UKC

UKC Fit Club Week 946

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 post:

https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/walls+training/ukc_fit_club_week_945-7807...

Exile:  Great that you have got your weight down into the pre-Christmas range fairly quickly following making a more deliberate effort.  The odd blip is inevitable with any kind of social life.  Given that you’ve got down to nearly 77kg this week, the target of 75kg looks quite likely.  Good work.

Also impressed by the ‘back on it’ approach to training this week, possibly helped by getting back into the work routine as well.  Quite right to record ‘a good training day’ and nice that you don’t feel that you have lost much – nor should you over a couple of week.  Started the week well with the Kendal wall routes and plenty of weights stuff.  Excellent session on Wednesday as well with the power endurance work at your previous level.  Great to see the 10mm edge crimps going to ten seconds as well.

Some decent sessions outdoors as well.  Attermire is a lovely spot and haven’t been this year, so perhaps should get over there soon.  I’ve still got a few to do  on Gorgon Buttress and elsewhere – stars are generous, but a good place to get a lot done.  Road to Malice going along well and the ‘at least’ E2 or 6c plan is a solid platform to keep delivering.  Great stuff.

Somerset swede basher:  Excellent to see someone else following my ‘mix a lot of concrete by hand’ training plan.  I certainly had sore shoulders last time I did a similar thing!  I thought I had made it clear that it was a bad idea?!

The Chew Valley expedition sounds interesting on both fronts.  Some good bouldering with the new problem being completed, along with everything else there and the run / scramble element to tick off the last of the summer lines in ‘Scrambles’.  Some proper ticking activity going on there!  I don’t understand what ‘I got the Strava segment’ means?  Does it mean you hold the record for that section which is I think what the rest of your comments imply?  If so, well done!

Hollin Hill session looked productive as well, although the pictures provided on WhatsApp make the place look pretty unattractive as a destination!  That said, nice and steep so probably very good training.  Not sure I’ll be making the pilgrimage across there though as it looks to be a ‘local interest’ sort of place and the conditions have been a bit hard to predict from your comments.

Mattrm:  Glad that someone liked my tongue-in-cheek rant.  Nothing wrong with ‘random other hobbies’ Matt, as long as they don’t interfere with climbing.  Sadly, golf has a remarkable ability to consume a massive amount of time and has an equally alarming capacity to develop obsessive traits.  Luckily, I have managed to kick the habit completely as I don’t have room in my life for two pursuits that consume a lot of time, and let’s face it – climbing isn’t quite so frustrating.  Oddly enough, both my daughters played to national standard in their teens, but they have also both stopped playing now – quite hard to fit alongside a normal life / career I think.

A week characterised by a lot of steps!  I’m not convinced, despite your persuasive points, that ‘walking and queueing’ should be entered onto the master training spreadsheet – we will have people reporting visits to the Trafford Centre next.  However, I suppose it should help with the demands of the ultra – I guess we will find out soon!  Hopefully, things will cool down slightly or I’d expect the whole thing to be really unpleasant.

Very pleased to see that you planned to get out climbing again – a habit is definitely forming.

Mrchewy:  Great to hear that the boat move hassle was worth it and that you have both settled to your new base well.  Weedon is a nice spot and has quite a bit going on for a village.  I stayed at a hotel there with work once.

Legs sound problematical and hope that the hammering you are giving them isn’t adding to the problem.  Anyway, good to see you back in a climbing groove and three sessions across the week is going some.  The autobelay session with 15 routes is fairly intense and following that up with Pilates and then another indoor session the following day – again with plenty of mileage – is definitely going to give most people some tiredness!  Friday session looked good if those things ‘felt pretty easy’ – great progress from last year and as you note, as good as you’ve ever been indoors.

The leg issue aside, it does look like a really strong week, with loads of stuff in addition to the wall visits and some settling into your new surroundings.  I hope you get some diagnosis soon and perhaps the shift in diet will help.  I can’t keep up with your dietary shifts – it was carnivore not so long ago and now it is broccoli, which looks like the other end of a strange spectrum!  Anyway, both of these are probably better than fast food and beer as staples!

AlanLittle:  Yes – definitely the right thing to do with shingles.  It is pretty horrible if you just get a ‘normal’ dose of it, and has absolutely impacted my Dad’s quality of life for the last eight years.

Good to see that ‘bimbling’ is having such an extraordinary effect on your base fitness and is enabling suitably quick ascents of your standard benchmarks.  I shall reconsider entry onto the master spreadsheet, if only mythically.  Nice thing to do on an Easter Monday though.  It does look like the effort expended did have an effect the following day though, so possibly need to up the bimbling game?  In fact, looking at the week, there was quite a bit of cycling involved, so the time in the saddle does mount up.

Good bouldering session on Moon Girl – great to have something hard to work at on at least one of your weekly visits.  I think it is quite an interesting goal and something I could get into myself next winter with a bit more time to play with as work reduces.  Glad that it is slowly coming together – the whole MB thing must be starting to feel a bit more normal by now.  Good session on the autobelays to end the week as well – a good session with a fair amount of mileage.

Si dH:  Great to see that you have reached your plus 20kg max hangs target with the two sessions across the week demonstrating the potential and then the progress.  Good work getting back there and hopefully some of the gain will be from weight reduction as well.  Pull ups going consistently as well, so building a base for your stated goals to get back to weighted pull ups at some point as a way of demonstrating that your elbow is properly fixed.

In amongst this a very good home board session which must be encouraging and a reasonable short session at the Rock Club as well. 

The trip to Gorlan looked decent as well.  I haven’t been to Sheep Pen, but it looks a lovely spot.  Good work with Dog Shooter and the video of your effort on Kingdom of Rain looked really strong as well, though I can see that the top move might have been a bit of a surprise. 
Great that diet is standing up to the rigours of a working week and training as well.  All looking really good.

Ian Parnell:  Being busy keeps me out of trouble anyway!

Interesting to see you back to Deep Rake so soon – it obviously did make quite an impression on you after all!  It sounds like the other routes there might be quite a bit harder at their respective grades however, though got to recognise that achey shoulders were a factor later in the week.  You do seem to be getting some good value out of Roche Abbey as well.  I went there once in the eighties, just after it was first developed when I think it was mainly routes.  It seems that it is mainly a bouldering venue nowadays and quite a lot there and with loads of stars.

