UKC

Good morning FitClubbers! I’m afraid you are stuck with me now for all of October and November, can I interest anyone in taking up the baton from December 9th onwards?

Apologies in advance for any stupid questions, it might take me a little while to fully catch up on where you are all at, not doing the stats for so long means I may not have been studying every last word quite as closely as I could…

A new thread is posted each week on Sunday for anyone to jot down their previous week's activity. UKC fitclub 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.

For those wanting to find out more about training for climbing a number of physical training articles are linked here: http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=274502

The following training article by Alex Barrows gives an excellent breakdown on training the four main "energy systems" specific to climbing: http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/training-for-sport-climbi...

Last week’s thread can be found here: https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/walls+training/fit_club_week_603-693947?v...

You can look back at your previous posts here (to some extent… it’s still a work in progress, this now goes back to FC500): http://ukc-fitclub-user-posts.s3-website.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/users.html

Posters:

biscuit - Well done on not getting run over again! I hope you can settle quicky into a routine around the new placement

hms - Ok stupid question number 1 - what are you tapering for, are you off to Smith with AJM?

Tyler - Work/life balance is a pain, if only it was easier to just choose less work… Did you get out this weekend? Weather is horrendous here on the South Coast.

Somerset swede basher - Congrats on the stand start. I hope you consciously made the link between your day on Tuesday and your performance on Wednesday, I put nutrition top of the list if I want to ensure good performance on a particular day.

AJM - It is getting busier at the Project isn’t it? Have fun in Smith!

mattrm - Your week sounded horrendous! I hope you are recovering ok?

AlanLittle - Looking forward to Kaly? Don’t ignore those tweaks and twinges, especially just before a trip! I love finding great routes in less-travelled places, there’s a lot of good stuff out there outside of the classics that everyone knows.

Cyan - Sounds like a very memorable few weeks, i’m tempted to buy a wig so I can come to the WCS next year, it sounds amazing. I realised recently that given the choice i’ll watch women climb rather than men, be it outdoor or comps, I think they have more to teach me!

Ally Smith - It sure looks like a big week written down! First time i’ve ever heard DOMS referred to as ‘gorgeous’, you’re a sick, sick man. Did you get back to the gorge?

Tom Green - Nice week, well done on hitting all your goals, I’m not sure what else to say, keep doing what you are doing!

Dandan - is on KnuckleWatch 24/7

The Sheep - Recovering well? Are you going to continue posting or wait until things improve a little?

guy127917 - Looks like a deload week to me! How’s the routine coming along?

alexm198 - Interested to know, what is in you general strength session?

Powderpuff - You can’t rush those finger issues (if only), but if you are hitting multiple problems up to V5 then it sounds like you are on top of it, keep it steady!

Ardo - Crikey you walk nearly as much as Mrs Dandan! Do you do any stretching/massage/glides etc for your sciatica? I’ve self diagnosed tightness in that nerve so always keen for info.

Pineappledog - Wrist issue could be a shot across the bows, seems a great time to pick up a dumbell and work those antagonists.

Rebecca Ting - FitClub exclusive WCS report required please!

Bones - My go-to Spanish destination is Margalef/Siurana which is northern but totally climbable in winter. Good thing is they are opposite sides of the monsant massif so often have different weather despite being 40 minutes apart.

Fit Club 666 goals:

AJM - Mark of the Beast (or Blue Planet/Privateer); E5 (or equivalent); sport onsight/“quick tick” & some from Colors/Tennessee/Paradise Lost/Bird of Paradise/Return of the Gunfighter

Ally Smith - Devils Gorge newbies; Rock Atrocity; press a sport climber; 8c+

Tom Green - Satanic Verses

Dandan82 - Horny Lil' Devil/Mark of the Beast/Camino a la Perdicion; +66kg weighted pullup; 666 one-arm pullups; 666 30 second+ handstands; 66 routes at 7a and above including 6 routes at 7c+ and above.

alexm198 - Versant Sataniques, 1938 route

Hi all. Thanks for taking over statting Dandan!

"keep on doing what you're doing" was a good shout -as that isn't what happened this week! This transition period has been a bit flakey, not good given that 'consistency is key' and all that!

Last Week:

Hit Z1 targets, but dropped a strength sesh and a climbing sesh.

M: Rest

T: Nowt -long day at work.

