UKC

A new thread is posted each week on Sunday for anyone to jot down their previous week's activity. UKC fit club is a rich community with posters sharing their goals, noting successes and failures and offering support to those struggling to maintain motivation. Anyone interested in starting is very welcome to join, but to get the most of UKC fit club you should aim to post each week, every week, however little or much you have done. By making such a regular public record of your activities and by restating your goals every week this new habit will hopefully improve your training habits and drive you towards achieving your goals whatever the level of your chosen activity.

Link to last week’s thread:

https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/walls+training/ukc_fit_club_week_829-7564...

Posting early today as off out with Ian for a quick session at Stoney West.

Stats:

Ross Barker:  Good to see that rehab is progressing well and that the elbow grumble isn’t too much of a worry.  Clearly not having to much impact on your typing as a lot of contributions from you last week!  Anyone, amongst your sessions on the keyboard, you managed to keep the fine start to your year’s bouldering going, both outside with Smallfield and inside on the Moonboard.  It clearly has a very positive effect with ‘tried a load of hard moves’ being characteristic of every session – this is definitely something to think about as I would say that is a fairly rare thing for me these days, even on a week where I climb quite a bit.

Out again today, so I shall put this subtle lesson to the test. 

Alan:  Good stuff posting the Month In Review.  I shall add one this week embedded in my weekly report.  Another one who chucked in several contributions through the week!

Loved the report on your ski tour which contained a very honest appraisal of the difficulties!  Great to see a lot of good advice followed it up, so hopefully you are encouraged to continue with your aims, though perhaps it will be something that you build towards this season?  Some of the comments make it sound as if it may not be as far away as you think.

Continuing your pattern of something happening on most days (sharkathon) so your conditioning and wall work is going well and should give you a great platform for Kalymnos in the Spring.  Still plenty of time to go, so if you continue the progress at the wall, then you’ll be flying in Greece!

Ian Parnell:  I think we are both nursing a nagging shoulder, though for me it has only got in the way of antagonistic exercises so far.  I don’t feel it on anything on the fingerboard or pull ups, but push ups cause a bit of pain.  I’m working diligently on some of the exercises in Biscuit’s book to strengthen the general area anyway, as it is something I’ve had before.  Climbed twice this week with no impact.

Good work hitting your February targets and reassessing what you can achieve.  A decent mix across the week as well with some good results on the outside bouldering – (Bell Hagg there’s a reminder), a couple of wall sessions and plenty of varied exercise.  It obviously included pull ups, so ‘lay off the pull ups’ is a comment that look’s ahead.  Bear in mind when you go back to them, that (I find) that pull up capacity seems to drop off quite quickly, so they need to be built up again quite slowly.

Tom Green:  Another good week for you with all planned sessions delivered – well done as it meant you had something on every day, which is an impressive starting aim.  Plenty of variety in the mix, which helps prevent overtraining any particular aspect.  Good work continues on the trail runs – these are becoming pretty consistent in terms of both distances and pace, so you must be pleased with recovery?  I walked up a hill the other day and it reminded me to introduce some cardio again!

Getting close on your STG with the weights so keep pushing over the next two and a bit weeks.  Achieving the winter routes goal will need a trip up north imminently, but perhaps that’s on plan.  How goes the rebuilding and weatherproofing project – any progress?

Ally:  Sorry to hear about the finger tweak though it doesn’t seem to be too limiting at the moment.  Has it prevented your return match?

Some good board sessions appearing as usual and interesting to see your analysis of the results (‘more pumpy that powered out’).  Clearly it is quite hard, even with experience and a dedicated training aid, to get the balance exactly right to target each system.

Following my previous comments and partly because of slight shoulder twinge, I haven’t attempted front levers properly yet – still just an idle play while waiting to go out.  Quite keen to explore these as a shoulder and core exercise.  I imagine they get very hard to maintain quite quickly?

Lots of motoring themed contributions lately across FC – glad to see you join in on these! 

Tyler:  No indication of a particular goal with weight loss, but a general sense that ‘some’ is needed.  In terms of the cardio, I forgot that you do mountain days every now and then – why wouldn’t you when it is on your doorstep – so these would be ideal.  The same principle applies, in that keeping the effort in zone two is the important bit as fat-fuelling is maintained with the effort level at lower levels.  I find that this is surprisingly slow – it is really easy to get your heart racing when walking up big hills!  I went up to the Cromlech last year with someone (even) older than me and I used it as an experiment to walk up without breathing heavily at all.  Nice to arrive without being hot and bothered.

