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.

Link to last week’s thread:

https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/walls+training/ukc_fit_club_week_843-7596...

Another really interesting week with loads of discussion prompted by Ian's comments on mental preparation.  I checked as a result over the last few weeks and quite common for FC to attract 1500 views (and only 100 of them are me checking in for responses!). so it is one of the most followed threads on UKC each week.  Good effort all.

Should also thank Ross for trying to put together a trip to Portland.  I think it is looking like first weekend in September, so I've made some provisional plans to join in.  Now where are my budgie smugglers....?

Stats:

Randy:  Here, the weather is also showing signs of improving and becoming more consistent at last.  It looks like a very good week coming up, which is great as I have some time. 

It is interesting to note that you ‘felt quite out of shape’ when you have had some time away from the boulder walls.  It doesn’t take much for the movement skills to become less fluid.  I always used to think that I needed to climb around every third day to keep smooth – anything less and I would have to drop a grade and spend a session working back up.  Good to see that you manage to maintain your weighted pull ups pretty effectively and the strength is translating well into the lock offs that you are doing (especially with added weight now).  Astonishing that you are planning to increase the weight further on the weighted pull-ups – I shall watch with interest how the plan progresses.

Excellent to see the return of the handstands and other floor exercises – a long while since you have practiced these I think.

Biscuit:  Very interesting reflections on the grip and the impact it had on your ability to finish off Puddle Jumper.  I do periodically train slopers (just started a phase of that now), because I think this can be an issue for me as well.  It is quite reassuring when open hand / drag type things feel as good as a crimp.

Egerton.  The lost world of Egerton.  I went last year and promised myself I’d go back, but it is hard to get anyone interested really.  It is a place that is easy to walk away from, though I always think that it has some gems masquerading as a bit of a bag of…  There are also some remarkably hard ‘easy’ routes there!  It needs traffic to keep it clean – I did a few of the routes on the Gallows Pole face when the place was first developed, but they look pretty mucky these days.  Satin Sapphire looks confusing, hard and pretty bold, but I don’t think I’ve looked at Niff Niff as it doesn’t get stars (and even starred routes at Egerton are clearly not that much of a draw).  It always feels like a place that might be brilliant, but somehow isn’t.  Anyway, I promised myself I’d go back for Red Wall Direct, so another visit beckons.

Useful reflections on the mental game later in the thread from you.  Not a bad run either!

Tom Green:  Agreed – bigger returns (and more fun) from actually doing stuff.  Winter is the time to invest a bit more in actual training, though maintenance is probably important to avoid having to reclimb up to some previous plateau each year.

A couple of pretty big runs as usual, though the second one has some tough sounding elements.  These days, this sort of battle isn’t on my radar, though I did used to ‘enjoy’ hard caving and always felt that was about the level of misery.

Good to get back to Troller’s Gill and onto another of your goals.  I’ve yet to get there – quite a way for me and none of my circle have bitten yet.  I think it looks good.  Also a good performance on Kilnsey.  All this is (again) a varied set of disciplines across the week and really good grounding for your trip (as I write you should be on the Glen Coe skyline).  After today, the weather looks set fair so you should get loads done.

SteveJC94:  Like I said, even as a non-cyclist, all this is very interesting and has some application to walking up hills anyway!  Really impressive to relate the public norms to the professionals as always – on a different planet as most elite athletes seem to be.  I was intrigued by your comments about ‘poor’ zone 2 stats, when you seem to be able to sustain close to 30kph through these!  Not too shabby from my perspective.

Good to see a pair of fit clubbers taking down the Bishop’s Isles over the next couple of weeks, followed up by Ian who will be able to follow the chalky paths already established…

Great that you’ve got some more mileage in at Millstone ‘bagging classics’.  They are mostly pretty decent routes and the length of some of them will help somewhat with your trip preparations.  I hope you manage to climb into form while there.

Alan:  Yes, a fairly frustrating Spring as far as weather goes, but it has at last turned a corner here and looks like it is possible to make plans with some confidence.  I hope the same is happening near Munich!  Now that you have recruited a belayer, I am looking forward to seeing you get on your local Konstein projects.

Another week where the walls have taken a hammering, with three separate visits.  Given that you have been working hard at the walls since your Leonidio / Kalymnos training plan was hatched, I am not surprised that the odd session at Thalkirchen feels a bit less than inspired!  Anyway, your end of the week visit to Freimann looks rewarding with a good set of routes and an onsight 6c up the steep stuff.  In amongst the wall visits, you  have also managed a rings session, pullups, deadlifts, so plenty of variety in the regime and continuing to work your weaknesses.  Great to get out for a walk in the rain!

SSB:  Glad to hear (and visually confirm) that the shin is indeed on the mend.  You’ve done a fair bit of running this week, so clearly putting it to the test.

Max hangs back on the schedule (not sure I’ve seen this regularly from you?) and a decent weight being managed at +28kg.  I’m on a sloper cycle at the moment (at least when I shake off this bug), so my weights are right down now. 

Good to get to Raven Tor though clearly running low on stuff that you can actually progress efficiently (?).  Presumably, there are usually plenty of people about to get a rope on something – laps on Little Extra has got to be good training, as is Weedkiller as I remember.  An excellent end to the week with the family session at Robin Hood’s Stride.  It is a great environment for kids generally with the caves, woods and pinnacles, but good to see that you managed some hard ticks yourself as well.  As ever, you are maintaining a really high standard despite having to work quite hard to get your sessions in on the way home from school or whatever.  I guess it helps that you have to drive back through the Peak every day!

Steve Claw:  That sounds like a good plan to develop strength in a fun way than hammering away at some training.  I also note that your top rope strategy is back on the agenda and a reminder to me to try this as a tactic for doing something really hard at the end of a session.  Good to see that you’ve got back to the project quickly and made some progress, even if it feels harder than you recall! 

