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_872-7661...

Liam P: Knuckle sacrifices have to be made sometimes, it's the price we pay! Hope they're scabbing up nicely for ya. Many STGs done and close on many more, looks like they've been quite well set.

Ian Parnell: Good training and an absolute corker of a Saturday, great work. Also great work navigating lethally frosty topouts, particularly impressive. Shouldn't be an issue for your big spring/summer run! Nice reflections on your day and where you can make improvements as well.

AlanLittle: Sounds like a pretty good week, more climbing, bumping up the cycling a little more, and you always have to love a bit of snow in December. I feel like I say it every week, but keep up the good work!

Randy: Some more good work fitting in training around travel and snow clearing. Sorry to hear the knee is still misbehaving - have you got a clear diagnosis on what the issue is?

AJM: Rehab is positive, great to see you're being diligent with it. Bicep tweak not so good, some really rotten luck there, my condolences. Hopefully it doesn't linger for too long.

biscuit: Great trip report, sounds like a fantastic time away. Hopefully the rest does you good and the psyche comes back. I'm sure it will with another trip just around the corner!

mattrm: Some good elevation this week, distance ain't everything! Fingers crossed for a steady 20k this week.

Tyler: Ace Wednesday, good to see some snow on them there hills. Couple of good Beacon sessions too, any chance you got to try out the new volumes on your wall yet?

Steve Claw: Definitely worth figuring out some habit and routine for the elbows, but this week it sounds like they haven't caused much trouble? Good work on the new routes either way.

Somerset swede basher: Good training and session on Captain Hook. Sounds like a cracking weekend in the mountains as well, plenty of fun had by all.

Ally Smith: Another good week full of board cranking, nice one. Glad to see some antagonists back on the menu!

Derek Furze: Back on the wagon! Great to see you're training again. Hopefully some climbing to follow as well?

Tom Green: A decent work despite lamenting the lack of training - that day at Windgather in particular is a great achievement and probably great fitness training too.

SteveJC94: A good week in terms of training and volume, unfortunate about Submergence. But hey, pushing your limits does involve failure (however frustrating they may be!), so you're doing well getting stuck in and falling off!

Small Step: Great week! Nice work getting loads of routes in at the wall. Thwarted by the cold, but as you say it's clearing up so fingers crossed it won't set you back too far. Keep up the good work.

In reply to Ross Barker:

Thanks for the encouraging words Ross, but my recovery plan is on hold until further notice.

STG: Regain full health and resume normal training
STG: Kilterboard 5C @ 45°
MTG: Summer '24 uk trad trip with my son and/or Rough Bounds Scottish backpacking trip
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:    In the absence of xc skis, went for an evening walk in the snow covered woods.
T:    Feeling significantly better health wise, but still opted to spent the evening catching up on post-sickness work backlog instead of going to the wall.
W:    No-hangs, shoulders, pull-ups
T:     
F:    Wall, Kilterboard. One kilterboard was out of service, the other was occupied by a group projecting at 45° so I worked in with them. Oh dear. I've done the vast majority of my kilterboarding at around 20 to 30°, at 45 I managed a couple of 5B's as the highpoint of my session. Learning Opportunity!
    Rounded the session off with ring supports, l-sits, false grip hangs

S-S:    And ... now I have covid. Either I had it all along, and my test back in October was a false negative, or I've caught it now on top of whatever I had before. I suspect the latter - exciting new & different symptoms!
    Given the weather I've been using public transport rather than bike/car for the past week. Underground trains are basically just giant petri dishes, shoulda worn a mask.
 

In reply to Ross Barker:

Thanks Ross, and thanks for taking the time to do the stats. Wall session tastic this week.

Mon. Depot boulder session. All the red V3-5 circuit (1 fall?), 5x5 pull ups, 3x10 press ups.

Tues. 5km run, flat and fast.

Wed. Foundry routes session. 6b and 6c warm ups then I was a bit lame and sat on the rope on a 6c+ then lead it clean next go. It had been a very confrontational day at work and I basically didn't have any fight left in me. Dropped a toprope down some harder stuff. 7a+ first go then a 7b (closer to 7c+ imho) in 3 sections twice and a few easier bits to warm down. 3x10 press ups.

Thurs. Rest.

Fri. Auto belay 4x 10mins on 10mins off (mostly 6b+ ish). 5x5 pull ups, 3x10 press ups.