Good work getting back again to Deep Rake and working things some more.  Rakes Progress has got a hard start, so slipping is understandable.  It used to have a block I think that made it easier and some people suggest 7a+ now?

Hope the parent stress is manageable now that the travel component is lessened?  We visited a friend this week who’s husband has dementia and it was shocking to see how hard her life has become.  We have returned with a new commitment to sorting out our own POA, wills and general older life wishes as a result.  No time like the present.

Tyler:  Sounds like a positive week with ‘activity’, inspired by your disappointing post-Easter weigh in.  Fluctuations are inevitable with the regular holiday binges that come along, so I’m sure you are back on a downward trend again.

The pictures posted of the Adar traverse look really scenic and it is a nice area generally.  It’s a bit further along than the Tonnau parking isn’t it and quite close to the parking, so fairly easy to access for a training traverse.  IIRC the bottom of Adar is a steep band, so should be good for a pumpy traverse.

Good work getting to Gogarth and on the three route combo.  It is the friendlier bit of Gogarth, but I always things True Moments is quite intense, perhaps a bit out of character for Castell Helen!  Great route though and good to feel ‘at ease’.  Now for your main cliff targets.  Also great to see you back to Forwyn and completing Sangfroid Direct, which looks distinctly uphill.  I hadn’t noted the upgrade, but then everything at Forwyn is top of the grade traditionally!

In reply to Derek Furze:

ExBristolian:  ‘Shorter gaps in child wrangling’ sounds like the wrong trend somehow!  Anyway, in whichever direction child wrangling is travelling, that is a pretty decent week to put together.

I guess the Dugout was a convenient choice as I think you were over at in-laws undertaking tree-surgery (rather than it being a destination of choice for fine weather and holiday time)?  It seemed a productive session anyway, though I was quite surprised to see that you had anything left there as I remember you did a lot there a few years back, including new links ups.  This was presumably the heel hook that prompted all the shoe analysis?  I’m of the school that has two pairs – lace up and Velcro – as options and finds the choice available these days bewildering, but I’m at the point where I need some new ones so a visit to a well-stocked shop is incoming.

Lots of miles on the bike across the week and with the KOM being achieved (?) on the Sunday ride.  Is this another Strava-type thing that I don’t quite grasp?  If so, I expect msjhes2 will be across to test himself against the new target.  Board session looked pretty strong with the BM flash and there were a few weights shifted across the week as well.  Importantly, both BBQ club and gardening club got attention this week!

Ross Barker:  Loved the initial contradiction in the post – ‘my plan is twice a week’ followed immediately by ‘couldn’t be arsed with the weight and pulley faff’!  I guess we all fall short off our plans, but brilliant to see it so starkly stated!

Despite not sticking with the OAPU plan, it looked like you had some fun with hard moves on the board and with no mention of niggles.  Good progression on the crimp hangs if 10mm 5x5s feel ‘steady’, so showing some pretty quick progress from the recent attention on these.  The F3 on 13mm is also good progress if these are also steady as I think you’ve only just migrated to these holds. 

The ‘mate’s house’ session seemed entertaining as well with lots of different things being tried out – a change is as good as a rest.  Another reminder for me to mount my small edges somewhere as I have had them knocking about for ages.

Unusual to see a week where you don’t get out on rock, but losing the weekend to London is just one of those things that has to be done.  The good thing is that the fine weather continues…

Tom Green:  Great to see the very practical adjustments to your training plan.  It looks like a very sensible move to include the hard bouldering as a way of keeping your top end strength going, even if you aren’t likely to call on it very often while on your trad journey.  Great that having put together the basic structure last year, you’ve kept everything going along really well and have now made the switch to aerocap at a good time for the rest of the season.  Keep the climbing going at the rate you are doing and your stamina will build naturally as well.

Nice to see the run on there, presumably while away with work as you also managed a sea swim?  Also noted that you are over halfway on your E points target and it is still only the end of April!  I can see this being absolutely smashed long before November, so really good progress with that goal.  Ticking off the E2s and 3s with fair regularity as well, so a very decent platform for a great year.

Biscuit:  Great to see that you had a really decent week that looked much better balanced and in tune with your aims.  Apologies as well – I did reflect that I’d been giving you a hard time really in reminding you of your stated aims rather too insistently!  It was all well-intentioned of course, but overdone!

Excellent bouldering on Giant Jenga.  It looks like a fairly intense sequence to get moving and then quite a transition to the left-hand side to make.  Interesting that after quite a few moves, you end up still quite close to the ground having made it as far as the arete!  Great to see you up at Kern Knotts as well – for some reason I have never been up there despite being a Lakeland climber for years.  It remains on my list of must visit at some point crags.

Gigg Quarry is getting some hammer at the moment.  I’m assuming access has opened up somewhat as all the information I saw was indicating that the landowners were anti-climbing.  Anyway, it looks like you enjoyed yourself there and had a really good day on sport.  It seems to have fired some attention across the group as well.  Thanks for providing the working document topo.

Randy:  Glad that you managed to get some decent rest after the business trip.  It sounds like you will need it if only to prepare for the next one! 

A fairly low-key training week with just the Friday session experimenting with block lifts and your finger issues.  Encouraging that not too many symptoms arose from the maximum effort stimulation.  It always surprises me when I don’t do pullups for a while how hard they can feel when I start back, so your 3x10 isn’t so bad even if you ‘felt quite weak’.

Great that you have managed to get back on Slimline for a bit more learning.  Some positive outcomes if you are convinced of the way forward with your revised beta, yet interesting that you still have more to learn about the sequence to be able to progress after the crux move.  Hopefully, you manage to get a couple more sessions in before the heat makes it impractical to continue until Autumn.

The plan for the year looks good and with a clear training pathway back to your Autumn project, especially getting your finger issue rehabbed completely. 

AJM:  Interesting points on travel.  Even though flying itself is quick, the whole airport / car hire and transit experience means that it can feel like the day has gone anyway.  In some respects, the slower pace of trains or even driving is somehow less stressful.