‘If so how often’ – I would get noticeable weight drop on my active days every week, whether out climbing for the day or running.  Both of these tend to be days when I extend my fast period (or exercise late in my fast period), because I don’t like to eat much when I climb anyway.  Example – early start, drive to Snowdonia and arrive at 9 am.  Walk up to Cloggy in extreme heat.  Do a route (Great/Bow) and have the first food of the day when I get down (probably 3 pm).

Good work at Llanddulas.  You seem to have been there a few times, so it must have some attractions.  I have often looked up when driving by, but have yet to call in for a proper look, though I think it probably has some stuff in my range and it would get me another venue away from the Peak. 

Are you doing any rehab?  I had a sore elbow for years until I actually did rehab every evening one winter for about six weeks.  It works.

SSB:  A brilliant tick for you and the accolades have been flooding in!  Well done for putting the sessions in over the cold period.  With this warming up, you’ll no doubt be switching back to stuff with a rope?  I guess you might still be chasing 7C in a session as a target to get this season?

A fairly quiet week for you otherwise though you managed a session at Roache Abbey, which looks pretty successful as well.  I have been there when it first became a known destination – fairly sure it was routes back then though clearly a place with bouldering potential.  Only went the once – I think the judgement was that it took as long to get to as High Tor, so perhaps best left well alone!

Cycling with kids!  I remember my youngest learning one morning at the small car park at the end of the street, so that afternoon we did a circuit of Derwent Reservoir.  Perhaps not the best choice, but we scraped through.  Excellent independence demonstrated by your six year old though!  Mine used to love things with long descents – I remember a good one coming down into Chatsworth Park from the Bakewell side.

SteveJC94:  I agree – it was a great week of interaction around bouldering.  This week has been similar with support around skiing as well.  Excellent stuff and very motivating as you remark.

You look like you are properly back to it now, with something nearly every day in the run up to your ski trip.  Great results on the bouldering at Burbage North with a decent flash and some really good progress on Submergence.  Also good to see that your end of Latttice plan tests delivered exactly what you were targeting with a ‘significant gain’ in pulling power – I’ve taken inspiration from this and am definitely working a bit more on my weighted pull ups now with the aim of getting to at least 140% by the end of March.  I’m also currently looking forward to a lot more free time once March rolls around (though things can change quickly) so I hope to do some bouldering myself again.

Small Step:  Really good to see a trip to the Dolomites on the plan – it is things like that that really create inspiration for all the sessions working hard in gyms or wherever.  Also, good to see that the thread provides an anchor of sorts – I think it does that for a lot of us and helps keep us on some sort of track.

Something done every day for you so a really decent week of exercise.  You are clearly identifying progression at the wall, so introducing some basic cycles might give you similar measurable progress in other areas.  Personally, I’m not sure it matters at my level, but it is motivating to know that I am hanging more weight / pulling up with more load than last year, despite advancing years.  Another benefit of cycles should be variety, in that the more disciplined amongst us (definitely not myself) will target particular energy systems more carefully – this really does have an effect, but needs access to facilities to do it properly – you are at the wall more than once a week so a perfect opportunity!

Enjoy the Dolomites!

AJM:  Clearly, IKEA really took it out of you as you followed up with a very quiet week!  Good decision to get Biscuit involved in helping with diagnosis and productive rehab – I like the approach he advocates, which is very positive about deliberate work to strengthen when working with a ‘tweak; rather than a chronic injury.  I have certainly carried on training through my shoulder niggle and have replaced things that make it sore (e.g. one-arm planks) with fairly deliberate rehab exercises.  Mind you, I am in the midst of my garden project and clearly the vast amount of spade work isn’t helping!

Good to see that Christmas parties now extend into February!  Maybe something in avoiding the period where everyone is doing it and it becomes expensive, in favour of a traditional low point in the year?

Randy:  Good point about doing something to cope with the adjustment after travel – I’m sure it prevents a lot of doing very little!