Sat. 6km run, urban but hilly.

Sun. Rest (family ice skating).

In reply to Ross Barker:

Seems like ages ago now, it’s rained every since so glad we made the effort!

I don’t think I will for a while as I’ve been gifted a month’s pass for the Beacon so will be making the most of that. It also means my FC entries will be getting even more one dimensional!

M: Woke up battered from yesterday’s session and regretting having agreed to go again today.   Felt fine by evening and managed two 7a+s, my first at the Beacon but pretty straight forward compared to some of the others. 
W: Beacon on my own for most of the afternoon, so in the autos. These felt pretty hard. Had a couple of lead goes on the 7b later but pretty poor

S: Beacon with Fi, felt nervous on lead so just played about. Tried a 7c briefly, managed the moves I think. I won’t be able to do it in a oner before it gets reset but might aim to one hang it. 
That’s 4 sessions in a rolling week so pretty pleased with that as elbow is not too bad…

Beacon goals:

1x 7a

2x 7a+
1x 7b
1x 7b+

1x 7c

Weight is consistently below 11 stone and I’ve not been dieting (or even being careful of what I eat) for about a month. I might diet a bit for the next two weeks in readiness for some proper gluttony over Christmas 

In reply to Tyler:

Impressive indoor goals there Tyler!

In reply to Derek Furze:
I should have been more explicit! I don’t expect to do the 7b+, I only went on it because it was originally graded 7b. Since then I’ve not made any progress and am still to do all the clips. The same applies to the 7c, I expect to improve on that a lot but one hanging it is still ambitious. Each of the others are possible but I doubt I’ll do them all as I don’t have sufficient partners to spend enough time on them all (maybe not a bad thing as I need to spend more time doing specific training on the autos and bouldering wall). 

In reply to Somerset swede basher:

Was this also down climbing the 6b+ or were you lowering off each lap? 

In reply to Ross Barker:

Thanks Ross. I basically took a week off to try to give it some rest, better safe than sorry. I meant to do stuff yesterday but got distracted by packing and prep for this week (I'm currently on a train, away Mon-Wed this week). I need to kick my ass into gear when I get back.

In reply to AJM:

Actually, that's not quite true. I did some stretching, pushups and so on when I was away start of the week. Had a pretty full day Saturday too, lots of walking (touristing).

In reply to Ross Barker:

Hi Folks. Thanks for continuing a strong stats run, Ross.

An ok week. Been flirting with a cold for the latter half of the week, but managed to balance being sensible with doing most of my planned sessions.

Week 49:

M: Strength, prehab. 

T: Alpine start/finish for work.

W: Run and climb. Slightly thwarted by the Eglwyseg crags being either damp or iced, but did a nice running loop with a bit of ok climbing -highlight was the verglassed crack of End Flake (HVD). 15.2km, 403m vert, 6:11/km.

T: Long work day.

F: Unplanned rest as felt a bit lurgied.

S: Strength and prehab.

S: Trail run. 10.8km, 188m vert, 6:54/km. Cut short as felt grotty... probably should have bailed earlier, but it was nice to be out and I just took it very steady.

Week 50:

M: Bouldering.

T: Strength, core, prehab.

W: Run.

T: Poss climbing.

F: Poss climbing.

S: Poss climbing..

S: Poss climbing.

STG (end Dec):

Maintain finger strength -average 2 sessions/week 

Increase core focus -average 2 sessions/week 

3 off big mountain day list (1/3).

Yates' Layaway (Probably not going to happen unless the weather seriously ups its game).

Hidden Dragon (TICK!) or White Wall (Masson, not Millstone!)

100m D6/7 in a session.

Year Goals:

110 days climbing for the year (currently 102).

1000 km running (TICK! -currently 1153km) with 40km vertical (currently 38.5km) for the year.

MTG (end March):

2+ off Scottish VII list.

1+ of Alpine Winter list.

Maintain finger strength -average 2 sessions/week.

Get ski practice in: 5+ sessions Dec-Feb.

In reply to Ross Barker:

Good morning all, some variety from me this week. The injured finger is progressing, albeit slowly, but I think I can speed this up by doing some dedicated rehab in addition to "rehab through careful climbing". Right side is feeling as strong as ever, but I don't think my general body strength is improving through climbing as it's been bottlenecked by the finger. I think some proper off the wall training (as done on Tuesday) should address this.