A quiet week on return is perfectly acceptable and good to see that you are at least thinking of trying to grab the odd evening.  Good also to get a physio’s perspective on your shoulder as it looks like it is having a real impact.  Hopefully, you’ll get some exercises to help sort things out, though shoulders seem to be quite a complex joint to diagnose.  I did hear a joint specialist on the radio and a large part of his message was that most pain is tendon-related and most of that occurs because the muscle structures aren’t strong enough relative to the load they are working upon.  We do put our shoulder through it at times – particularly on steep boards – so I could see the point.

BTphonehome:  Appreciation always welcome, but as I’ve said before, it all helps keep me on track.  ITB seems to have stopped being sensitive, but then I haven’t been running again.  However, I have been for the usual extended dance sessions again!

A pretty quiet training week by your usual standards though their was enough there to suggest that it wasn’t a deload week.  Considering the birthday lunch thing on Friday, that was quite a training effort on the same day – not sure I would have coped with similar, especially as you had to go out to get the weights bit done.  Impressive.

Interesting that Wednesday Corner remains pretty grubby.  It looked dramatically cleaner than previously, but if the inside of the crack is still covered in moss and whatever, it will get grubby again pretty quickly.  Traffic is the only solution and not sure Egerton has ever been that popular, though Wood Buttress is a great bit of rock.  Great also to see you got to Tintwistle, which has been on my ‘to do’ list for about fifty years _ a bit silly given that I live fairly close to it now – certainly an evening crag distance.  Anyway, judging from these posts and the WhatsApp photos, you are getting out plenty so hope that things continue to build up well.

The sheep:  Plenty of us getting lost in parental duties of one form or another, so no worries about your missed week.  I can remember the relief when my kids got through their driving tests – suddenly so much time comes back, though it comes with other pressures I guess.

The gym coming back in a bit this week, though not at your seven sessions a week level.  In fact a fairly balanced week, with a good mix of gym, swim and run despite the disruptions caused by the alarms going off at work.  Run distance pretty impressive at over ten miles and with some hills included – excellent getting that kind of ground covered and good preparation for stuff to come, assuming it is still on the plan?  (I think you changed from the MK marathon to a local ultra type thing, but I may have misremembered?).

Nice to seed the midweek celebrations as well.  It makes me more relaxed about including some of my own!

Msjhes2:  Not a bad week when you factor in the work trip to London, especially with the early start to mess up your week!

Impressed to see that you are getting out on the rocks regularly now, though I would have expected grit to be seriously hot even after work!  The weather has been fantastic, but my own recent grit experience was something like an oven and definitely felt like the wrong choice on the day.  Have the midges made their presence felt yet?

The cycling must also be a grind in these temperatures, so doubly impressive that you put in two big rides – Saturday in particular – and then spent the afternoon on something that has parallels with your fire escape training madness from last year!  What is particularly astonishing is that you followed that up with ‘a long day of driving’ and still found the energy to enter a fell race.  Not sure the preceding few days would be considered ideal race prep, but good effort in any case!

I hope I've got everyone covered.  Small Step still away?

In reply to Derek Furze: Thank you Derek for all your time and effort with the stats. I've also really enjoyed seeing all the photos on the whats app of everyone's various adventures in this sunshine. The travel side of parent wrangling is definitely better but taking my Dad to see Mum at the care home everyday adds another 2hours + onto my work day. As a result energy for any training has been nonexistent. Instead when ever I've had a few hours spare I've grabbed climbing opportunities when I could. This is part of the reason Deep Rake is featuring so highly as it's only 20min drive from home and 10 min walk. Believe me I'd rather be at Malham! My sister is down from mid next week so I'm going to hopefully use that opportunity to have some full days out to more exotic spots. 

MTG - (1-4 months) – Brachiation Dance (7b+)

LTG – 15 grade 7 sport routes (10/15) with 6 at 7a+ or above (2/6)

Mon – Impossible Roof, Roche Abbey. Warmed up on the individual moves of Impossible Roof Arete (f6B+) which all felt easy. But even though it’s a very short problem linking them all together took a frustratingly long time, and I ended up having to totally rethink the crux to get it done. Managed 10 minutes on Dragon Fly (f6C) which looks very impressive at the grade and includes a full on jump off 2 small (for me crimps).

Tuesday – Masson Lees. Quick session. Warmed up on one of the 6as, then bolt to bolted/stick slipped up Nice One Masson (7a+), before a top rope. Figured out all the moves. Not a hard 7a+, but interesting style for the Peak with long moves on pretty good holds, with the difficulties largely in 4-5m section in the middle with no rest and a strenuous clip. Looking forward to a return match.

Wednesday – Nothing.

Thursday – After work visit to Impossible Roof, Roche Abbey. Dragon Fly (f6C) is 8 hand moves. Last session I couldn’t do the first 3 moves or the last two. This time I sorted out the finish pretty quickly, although whilst jumping off slightly bent my ankle despite landing on the mats due to the big rocks underneath. The first two moves initially seemed super awkward and ‘grubby’ but eventually I learnt the right body position to use the starting 3mm undercuts. The third move a big jump from crimps (a move I previously would have been too intimidated to try) proved frustrating as despite catching it several times I really struggled to avoid dabbing my feet on the blocks surrounding the landing. On my best effort I fell off the penultimate move, although with a mini dab on the jump. Bouncing off the mats I landed on some more of the blocks about the base hurting my hip. A strong signal to end the session.  

Fri – Saturday – Nothing.

Sunday – Deep Rake. After warm up route, a quick bolt to bolt reminder of the moves and then successful redpoint of Pit Viper (7a+). Lots of growls and grunts required but pleasing as probably hardest route so far this year.

Reflection - Really enjoying my climbing at the moment. Whilst I’m not climbing more than a tiny notch harder than previous years I feel like I’m able to access my try hard pretty well, and am learning to redpoint reasonably efficiently. It’s getting time to step things up, and try some 7bs, a grade I haven’t climbed for 26 years.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks once again for your time put into the stats and analysis. Despite your encouragement weight has gone up a bit this week...