After that, you have reported a really strong week, despite not being ‘100% recovered’.  Very impressive performance on the wall sessions, with some decent standard bouldering and some good endurance sessions.  The Kilterboard session looks fantastic also – clearly these trips to India are doing you good!  I think your reflection on your power is interesting – all that strength training has got to help somewhere in the chain and you are pulling some impressive weight consistently now.  Aiming for 180% is stunning and something I simply can’t imagine at the moment.  I shall work harder to keep up!

I also hope you get plenty of chances to put this work into effect on the rock at some point.  Lots of strength and some decent endurance has got to see the routes tumbling this year!

The Sheep:  Clearly enjoying the steady, but regular progress with runs, with something on most days of the week and distances creeping up in a controlled way.  Good for injury prevention of course.  Do you factor in any deloading at any point, or are the distances and effort not yet causing significant strain?  Of course, the beginning of April isn’t that far off really and you probably need to keep moving your distances onwards towards the race distance during March – always a bit more pleasant as the evenings become that bit lighter and a bit of Spring arrives as well.

Strange to see a report with hardly any kms in the pool, but clearly a week with lots of other stuff going on. 

Liam P:  Not at all boring Liam – I always s look forward to those gains on the planche leans!  I was even intrigued enough to try them at one point (without measuring) – they felt like a gymnasts move really, but interesting nonetheless.

Good to see some work on the hamstrings continuing.  I am targeting this now as my hip mobility has improved from the stretch routine that I have been doing and if I can get similar gains on hamstrings I will be happy.  Nowhere near the floor yet!

An interesting session bouldering with a good target to pursue.  Getting good results with V6 being completed when you are targeting these at the wall.  Good also to see a volume session in the mix.

The one arm hangs are coming along – good work on these.  I’m keen to see your progress on OAPU and hope to get on it myself again in a couple more weeks.

Biscuit:  A crash.  Put it down to being busy sorting out everyone’s injuries!  Sometimes seems like half the people on here are seeking your expert input.  Anyway, a strange week, but it is just something that happens and if a failure comes along, it can have a impact on whatever happens next as well.  I’ve lost count of the number of times I have bailed onto something only to find that didn’t work either!  Of course, this effect works both ways as well and can happen when you get up something unexpectedly, only to ush on with the next route.

Anyway, it looks like the week improved steadily and the rest day was an absolute treat.  What’s not to like?

Steve Claw:  A deload week then Steve and hopefully it will help you with your rehab?  I have no doubt that you will be firing on all cylinders soon.  Sorry to hear about the rockfall at Avon and hope it hasn’t taken away too many Avon classics.

Hope to see you back to it properly soon.

Inglesp:  Made it by the skin of your teeth!

Yes, I guess that is always the issue with projecting - what else could have been done with the available time?  That said, it does seem to be a reliable way into the higher grades, so perhaps a balanced investment of time is the way forwards?  Anyway, the trying will be paying off in one way or another.

Great to see you into a routine with Hooper's Beta.  I quite like it as a warm up, though I have stopped at the moment because a few of the exercises are not helping my shoulder niggle.  Quite hard to tell mind as working on my garden project is probably the main problem!  

I think I saw you looking for partners at one point this week?  There was some really decent weather so getting out was a good option, but nothing on the report so obviously you didn't find a partner.  I'm looking forward to seeing rapid progress on your target list as the Spring improves.

Planet Marshall:  I might have missed it, but I don’t think there was a report this week?  If there was, then apologies.  If not, I look forward to hearing soon!

Good work on the stats again Derek. Hopefully come March you’ll be able to translate your solid training improvements onto the rock! 
 

Bit of a hit and miss week for me. Great skiing so far, though no powder, but annoyingly I’ve managed to tweak my thumb in a pretty innocuous fall. I’ve managed to give myself a grade 2 sprain of the left thumb ligament, also known as skiers thumb - surprised this is the first time I’ve had this injury in 26 years of skiing!  Luckily I can still ski with a wrist brace on, but it’ll be 3-4 weeks before I can climb again (though I may try some easy hangboarding). Looks like no fracture at the moment, but I need to have another X-ray when I’m back in the UK to rule out a Scaphoid fracture as these often take a week to show uk on X-rays.

So much for an injury free 2023… 
 

Wow!  No pinch grips for you for a while!

A bit training lite for me this week, with only two snatched sessions.  However;

Sun - garden project.  Wrecked.