Last Week:

Avg weight 77.3kg.

M - Ice baths before bed.

T - Indoors, general pottering on easy-to-moderates, followed by assisted one arm work. Right side was a clean (no kipping) OAPU with 7.5kg assist, left was 10kg. Pulley friction caveats apply as always. BM2000 bottom edge 7s hang was completed with only 1.25kg assist on the right (no rotation!), and of course I didn't subject the left to such loads, just 30s standing hangs for rehab. Ice baths before bed.

W - Ice baths before bed.

T - The Dug Out. Just about repeated Douglass (f7B+), the top section felt so droppable, even in the good kneebar. Tried to repeat A Shropshire Mon (f7A+) but couldn't seem to stick to the RH face crimp very well, mildly concerned as I had no trouble earlier this year. Ice baths before bed.

F - Rest.

S - Rest.

S - Unfortunately a lot of wet rock, possibly didn't choose the quickest drying bits but took the pads for a good walk. Ended up at Carreg Hyll-Drem and did a couple problems. The drive had some great chatting about the psychological aspect of pushing one's physical limits, particularly in regard to fear of failure and investing time into non-local projects. What I've learned is that I should go back to have more sessions on these things if I ever want to get them done

Next Week:

M - Rest.

T - Climbing.

W - Rest.

T - Climbing.

F - Rest.

S, S - More climbing!

Goals:

Rehab left middle finger.

Manage session load and build better habits.

Improve ability on tiny edges.

In reply to Ross Barker:

Thanks Ross, tiredness from last week, a bit of a cold, the weather, our government... whatever it was this week, I've felt a bit off all this week

STG (this month) – maintain a grip on daily life, maintain and enjoy climbing and training when possible. 1. Success on some Grit E1/2 nemeses.

MTG (next 2 months)– 1. Give me strength – shoulders and core.

LTG (next 6 months) – 1. Give me strength – fingers, steep stuff and slopers. 2. Get properly to grips with safe Grit E3s. 3. Rheinstor Lower Traverse (f7A)?? 4. Attempt 2 on run climb project. 5. Trip to Sanctuary Wall

Mon – Finger block lifts 20mm edge 10 secs 5kg, 7.5kg, 10kg, 15kg, 20kg, 25kg, 30kg, 35kg L 5secs, R secs, 32.5kg. Lattice heavy rollers wrist flexion lifts 10secs 5kg, 10, 15 x 3. New toy will take a bit to get used to.

Tues –  Weighted pull ups 2 reps, 1 x +10kg, 4 x +11.25kg. Overhead press 5 x 5 at 28kg.

Wed – Nothing

Thurs – Strength training. Finger block lifts 20mm edge 10 secs 5kg, 7.5kg, 10kg, 15kg, 20kg, 25kg, 30kg, 32.5 (L 8 secs, R 9), 32.5 (L 6 secs R 10), 32.5 (L 5 secs, R 10), 32.5 (L 5 secs R 10)

Fri – Depot. Very early start for wall before work aiming to test out calf. Held up pretty well, but found things generally hard work so probably not recovered properly yet. Did 27 of the 29 problem black circuit (V2-V4), tickling the last hold of the other two. Unfortunately one of those had a lunge off a deep heelhook. I missed the lunge but the heel hook held so I turned upside down before landing with a crack on my neck and right shoulder. Managed to carry on climbing but by the evening my rotator cuff felt pretty achy.

Saturday – Nothing

Sunday – 30 x (twisting crunches, alternating single leg bridges, alternating 2 point box) x 3.

Reflection - Supposed to be a recovery week as I felt tired from last week’s run climb challenge. Decided to spread out strength training over a couple of days but perhaps it was too much too early? Calf niggle felt like it was on the mend so went to the wall on Thursday but probably shouldn’t have as nearly came a cropper landing on my shoulder. More niggles to add to the list. All in all, generally feeling knackered.

In reply to Tyler:

Climbing up and down. I've found I've got much fitter at this having done quite a bit recently. No idea if that will actually translate to trad goals but we'll see.

In reply to Ross Barker:

Thanks for the stats Mr Barker.  Predictable board sessions from me. Started feeling a bit grot last night, and sniffles this morning. Hopefully just a cold?

Week 48

M – Nowt.