Training / aims:

Spring 2025 

Return to pre Xmas daily 78.something kg ✓

Possibly aim for 75kg

Keep to training programme and climbing through what will be a full on work year.

Spring / Summer 2025 climbing aims:

Winter climb when available ✓

Redpoint 7b (Straight Tach, Millside Scar)

Headpoint E6 6b (Exequy, Red Wall, Trowbarrow)

Onsighting harder mountain E2s (eg Equus ✓ Astra ✓ Tumbleweed Connection, Fast Burn)

*Maybe E3s (Cruel Sister, Paladin, Air on a Bow String) & E4s that suit me (One Step Beyond, Malice in Wonderland)

*Maybe Needle and Citadel (Shelterstone) in a day as Comici prep?

*Big Alpine rock route – 12 to 24hr cardio & climbing effort – Cassin / Comici? 

*Aspirational goals

Longer term climbing aims: 

Regularly have adventures in great places with good friends & family ✓

Continue Alpine route progression to complete more big classic alpine rock routes.

Continue British winter climbing ✓

Continue climbing Hard Rock type routes outside the Lakes.

Keep Head/Red Point grade in 7s ✓ and E5s

Onsight up to at least E2 & V (winter) each year. ✓

Improve while not getting injured 

M - 28.4.25 - 

W - 78.2kg

am - 40min back & antag exercises

T - 29.4.25 - 

W - 78.2kg

am - 10min back & knee exercises

am - FB. 4x10sec FC on 10mm edge. 9. 8. 8. 8. Felt warm / moist so I'll live with that. Do again. 

pm - Climbing Scout Scar. Led Born Again (6a+**) 2x dogged TR on Meet the Wife (7b+**) TR Telegraph Road (7a**). Hot at the crag. 

T - 30.4.25 - 

W - 78.6kg

am - 40min back & antag' exercises

Climbing @ Shepherd's. Seconded True North (E2 5b***) Led Conclusion (E1 5b**) A very sweaty evening. 

T - 1.5.25 - 

W - 77.9kg

am - 40min back & antag' exercises

pm - 30min weights A -

Internal shoulder rotations - 12.5kgx5=

External shoulder rotations - 12.5kgx5 =

A. Power pull ups. - +0kg 5/5/5 =

A. Bench press with bars 3x3+48/58/60kg 2x70kg PB

B. Deep weighted stepups 3x3+40/40/40kg = Go up next time

B. Goblet squats 3x3+30/30/30kg =

3x3 Leg raises on bar =

Worthwhile session.

F - 2.5.25 -

W - ?kg

am - 40min back & antag' exercises

S - 3.5.25 - 

W - ?

Climbing at Giggleswick Quarry. Led. Crossfire (6a/+*) Bobs Leaky Boots (6a+**) Finnegan's Wake (6b**) Earwicker (6a+**) and second go RP Plurabelle (6c+**) 

S - 4.5.25 -

W - 78.6kg

10min back exercises 

Climbing @ Steel Knott. Led Lurching Leach (HVS**) Seconded Ambling Ant (VS**) Led Loss Adjuster (E2 5c**) Seconded Lost Boys (HVS***) 

Thoughts -

Meet the Wife (7b+) - Tuesday evening was hot, so when I was on the route I put the lack of progress (can do / hold most moves but very few links) down to that. But at the end of the session, tired, I TRed Telegraph Road (a punchy 7a I've done a few times) clean. This has led me to believe MtW is too hard at the moment. I'll have a go on it when I'm at SS but think I'll transfer attention to Straight Ash (unfinished 7b business) at Millside Scar.

Plurabelle (6c+) - Pleased with the, ultimately unsuccessful, fight I put in on the onsight attempt. It wasn't that long ago that 6c+ would take a few visits. 

Loss Adjuster (E2 5c)- Pleased to just rock up, fancy the look of it and do it. 

Running - None this week. Need to sort this pre Alps.

Weight - Up on last week and variable. I need to get a better strategy as climbing, eating late, not sleeping well (so a bit tired in the day and so less will power around snacks) and heavier morning weigh ins is not great.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks for the stats Derek!

Mon-Wed: Rest

Thur: Back on Slimline (8a+), conditions were not too good as it was already quite warm for the year (25°). Nevertheless, I made some small progress and managed to do the crux move twice and add  a couple of more moves afterwards. I tried also to link one move into crux but was unable to do the move then. Physically i felt better than on Sunday but i still lacking fitness and was knackered quite quickly

Fri-Sat: Rest

Sun: Breakthrough session on Slimline !. Conditions were much better (10-15°) and it felt like a completely different route. Crux move was really solid and i managed to set a new highpoint and stick it once from the ground . Unfortunately, i hit the pocket not good enough to do the clip, but nevertheless i am happy with that. So though it was not in the same session i have now technically did the route with one hang which is a great progress compared to the last year.

I am still amazed how good today's session went. After Sunday i was not even sure if it makes sense to try again, but luckily decided to give it a try anyway and got lucky with the conditions. Probably this will still be end of the spring season as i have 2 very busy weeks ahead of me and my left ringfinger definately needs some rest. But at least i got a lot of positive motivation for the summer season after this week.

In reply to Derek Furze:

More bimbling and less moonboarding coming up from me in the next few weeks as I have managed - frustratingly, just as things seemed to be going well - to strain an A2 pulley. Bugger.

STG: Recover from A2 pulley sprain
MTG: Summer '25 - Dolomites and/or Swiss granite. Salbit hut booked.
LTG: Autumn '25 - tufa 7a
LTG: Be a confident, well rounded low to mid 7's sport climber. For measurable definition see Fit Club 823

M:  Bike to work & back
T:    Thalkirchen. Not a fiasco like last week, but a rather low key session in which it was clear I wasn't recovered from two sessions at the weekend. 6a 6a+ 6a 6b+ (roof, fell off) 6b (roof, didn't fall off) 6b 6c+ (token attempt)
    Bike 45 minutes

W:    Bike 1½ hours.
    Mystery tender spot on the side of my right index finger. Didn't happen while I was climbing on Tuesday (and that was a pretty light session anyway), and not in the same spot where I've had sore or injured pulleys before, so not too worried. For now.