Four times out on the rock across the week is impressive really and perhaps an approach of doing a little, often will be better for strengthening the elbows?  This week’s report might tell us whether it is working, as there were quite a few hard things spread across the sessions and one of them has a big reputation for pumpiness!  An interesting approach overall, with a fair bit of hard climbing achieved through your preparedness to TR to get the moves done.  This is definitely something to learn from, as my hardest moves are usually on onsight leads, which is of course limiting.

Ian Parnell:  As you note yourself, a fairly quiet week of training, but an excellent day at Gogarth to make up for that!  Anyway, the campus board session, the run and the bouldering session means that it wasn’t a complete write off – clearly, when more time is put into getting out, something has to give.  Important I think to keep something going or it can be a bit demoralising when you start back next winter.  I can’t respond to your campusing question as I’m not familiar with the regime at all, but there are plenty on here doing some at present with good results.  It looks like it should be very good for PE, so it is something I want to build ready for next winter.

Plenty of people really rate The Needle so good to see it gets an ‘absolutely amazing route’ from you.  Great to do it with the sun disappearing as well.  Did you use the ab approach to that end of the main cliff, or were you coming in across the traverse?

Sorry that I’ve not been available whenever you’ve tried lately!  Keep trying as I will have a lot more flexibility after next week, though I’m in Spain for a week in early June.

Tyler:  Great to see that the new guide is out.  I shall order one this weekend, which is likely to make me even keener on the area than I am already!  At some point, I have to force myself to look beyond and get out to Gogarth or the mountains, though there hasn’t been that much of an opportunity to date.

‘Forced out bouldering’ – I could have written that myself, though to be fair I always manage to find an excuse!  Good effort persisting with an alternative venue after thrashing about trying to find the first place!

Grooved Arete is a fantastic route and I am pleased I did it when I was starting out.  I’ve considered heading up to the hills for this sort of thing myself, but while I used to do quite a bit of soloing, it isn’t something I have done for years.  Perhaps that is telling me something.  However, there is something to be said for being out in the mountains on your own and ticking off some of these classic, easier routes is a lovely way of enjoying the experience to the full.  I do have some on this year’s target list, so had better get planning.

Good work at LPT.  Progress on one of your ‘unfinished business’ and something new to you as well.  Btw, I’m very keen for the area of Gogarth that includes Assassin as well as there are a few at that end that I’ve missed, including some of the easier classics.  Enough to consider setting up the ab and having a day messing with Nightride, Heroin, Scavenger etc.

Ally:  For someone who doesn’t do a load of pull ups, 5x10 on the minute is inevitably going to be tough, though your core training, board and weights stuff will give you solid foundations.  I can remember a thread from a few years ago where serious amounts of pull ups were being targeted (1000) and achieved, but the set length was six on the minute (sustained for three hours with a short break).  I can still do sixes for a long time, though haven’t gone beyond thirty minutes for ages, but it rapidly gets harder with increased set length – you’d notice this during a set as the first seven can feel ok, but the next three get challenging.  Possibly impacting your Yves style edge lifts that followed?

Good to see a return to the board – a notable absence lately though understandable with the oblique issues.  Great also to see yet more gorge new stuff being explored and nice that it looks like a real tester!

Ross Barker:  As I respond, the weather is indeed ‘scorching’, so hope you are still able to find things to do.  Nice work trying to set up a SW meet – it looks like something is coming together.  Good to hear that the light hangs are effective at rehab and / or injury prevention.  Thanks also for explaining the ‘box’ move.  I think both Tom and myself have realised exactly what is holding us back!

Some interesting change of tack with DWS season in mind – I like the idea that fifteen moves is a kind of target to aspire to for a boulderer!

Very positive results at Craig Y Hyrddod as (AFAICT) these look like new routes and you still have a project to go back to complete.  Excellent!  It does sound as if it is quite remote and a bit of a walk in, so well done lugging the pads up there.  You did say you had adjusted your goals, but not apparent to me what had changed, though Rigpa no longer features?

The Sheep:  A brilliant report from yourself that makes it look as if all the graft has paid off really well.  To deliver your second fastest half when the route is trails is a really strong performance, so well done – you must be delighted!  The route sounds quite inspiring and nice to feel in decent shape throughout, especially as it seems like the previous night was hardly textbook preparation!

All things considered, you are having a good year with things going pretty much exactly to plan.  I note that your wife has featured less on the reports recently, but I think the previous event perhaps put her off, so maybe she isn’t training with you these days?  Good to see your swimming going along well, presumably with new, flawless technique.

AJM:  Sorry that I didn’t make it out while down in Devon.  Still not 100% even now.  The upside is I did manage to sort out my brother-in-laws boating issues, without feeling too rough at sea!  We are planning to go down again and now I see some suggestions for a SW FC meet up, it may be that we coincide with those dates when they solidify.  Anyway, I owe you one.

Some useful experimenting with your travelling set up – very keen and a good discipline to have a set up that you can take away. Something to learn from.  Good work also at the Cuttings with Cutting Edge (I wonder where it gets its name?).  Not a bad route by the look of it, so a good result on a family faff day and well done for working through the doubts over the rope shredding!  Agreed – a fairly quiet week overall, but made up for by getting out on the ropes, which is beginning to be a more regular feature of your weekly reports. 

Climbthatpitch:  Lee - Good to see you returning to the thread after almost exactly four years break, though it seems with different goals than your previous period.  Anyway, most of us are working at training with the aim of improving our climbing one way or another and injury prevention and management is quite often a feature!

Good to see you immediately putting some goals down.  I think the goal of visiting more crags is a good one as it helps keep motivation high to see new places.  It has the advantage of being a relatively easy goal to tick off, but also serves to drive results because of the possibilities that are opened up.  I know if I go back to Stanage for the nth time, I will be repeating stuff, whereas that can’t happen on an unfamiliar destination.