T – Another limit board session. The holds felt better, but the pads in the garage still felt very damp. 6x 5* “6B+” that ranged from 6B+ to 6C+ in reality. 2x 7A BM + 2x 7A+ BM retro-flashes.  Many goes on “Das Schnitzel Alt”, 7B+ BM. Had a go where a tickled the crux reach, then went backwards. Had a biscuit and almost caught it. 3 goes later, caught it properly and executed the finish without incident. With my sausage fingers this felt 7C/+ for me. Rewarded myself with another biscuit and then tidied up “Leocremaflanders” 7C BM in 3 goes (this went easy when I reverted to the conventional beta, D’oh!) Evening stretches.

W – Evening stretches only.

T – Late board. Still damp ☹ in the garage. More warm-ups than normal to try and get blood moving = 14x 6B+ to 7A flashes, them some project shopping, concentrating on problems/moves avoiding the worst damp holds (rows 15-17 in the roof alcove, especially the less textured yellows). The problems I gave more than a short furtle:

• “Force of Will” 7C+ BM. Very hard match into very tough lurch into the i9 undercut. I worked out the piano play needed for the match, not didn’t find the precision needed for taking the undercut well enough to move off it.
• “Shoulder move” 7C BM. With tape on. 5x goes on the last, crux move. Again, progressively getting closer, but didn’t do it.
• “Static” 7C BM. 3x goes. Best ever go; falling off the double gastons.

F – Supplemental training: 3x10 EZbarbell curls 25kg. Crimpd bar core A. 3x10 OHP 25kg.

S – Hathersage Christmas shopping and a very wet walk around Padley Gorge.

S – Nothing. Touch of lurg from mid-afternoon.

In reply to Ross Barker:

Morning all, I'm going to jump in on the fit club if that's ok. I need a bit of a kick up the arse to record what I'm doing and hopefully track any progress. 

M - Starting to feel better after Nights and back end of tonisilitis.

T - Work meeting in day.

W - Called at LPT in the morning for some fresh air and clipsticked up Walking Mussel just to get a feel for the holds and build some psyche for a Spring proj. Looks great. lots of good stepping stone links and routes that would fit well. Megalopa looks great too... Then headed to the Boardroom. First session on the Mezz for Round 3 of winter bouldering Rockwork Orange League. Good problems with good mix of power, tech and trickery. Managed all of the set apart from 5 before skin gave way. Felt close on some of the tricky ones but need some refinement to get them done.

T - Some TRX in garage at home and hip flexor stretching. Felt really moist, going to order a dehumidifier in an attempt to try and get Moonboard holds dry and hopefully get back into using it more regularly.

F - Boardroom bouldering. A good sesh. Felt slow warming up but got to work on some remaining problems from Rnd 3 and of the 5 remaining V7-8 ish probs managed 4 of them, and made good links on the last problem which should go with better skin. Also went downstairs and did some moves of remaining Rnd 2 problems which I haven't done so should be able to get 1 of those done.

S - Work

S - Work

Short term goals:

Get back into regular Moonboarding and Fingerboarding at home. Ally has acted as good inspiration of what consistent home training achieves and has made me feel guilty for not using my Moonboard enough. Also need to try to do more on my breaks at lunch, stretching or running or antags and have asked Santa for portble fingerboard so could do some of that at work too.

Boardroom rockwork Orange winter bouldering league

Sub Moron RH finish at the Dugout. Got close to repeating the crux move round the lip about a month ago and need to get back a bit more.

Not pushing for any outdoor bouldering otherwise, certainly no projects but if good weather days/partners and groups sessions align will get involved. Only things I'm loosley interetsed in are Bytilith Wall, Nazgul's, and maybe Crafnant stuff but gets a bit dank up there through the winter.

Mid term goals:

Go back to St Leger, love that place! Maybe Spring.

Unchi Maka on the Sialouze. Looks amazing. Hopefully in the summer. 

Build up more trad mileage again which has never really recovered since pre Covid times. Maybe go to Pabbay next Spring/summer.

Long term goals: 8c. Have spent last few years wanting to project stuff at Malham but partners havent aligned and the 6-7hrs of driving don't make it the easiest, so going to give LPT another go for some prokects this year. Perhaps less my style being very crimpy, but I can work on this, and being 1.45hrs away makes it a bit easier logistically which fits around family life much better.