T:    Went moonboarding despite mystery finger pain, on the theory that it isn't climbing related and would be ok if I warmed up very carefully and bailed at the first sign of trouble. This turned out to be ok and I actually had quite a good session: managed a new link 2-3-4, and some (marginal) progress on 6 without the cheat foothold. I think my static finger strength is ok for what I'm trying: I can hold the positions and hang the holds statically fairly easily. it's contact strength and control of the swing that I'm lacking, and they will hopefully improve with practice.
    Bike 45 minutes

F:    Bike one hour
    Today I ceased to be in denial about the fact that my "mystery" finger pain is obviously an A2 pulley sprain. So that's the moonboard on hold for the time being.

S:    Bike two hours

S:    Hillwalking, Kreuzeck. Another satisfactory time on one of my regular benchmark stretches - and something I guess I'll be doing more of in the coming weeks.

It's looking like I'll need to be in England for a few days at the end of the month for family reasons; I was thinking if taking a couple of extra days off and seeing if anybody was up for a Fit Club meet but I guess only four weeks into pulley rehab that might be unwise.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks Derek, continued amazing work on the stats, very much appreciated. Strava has 'segments' which are user defined, timed sections, with which you can compare yourself with others. Most major hill climbs have one on. The fastest person up them gets the accolade of KOM (King of the Mountain) when cycling or a CR (course record) for running. You also get the notification of shame when someone knocks you off the top spot too! It's not often I get one these days as I'm doing a fraction of the running I used to. I find the steeper and more technical the ground the more likely I am to do well compared to proper runners.

This week is another one with just local bouldering as Mrs Swede has been busy or away all week so it's just been me and the kids most of the time. It's been nice to be around lots though after a couple of weeks with lots of trips.

Mon. 28km (470m vert) cycle. Went out after the kids went to bed and didn't need my lights! Loving summer sunshine.

Tues. Rest.

Wed. Boulder at Hollin Hill. Didn't get to the crag til 8.30pm and it was still 20 degrees. I wanted to finish Hard Basic Space but I kept greasing off the tiny sidepull before I could throw to the jug, didn't even manage the hard move in isolation today. I vented my frustration at Smashin' Good time (f7A) which I was pleased to get first go. Also clawed my way up Epic of Gilgamesh (f7A+) eventually.

Thurs. 7km run straight after work then 30mins continuous easy climbing at the wall waiting for Little Miss to finish climbing club.

Fri. Rest

Sat. Rowtor rocks boulder session. A very short success list given that we were there all day, lots of things I failed on. However, I was moving round the woods to be near wherever the kids wanted to play so I couldn't really siege anything. Sends of The Cheek (f7A) and of I am the God of Hell Fire (f7A) and a stark reminder that I'm crap at both dynos and mantleing.

Sun. Junior fell run in the morning (3.5km) then a 7km walk linking up different playgrounds round our end of Sheffield.

Next week should hopefully see a return to trad and a chance to get onto some of my 'to do' list. Hopefully some massive cams will arrive in the post too...maybe?

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks Derek. 

Short term goals: to make the most of my half-days out (twice a month weather-permitting), get my max hangs up to +20kg on a consistent basis, gradually improve my right elbow to the point that I can do weighted pull up training, and get my body weight on a downward trend (LTG is back down to ~75kg from a starting weight of about 84.5kg on 13/04)

This week:

M: rest
T: fingerboard in evening, 4x10s hangs with +20kg (quite hard). 5x5 pullups.
W: rest
T: fingerboard in evening, 4x10s hangs with +20kg (quite hard). 5x5 pullups. I did one cheeky pull-up with the 20kg attached to me just to see how it felt. It was straightforward but did cause a bit of pain so too soon to be doing that regularly.
F: planned a rest, but son No.2 wanted me to climb on the board while he was trying his wall, so I did a few problems. Felt quite strong but didn't warm up enough and my elbow grumbled a bit. Bodyweight in evening 81.1kg. Camped in the garden with son No.2 (his first night in a tent) as practice for taking them both away in summer. He enjoyed it and was fine, I didn't sleep much!
S: I took the boys to RAC boulders, which was great for general exploring and a bit of bouldering. I pulled on a few holds myself but then my elbow grumbled so I stopped. It feels like a minor case of Golfers' coming on. Made an escape to the beach at Rhos after a few hours. Elbow rehab in the evening.
S: a day with family and rest from training. Bit of elbow rehab. I'm going back to Sheep Pen tomorrow morning to try to do Kingdom of Rain. Bodyweight in evening 81.1kg.

Another pretty decent week from diet and training perspective. Hoping I haven't done any lasting elbow damage on Friday/Saturday. It has seemed OK today but the real test will be tomorrow. 

I will update my max hang goal next week if I remember. 

Si

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks for everyone's stats, muchly appreciated as always!

Yeah, the legs are a worry but I've made a concerted effort to note each wince or pain and in part, it's definitely nerve pain for no real reason. So I've set about my lymphatic system this week, particularly the navel area as this is important in relation to the legs and any inflammation there can give rise to leg pain. It's going okay.

Mon - Two hours of deep lymphatic work. Some leg work too, mostly flexibility and massage. Climbing indoors - an alright session, I guess 20 routes, mostly in the low sixes and then tried some harder stuff. Messed around in the boulder room for ½hr and then lapped the  big hold 4c for a bit.

Tue - Climbing indoors. Pretty knackered after a 5.30am start at work and plaster boarding all afternoon. So got on the easier stuff and climbed slowly using the outside edge of the footholds as a sloper, much like Swizzy will be. Did around 10 routes. Pilates class after was great, felt good and my wife is definitely getting good at this teaching lark.Got home 15hrs after leaving...

Wed - Early start and long day, so just did extra lymph and massage work on the legs in the evening.

Thu - BBQ with friends in the evening, drinking homemade scrumpy and lager. Did walk a couple of miles there and back.

Fri - Last early start, then went to the climbing gym. Obviously tired. Did 8 x 4c big hands and rainbow small feet, mostly facing left. No rests! 4 x 5a overhang, no rests. 4 x 5c, skipping handholds, so big moves and no rests. Into the boulder room, did all the V2 problems apart from two, once of which the sit start isn't doable for me with my long legs and short arms. The other, I didn't have the umph for it at this point but I've done it before. Tried some V3/4 problems. Then back on the autobelay, tried the 6c+ again but didn't have the energy. Realised I hadn't eaten all day, so bought some flapjack and after tried a 6b+ four times, getting higher every time as I worked out the next move. 