Mon - crag in the sunshine.  Went to explore Coal's Hill, but couldn't identify routes, so baled to Colehill and did seven routes up to 6a - the first time on rock this year so enjoyed getting moving again.

Tues - garden project, but max hangs session on new grips with weights from 15.9, 17, 18,1, 19.2 and 2 sets at 20.3kg.  Progressing well.  32 BW pull ups and five sets of stretching.  Bits of Hooper's, but avoiding things that make my shoulder twinge (side planks).  Some shoulder rehab.

Wed - Climbing at Attermire.  A bit chilly, but seven routes.  Not the conditions to try anything harder than 6a, but enjoyable anyway.

Thurs - work

Fri - short session of weighted pull ups - 3 sets of 3 at 11.2, 12.3 and 13.4kg.  Slowly building, but way off the levels of many on here.  Plenty of stretching, shoulder rehab and Hoopers.

Sat - garden all day so completely bushed.  Out for the evening before heading to crag Sunday...

We will see, i hope this trip will be my last for the next couple of months and that i can get in some mileage outdoors in the spring season. If that works out and i stay healthy, i just should have a good chance on Chasin' the Trane (Helmut Albrecht Gedenkweg) (7c).

Recap last week:

Mon: Travel to India

Tues: Rest

Wed: Fingerboard 20mm, 4x10s at 125% BW with 2-3 min rest, weighted Pullups + 16kg with 3 min rest, 10,10,9

Thurs: 20s, 15s L-Sit, Handstands, 8 Pike-Pushups, 10 Fingertip pushups, 45s V-Situp, 30 Pushups, 40 min Treadmill run 5:30 /km;  did not felt too good on the L-Sit which was expected after not doing this exercise a lot in the last weeks, Handstand went surprisingly, felt really stable and could hold it a couple of times for over 10s with a little bit of assistance from the wall to get into the position

Fri: Fingerboard 20mm, 6x10s at 130% BW with 2-3 min rest, weighted Pullups + 16kg with 3 min rest, 10,10,9

Sat: 65 min Treadmill run 5:30/km

Sun: Fingerboard 20mm, 3x10s at 125% BW with 2-3 min rest, felt already sore on the warmup which got worse during the hangs and cut the session short, should have had another rest day in hindsight

Decent week considering the circumstances. Work was not too hectic, which will be probably be different next week so i tried to squeeze in as much training as my body could handle. In hindsight overdid it probably a little bit. Volume was not too bad, but intensity on the fingerboard was quite high and the travel stress should also not be underestimated. Hence, i will cut back on the volume a next week, but will try to keep intensity high.

Cheers Derek. I’m almost waving the white flag at the minute as the Mrs is working away so I’m single-parent wrangling for another week. Thanks for the detailed stats, they definitely help as it makes me do something (however small) towards progressing.

Every cloud….Brownie Point Balance will be looking very healthy after this week so hopefully the weather holds out for the weekend!

Tue

Wall

• Limit Bouldering up to V6. Had a few more goes on the V7 crimp fest but pinging off the same move. I’d need to train micros alongside hip mobility/rock overs to get this so might sack it off and continue shopping for a V7.

Wed

• Hamstrings

Thu

• Hamstrings

Fri

• Hamstrings
• Tried a OA Hang & Pull session but abandoned due to a tweakey shoulder. Think I pulled it doing a big dyno on Tuesday - was a great move but obviously not healthy for the shoulders! 
• 5x 5s Planche Leans (32”Hand to Foot). Back at the same distance where I could do the Bent Arm Straddle Planche but had a go and I’m way off. Will start holding for more time.

Sat

• Hamstrings. Forward Fold testing session - around 1” from the floor. Didn’t take any starting measurements but definitely feels like (slow) progress!

Sun

Wall

• Volume Bouldering. Caught the new reset and managed to fill the bottom of my Pyramid with lots of low-hanging fruit. 12x V4s and a couple of V5s. 

Goal for this week is: stretching every day, 1x OA Hang Sessions, OAPU Club, 1” further on my planche lean, 1x Wall Session and the potential for a rare outdoor climb this weekend!?

Thanks Derek for your effort on the stats. Yes, Biscuit's book is great. I need to start focussing more on shoulder rehab as it feels like the finger is improving with the 'therapy' hangs but the shoulder keeps nagging away.