With your E4 target, can you give us an idea of where you are now?  Is this a level you’ve climbed at before?  How many grades have you got to go through to get there?  Arms Race featured in last week’s thread, so beta will be available, though the clue is in the title with that one!  Despite being fairly familiar with the Yat, I don’t know Piggy Malone.  I see from your first report that the Wye valley is going to feature strongly if Wintour’s is an evening crag for you.  What about the South Wales stuff?

Quite a bit of climbing across the week, both indoor and outdoor.  Good standard on the lead routes and bouldering, though unclear how structured your approach is – perhaps not that structured if you’re not counting your push ups!?  Good work at Shorncliffe – I really like the place though haven’t been for ages.

Liam P:  Further small edge inspiration from you this week – I think 6mm is getting into pain tolerance territory isn’t it?!

Plenty of structure across your week – very disciplined with the antag work and two sets of finger and OAPU with good steady progress.  The one-arm hangs are creeping upwards and I really like this system of taking weight off as a way of building up the skill and the strength in a controlled way.  Great result on the campus board, especially as you haven’t done loads recently so progress looks like it has come quite quickly to me.  It will be interesting to see how much tail off there is with the upcoming change of rung size.

The bouldering sounds a little frustrating, but the time spent working the thing has got to be productive anyway.  It’s all training!

80kg in touching distance so keep it up.  I found that I would only really lose weight when I was active a couple of days a week – the other days would be fairly stable, with some gains at the weekend if I was partying too hard!

Small Step:  Good to see the developing discussions on mental preparedness and glad that it sits alongside some of your own goals.  I was interested in the different perspectives that came in on the thread – it certainly is an interesting area.  I’m not much good at watching things so I haven’t followed up the Dave Macleod stuff, though I find his material insightful usually.

As ever, you have hit the walls hard and successfully.  You are certainly putting plenty of routes together on each visit and getting some good grades done as well.  Getting a dozen done is definitely well up into good stamina territory (as well as having the fortitude to apply yourself for that long!).  Good to see the bouldering wall work as well with the bigger links put together.  All this is great foundations for getting on rock at some point, though your weather continues to be rubbish!

I can confirm that Ian is quite vocal while he climbs – all very positive even when he falls off!  I use the talk to myself approach as he describes as well.

Mattrm and Inglesp:  I didn’t see anything this week, which might mean Matt caught something off the carpet!  Inglesp – a new, returning member from your patch.

My week is easy - very little...

Was away at my sister's with a plan to meet with AJM on Monday, but ended up struck down with some sore throat thing.  Still suffering on return, so no training, but couldn't let two FC people down in the same week, so dragged myself to Cratcliffe on Wednesday to meet SSB think in gat the very least I could hold ropes.

Great doing routes I had done on my first ever visit (Suicide Wall aged 16) and a subsequent visit when I had a day doing most things there, but by God they felt hard!  This may be because I've not touched grit for fifteen months and it is a bit of a style unto itself, but struggled a bit with everything on second - no falls though!  However, Suicide Wall (HVS 5b), Fern Hill (E2 5c) and Five Finger Exercise (E2 5c) made an excellent nine star evening that SSB dispatched in comfort.  All quite chalky and well-used, but the quality shone through.

Continued with poor health through to last night, when extensive partying somehow cleared it up.  Lesson learned - do more partying.  

A good week coming up - no work commitments and the sun is shining.  Yorkshire tomorrow, Lakes on Wednesday and somewhere else on Friday.

You and me both, the weather is no longer an excuse (don’t worry, I have other excuses!).

I’ve never investigated the whereabouts of the abs on main cliff that the locals use to make it easier to do multiple routes in a day. That said I expect one main cliff route would be enough for me these days, that’s if I can find one easy enough to set foot on. I’ve never considered Heroin and I like the sound of ‘as much gear as you can throw at it’ (less so the back and footing!)

Miserable collection of performances by me this week, it seems there is no bottom! Also no ticks for me again this week.

T: After school club,  Joe was keen on Cornhollio which I’ve avoided as I expected it to be a nightmare. My first TR was not disastrous considering it was also my warm up and I was quite optimistic of sending. Sadly my next two goes we’re no better so I’ve picked up some more unfinished business 

T: Quick hour bouldering in the Pass, failed to do a single move whilst warming up on the roadside face. Fared no better on Cross Fader but forced myself to work out beta should I ever return stronger.
Sun: I’d convinced myself my poor recent performances were down to sore skin and tiredness so two days rest should have seen me firing again. Not so, Pearl Necklace at Llanddulas was supposed to be a quick win but turned out to be desperate. Three goes later I’d done the moves and clips but links there were none. Must be 7b. Had a quick look at El Tigre as it’s on the unfinished business list and Ant had some beta for me. Didn’t have a proper go but enough to convince me that the move is not “impossible” (and also confirm that Pearl Necklace is 7b!)

Need to restart some sort of diet. 

SSB still on. HardExtreme Rock tip I see! Suicide Wall is definitely one of the better grit routes I’ve done and FFE is one of the few I really want to return for 

Ah. I saw AJM's picture of that on Insta and failed to spot the rope. Thought it looked rather highball-y

STG: depends on local weather & conditions
MTG: tick any of my local long term projects and/or a new-to-me 7a 
LTG: Be a confident, well rounded low to mid 7's sport climber. For measurable definition see Fit Club 823
LTG: Winter 24 or 25 - do an actual off piste ski tour.

M: Rest day. Some gtg false grip hangs and half an hour stretching

T: Wall, Thalkirchen bouldering. Couldn't make it until the evening so tried going late, but the kilterboard was still hopelessly busy. Instead after warming up I went on Paul's favourite 15° spray wall, where I set & tried increasingly difficult versions of the crux of my main target route at Konstein. The classic problem of board training: the crux of the real thing involves doing a foot swap on some really poor holds while holding a mediocre sidepull. The board has mediocre sidepulls aplenty but the footholds are far too good.