Sat - Ended up working on one of the renters. So nothing but some dog walking.

Sun - Two hours of deep lymphatic work, half an hour of swimming and then a five mile walk.

A busy week - happily tho, got three climbing sessions in and the legs are maybe 30% better. At this point, that's a win.

The Friday climbing session was a win. Lots of volume but I also climbed with purpose and my feet have been quiet and accurate all week. No problem with proprioception despite the leg pain. The other two sessions were just okay.

Walking is definitely more of an issue than climbing, being on my toes does help for sure. My hips have tightened a bit, unusual for me and perhaps a sign of inflammation. Crimp strength is good again, plus I actually managed a pull-up on the jugs! Get in! Felt a bit vulnerable when bouldering, always aware of twisting the knee if I fell and I was happy to get back on the autobelay.

More focused on the lymphatics this week as there's only seven days till we go to Scotland but should manage two climbing sessions, one pilates class and at least a couple of swims. That's the goal anyway.

Have a good week people.

In reply to Randy:  exciting times Randy - good effort

In reply to Derek Furze:

Hi folks, hope you're all making the most of a dry bank hols. Thanks for the stats, Derek.

Yes, pretty pleased to be keeping, more or less, to the structured plan I set myself at the start of the year. The main issue now is the good weather... it's hard to stick to training when you know the rock is dry, but I'm trying to be disciplined and avoid 'junk' outdoor sessions. If the weather is good and work/life allow me to take full advantage of it then that is always the priority, but if I've only got the time/partner for a quick solo sesh or boulder I'll train instead. Hopefully this will leave the right balance!

Week 18:

Week derailed slightly by life events, but managed to cram most planned sessions in.

M: CARs, Prehab, Fingers, Aerocap.

T: Trail run, with midway swim! 8.1km, 5:30/km (with a 10 min pause at 3.5km for a cool down swim in the lake).

W: Climbing. Cloggy with Tyler. A good day out (every visit to Cloggy must count as a good visit!) although slightly hampered by the problem that Tyler has climbed everything on Cloggy that isn't a natural drainage line. So we ended up getting on the only bits of Cloggy that weren't dry! Backed off Vember but retained the onsight and have no regrets (it was probably no wetter than it usually is but to be honest, despite it's rep as an absolute classic, it looked shit so I wasn't that motivated to commit to insecure moves with dubious gear). Then had a nice adventure on Pigott's Climb (HVS 5a) -some of the shittest climbing on the crag, but a brilliant top pitch (made even better by it being Tyler's lead, so I had the pleasure of watching him swear his way up the 'VS' crack!)

T: Nowt.

F: Nowt.

S: CARs, Prehab, Fingers, Board.

S: Prehab, Fingers, Aerocap.

Week 19:

M: CARs, Prehab, Board, Aerocap.

T: Run.

W: Climbing.

T: Prehab, Fingers.

F: CARs, Prehab, Strength.

S: Climbing.

S: CARs, Prehab, Fingers, Aerocap.

STG (End May):

Five E2s (3/5)

Get on some E3s (Tick x2)

Onsight 6c.

Two aerocap sessions per week.

LTG (Nov 2025):

40 E-points (21/40)

Onsight E4.

In reply to AlanLittle:

It turns out that the most painful daily activity with an A2 injury in the right index finger is holding a pen. I wonder if I could get my GP to sign me off as unfit for work for a couple of weeks.

But what would be the point if I can't go climbing?

In reply to AlanLittle:

I am amazed that you are still using a pen for your work In my job everything is digital except for certain documents that i need to sign the old-fashioned way.

On a more serious note, sorry to hear about your injury. Given the symptoms that you describe i am not quite sure that it is really a pulley strain. For a strain i would except that you had some sudden pain during climbing and that you felt fine during the Moonboard session also sounds a little bit weird. So it could also just be some inflammation due to overuse. Thus, it might be worthwhile to get it checked by a Doctor who has some climbing background. In case you are interested i could recommend you a Doctor in Munich.

In reply to Randy:

Thanks. I used to have a Hausarzt who was a climber and knew his way around a finger, but he retired. And Dr Keinath seems to be booked out weeks in advance, so if you know someone else that would be helpful

I still take notes by hand in meetings. It distracts me less, and typing them up afterwards helps to think through what was discussed 

In reply to Derek Furze:

I've been consistently at 11'4" which was my first target but still half a stone above target.

All true but not been back this week! The good news is I can probably manage without bouldering mats now, just a tarp.

I thought that until this Wednesday but now I need to recalibrate all grades!

M: Rest

T: Back on Don't Scare the Hare after work. 23 degrees in the car park and route in full sun meant the first two goes were rubbish even for warm ups. Surprised my self on third go with good link from the ground despite the warm rock. No time for a fourth go.

W: Spent the day ruining Tom's day off with poor route choices. We did walk away with a "classic" (Pigott's Climb (HVS 5a)) and new found respect for Piggott. It was one of those days where the experience transcends grades or some such bollox! I figure if I don't tick my target routes at a crag it's not because of failures on the days I go but because of failures to visit the crag at other times. With a bit more effort I could definitely get to Cloggy more than once a decade!

T - F: Rest

S : Pen y Corddyn Mawr Almost an excellent day but dropped a couple of flashes so disappointing as I added two bits of unfinished business.

S:  Craig Bryn Dulas Knackered from yesterday, managed to tidy up some unfinished business after a lot of effort, quite pleased as I had to try really hard!

In reply to AlanLittle:

Ok, Keinath would have been my suggestion. Never had an issue getting an appointment with on short notice.

You can try https://www.dr-beyerlein.com/index.html. not a specialist for climbing related injury but a very good sport physician who has fixed me a couple of times.

I also found this Doctor during a quick google search who also might be worth a try https://www.dr-sommer-prien.de/sportmedizin.

Hope this helps and get well soon!