W: Bouldering in the pass, focussing on antistyle routes (sit starts, steep thuggy stuff, longer problems) up to 6a+. Followed by a hill run, 110min Z1, 14.6km, 660m vert gain, techy. 7:30/km avg.

T: Rest. Full body DOMS -turns out bouldering and running work EVERYTHING hard when combined!

F: Shoulder prehab.

S: Core session and General strength. Good session, some progressions.

S: Road/trail run, 45min Z1, 8.6km, flat, non-techy. 5:10/km avg.

Next Week:

Order new gear for winter/tooling (most of my kit got lost/nicked en route to Kyrg)

170min Z1

2 sessions Core and General Strength

2 climbing sessions

STG/Q4:

Jaz (D8)

Ben Nevis ridge enchainment

MTG/Q1:

Scottish 7

The Ginat (ED1 5)

Nice ski tour 

LTG/Q2:

Start ticking through my Lancs/666 tick list...

666 Goals:

666m of arete on Lancashire grit.

Satanic Verses (VI 5)

Cheers, gently easing back into exercise again. Been able to get back in the pool a few times, had a couple of rides and a couple of short runs as well as a stretch class. 

Getting there slowly 

Hello Dandan82,

Thank you for taking on the challenge of curating fit club! I can imagine its quite time consuming putting the initial post up.

Thanks for the encouragement, I'm still keeping it steady.

As is quite apparent from my posts I barely get outside to climb anymore, that said I still love going to the wall, and coming back from this finger injury has reminded me of how much I still enjoy it, even if climbing is  way down my list of priorities these days. I have alot of respect for other fit club members commitment to getting 3, 4, 5 sessions done in a week.

M: ran to the wall and climbed 10 problems up to v5, then worked on a V6. 3 sets of press ups, sit ups, leg raises, eccentric wrist curls. Ran back home.

Th: ran to the wall and climbed 13 problems up to v4. A little bit of shoulder work also. Ran home.

Fri: 3 sets of press ups, sit ups, leg raises, eccentric wrist curls.

I need to do more theraband shoulder exercises next week.

I'm trying to be optimistic and seeing it as the route towards an eventually bigger Project, but the mod stage is tough. If it's this busy all winter I can forsee more time on the board, that's always quiet. 

Thanks!

A quiet week filled with packing, up until the flights. I had a good wall session on Tuesday, following last week's Fit Club and subsequent email discussions (cheers Ally) I did some time focusing on slabs, udgy grooves, I did a two hand Dyno problem, and even tried a parkour problem. 

Friday was transit day. Turned into best part of a 24hr day in body clock time and I was hanging on the drive to Bend, kept going by the excellent music station Cyan had found and a drip feed of chocolate coated espresso beans.

Slow start yesterday, nearly turned around and left when we got to the crag because there was no parking! So rammed! At well beyond the 11th hour we squeezed in somewhere we literally found whilst driving away. Did a few "easy" routes, although slightly old school style (small crimps, just under vert) in full sun meant grades were well felt. 

Today we plan a full day (it's 6am here) but will probably wrap that up into next week.

So much more gorgeous DOMS this week! Done lots of rings and discovered some muscles deep inside my shoulders that ache like mad when I'm super strict with form.

Gorge was soaking. 

Full write up when I'm in front of the PC.

I'm feeling you pain. I've been ignoring my pinkie pain for a couple of weeks but need to acknowledge that it's fecked. 

Time to finally address my front-3 weaknesses. 

Thanks for taking over Dan. Very much looking forward to Kaly next week (less so to the preceding week of trying wrap stuff up at work)

STG (October): Kalymnos: redpoint 7b, onsight 7a
MTG (spring 2019): Frankenjura 7b+ project
LTG (2021): Redpoint 8a before I hit 60 

M: Rest
T: Morning beastmaker hangs before work. Strength maintenance? Seems like not much strength to maintain. Never mind: tapering!
W: Wall, Thalkirchen. Ten routes, half of them 15-20 metre steep jug hauls. Was planned to be the last hard session before Kalymnos but turned out a bit half hearted - was lacking motivation to really go a muerte.
T: 1½ hours bike. Haven't been on the bike for weeks due to persistent sniffles, but decided I'm missing the movement, and it's not as if it's likely to make the sniffles any more persistent at this stage.
    Half an hour forearm foam rolling & general stretching.
F: 1½ hours bike.
S: Wall, Boulderwelt. Light tapering session - half an hour easy bouldering to warm up, half a dozen circuits.
S: Wall, Thalkirchen. Another lightish tapering session on circuits. One hour bike to & from the wall (twice, having forgotten my padlock the first time)
 

There's a vague planning  to do this but unfortunately I'm quite cautious so I'll probably keep prevaricating over that leap of faith

Did you get out this weekend? The weather is horrendous here on the South Coast.