W: Bike one hour - shopping & coffee in town. The rain has finally stopped but I reckoned the woods would still be horribly muddy for the mountainbike. Going into town instead was a good call - picked up a large format book with good quality prints of Dürer watercolours in a secondhand shop for five euros.

T: Hillwalking. Hohe Kisten again, by a different route. Not raining (finally!) but turned back a couple of hundred metres short of the summit due to surprising amounts of fresh wet snow that has fallen since Sunday. Still a pleasant day out in lovely alpine foothill scenery.

F: Konstein. Had a look at Wild Thing (7a) as a potential project. Not sure but probably not. Did all the moves on toprope, so it would definitely go, but it's not that good and the rest of the sector is totally uninspiring. Plus the crux is smearing on a south facing limestone slab, and Summer Is Coming. Might go back for another look in the autumn (or not)

S: Intended to go back and have a look at Schattenspiele (VIII-), my actual project in Konstein, but my climbing partner called in sick and I couldn't get hold of anybody else at short notice. 
    Did some pullups & dips on the rings at home, then went out on the bike in the woods for a couple of hours

S: Wall, Freimann. 6a 6b 6a+ 6c (dog) 6b+ 6a+ 6c (dnf) 6b 7a (dnf: knackered). Much weaker than last week.

Sunday concerns me a little bit, or rather causes me to think about performance vs training as we move into a spell of (hopefully!) more climbable weather. As you rightly say Derek, one can't expect a pb every session. But also, after 48 hours I definitely wasn't fully recovered from trying hard on a potential project on Friday - and as we all know, recovery is one of the things that sufffers most as we get older.  I'm thinking in terms of, when I'm climbing two days at the weekend, dropping midweek training down to a single bouldering session on Wednesday. Perhaps also (reulctantly!) putting the supplementary stuff on the back burner for the time being.

Yes he is.  Got to back for Requiem, which is one I haven't done.  I will have to find something to play on, though repeating Boot Hill would be a good target.  Last did with Tom Proctor, who was a surprisingly pushy second for someone so mild-mannered!

If it helps I thought Pearl Necklace was desperate as well.  Two sessions and the best I managed was a one fall ascent. Maybe a bit anti style for me but felt hard 7b.  In comparison El Tigre went first rp after a quick dog, Mean Mother first rp after initial warm up bolt to bolt and second go to work out the crux.

Thanks Derek. Great work with the stats as always. Max hangs are definitely not back on the menu, it's make hay while the sun shines time, I just couldn't get out that night. This week I've made full use of working in the High Peak and long summer evenings.

Mon. Trad at Staden with Ian. Lead The Nails (E1 5b) and then Cathy's Courage (E3 6a) thinking it was Cathy's clown (oops). Seconded Ian up a couple of E2s, one of which I'd done before.

Tues. Rest.

Wed. Cratcliffe with Derek which he's already mentioned. In my head these routes were going to be desperate but when we got there they looked ok and turned out to be full of jugs in the end! Really fun time.

Thurs. 10km run up to Bleaklow Head via Wildboar Clough (Summer) (Grade-2) on the way up and Torside Clough (Summer) (Grade-1) on the way down.

Fri. Rest 

Sat. Short session at Chee Tor. Put the draws in then lead Shake Hands With the Octopus (7c). Had a play on an 8a but there was a foot move I couldn't do at the crux. May not have another look as other crags as starting to look dry now.

Sun. Most plans replaced with car fixing. Dived out to Bell Hagg at 8.30pm for 10 easy solos. Highlight was Hyde's Mantleshelf (HVS 5b) as it was clean. The rest were mostly much easier and varying from 'a bit over grown' to 'full on Monty Don time'.

It does and it did when Ant told me as well! I could see myself falling off the top as well. Great route, get those 7b up votes registered!

Thank you Derek,

Good week with 2 E5's and some adventurous climbing in Cornwall.

M - Nothing

T - Avon E3, 6b+ and some other bits.  FKD (E5 6b) fairly onsight

W - Out in the Mendip and did a quick E1 then a new 7a I had prepped a while ago

T - Rest

F - On route into Cornwall stopped off at Lower Sharpnose, as I've not been there before.  Amazing place.  Pacemaker (E5 6a), we both wanted to lead and my friend went first, getting half way up.  Therefore I had beta and some gear placements to there, then onsight after that, I had to fight to get the top, so not sure I would have made it fully onsight.  Then a fun romp up Diamond Smiles (E3 5c) with both 2nds just getting on the rock as the rising tide washed over the starting boulder.

S - An adventurous visit to Bosigran Great Zawn for The Dream/Liberator (E3 6a), which has to be the hardest E3 I have done.  Admittedly I was probably tired from the day before, but I was glad to have seconded the lower pitch, as I only just stayed on the crux.  Downside is that I arrived at the belay and had to lead through the overhanging groove of the pitch above.  We were both completely drained of all energy by the time we finished and got out. 

S - Short day so just followed a friend up Paragon (HVS 5a) and drove home.

Good morning all. Ace stats Derek, not letting the heat slow you down on that front!

15 moves on something wired isn't too bad, but 15 moves slowly during an onsight while feeling out the holds might be a different beast entirely!

Not new routes, but put up within the last couple of years and we were likely the first repeats. I'm definitely keen to go back and I've got a couple of contacts who are interested, so we should be able to get a decent padstack without breaking ourselves on the way in!

I might've added another one but then removed it at the same time, can't remember to be honest. Rigpa is almost certainly off the cards until September or October (unless there's a freak cold snap), and any other hard bouldering will probably have to be confined to early mornings or evenings, especially when temps are in the upper teens and twenties!

Pretty good week from me, finished a link-up at the dugout, had a fun board session, and another fun session on a rock pretending to be a board. A2 was a little iffy at times, so I'm going to try and take a little extra care this week to avoid aggravating it again.

