Good neve up most of the way. Soloed up to the first platform and then moved together for the rest of the route - 3hrs45 for the route, 8hrs from car park  to car park. 

plan for the rest of the week is a trip to The Coe tomorrow and hopefully some powder skiing to finish off the week. 

I know what you mean, slab and vert are styles you need to have a "feel" for rather than just pulling harder. 

When I started to do deadhangs systematically I wasnt just using 6x10s on a 20mm edge so it's not so easy to make a fair comparison. 

My protocol was; warm up!

6 different grips (Front3 back3 f2, m2, b2, 20mm)

On each grip; 1x 10s intro hang to acclimitise then 2x 10s max efforts. 2-3min between hangs. 

I kept a record in a spreadsheet of the weights each week so had a good handle in what to do the intro and first max effort at.  If the first max effort went well, I'd add a couple of kg and try again for a final 10s effort, then move on to the next grip. 

It was a lot of hanging but owing to the shoulder injury I had plenty of spare time as I was only doing fingerboard, core and road biking.

Great info. Thanks 

It's been a hectic couple of weeks so I've been struggling to squeeze any decent walks in. I managed to squeeze a cross-country 8 miler in late yesterday afternoon though, carrying 22lb. Finished in 2hrs 3mins which I'm happy with considering the weather and mud. Legs are feeling it today, big time. 

Edit: I'm finding all the hangboard training info posted in this thread very interesting. I'll get myself one. Not sure I'm light enough to do much with it yet at just under 16 stone but it will be come in handy as the arse drops off.

Hi all, first time Fit Club poster here. I've been reading for quite a while, but figured it was time to start posting. I've been climbing for a long time, but the past 5 years have seen my fitness decline, accelerated by Covid and injuries. So now I'm hoping to get the curve pointing upwards again and be a bit more structured about my training.

At the moment, I'm at TCA Glasgow about once or twice a week. My strategy is to keep to easier routes and get some volume in on the endurance circuits, mainly to avoid getting injured straight away and acclimatize my fingers.

Some goals would be the following, quite broad as you'll see so will have to be defined a bit more in the future.

STG:

• Keep injury-free
• Climbing/training twice a week. Developing a habit I guess.
• Stick to lower back/core training, stretching and all that. Needed to get through the week relatively pain-free (desk job).

MTG:

• Be comfortable on 6c/7a sport
• Back down to 85kg
• Come up with a training plan and have an idea what I'm doing..

LTG:

• No idea grade-wise, but would like to see what structured training can do.
• Climb outdoors regularly.
• Some multi-pitch sport in the alps would be nice. Not done that for years..

So, nice meeting you all and looking forward to this!

Cheers!