Here too (although it a beautiful evening now), even the most hardy souls I know where hunkering down indoors

M: Played on bits of the circuit board at BUK as it's not too high or likely to lead to awkward falls. Then did 2.5 sets of FoC

T: House of pain, did very little, only managed 40 secs in my benchmark hang

W: Rest

T: Work got a bit shit don't think I did anything.

F: Work

S: Very short (45 mins) session of unstructured arsing about on circuit board.

S: Leeds lead wall, so good to be doing some climbing, loved it. I didn't think I climbed too badly all things considered but the grades say otherwise! Best OS I managed was a 6c bit I feel properly batter for the first time since Kalymnos.

Off on a school reunion to Southampton next weekend and work looks like it might be grim so will struggle this week

First of my 666 goals: 66 yoga sessions.

Hope you all have a great trip, when I started climbing Smith was pretty much *the* US destination and it's definitely on my bucket list.

Thanks Dan. Better week, definitely back into the swing of doing stuff. No plan as of yet, but definitely trying to do either a climbing session or fingerboard session every day (except probably one rest day a week). Just doing repeaters with beastmaker app for now. Hoping the weather will pick up for next weekend when I might be able to get out.

Monday: Run, Fingerboard (BM 5A workout)

Tuesday : Good session getting back into projecting on the wave

Wednesday: Run

Thursday: Fingerboard (BM 5A workout)

Friday: Work stuff all day

Saturday: Good bouldering session at Mile End, like their new indoor wall a lot. Tennis match.

Sunday: Lead session, felt good, onsighted up to 6c+

Hey Dan, walking is my 'mindfulness' aid, plus, climbing aside, everything I need is within walking distance . Plenty of stretching going on at the moment, some from physio and others from NHS website/internet. I find deep glute stretches best at the mo and it's safe to Google.

•Mo: 6.8m General walking.

•Tu: 6.9m General walking. 10 problems.

•We: 7.7m General walking.

•Th: 7.8m General walking.

•Fr: 6.8m General walking. 10 problems, intermittent deadhang set.•

Sa: 7.9m General walking.•

Su: 7.5m General walking. 10 problems, intermittent deadhang set.

Micro training program for El Chorro in November now flights and accommodation sorted. Sciatica improving slowly and getting down the wall. Nowt outdoors with weather, so hopefully the weather will improve this week.

Cheers Dan, hope the knuckle’s ok. 

AJM - hope the trip goes well. 

Pretty good week when I look back on it, but feel like I could have done more. 

Climbed twice. Once at BUK -

Flashed some V5’s, couldn’t get anywhere near others - and one at Depot - flashed some reds couldnt get near others, tried some yellows to pull hard. Then all my skin fell off from Thursday onwards. 

Bike commute twice and AGAIN nearly got wiped out by a car turning in front of me. No contact but v close. Not feeling the love for commuting atm so not putting it down as a target. 

Leg Physio done 5 times. Deffo time to move on to the next level now. 

Messed around on sliders 2 or 3 times but wouldn’t say I’d done a focussed core session

stretching and shoulders I did 3x.

No Dave Mac ten min workouts done. Didn’t have the time LOL! 

As I settle back into placement life I need to be more realistic. Do the basics well.

DQS of 20+ each day

7hrs + sleep per night

leg physio x7

stretch x5

climb x2 (actual structured session not aimless climbing) 

Sliders for core/shoulders x3

antags x3 

should be doable.  

A sporadic start to the week, so made the most of a wet weekend.

Tue - Bouldering at Burbage North with lamps. Got to the final move of Banana Finger (f6A) but couldn't quite get it. Nice to be close though.

Wed - 

AM: Yoga. 
PM: Max strength. French pullups on the axes, bench press, deadlift, box step.

Sat -

AM: Trail Run. Ladybower loop.9km/1:10m/131m
PM: Max strength. Upper body only. Staggered weighted pullups on the axes, weighted ring dips, shoulder DB Press, max hangs on the axes, wide pullups.