Last Week:

M - Lunchtime very light hangs. Evening The Dug Out. Boshed up Digging A Lass (f7B+) first RP after warming up, unexpectedly quick. Then aimlessly tried a couple other bits, notably figuring out my ideal sequence for Doug's Belly (f7A+) Will try that next time I think.

T - Weigh-in at 76.9kg. AM and PM very light hangs.

W - Lunchtime and evening very light hangs.

T - Quick board session. Finger initially felt a touch tender but I think that was rushing the warmup, it settled down quickly.

F - Rest.

S - Esoteric bouldering at Craig Yr Wrysgan. Tried an open project with some meaty board-style moves - all bar one done, but that one is absolutely ferocious (7C?!). Will keep it in the back of my mind for when I'm a bit stronger! Climbed a couple of easier sit starts as well, one of which was an FA. PM very light hangs.

S - AM and PM very light hangs. PIP joints were a little stiff and tender, probably went a bit too hard for a bit too long on Saturday.

Next Week:

M - Dugout.

T - Rest.

W - Bouldering.

T - Antagonists.

F - Rest.

S, S - Bouldering.

Goals:

Sort out the A2 injury.

Improve ability on tiny edges.

Work on PE.

Oberth Effect Proj.

Harvey Oswald SDS.

Was this with the Hongiau festival?

Just above Tanygrisiau, yeah. I didn't attend the festival as I had an appointment with a tapas restaurant in the evening it looked like a fun time though!

Cheers Derek, sadly my wife is up on bricks at the moment, she fell and twisted her ankle so is unable to run at the moment which she is not happy about. Si i am essentially training solo now, which i don't mind although it is nice to have company some times. Had a week of 2 halves gone by.

Monday, rest day, although did make it to the gym for the steam room and hot tub 

Tuesday, 1km swim, with new improved technique 

Wednesday, 1k swim and 7k run in the evening. Legs feeling good after the weekend.

Thursday 1k swim and stretch class

Friday, hit with nasty cold/flu lurgy. Lots of snot and sinus pain. That was it for the week, game over for exercise!

Thanks Derek - insightful stats and memory of outrageous pull-up feats! The pull-ups are just a warm-up really, but certainly feel like I could have more pulling strength, so keeping them up as a weekly minimum.  I do them on jugs, so don't think they'll impact any finger training that follows?

Week 20

M – Feeling beat up and semi-viral.

T – Thankfully rallied and did a short board session. 20min warm up. 20min trying hard. 35min doing Crimpd Aero-power boulder intervals on 6C+’s. Oblique weak and felt a bit worked by the end. 3x10 OHP 30kg.

W – Rest.

T – Looking at last weeks comments about weak core, it should have been obvious that trying a long roof project would be hard work… Needless to say I got my arse handed to me on a plate and I was feeling pretty sore by the end. On the plus side, being weak forced me to work out some improved beta, and on reflection, this proj might be 8b instead of the 8a+ I originally thought?

F – Used my COMPEX to target the grumbly oblique. 

S – 5x7 pull-ups, Yves style 20mm edge lifts in half-crimp. Progressive warm-up, then 4x working sets of 3x reps @68kg (69kg R; 67kg L).  Very very hard, just finished all the reps. 4x11 OHP with 30kg barbell. 5x5 1-arm shoulder shrugs.

S – Family day at the beach. Oblique thankfully not as bad as before – I’m able to sneeze without pain, but hurts when attempting more intense movements like a lever lift.  Back to rehab; 2x20 side bends with 10kg kettlebell. Thinking this has to be daily minimum, then add some more intense activities (like steep climbing) on top.

Thanks very much Derek. Only 100 checks during the week? You're slacking! 

It is interesting how many people view the thread. It's consistently been like that since it started. There's a lot of lurkers out there. Hello!

The grip is a real weakness of mine and something that could make a big difference. The big 3 for me are mental control, speed of climbing (very much linked to confidence I am making the correct decision re gear/beta) and my inability to squeeze things.

They were all highlighted this week......

Egerton has had a LOT of cleaning done and has some fantastic routes. Satin Sapphire was all of those things, hence me backing off.

M - a.m. Gym - starting to push harder now, but still didn't deadlift after my close shave the other week. Need to bring that back in now.

p.m. - 10 on/off x 3 on the 6a circuit. Taking as many holds as I could with my thumb involved.

3 x 10 finger curls - 20mm edge @20kgs

T - Testing out new board idea for working active grips. 30 degree woodie board. 5 repeats of roughly 1 min on the board making about 6moves. No big moves, poor feet and al about squeezy holds. 

Same finger curl protocol.

Shoulder S&C work

W - Same protocol as yesterday but 10 reps on the 40 degree splatter wall at BUK. Wow! That hits the spot. My forearms were fine but my hands wouldn't work.

Same finger curl protocol

T - am 5km run

pm Gym - Some upper and lower body work. Isolated exercises rather than compound. 

F - am - got my plans messed up and ended up doing a 10k that should have been a 5k and I ad to run it rather than jog it due to timings.

We then drove to Gower

S -  Foxhole - great crag in a beautiful spot. Failed to onsight a 6a+ (route reading, confidence, fear of falling on slabby stuff), clipped up the crag classic 7a Joy de Viva (7a) and did it next go. Failed on a go at one of the other 7a's. I learnt the next day I'd missed some key beta at the top. Then failed on a 6b+ that intimidated me......

S - A few different crags on Rhossili beach. Shipwreck cove is amazing. We were lucky with conditions, apart from Par 3 (6c) which was sandier than a sand castle so I bailed as I was not enjoying it. Did a 6c in there, a couple of lower 6's in the next cove over (really good routes and felt very comfortable mentally despite being simliar in character to the previous day that had me scared) and finished on Stingray (6c) which had a brutal crux. The tide came in as I was climbing, quite fast. Our bags were rescued for us and we waded out. A properly fun end to the day.