This week was interesting one! of contrasts in psyche. In charge of the kids all week as my wife’s away. First two days – late nights working on stressful job application, then pathetic afternoon at Burbage on Wednesday only getting up a single 4b problem. Unable to try too hard on home board due to finger and shoulder but think these short convenient sessions were surprisingly worthwhile. Positive first time back on a rope today, no impressive grades but felt like my mojo was back. Also learning point: my endurance is surprisingly good as I’ve not trained that for months, so will change training plan to take that into account.

Mon –  rest

Tues - pm: 4 x 20 sec -30kg therapy hangs

Wed - pm: Burbage – awful session, very tired, forgot chalk bag and lost my mojo. Got up nothing apart from a single 4b problem.

Home Board. Had a word with myself and forced myself into the garage to do a bit on home board. Warmed up, attempted 6 x V4-5 probs got up 3.

Core: twisting crunches x 24, 20 x single leg bridge (alt sides) x 3 sets

Light mobility

Thurs - pm: Headtorch fell run 40mins 4 miles hard. Felt tired, but to be out in beautiful last light fading into the night felt uplifting. Also my running partner knows the moors inside out so it’s a real privilege to not only have that terrain on my doorstep but someone to guide me round it.

4 x 20sec -30kg therapy hangs on 20mm edge

Light mobility

Fri - easy 5 mile run in 45 mins

Quick home board session. Warm up

4 x 20sec -30kg therapy hangs on 20mm edge

Attempted 8 V4-5 problems got up 5

3 x jug lock offs each arm, 3 x undercut lock offs each arm

Light mobility

Sat – rest

Sun - am: Warmed up with 45mins bouldering at Carls Wark at Stoney, only got up single 5a. Stoney West with Derek. 8 routes up to 6b+ in 4 hours. Not climbing great but session ticked all the right boxes; first day on a rope for 2 months, good mileage, couple of short falls, climbed my best on the last and hardest route, and great supportive partner!

Pm: 5 mile run easy

Light mobility

Goals - STG: 20 grade 6 boulder probs by end Feb (10/20) including at least one 6B+ (0/1). At least one day sports climbing (1/1)

MTG - 50 sport routes by end of May (8/50). Onsight 6c by end April.

LTG - Pabbay Pink Wall E5

'Any' would be a start! Pretty despondent with this morning's weigh in, I'm heavier than last Sunday and I've been pretty strict all week. I was about to jack it in but not sure of the alternative, going full keto seems too impractical and anything else would largely involve what I'm doing now so I guess I'm going to have to tough it out a bit longer and hope things improve

The wall right of the main cave has some brilliant routes but other than that the place is mediocre, Notice Board Crag would give a better day out

Well I took delivery of another device (an Armaid) this week, not sure that counts though.

Tue: Beacon, still waiting for the great leap forward but definitely felt like I was moving better although I know some of the routes quite well now (although my best effort was on a new one).

Friday: Disappointing session on the home board. I couldn't do all the moves on the red/yellow circuit which and my elbows were pretty sore afterwards. I think I'm going to have to give it up for a while as outdoor and Beacon seem not to affect my elbow as much. Problem is I'll struggle to find people to go to the Beacon with twice a week (and its a long drive etc.)

Sat: 18 minute run (first since September). Achillies injury came back (it never went away) but reckon I can mange 20 mins every non-climbing day without making it chronic 

Sun: Pen Trwyn, shocking failure to do the crux move of the 6c warm up. Had a couple of TRs on a new 7a, this went a bit better but still disappointing. Then got back on White Hopes, was very cold by then but did ok on my one bolt to bolt.

I known when things turn they turn pretty quickly but feel I deserve more from my week given my commitment to diet and rehab. A stunning sunset  on the way home tonight (that really is something that Pen Trwyn does better than any crag I know) means I'm not sat here too down hearted!

Thank you Derek,

Better week, as I have somewhat decided to just get on with things.  The elbows issues, and having to hold back had made me loose the incentive to get out and climb, which is rare for me.  However, it has given me time to do other things in life and concentrate on the work more.  It is the middle of the winter after all.

I'm definitely finding it hard to tell the difference between tendon pain the next day as good (as body responding to fix), or bad (as the injury saying stop)

Tues - Indoor session, gentle autobelays 

Fri - Outside on slab, new routes 5+, 6a, 6c+, 6c, 6b+   Elbows ok as its slab

Sun - Indoor session with my little girl (5), had a lovely time working the auto belays together.  Her climbing rainbows and really focusing on how to get up it, and me in my trainers up to 6b+ and adding a bit of bounce to the moves, and the elbows seem ok.