Sun  - Weighted hill climb up Pen Yr Ole Wen. 677m/2.1km/10kg. Carneddau circuit for the remainder of the week's Z1 - 16km/500m/6kg

STG

* 6.5 hours Z1
* Continue Max Strength for upper body
* 1 weekday muscular endurance workout (tyre dragging?)
* Hill climb - 750-800m with 11kg

MTG

- Ama Dablam Nov 2018 - now booked

LTG

- US/Canada trip in Winter 2018

BHAG

London Wall (E5 6a)
The 1938 Route (ED2)
American Direct (ED1 6c+)

Week 40

M – Rest – beasted from the wknd.

T – Rested too – anticipating Wednesday gorge session – pub meal/late finish with recent retirees.

W – Back to Devil’s gorge; which was a condensed mess. Cold overnight, then temperature hit 23C Managed a couple of bouldering ticks from 7A-B+ then scampered away to Boardroom. Did 7b 2nd go on the psicobloc, then 20ish V3-6 boulders. Mostly flash. Both elbows grumbling.

T – BFR fingerboard. 4 sets; 30x contractions, then 4x10s Front-3 crimp lifts @28kg. 10x55kg DL. 20x archer incline rows. 3 sets; 12x press-up & 15x leg-lifts. Stretching.

F – Lunchtime training. FB max-hangs. 4x 1arm @ 10kg assist. Only 8&9s on RH for hang 3&4. Front-3 crimp 2arm. BW+5.5kg. Middle-2 deep. BW + 18.5kg. Various rings/core in rest intervals. Evening aerocap FoC. 1on/1off x10 with 40s plank in rest intervals.

S – Rest. Wedding ring shopping & gardening club.

S – Foul weather. Marsden jazz festival then evening FB repeaters. 7/3/5/3 @BW+5kg front-3. Completed the allotted 6 sets, which probably suggests it wasn’t close to the Crimpd suggested 80%. Various weights & weighted (+5kg) core.

I'll keep it simple, I did nowt and put on 2lbs.  

Basically I was still feeling tired post illness and we then went away to my sisters for the weekend.  So just didn't have time.  Hopefully I'll get back into things this week.

My favourite FC post so far this week: sometimes you just got to say it like it is.

Thanks Dan, I would like to give Margalef/Siurana a go. I just think of super hard climbing when I hear those names but I think it is the sort of climbing I would like if there are some suitable grades. Not sure when I will be going but if anyone else is heading out that way then let me know. Can I add my 666 goal of a front lever?

In my half week, I managed:

1/4 runs, 2/4 climbing sessions plus a fingerboard session, some stretching and eating food.

STG
- to run 4 times a week
- have a minimum of 4 climbing sessions per week
- stretching my back and shoulders

Monday: Walking around Australia zoo for about 30000 hours

Tuesday : Short mountain walk in Oz and then flying home

Wednesday: Flying all day

Thursday: Short run to get back into the swing of things and fingerboard (BM 5A workout)

Friday: no exercise

Saturday: Fun bouldering at Mile End

Sunday: Good lead session at the Castle - onsighted up to 6a+/6b (I think) and tried a 7c on top-rope. My lead climbing is quite a few grades behind at the moment but slowly closing the gap. Endurance feels improved.

Yeah, it's not ideal.  I've been having far to many of these weeks recently.  It's just a real struggle keeping all the balls in the air at the moment.  Hopefully the move to the mountains will be reinvigorating.  It'll certainly be nice just to head up to the hills behind my house without any faff.

I rarely get the chance to give training advice but I do know a bit about Siurana/Maraglef having been there a lot! Base yourself in Cornudella de Montsant and you will have a great time, in the last 5 years I've been for about 7 weeks in Nov and Dec and don't remember a days rain but it definitely happens, I just think I've been very lucky as I have had a few wash out holidays there in the past. If can be pretty chilly but there are plenty of south facing crags (that's one of the advantages of Siurana, there are crags in sun and shade pretty close together). Siurana is beautiful and the routes tend to be techie and not as steep as some places (e.g. Margalef or Rodellar). It's good from 6c upwards and there are other crags nearby (Arboli etc.) which are less fashionable but better for lower grades. You can get to Margalef from Cornudella in about 45 mins (make sure you drive if you get car sick!) and it is very pretty there but if you are out for any less than two weeks I wouldn't bother, there are good routes from 6c onwards but I find it a bit more full on than Siurana, that could be because I am weak.