The tide meant I had to climb quickly. I felt like I was going lightning quick. Faster than I have ever climbed. I was told afterwards it wasn't really noticeable..... I think when I do move I move at an OK pace. But I take an age to make the decision to go or not. That's what takes the time. That's what I need to work on.

We successfully managed to avoid doing fall practice. In fairness it seemed a bit of a waste i a brand new area. We've both resolved to get back on that horse next week - trad and sport.

More of the same with the hand training this week and then a weekend of trad and/or sport.

Thank you Derek, and interesting to hear your wisdom that partying solves everything!! something many young climbers have believed in.

STG - E4 end of May (0/1). 20 6th grade boulder problems (16/20). 50 sport routes by end of May (15/50). 30 trad routes by end of May (19/30)

MTG: Pabbay Trip – onsight E5

Mon – Staden in the evening with Mr Swede 4 routes an E1, 2 x E2, E3. Lots of lovely controlled mileage to make Derek proud although Swede’s bouldering heart came out inadvertently seeking out the line of most difficulty between Cathy's Clown (E2 5c) and Liquid Courage (E1 5b)

Tues – rest

Wed – Depot bouldering. Warm up 5x (green, white, blue, black, pink) attempted 15 reds got up 2! Felt very tired but tried to keep battling away telling myself it must be doing me some good.

Thurs – rest

Fri – Chee Tor after work. Climbed until almost dark and struggling to see footholds. Seconded Sergeyenna (E1 5b) and lead Hergiani (E2 5b). Typical early season session here digging out dandelions and hoovering away. Had a silly rest on Hergiani after the negative voices won out in my head (see last week’s discussion) and I faffed for ages not wanting to lunge for a mud and dandelion filled hold.

Sat – After advice from Swede agreed the answer to last week’s question was extend the work time so Foot on campus board aiming for 65 secs on and 60 secs rest between reps. 65secs, 65, 65, 60, 50, 55, 51 (Total 411 secs on and 360 secs rest, previously 396secs on and 360 rest)

Sun – 6 mile run easy pace

Reflection - I’d planned these last 3 weeks to be monster training weeks leading up to Pabbay in 2 weeks time, but the weather has been too good. Managed to get a bit of training in between the crag fun but sort of feel I’m regressing. Still, beginning to feel like I’m moving on rock a bit better although my head is a perpetual work in progress.

Usually, 3-4 days climbing break is fine for me. I've also noticed it makes a difference if i continue to train strength away from the wall. Then i sometimes manage to get back into the rythm even during a session if the break was not too long.

In the end i am doing more or less or standard strength protocol. Worked in higher reps ranges for building a base and hypertrophy. Now i am planning to decrease rep numbers and increase weight for some neuromuscular adoptions. Basically, collecting the interest on the work i have put into. Will be interesting to see what is possible. Hitting 60kg added weight for a one-rep-max would be pretty sweet.

Yeah, i've put that at a lower priority as i felt i have reached a decent level. Always interesting to see how quickly you get back to a previous level. It took me quite to get to 10s L-Sit and holding a Handstand controlled against a wall. Now i can do nothing specific for a couple weeks and be above this level.

Recap last week:

Mon: 2x20s L-Sit, Handstands, 2x8 Pikepushups, 10 Fingertips Pushups, 30 pushups, 45s V-Situps; went surprisingly well, despite being still a little bit sleep deprived from the weekend

Tues: Indoor Climbing, Elements Bouldering; manage to send a couple of boulders in the 6c range that i could not get done last week,  did another 6c after a couple of tries and got close on a slab 6c and another crimpy 6c; Weighted Pullups + 34kg: 3x5,4 with 3 min P; One-Arm-Lockoffs @170° with 6kg added weight: 2x20s; felt much better than last week but still got the problem that i don't have much work capacity and loose my power very quickly

Wed: Rest and another office party, at least this time i did not went to bed at a completely crazy hour

Thurs: Indoor Climbing, Elements Bouldering; sent the crimp 6c from last session first try of the day then went to the Kilterboard: 40°, 16 problems in the 6a to 6a+ range, about 10 of them flash with very little rest, all-in-all this part of the session took less than 30 minutes, Weighted Pullups + 34kg: 5,5,4; felt quite tired and generally unmotivated, probably a combination of too much work stress, too little sleep and ramping up the training volume too fast after the illness

Fri: 2x20s L-Sit, Handstands, 2x10 Pikepushups, 2x10 Fingertips Pushups, 30 pushups, 45s V-Situps, slept for more than 10h, but still felt tired and generally unmotivated, probably should have skipped the sessions; felt more like i did out of an obligation than for fun

Sat: Indoor Climbing, Elements Bouldering, finally feeling better after another 10h of sleep, did a bunch of technical problems in the 6b to 6c, including too quite hard slabs (at least for me ); Weighted Pullups: + 34kg: 4x5 with 3 min rest, One-Arm-Lockoffs @170° with 6kg added weight, Pullups felt very good and i got even close to a 6th rep on the last set, only thing to improve is that i sent a couple of problems that i should have flashed

Sun: 2x20s L-Sit, Handstands, 2x10 Pikepushups, 2x10 Fingertips Pushups, 12 lunges with 10kg added weight, 15 squats with 10kg added, 30 pushups, 45s V-Situps; 30 minutes run 4:40 /km pace; very good session, managed to hold a handstand without any wall start for more than 10s, also quite happy with my running performance, 4:40 km splits is not too bad considering that i've only randuring the last year when i was sport climbing in the winter in order not too freeze to death; 

A little bit of a weird week. First part was quite bad and i can't remember that i was that demotivated too train at any time during the last years. From a weather point of view, outdoor climbing would have been possible but somehow i did not had any desire to go outside at all. Also thought a little bit about goals that make sense at the moment, and i think it is better to put my current projects on hold and try them again in autumn when the conditions are (hopefully ) better and when i am also more prepared for them.