In reply to Randy:

Semi relevant anecdote: I was once climbing at Freimann, belayed by my buddy Stephan who is both one of the best belayers I know and a paramedic team leader. And Dr Keinath - one of the top climbing orthopaedic specialists in the country - climbing on the next line. And thinking “ok, could I actually be any safer at this point?”

In reply to Derek Furze:

Cheers Derek. Your intentions were genuine and it was all very well received. It helped me take a look and re assess, which has continued this week. 

M - New gym workout - much less intense and feels much more manageable.

T - Second day of self-rescue/problem solving day.

W - Gym

T - 30 ins on autobelays at Big Depot. 5 to 6a+

F -  Wrynose Breast Bouldering Lovely venue and a great day catching up with friends. Did the easier problems and then possibly flashed The Wall to Nowhere (f7A) or maybe a 7A+, or maybe a much easier mash up of both as bouldering is a bit annoying in how specific it is. A good try hard day though. I couldn't do the other 7A and couldn't get off the floor on the 7A+.

S - Gym

S - Brantrake crag - bailed due to cold wind, went to  Bell Stand instead. 

Led Anniversary Waltz (E2 5c). Deffo 6a the way I did it. On the plus side I coped very well with being off route on a bold E5. Deffo the hardest move I can remember pulling off with gear below my feet. On the downside I misread the route and missed a gear placement that would have made it much safer. 

I continued my ineptitude by breaking the record for the length of time it takes to ascend The Puzzle Book (E2 5c) in full sun. The start was very greasy in the sun.

Whilst my crack climbing has come on my corner climbing and ability to layback has not. Thank goodness it was bridging based, though that did mean I could hang around as long as I liked before finally committing. 

I feel a period of consolidation is needed with the crack/corner climbing and I need to work on pull strength. That's really what is limiting. Absolutely no oomph if I need to pull from the elbows.

We've got a few days away this month so will look to use that time for searching out more crack fun.

Trad is still on the list this week. With the weather so good it seems churlish not to. I'd like ot keep sport and trad ticking over though. I'm getting urges to head to Kilnsey.

In reply to Derek Furze:

There's definitely truth in that. And I guess one of the key advantages of flying - that because it's quicker you can do the 5am flights or the 9pm flights and squeeze the travel in around the edge of the climbing day - disappears travelling with young children anyway. 

Huffy is very good, so I'm hopeful I'll get some clear direction as to what I've done and what I need to do with it next.

I didn't get out Thursday in the end - microAJM was playing up a bit and it didn't seem fair to leave that entirely on my wife to deal with. But I got two days on Dartmoor this weekend.

Saturday it was sunny and when we were in the sun and out of the wind it was frankly too hot. I figured the lower temperature versus the weekdays, plus the extra height and cool wind, would have made it cooler. But Bell Tor was very warm. We walked over to Honeybag Tor which was better as it was catching the breeze a lot more. Would like to go back to bell tor for Famous Grouse (f7A) one day when I'm better and it's cooler and so on. Did some fun problems, but as ever also got spanked by some disconcertingly low graded routes. And unfortunately my shoulder didn't like it very much and was kind of sore at the end.

Sunday my shoulder didn't really feel like bouldering and I thought  Chudleigh Rocks - South Face would be too warm for the puerile ticking I had planned there, so we headed to  Hound Tor with the intention of doing some easy trad. Did a bit, but microAJM threw a bit of a tantrum half way up, refused to come down, couldn't calm down and reset. Wouldn't let herself be helped, etc etc etc. all a bit more stress than really ideal and leaves us a bit uncertain what to do with this going forwards - if she won't let herself be helped then it seems difficult for her to do roped stuff because of the issues it creates. So we sort of floated around for a bit uncertain as to what to do and not ultimately doing very much.

Lovely to be up in the sunshine on the moor again. Not very productive, but I tell myself that the only way to have good days out is to keep leaving the house to have days out. I'm only partly convinced!

Also disappointing to confirm my shoulder definitely isn't right. Another round of rehab awaits I guess. 

In reply to Derek Furze:

Weight - 14st
STG - 6b

MTG - 6c - 12/100 routes/problems this year

LTG - Western Front Direct (7a) at Navigation Quarry

BHAG - F7A boulder somewhere / kickflip

M - 7k, 282m asc - run + elbow rehab
T -
W - Trad @ Shorncliff
T - 12k 383m asc - mtb ride
F - Rest
S - Chilled family walk up Skirrid, 6k and 261m asc

S - Elbow rehab

KMs - 7k (but I feel the mtb is good cross training)

It's that time of year that I remember I have a mountain bike.  So I got out and rode it.  Need to actually sort out the rear wheel as it's impressively wonky now.  But it's been a great week all in.  Good run on Monday.  Then Trad at Shorncliffe with TinTin.  Nice evening ride on Thursday and finishing it off with a nice family walk among the bluebells on Sunday.

Climbing was great, even if I did forget my helmet and TinTin forgot her shoes.  So we were going to have an easy day doing 'HSes' which lasted till the first VS with 'really big footholds' came along.  As always  Shorn Cliff is a lovely place to climb.  I started off on Acoustic (VD) which was a nice opener.  We then moved on to Gargoyle (HS 4b) which I fell off again on the second.  I try to jam and I'm terrible at it.  Then Alta Vista (VS 4c) and Temporary Truce (VS 4c), both of which were great VSes.  Lovely traverse on Temporary Truce and a great little overhang and flake on Alta Vista. 

Sadly my elbow is still not any better.  I'm trying to increase the weight on my exercises, but lowering the reps.  So up to 2kgs, but no more than 5 reps.  Hopefully that'll work, as it's getting annoying now.  On the negative side, no weight loss either.  But I think my diet is okish.  Just need to step it up a bit next week and hopefully I can get under 14st properly.

But it was a great week all in.  Good to be back on the bike.  Nice run and great climbing.  I can feel that I'm getting back into the groove with climbing now. 

In reply to Derek Furze:

Week 18

M – Back and shoulders achy from CX ride the day before. Swapped board session for repeaters. 7/3/6/3 BW+21kg was HARD! 20min YouTube yoga.

T – 3x30s BW rough hold isometrics and evening stretches.