Also consider Montanst if you have taken out all the additional insurances on a hire car. There's a new Siurana guide out but the Pete o'donovan Tarragona guide is probably better if you intend to visit crags other than Siurana.

I'm there first week of Nov and first week of Dec (poss Margalef).

Where do you live? I might be able to help with some of this although I tend to climb less than one Lancs grit route a year

Hi Dan, thanks for taking up the FC reins. 

My general strength routine involves a slightly abridged Scott's Killer Core Routine from TFTNA as a warmup and then a combination of Turkish get-ups, squats, shoulder work, and weighted pull-up variations (mainly Frenchies at the moment). 

I've dropped a few of the exercises from TFTNA to allow me to fit the entire thing into a lunch break from the office. 

Last Week (Transition Wk.8/8):

M: 40 min Z1 stairmaster. 

T: General strength w/core routine warmup (lower weights)

W: 30min Z2 stairmaster.

T: General strength w/core routine warmup (lower weights)

F: Rest

S: Rest

S: Rest

This Week:

Alpine Combine benchmark test

2 max strength sessions w/core routine warmup

100min Z1

Goals: (will add more/refine as they become clearer)

STG (end of October)

• 2x long alpine routes, TD or above, 800m+ [1/2]
• 3x E2 O/S 

MTG (~end of January, maybe a little later)

• 2x Scottish VII O/S
• 3x WI6 O/S
• 1x M8 O/S

LTG (~end of 2019)

• New route in the Cordillera Blanca
• Bugaboos trip
• Caucasus trip

666

• 1938 Route
• Versant Satanique

Thanks for being super sub Dan. You're right about the nutrition, an old lesson relearnt for me there. 

Mon. Rest

Tues. Tor session, did a new pinches wall problem I've tried loads of times but never managed. Unfortunately also fell off tumbleweed and left my heel toe in, spun wildly in the air then missed the pads. Session over. 

Wed. Sore

Thurs. Sore

Fri. Went to the boardroom (not been before) no bouldering but some easy millage and a play on the solo wall which was ace.

Sat. Mountain biking at Llandegla, one lap of the red, part of a mates stag party  

Sun. 9km hilly trail run near Llangollen, hard work after a boozy evening. 

Think performance is starting to dip so might head back inside and get training again for a bit. 

Thanks Dan, I just ordered some 3kg dumbbells(I weigh a little over 70kg, <5% body weight seemed a reasonable amount for the purpose) and planning to add in some dips/push ups/military press(low weight) to get ahead of any other antagonistic pains/injuries before they come to fruition. How frequently would people suggest doing this, would once a week be sufficient?

M: Boulder - worked some hard problems then did some semi-produ, ok session with nothing major to report.

T: Rest

W: Wall - warmed up on a few routes, did a couple of the onsight-ish grade routes(6b+), worked one harder route foot slipped so took a minute then got back on and finished(6c+) was lacking motivation a  bit so called it a day.

T: Boulder - New routes were up in one section(3 of each grade range), flashed all the V2-4, 2 of the 3 V3-5 other took a few attempts, flashed one of the V4-6 one took some work and last one couldn't get but did master the dyno start which is a weakness of mine, on the 10th+ attempt got the tricky start on one of the V5-7 going straight through the crux and falling off the final hold which I then repeated including the fall on final hold twice more. Was gassed and called it day but pretty happy with the effort and results, best boulder session I have had in a while.

F: Wall - warm up -> 5x2 redpoint-1, skin was in pretty bad shape.

S+S: Germs got me, feeling rough all weekend so rested

Little bit of pain in wrists towards the end of a couple of the sessions which has kicked me up the arsed to start this antagonistic work!

I’m actually down near Shrewsbury these days, so a bit of a trip! But I’ve been getting real, Lancs grit withdrawal symptoms so thought this would be a good challenge to get a few weekends back in the motherland!

It would be good to meet up once winter season is out the way. 

New to fit club! Here for the accountability in working towards stronger fingers - my recent lattice training assessment highlighted them as a monumental weakness!

S: am: Weighted hangs on 18mm edge: +5kg, 4 x 10s. Followed up with dumbel finger curls, wrist curls and reverse wrist curls with the goal of increasing forearm musculature. 

pm: Bouldering focusing on compression and/or tension moves rather than fingery ones

M: weighted dips: +45kg 4x10, deadlifts (first time in years): worked up to 215kg x 3, front levers, muscle ups 

And that's it so far. Planning to train 6 days a week as I tend to be able to tolerate quite a lot of training.