Ed

In reply to Ross Barker:

Weight - 14st 5lbs

STG - 30k a week by end of Dec

MTG - flat 10k 1 hour

LTG - 30 mile ultra (July 24) and 86 mile (Sept 24)

M - Rest

T - 4k run

W - 4k run

T - S - Rest

Weekly kms - 8k

Had a bit of a cold towards the end of the week.  After Wednesday's run my shin felt a bit twingey.  So basically decided to sack any more running off till I feel a bit better.  Obviously not a great week, but at least I got something done.  Hope to do 20k or so next week.  Not sure 30k is going to be doable really.  Need to have a solid few weeks of no cold for that to happen.

In reply to Ross Barker:

Generally a better week of building back up.  Got to be disciplined this week as away with work Wednesday to Friday, which means scheduling a session for Saturday, not normally a good idea!

Sun - an untypical Saturday night meant I had a bit more energy on Sunday and put in a session.  Five sets of max hangs on F3 tips at plus 10.1 kg; five sets BW pull-ups (7 per set); five X10 push ups, stretches and shoulder rehab.

Mon - icy run skating along the towpath - 4km

Tues - work

Wed - repeat of Sunday session with reverse curls also.  Another icy 4 km

Thurs - work

Fri - went out planning a steady 7 km, but strained calf at 2.5 km, spoiling my attempt to hit 15 km.  Very sore all day, but has eased off significantly.  No issues on dance floor Saturday.  Decided to skip running this week, though it already feels possible.  Back on it next week, when hopefully recovered completely.

Intended to climb today, but weather and work off-putting.  Happy to work on a platform for a New Year cycle, motivated in part by the Christmas period chance to reset goals.  Already planning some walking Wainwright's with my step son and have made sure my work pattern allows me two-day options midweek for the mountains.

In reply to Ross Barker:

You got me there, I read through expecting to see some diffs in the rain or something not more Dugout and fingerboard action!!

In reply to Ed Booth:

Was LPT dry, how early in the year can you realistically get on LPT and does it depend on it getting sun in the morning?

In reply to Tyler: Seepage all over the place and was freezing . Nice winter sun though. I think Spring realistically time to start getting down there. 

In reply to Ed Booth:

Thanks Ed. I got excited when I saw your post but sounds like I have a few more Beacon sessions before I get on anything there!

In reply to Ed Booth:

Welcome onboard Ed, you will have dragged our collective grade up a notch, so I'm hoping we can all fee the improvement over these next few weeks

In reply to Ed Booth:

Hi Ed,

Welcome! I think we possibly might have met a very long time ago?  Did you used to climb at Nesscliffe quite a bit around 2006-7ish?  I can remember chatting to someone bouldering at the Berlin Wall area and I'm sure they said they were called Ed.  There can't be that many Eds in the Shropshire area who climb at a high level!

Dom

In reply to Ross Barker:

Cheers Ross. Big midweek garage sessions never really materialised. Work, child wrangling, bad weather and visitng parents took up most of my week. Managed a couple of short training sessions to keep things ticking over. This weekend looks to be dry(ish) and knuckles have scabbed up quite nicely!

Mon

Garage Session

• Pinch Block Lifts: Warmup 10/15/17kg. Working Sets 5x 10s @18.5kg RPE(9)
• Weighted Pull-ups. 4/3/2 @ 27.5/35/43.5kg then 2x fails at 50kg (few inches short). Disappointing as I thought it was gonna go but upped numbers on lighter weights so will try 4 sets at a lower weight next time.
• Assisted Standing Ab Wheel 3x 6

Tue

Garage Session

• 20mm Block Lift: warm ups then 1x 50kg, 53.5kg, and failed on 55kg RPE(10). Will try 4 sets at 43.5kg next time.
• RTO Dips 45deg lean. 3x 3 RPE(9)

STG (end Dec):

• 2 sessions per week.
• Benchmarks: Fingers- 20mm Block Lift 1RM @60kg (53.5kg), Block Pinch Lift @ 20kg (18.5kg). Core- Unassisted Standing Ab Wheel (75%), Ring Wipers with Ankle Weight  (Tick). Pull- Weighted Pullup 1RM @50kg (47kg), OA Lock Off @90%BW (95%BW). Push- RTO Dip with 75deg lean (45deg).

MTG (April):

• 3 off my Brizzle boulder List (1/3)
• 3 off my Cheddar List.

LTG (next 6 months):

• 1 off my Headpoint List.