If you need a belayer I have the Krottenseer Turm Westwand on my to-do list

Sometimes we choose our deload weeks, sometimes in winter "deload" weeks choose us.

STG: Kalymnos training: every lead session at the wall, get on something outside my onsight comfort zone and either get up it or fall off it. Current score: 4/4 sessions
MTG: April Kalymnos trip with my son: tick at least two things from my wishlist
LTG: Be a confident, well rounded low to mid 7's sport climber. For measurable definition see Fit Club 823
LTG: Winter 24 or 25 - do an actual off piste ski tour.

M-W: In bed or on the sofa with blocked sinuses, headache and sore throat. I definitely had the beginnings of this already on Sunday: I don't think it affected my (lack of) technical skiing ability, although I guess it might have had a bearing on my ability to tolerate the continuual falling down/fighting to get up

T:    Feeling significantly better but still taking it easy - don't want to risk blowing my recovery by jumping back into training too quickly. Did some longer lower weight density style hangs in the evening
F: 
S: Had planned to go skiing in Stubai with a mate for the weekend to work on my off-piste skills as discussed last week, but called it off - better to make sure I'm 100% recovered.
    Fingerboard - a bit more towards the max end of the scale this time
S: Wall, Weyarn. Short convalescent session on the autobelays, which went ok - made significant progress on a 7a I've been trying, and onsighted a couple of new 6b+'s
 

Thanks again for all the time and effort you put into keeping track of what we've all been up to!

Project now ticked, see below.  Am going to hold off trying anything at my limit for a couple of weeks.  There are about a dozen routes at my local wall between 6b+ and 6c+, and I'm going to focus on these, trying to flash as many as I can, or at least not let them turn into multi-session sieges.

Yes, I've been incorporating parts of it (shoulders + legs) into my warm ups too.

Me too...  Am hoping to get out on Tuesday and to start crossing things off!

Last week

Mon - Carbon copy of previous Monday: projecting session on techy blue 7a at the Warehouse.  Dropped the top move a couple of times.

Tue - Hooper's Beta routine x2 during lunchbreak.

Wed - Got up the 7a with minimal fuss.  All the holds felt bigger than before, my fingers felt stronger, and my shoes stickier.  Looking back over Fit Club logs, this was my seventh session, with around ten serious attempts on lead.

Thu - Hooper's Beta routine x2 during lunchbreak.

Fri - 9km evening run.

Sat - Unserious morning session on autobelays.

Sun - Social climbing at the Warehouse.

Good morning everyone, thanks again Derek for excellent statting. A moderate week from me, with a strong but ultimately slightly regressive board session, and a day of punting around outside on too little sleep! I also missed a couple rehab tasks, but wasn't too far off par on that front.

Cheers! Elbow has definitely improved last week with the inclusion of some push work, so I should probably keep it up long term as a general conditioning thing.

It's certainly conducive to strength and power gains, but also I do wonder at times if I'm going too hard or too frequently. There's a thread on UKB at the moment discussing the relevance of high-but-not-limit intensity board climbing, which I'm keeping a keen eye on. Especially with the trip now only a couple weeks away, I think I'll stick with that anyway to further reduce my (re)injury risk.

Last Week:

M - Ice baths.

T - Weigh-in at 78.7kg. Moonboard. Managed a couple of good'uns, "Oh" which I'd tried and got close on a couple months ago, so great sign of progress, and "Colorado Hot Pocket" which is just a couple of ace big moves. A2 was a little sore at times, perhaps the dynamic nature of CHP was an error on my part. Right middle PIP a little swollen but not painful, I think my body is falling apart! Plenty of pushups and ice baths before bed.

W - Lunchtime density hangs. 3x30s, picking up 22kg off the ground. No complaints from A2 or PIP. Ice baths.

T - Gentle Moonboard. Just a bunch of new benchmarks up to 6C+. A2 still a little sore, definitely took the intensity too far on Tuesday, especially with some dynamic moves. Hopefully it hasn't set me back too far! PIP fine. A few pushups and ice baths to finish.

F - Rest.