Welcome!

That sure is some disparity between fingers and, well, everything else! Do be sure to go steady though, finger injuries are the worst, so well done on getting on the wrist curls etc straight away, consider getting a thick elastic band to do finger extensions too, it's a good desk exercise.

yes I'm also in Smith. So far have reached the heady heights of 5.11b. The grading seems distinctly old school! Will do a more detailed report next weekend.

Great goal, you’ll have a lot of fun with this. I did it last year so if you want any beta, let me know! Might be hard in Q4 though?

Ah, thank you. Been looking at Margalef a little more, looks awesome and I reckon plenty of projects at my level. Considering my workload I am more likely to be going sometime at the end of Dec or early next year. Either that or just go and work from Spain for a few weeks You reckon two weeks because there is so much there and to work projects?

Yeah, it’s in Q4 to replace my ditched alps plans, but admittedly there may be more enjoyable times to do it! I’m kind of scratching around for a worthy Q4 goal that I want to do and fits in with progression toward my winter goals. All ideas/inspiration welcome!

Did you do it on a long summer day? 

If you are a fan of Lancashire (let's face it who isn't?!) or a regular visitor doing the Rossendale Way on foot and the Mary Townley Loop on a bike over the same weekend would be a good test of alpine fitness albeit without any climbing but without being weather dependent. I could help with logistics as I live very close to both. 

Yes, I rarely project stuff abroad as there is so much opportunity for on-sighting brilliant routes, which is not the case at home. Margalef is very good but for me, for on-sighting, the available routes are more spread out. They also tend to be more bouldery (code for I like softer grades!) but if it is your bag then there are equally good accomodation options in the village and you won't get bored. It's a win win!

Me and Mrs D will be in Margalef from the 7th to the 21st of December

Ah I had assumed you meant a winter enchainment. I did it on Easter bank holiday, so late March. Good connies apart from on Observatory Ridge and more daylight to play with!

What were your plans for the alps and how come they got ditched?

Did you do all three (four?) in one day? That's impressive 

Five, really. But we did Ledge Route in descent, as Harry Holmes did (his write up back in 2014 was what inspired me: http://climberharry.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-ben-nevis-ridges.html).

It was a big day! But super fun. Was chatting about it with a BMG in the Zanskar Himalaya this June who said it was originally done, solo, by an older Scottish dark horse--whose name escapes me--at some crazy early date. Maybe 70s...? Or earlier? That's impressive!

Lancashire is the place to be!

Rossendale Way looks good and there are still quite a few of the Rossendale crags that I haven't been to (a lot of them with 666 challenge aretes!) -this is beginning to sound like a plan!

A running-climbing combo weekend could work nicely. Are you keen for either the climbing, running or both Tyler?

To be honest, I hadn't really given it much thought yet! I was sort of thinking of a 'whatever-condition-I-find' enchainment!!

I was hoping to get a raid on the Matterhorn if the autumn conditions came good for the Schmidt route. The plan was to get out there and go for the Hornli -partly to acclimatise and partly to scope out the descent, then if that went according to plan have a couple of rest days then go for the Schmidt. 

But, if I want to get a couple of alps trips done in Jan/Feb/March then the Matterhorn trip would have to be done on a shoestring and I just couldn't work out how to combine Zermatt and budget! It doesn't really lend itself to van life, bivvying etc as well as other places.

there’s the Witton Weaver’s Way as well. I was looking at doing it as a run but never got round to it. 

 I could do some belaying and climbing but my hip precludes much running but happy to meet at road crossings to provide hot drinks etc. as well as a base if I am around (I can also offer bike or person rescue, my wife has picked me up half way around the RW on more than one occasion!) To be honest I can't think of many crags that the Ross' Way goes near that are worth visiting! Mary Townley Loop passes by Widdop though.

I'm not familiar with that but you should team up with Tom, I'd love to but.....

Hmm, may have accidentally forgotten to post my own week!

Not much to report, I mostly kept off the climbing to give the knuckle a rest and it seems to have helped, it's much better this week.

M - Core

T - Gym; this was a great session, I did some really nice form, deep squats (which this week I learned may actually be too deep, i'll explain next week) and managed to deadlift 120kg for 4 reps with no issues. Creeping closer to that double bodyweight goal of 130...

W - Nothing

T - TRX

F - Nothing

S - Indoor routes; introduced a noob to Calshot and just pootled around on stuff under 7a to see how the knuckle felt, pleased to say it seemed absolutely fine.