In reply to Liam P:

Good effort with weighted pull ups, even if you didn't quite get the goal this time.  Two at 43.5 kg is impressive!

In reply to Ross Barker:

Thank you Ross,

Unfortunately, this time of year has so much going on, its hard to get a routine.

Tried to get 3 sessions in this week, but had to settle for 2.  Kept the sessions short, to keep the training concise and not over do the elbows.  Used the shoes with holes in the front to add a little to the footwork

Mon - Indoor bouldering 1.5hrs V5-V6 range

Wed - Indoor Bouldering 1.5hrs V5-V7 range

I think the grades are a bit soft at the moment, as its rare I can get a number of V6+V7 sends in a session.  As always, I'm much better on the less steep/balance problems, and really struggle to do any of the steep ones, which upset the elbows.
 

In reply to Ross Barker:

Thanks Ross. I was beginning to worry it wouldn't but I found my mojo again at the end of the week.

Life got a bit stressful for a couple of reasons but mainly because Lancaster Wall has had to close due to a fire/unsafe building nearby. It could be some weeks for it to open again and half my income comes from there!

Sorted out now thankfully but that and a bit of a weird cold that's just been tiring me out meant it hasn't been a great week.

M - Nothing - no wall to climb at

T - Kendal wall - board session - hard! Good fun but it highlighted how weak I am.

W - Boulder UK - 30 mins on varied circuits - build pump up and then lose it.

T - 30 mins on with no pump

F - Preston Wall - short (but very good) routes. Found some try hard but failed on a 7a+ and a 7a.  

S - Rest

S - Kendal Wall - routes. Good session. 6c+, 7a, 7b, Fell off last move of a 7b+ (not an onsight I had one go on it about 3 months ago), surprised myself by getting the 7b+ I've tried maybe 5 times. This has been ground up. Not been on it for about a month. Messed up the first 3rd, wasn't getting anything back at the second rest (until I remembered it was actually a move further on) and surprised myself by topping it. 

That felt like I was back on form.

More of the same this next week. Squeeze in what I can during the week and hard routes at the weekend.

In reply to Ian Parnell:

Cheers Ian. Long time no see. Great to see you are still keen and cranking.

In reply to Somerset swede basher:

Most likely, it was my secondary residence for a long time! Used to come across to redpoint in Brum also and did you maybe know my brother Ad through the wall there?

In reply to Ed Booth:

I helped with a little bit of the building before it opened (just basic stuff like painting and Tnutting boards) then worked at the Rock On shop for about a year and did the odd bit of route setting at the wall. I don't remember Ad so maybe he was there after I left?

In reply to Derek Furze:

Reading Liam's weighted pull ups made me realise that I hadn't been putting them into my 'getting back to baseline' sessions.  Managed a session today in amongst a lot of work, that included some weighted pull ups!  Trivial weights (up to 12.3kg), but gotta start somewhere!

In reply to Derek Furze:

Good effort Derek. They seem to benefit from a few sessions a week. Which is easier said than done!

In reply to Liam P:

Yes - prior to my recent break I used to do them every session.  Sometimes single or two rep max, but other times sets of five at a lighter weight.  Quite good to do them in between sets of bodyweight as well.

Yes - a 'few' sessions a week is a nice aim!

In reply to Derek Furze:

Plus 20kg by Christmas.  There, I've said it. 🙂🏋️‍♀️

In reply to Derek Furze:

Crikey!  Only two weeks to go!  Should have thought a bit about the dates!

In reply to Derek Furze:

What were you up to before?

In reply to Derek Furze:

Is that the organic weight vest target following Christmas dinner!? 😉

In reply to Somerset swede basher:

Haha!  Excellent!  However, I aim to finish the festivities at no more than plus one kilo!

In reply to Tyler:

I had to go and check my spreadsheet.  Back in April -June I was doing 2RMs at plus 23 kg and doing sets of five at 16 kg.  I haven't ever done loads of these, but Liam has reminded me that I probably should.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Interesting post from Dave Macleod on IG this morning about maintaining life-long strength training; get on those weighted pull-ups but critically, don't get injured!