Then somehow i felt better on the weekend and more motivated to just be active. Probably a combination of being more rested, but it also felt like some weight has been lifted of my shoulder when i decided not to pursue my projects during the next weeks. Doing some running again also felt quite good. My plan is to increase the mileage during the next week and then do some harder things in the alps; e.g. Watzmann Traverse (https://www.atlasandboots.com/travel-blog/hiking-the-watzmann-traverse-bava...) or the rigde line from Zuspitze to Alpspitze (https://www.summitpost.org/jubil-umsgrat-ridge-massif/150731).

I would not be too concerned about that. 48 hours is not really enough to fully recover from a really hard session and your Saturday also did not look like a complete a rest day to me either.

As climbers i think we generally make the mistake of being always in a competition mode. When you are training you are not expected to always perform at your best and no runner or cyclist would assume that i could train in their race pace every session. Eg. when i used to train for running seriously the fasted 5km that i ran in training was about 1 minute slower than my fastest race time and i never considered that a problem. But somehow with climbing we always want to perform close to our grade limit, which is just not possible if you want to progress.

Thanks Derek.

Monday - some shoulder rehab, a few sets of pushups, a few sets shoulder shrugs. I figured having stepped back from shoulder work of various forms a lot since hurting my shoulder that I should probably be getting back into it again in a measured way.

Tuesday - broken sleep; wiped by the evening; rest

Wednesday - some more rehab and pushups. Walking to and fro work

Thursday - walking to and fro work

Friday - drive to the Wye

Saturday - some shoulder rehab. Family day.

Sunday - some shoulder rehab. Left my theraband on the campsite - idiot! Climbing! Went to Shorn Cliff - the multi pitch at wintours leap is obviously the biggest draw but with a new climbing partner and lots of the rest of the group heading that way it seemed like a sensible choice. With the bridge closed at tintern still I have to say the long gradually uphill trudge back up to the car at the end of the day is a thing I could have done without. The approach from tintern at least gets the uphill out of the way at the start. Anyway, we basically ticked our way along the easy friendly chalked HVSs of the main slab (The Laughing Cavaliers (HVS 5a) and so on). Led 3, seconded 1 plus a hard severe. Only one of them was technically speaking new but with at least a decade since my last visit they all felt new! Nice and flowy, moving fairly well (easy when it’s mostly in balance and on ok holds) - there’s a reason I suppose that it’s often used as an early season confidence booster.

Is any of it bird banned at the moment? (The rad suggests it was last year but I don’t know if that’s an annual thing)

And how family friendly is it at the base? It looks like it has a short walk-in, decent range of stars, is fairly shady, and is pretty close to where we are staying next week, so it feels like it has some of the magic ingredients for a family day out…

I had a look on the RAD and it was banned last year for nesting kestrels. No mention of 2023 and there were no kestrels in the vicinity when we visited. If the nest is where I think it might have been crows were using it. It’s a pretty unique place with a really large flat grassy meadow base great for picnics - like about 400 x 200ms. Easy walk in too. Was cold though in shade when we were there.

Often full of fairly curious cows though, looked after by a cowsmaid who I've chatted with on several occasions.  Very flat at base, often quiet and lots of good climbing.  About a five-minute approach.

Another place I used to go with kids is Left Celestial Twin, not far from Buxton either.  Good cave to explore and a nice river

Thanks both!

The others beat me to it - the only thing I'd add is that I was under the impression that parking on the bend was to be avoided and that you were supposed to go further up the road and park on the right by the houses (or even further up).  I think that's what it says in the BMC guidebook which I think is more up to date (possibly) than the info on UKC.  Also, I wouldn't let the kids run all over the meadow, I'd stick to the base of the crag (which is lovely) until we know how the new land owner feels about visitors.

Cheers Derek. Had an inadvertent deload this week as a flat tyre scuppered my weekend plans. Boring post inbound!

Tue

Antags

• BA Planche 3x 10
• Wall HStand 3x 55s
• DFlag Negatives 3x 5
• Tried 3x 15 Copenhagen Planks for the first time after seeing a Hoopers Beta video. Felt pretty pointless.

Thu

Wall

• Micros 3x 7s 8mm BW
• OAPU (assist hand on shoulder) Upped the numbers to 5 sets of 1. Will try sets of 2 next week and see what happens!
• Campus 32mm: 2x 1-4-6, 2x 1-3-6, still no 1-4-7. I recorded my 1-4-7 attempt which was really useful. I’m not high enough on the 4 when I release for the 7 so need to pull harder with the leading hand and push harder with the trailing hand. Will try some 1-4 offset pull-ups next week to practice getting the height.
• Hour on the Woody.

Forgot to add my weigh-in. 80.6kg so -0.6kg this week and -8kg in 12weeks. It’s fair to say I’m not doing Keto anymore but still low-carb and still coming off!

Thanks Derek

Great work with the stats, it has really got me thinking about things. its good to return and see so many people still psyched to get out climbing in all disciplines.

So, where I am at now. I usually find e2 comfortable and climbed a few e3 at the end of last year. I've been taking it easy for the last few weeks just to get the head back into Trad but after next week will start to jump on some harder for me routes.

I am quite lucky in south Wales as there is a lot of sport very local to where I live but I have never really too advantage of it but plan on trying to get out sport climbing at least once a week this year so should tick off a fair few crags that way as well.

The structured approach is my big problem, as in I have no structure. I turn up climb a load of routes and  go home. I think my biggest weakness is strength though so maybe I should boulder once a week but the bouldering local to me is not as good/close as the sport climbing. So this is the reason behind the sport climb once a week, but jump on something hard so I fall off a few times.

I failed on my write everything down last week and I am now sat here trying to remember what I done. For next week this is my main goal of find a system that works for me to keep track of things.