S - Nothing significant, although I did learn something. I decided to make a start on the 666 one armer challenge and I discovered that I totally can't do one armers any more! I don't think I was ever particularly good at them, but with various elbow issues and learning how to climb properly, I probably haven't done one in at least 3 years and it turns out I'm awful at them now! I decided one armer attempts will have to count as reps too, then hopefully after 666 attempts I might be able to do them again! I guess the muscles required are different enough from a 2 arm pull up that I need to train them separately to improve them both.

I really need to sit down and sort out some new ST/MT/LT goals...

666 Goals:
Horny Lil' Devil/Mark of the Beast/Camino a la Perdicion
+66kg weighted pullup - +60kg
666 one-arm pullups 2/666
666 'good' handstands; 9/666
66 routes at 7a and above including 6 routes at 7c+ and above. 0/66 0/6

I like this one and as I'm struggling for 666 goals I'm nicking it! (I might change 7c+ to 7c)

I've been performing the various wrist and finger curls as a means to not only prevent injury/imbalances, but also in an attempt to improve finger strength. Although they are non-specific exercises, I've had a hunch that working the flexor and extensor muscles in the forearm throughout their full range of motion, rather than isometrically (i.e. fingerboard hangs) would bring better results in terms of hypertrophy, leading to better strength gains when combined with more specific climbing exercises - and it seems to be working.

I've tried various fingerboarding routines over the last year or so without any significant gains, but after adding the dumbel exercises around 10 days ago, performed as heavy as possible, i've gained 3/4inch in forearm circumference and my hang times on a rounded 18mm edge have been improving as follows:

06/10/18: bodyweight: 10, 10, 9, 9

08/10/18: +2.5kg: 10, 9, 8, 8

10/10/18: +2.5kg: 10, 10, 10, 9

12/10/18: +3.75kg: 10, 10, 10, 10 

14/10/18: +5kg: 10, 10, 10, 10 (felt too easy)

16/10/18: +7.5kg: 10, 10, +8.75kg: 10, 10

I'm pretty astounded by the results so far having not had much success in the past. I'm pretty sure that this won't go on for long, but i'm enjoying it while it lasts. I've also noticed that im having to eat a ton to maintain my weight while doing all this training which is probably helping the strength gains too.

edit: copied hang times from my diary wrong. 

Awesome progress! This is interesting, in general as climbers we would look to avoid hypertrophy due to the added mass that it brings, but perhaps in your case as you are currently underperforming in this area, a bit of basic muscle development is exactly what you need and the amount of mass increase will be pretty negligible as the forearms muscles are a relatively small group.

I might be teaching you to suck eggs here but in general for the dumbbell stuff you should keep weight high and reps low (5 or less per set) to maximise strength gains and minimise muscle mass increase, this goes for any kind of weighted exercise.

I've no idea about the science behind concentric versus isometric contractions but it would seem to make sense, right? Having good strength through a whole range of motion should increase strength at any single point on that range, and only being strong at a single point in the range (half crimp for example) seems like it could be a bit dangerous. At the very least I can't see any harm in doing both non-climbing specific and climbing specific exercises together. 
Anecdotally i'm using a hand gripper in my training for similar reasons, I thought getting strong at closing my fingers all the way through from open to closed might help me crimp at any point on that range of motion. I've not measured for any improvements but my general feeling is that I haven't seen any significant improvements in any area of grip strength, although my intention is to have a stronger range of motion to decrease injury risk, which is very hard to measure.

You say you had no luck with fingerboarding routines in the past, which did you try? The only time I really committed to a fingerboard routine (as opposed to a few random hangs when the mood took me) I saw excellent gains over 12 weeks but only because I stuck to it rigidly. I'm not trying to debunk your latest method as not being effective, but I do think the key is consistency more than the specifics of the exercises.
Keep up the regular sessions like you are (although do throw in a weeks rest now and then) and I think there are a lot more improvements to be had!

In the past i've tried repeaters in a fairly unstructured way, and also max hangs with a more structured approach, similar to what i'm doing now, but only twice per week. It's a possibility that the increased volume is what's giving me results now, but I don't think this is the most likely explanation as I literally made almost no progress in 3 months before adding in the dumbel exercises.