In reply to Ed Booth:

Morning Ed - welcome

It'd be great if you could share your experience of using a dehumidifier; my garage Moonboard can be pretty smeggy in the winter and i'm sure others would benefit from a similar set-up for their homeboards

In reply to Ally Smith:

...or even better if the principles could be applied to Llanddulas Cave (or any other smeggy location of your choice) 🙂

In reply to Derek Furze:

Short on time as packing up for three days on the road, but decided following prompts from Liam and Ally that I should fit in a short session of weighted pull ups.  5BW to arm up, the 3x9; 3x11.3; 3x13.6 and 3x14.7.  A bit sore from yesterday, but ok.

In reply to Ally Smith:

Ally - I read the Dave MacLeod IG post on strength gains across two elderly groups.  What on earth made you think of me? 😂

In reply to Ross Barker:

Cheers Ross, still good to be getting out if nothing else!

M - Zone 2 base run. 6.5km - 5:10/km

T - 2hr board projecting session (7A+, 7A+, 7B)

W - Zwift 5 x 7 minute Sweet Spot intervals

T - Rest

F - 2 hour board session, focusing on volume

S - Zone 2 base run. 8km - 5:12/km

S - Open bouldering session on the V5-7 set. S&C - Push-ups 10x4. Shoulder press 8x4. Bench press 5x5

In reply to Steve Claw:

Steve and other Southwest fit clubbers have any of you climbed at Sally in the Woods? I’m visiting my folks in Swindon this weekend and in order to keep sane I’m hoping to pop in for a couple of hours on the way home on Sunday. Forecast looks to be dry Friday to Sunday. Anyone hazard a guess if it will be dry? Is it worth a trip for low grade 6 bouldering? Burton Combe could be an alternative? Any info appreciated 

In reply to Ross Barker:

Not really, of course i did not bother going to a doctor to get a diagnosis . My current assumption is that i overstrechted something, but that it should not be too part. Probably i have almost healed it during my India trip but then aggrevated it again when i came back and started climbing again.

Recap last week:

Mon: L-Sit 2x15s, Handstands, Bodyweight squat, Lunges, 40 Pushups, 45s V-Situps

Tues: Climbing Boulderwelt, did about 20 Traverses in the 5b to 6b range. Still not 100% pain free, but only had slight pain when i did a wrong move

Wed: L-Sit 2x15s, Handstands, 2x8 Pike Pushups, Bodyweight squat, Lunges, 40 Pushups, 45s V-Situps

Thur: One-Arm Pullups with a light assistance band: r: 3x3; l: 4,4,3; Fingerboard Repeaters, 75% BW, 6x12x7,3 with 2 min rest, felt a little bit fitter than during the last sessions in India

Fri: Rest

Sat:; Climbing Boulderwelt, 30 Traverses in the 5a to 5c range, which very short rest, whole session lasted less than 50 minutes, knee felt better but still not fine

Sun: L-Sit 2x15s, Handstands, 2x8 Pike Pushups, Bodyweight squat, Lunges, 40 Pushups, 45s V-Situps

In reply to Liam P:

Liam I’ve just found Knuckleduster - I’m presuming it’s the Frome Valley one? So that Hambrook, Bromley Heath area could be another option. How dry would it be do you think after 3 dry days?

In reply to Randy:

Very impressive one-arm pull ups Randy.  A light assistance band can't be taking much off, though it will help with form.  Good stuff

In reply to Ian Parnell:

Ah cool! That’s the one? I’m presuming it was wet? I was thinking of having a look on Friday afternoon but I’m 50/50 whether it will be dry or not now - 3-days is cutting it a bit fine with it being wooded.

Sally in the woods is similar. The one time I’ve been there, it was still wet after a few days.

Bourton Combe dries quickly as its steep limestone. Went once on a wet recce and it was bone dry. Lots of Martin Crocker routes and James Squire problems so bound to be hard!

I’ll have a pootle over to Hambrook tomorrow and let you know the state of play.

Keen to join on Sunday if it’s around 1400? Could see if Steve’s available and have a FitClub Mini-Meet.

In reply to Liam P:

Sounds like a plan I’d aim to get to Hambrook at lunchtime and climb till dark ideally visiting a few of the different buttresses. I will be concentrating on the 6As but am a big fat spotter for your harder things

In reply to Ian Parnell:

That’s handy because I’m a big fat lump who falls off a lot! I’ll put a text on the group tomorrow and come up with a plan.

In reply to Derek Furze:

I would guess the one that i am using takes off about 15% of my BW. So it is a decent result but also not that impressive imo.