W – Nothing.

T – Morning boulder. Familiar 6B-7A+ warm-ups. Checked the moves on a couple of 7Cs, the 2nd of which I’ll come back to, then moved on to main event with working goes on 8A+ objective. Sorted the release move I’d not done before and found quicker way to do the start. I also learnt why the heel sometimes flies out uncontrollably. Annoyingly, I hit the slap but didn’t hold the swing on any of my goes. Maybe 10% better than any of my previous goes on that move, but I need more strength/more time on the problem to learnt it, then more strength/practice to get it consistent for links? Evening stretches.

F – 3x30s BW rough hold isometrics and 4x 6mm BW+5kg 7s hangs for skin conditioning. Threw in 3x10 10kg bicep curls between the small edge hangs.

S – Viral, feeling really ropey while mowing the lawn. Caffeine, cake and paracetamol/brufen double stack needed to power through child wrangling at the local May day parade.

S – Recovering from virus, so didn’t do much during short board session, albeit flashing a new 7A BM.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Morning everyone, hope you've had a good bank holiday weekend. Great weather, innit?

The F3 hangs have always felt steady, but that's more by design really, a few years ago I tried to do some regular small edge hangs and swiftly had aggravated joints! I'm thinking I can build the volume with reasonably-heavy-but-steady loads for a little while before getting on real small stuff. The 10mm felt steadier than ever before but not quite enough for biweekly sessions!

A good week from me. Started off ropey with immense DOMS, but dropped the intensity on OAPUs and kept up the hangs. Only one OAPU sesh due to time constraints but I'm quite happy with it. Good to get out on rock again, as always.

Last Week:

Avg weight 77.8kg.

M - Bicep DOMS that gradually worsened throughout the day.

T - DOMS.

W - DOMS easing, so 45m bouldering including a flash of a "V7+" (very much my style) and the MB classic "Hard Times", not too bad despite the sweatiness. Right bicep in particular still sore so didn't smash the OAPUs too hard, 4x2 with 18kg assistance, and 5x5s F3HC on 13mm.

T - Rest.

F - 45m bouldering on the new set, lots of hard crimpy stuff (not that I did much of it!). 5x5s F3HC on 13mm. 25m Moonboard, some hardish stuff but unfocused.

S - Rest.

S - Got lucky with a parking spot at the pass, headed to Cwm Glas Bach Boulders. A few warmups, then had a play on the Nicotine wall sds (f7B). Figured out a sequence but it's quite tenuous and tiring, so left it to save skin... time for a rematch on The Hand Rails of Crib Goch (f7A+). Probably only half an hour or so, but this time I didn't have the sun in my eyes for the slappy moves on the right arete, and it went without too much trouble. Next moved up to Blood Moon (f7A+), worked it out quite quickly, but the penultimate hold is a little sloper that feels almost impossible to reliably hold, I'm convinced it changed shape each time I got there. It reached a point where I didn't really want to do it, but I also didn't want to not do it! I ended up having "one last go" on which the sloper was kind to me. Finished on The Durutti Column (f6A+), and some silly eliminates in the sun. Fun day out!

Next Week:

M - Rest.

T - Climbing/rehab.

W - Rest.

T - Climbing/rehab.

F - Rest.

S, S - Climbing.

Goals:

Ingrain a "rehab first" approach to climbing sessions.

Rehab right index finger.

One arm pull-up.

Improve lower body mobility.

Louisville Lip.

The Punk SDS.

Rigpa.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks for the stats Derek. Great reading every week. 

I can feel some new research coming on and potentially a guest edited chapter about dance when Biscuit releases the 2nd edition of his book. 

The ghost of the golf/head game thread was at large. Was penance mentioned somewhere? This was it!

Yes, it was a good visit. Keen to return for The Arête (E2 5c) and Poteen (E1 5b)

w/c 28.04.25

Monday

AM - Rest

PM - Hip and shoulder mobility

Tuesday

AM - Rest

PM -  Lester Mill Quarry which I've been wanting to head back to for a while. Disappointed to rest on a cam on Evil Crystal (E1 5b) Followed Pagan (E1 5b).

Wednesday

AM - Max hangs 4x 10sec @15kg, 5x5 pull ups, 3x 10 push ups.

PM - hip mobility

Thursday

Rest

Friday

Drove to Anglesey. Couple of afternoon routes at  Gogarth South Stack with a repeat of Rap (VS 4c) followed by Lighthouse Arete Direct (VS 4c).

Saturday

Ten routes to HVS at Porth-y-Garan plus a couple of solos.

Sunday

Cracking afternoon at  Porth Dafarch. Some good routes done here including the crazy space walk of Bane On (E1 5a).

Summary

Light on training but plenty of time on rock this week. I was gutted about having to rest on Evil Crystal! My style of climbing but pumped very quickly and arms were instantly like concrete (incoming WhatsApp about this). These were a couple of great routes - hard low down and good face climbing above on relatively long walls for Lancs.

Had a cracking weekend on a meet on Anglesey. As a club newbie this was a very different bank holiday weekend for me but ultimately a good one. Plenty of steady mileage but also lots of challenging routes and situations that need more thought than just pulling. Feel like the gear radar is spot on and I'm moving well on rock, finally outside of Lancs quarries! 

Have a great week everyone. 

In reply to Derek Furze:

Cheers Derek, defiantly feeling about the balance of the training and not being quite so gym centric. Although id need to find time to get some cycling in as i have a triathlon in a months time. Happily i find if I'm run fit i can pretty much jump on a bike any time and not fare too badly. Had a good week even with not quite as much activity.

Monday, 1km lunchtime swim followed by Pilates class, gym in the evening

Tuesday, 1km lunchtime swim

Wednesday, 1km lunchtime swim and evening gym

Thursday, 1km lunchtime swim and evening gym

Friday, 1km lunchtime swim and drove up to Yorkshire to see my mum for her birthday in the evening

Saturday, getting some heavy lifting jobs done on the farm for mum in the morning followed by a glorious 15km afternoon run lots of elevation going from lake filled valleys to high moorland. A truly wonderful way to spend a few hours before a big steak dinner and wine 

Sunday, drive back to Leicestershire to the family