It seems to be accepted that lower reps (1-6) usually provide more strength and higher reps (6-12) would provide more mass. For the forearm exercises i'm deliberately choosing the higher reps for 2 reasons:

1. It's hard to keep strict form in these exercises (for me) when using bigger weights.

2. Hypertrophy is my goal on the basis of strength being determined by a muscles recruitment (fingerboarding) AND its cross sectional area. I figure that the difference in weight between the smallest and largest forearms can't be any more than a kg or so, which is significantly smaller than the respective forces they are able to produce. 

Of course all of this is highly speculative and i'm certainly not qualified in this area. I'll continue to update anyway and will also log my progress on the dumbel exercises themselves as it may be of interest to others.  

This may not be helpful:

The Anderson brothers have researched finger rolls for hypertrophy and found them ineffective for carry through to climbing. 

I also know someone who is very scientific and structured in his training (not me then) who swears by them for hypertrophy prior to starting a fingerboard period. He’s compared the two protocols and is satisfied they work - for him.

Thanks Dan - package hopefully on its way to you! 

Last week I did one wall leading session up to 7a+ at Big Rock. I have done nothing so far this week, but have high hopes of cramming 3 sessions into the rest of the week.

Will try to write you something tomorrow. Pushing on to Half Term (not that I get Half Term, but psychologically it's important!)...

ps. Is anyone up for a weekend hit on Riglos for Fiesta de los Biceps (La Visera) (7a)? 

About a month too late! 

If you want any logistics/beta let me know. 

I mean, in theory yes of course...

Logistics yes! Generalist planning beta (pitch x is really pumpy, make sure the tall person does pitch y, be fit, it took us y hours, take xx draws) yes please. Just no move beta ????

This is a totally useless answer.  Yes, but in about 2 years time...  Sorry...

It’s a 666 goal!

Ok here we go. 

I flew to Barca, as that’s where my friend lives. It’s a 3hr drive from there. Very easy to stop in a van in the village itself and there seemed to be plenty of accommodation. We vanned it. Arrived at 1. Bed by 2. Up at 8. At the foot of the climb by 9. It’s a 20 min easy walk. 

First two pitches are best strung together. The only belay I saw on the way past appeared to be old 10mm hand placed bolts. 

Without giving beta the 7a pitch is out of character really. It’s not bad climbing but it’s 7a face/open groove climbing on what feels like polished limestone not conglomerate. In the full sun (we went for it despite it hitting 30 degrees) it felt hard. Techy hard. 

I don’t think the grades would be out of order for the rest of it if they were single pitches off the floor. They really are steep and although the holds are generally massive I found an accumulating aerobic type pump building up. You may do a 6b+ pitch on second straight into a 6c lead. Or 6c second into a 6c+. All in the crazy super steep world of fiesta. It takes it out of you. But keep your head and there’s loads of inventive rest opportunities.

 I copied the pitches in a session at Kendal wall on their 25m steelp wall. It wasn’t the same. Fiesta was much harder, but in that aerobic way. Not an cap pump wall climbing. If you’re ok to onsight 7a vert then put your time into getting aerobically fit. 

Stay aware at the top. I was a bit shot by the top 6b pitch. It felt a bit run out and hard/scary. I was struggling by then. Then there was a scramble to the top. We elected to stay roped up and there was another bolt or two over the 30 metres or so to the summit. We were aware we were tired and fried from the sun and a silly slip in the first 10m would see you off the wall. 

Some of the pitches are run out. I never felt that if I fell I’d lose touch with the wall. But when I was going hard I was just moving as fast as I could and not really thinking about it, so still take something just in case I’m wrong. 20 draws is plenty. I think we used 15 or so but I wasn’t counting. We had 20 and never ran short. 

Our biggest issue was being caught out by the weather and having 1 litre of water between us on a south facing wall in 30 degree heat. But I still smiled all the way up it. 

We were sat in the bar, having been back to the van to sort kit and get changed, by 4. So I reckon 5 hours up it. 1 to walk down. 

Turn left at the top initially and then take paths leading you down and right after a couple of hundred metres. These turn you back towards the village theough a small entrant valley. Lots of little paths but they all seemed to head home once in the valley. 

Totally do able in a weekend/long weekend. I had time to hit margalef as well.

It’s an amazing place. I’m going back for sure. Probs not for a whole holiday there but there’s loads of other great looking lines to go at, harder and easier than fiesta. 

It should be on everyone’s list. Best sport multi pitch I’ve ever done. It really is as good as people say. 

Anything else let me know.