STG

Push ups at least once a week, minimum 3 sets of 10 - Tick

1 Yoga session - Tick

Eat healthily all week and 1 cheat day on the weekend  - Kind of tick

Write down what I am doing and create some form of log so I can see any trends and weaknesses. - Fail

MTG

e4 - 

Visit more crags around the UK. I spend a lot of time in the wye valley, go to at least 2 new crags in the Gower and 2 in the south west. - 1 of 4 ticked (Portland)

M - Portland, Only had the morning and went to the cuttings. Maybe a bad mistake as it was boiling. Climbed Too Many Cooks Spoil the Broth (6b), Jam (4c), The Mantelist (6b), Chips with Everything (5a), Quality Family Day (4c). All nice climbs and ill defiantly be back in the winter

T - 30 min yoga

W - Gilwern Main, done a few warm up climbs. Then onsighted Battle of the Bulge (6c), tried Article 50 (6c+) bottom was easy, thought I would get the Onsight and then there was one stopper move that I could not work out in the middle, top was easy.

T - Took someone from work for there first outdoor climb. Went up Central Rib Route I (S 4a). Was a really nice evening.

F - Bench press, 3 sets of 10 push ups, Calf raises, Squats.

S - on the beach with the kids

S - Dropped the kids off early afternoon and a quick dash to Symonds yat. Climbed My Noble Son Seth (E2 5b)

Lee

Wow!  Bet you are impressed with the 100 7a probs at Font in a day!

Indeed I am, that's pretty bonkers! Just doing 100 problems of any grade in a day would be good going. I can't imagine how sore they must be after that.

I can't imagine how their skin lasted.  Some of the pictures look really high as well!

Despite having kept notes about my week ready to hit Send last Sunday evening, it's taken me until this morning to find time to read through the last two weeks of Fit Club -- a combination of work and actually getting out climbing!  Thanks as ever for the time + effort you put into detailed responses for everyone.

Week before last:

Absolutely nothing until Sunday 14th -- I did the 10k that I've been training for.  Official time was 50:27, so a little bit disappointing, but still much faster than I'd have imagined I could do it a year ago.  The start was very congested and I wasn't close to puking at the end, so there's room for improvement!

Last week:

Mon -- Have decided to join pull up club, as I've been struggling with stability on more powerful moves indoors.  Managed 8 / 7 / 5 reps at bodyweight with 3 minutes of rest between sets.  Will aim to be able to do 3 sets of 10 reps before I start adding weight.

Tue -- A shortish 7km run with hills.  Legs still very tired from the race.

Wed -- Social climbing indoors up to 6c.

Thu -- To Symonds Yat.  Took my first real fall outdoors, onto a thread of unknown age + quality.  I got stuck moving through the crux of White Hart (2) (HVS 5b) -- I just didn't sort my feet out and ran out of beans.  The gear was to my right and a few feet below me when I fell so it felt like quite a big fall.  Pulled the ropes and tried again, only to slump on the same thread.  But I tried again from there and was pleased to get to the top.  A good learning experience!

Fri -- Pull ups: 10 / 8 / 6 reps.

Sat -- 14km run with hills.

Sun -- Pull ups: 10 / 9 / 8 reps.

Hi Derek, am I the last one – bringing up the rear? Strange couple of days for me this week, and I had a few things to contend with. Don’t know why, but I kept putting off posting.

Good to read all the stuff – particularly impressed that you still find partying the best tonic…

Mon: very light stretching (post-therapy session)
Tue: still feeling a bit ‘delicate’ & exhausted…stretching again, with light upper body exercises
Wed: wall, Thalkirchen, only 6 routes; I was feeling good and would have liked to get on to a couple of 6c/6c+’s…alas partner was very tired – she could only manage five routes; I did six, at least all of them were ones I didn’t know, so good training in that regard: 2 x 6a, 2 x 6b, 1 x 6b+, and to finish top roped the 7a/+ on the same line as the 6b+, or tried to…like bouldering on a rope; did manage all the moves though and put together a couple of decent passages; followed with the 15° spray wall, repeating the longer links from the previous week before playing on more direct stuff…
Thu: upper body exercises, decent intensity, plus a set of core exercises (Hooper’s)
Fri: boulder & autobelay session, Heaven’s Gate, partner cancelled last minute with foot inflammation – stuck to the plan and went nevertheless; bouldering was decent; autobelays not so – again found the setting here really demanding; one of the lines is ever slightly overhanging and away from the main rumble – I tried as hard as I could; ended up self-defining; lost count of the number of ‘ascents’ I did – quite a few I think!
Sat: well knackered from Friday; stretching, upper body, core – went well, brightened me up.
Sun: rest day, riverside walk & sitting in the sun…beautiful…

Brilliant weather here, finally…and looks like tomorrow will be a first day back climbing on rock for just on a year, about 350 days since the last time…hope all are out and about.

Paul

Hope you enjoy tomorrow!  🌞

Thanks for mentioning me.  I'm sneaking in with my shame on Sunday...

1 mile run last week and this week as well.

A fortnight ago, I hadn't really properly recovered from the illness, so I spend most of the week feeling exhausted.  Last week, I decided to push on and finish the flooring so spent the weekend doing the final room.  It's all done now which is nice.  Obviously this has come at a cost, which was doing any training for the ultra, which I have now pulled out of.  Pity, but there's no way I'd even make the first checkpoint at this level of fitness.

However this week has been much better.  So there's that.

Don’t beat yourself up Matt, nothing you can do about illness. Training is never wasted and there will always be another ultra.

Thanks Ian.  Much appreciated.  I have been a bit frustrated, but like you say it's good training and I'm getting back into the groove of that, which is excellent.

Morning Derek,

only saw this when I got back from the 'big day out' - I really appreciated it! Thanks so much...and it was an enjoyable day...