S - Afon Lloer Boulders. Tried Lily Savage (V8) but couldn't get on with the first move at all, I don't meet the minimum flexibility requirements. Also tried Paul O'Grady sds (f7B) but my skin doesn't reach the minimum stickiness requirements. Or, more likely, a combination of not quite having the right body position and left hand strength. Later did some outrageous dyno action on the Drag Queen Roof, so the day wasn't a complete loss. A2 made it's presence known but not painful.

S - Rest.

Next Week:

5 ice baths, 2 rehab hangboard sessions.

M - Rest.

T - Indoor session.

W - Rest.

T - Indoor session.

F - Rest.

S, S - Bouldering.

Goals:

Sort out the A2 injury. Idiot!

Antagonists.

Rigpa.

It's great this as I've never heard of most of these bouldering venues!  It looks like a lovely spot and has things at my paygrade.  Might have to get a guidebook...

Finger tweak alright on "moderate" terrain e.g. up to board 7B-ish so long as there's no left-hand crimps.

My wife had been taken out by a vomiting bug earlier in the week and I thought I had avoided it, but it caught up with me on Friday evening and wiped out the weekend.

Week 6

M – A bunch of air squats, then 1x10 45kg and 4x5 85kg deadlifts.

T – Warm-up 5x6 BW+7kg pull-ups. An-cap triples; 7B/60s/7B/60s/7B/180s repeat x6. I upped the intensity by adding a move to the start/finish, or swapping a hold on an established 7A+ BMs. 

Crimpd bar core (2x 500g ankle weights) superset with press/push.

W – Nada

T – 22km flat road ride. A few efforts maintaining 35kph for 90s or so. Legs weren’t having it though!

F – Nowt

S – Spent Friday night vomiting, and Saturday was a wash-out.  Annoying, as had a full day pass ☹

S – Slow recovery. Almost back to normal eating.

Thanks Derek, I went out this week hoping to have new bouldering super powers and I'm still the same old 7B boulderer who can only do harder problem if they are really long (like several 7Bs together) rather than actually any harder!

Mon. Secret garden, tried a couple of different 7Cs and never got off the ground! You win some, you lose some!

Tues. 26km on the bike. Smashed it up long hill from Whaley to Buxton as fast as I could.

Wed. 10km run with 300+m ascent 

Thurs. Back to secret garden to try some of the easier stuff. Pleased to do Right-Hand Duck (f7A) but no further success on anything harder.

Fri. Rest 

Sat. First visit to Rowtor Rocks, all the family in tow too. What a brilliant venue, will definitely come back. Tried Domes but couldn't do the big throw. Subsequent video beta trawling suggests there is a method using an intermediate so might try that next time. The heel toe was destroying my knee so sacked it off even through was getting close. Did several variations of Short Sean's the hardest being Short Sean’s Proper Extension (f7B). Walked the kids over to Robin Hoods Stride and Cratcliffe afterwards. Late back but much fun had.

Sun. Rest.

It's a cool place, amazing views over Tryfan. Paul O'Grady (f6C+) as a stand start is a great problem. Unfortunately there's not loads of quantity like Wavelength or Milestone Buttress, but certainly enough to justify the walk, especially if you explore the less visited stuff a little further west. Happy to provide recommendations on North Wales bouldering if you ever find yourself visiting!

Hi all. Thanks for the write up, Derek.

Had planned plenty of time for that goal of 10+ winter routes, but unfortunately the cons aren't playing ball. Although I'm keen for winter mileage, I'm not psyched for travelling north for mediocre (or worse!) conditions, so this weekend's trip was dropped, as will be the mid-week winter climbing I had planned for this week.

Week 6:

Some boulder problems ticked off the to-do list and a twenty-star weekend in the lakes partially made up for a lack of winter climbing.

M: Bouldering at Scugdale. Finished off the previous day's problem Black Wall Traverse (f6B+)

T: Trail run. 20.9km, 471m vert, 6:19/km.

W: Fingerboard and strength.

T: Bouldering at Wainstones. Highlights were Daily Bread SS (f6C+) (not 6C+ -probably low 6C) and Pebble Climb (f6B).

F: Rest.

S: Climbing at Gimmer (replacement for Scottish winter!) easy mileage in absolutely Baltic temperatures. Highlight was a damp Amen Corner on 'B' Route (VS 5a)

S: Climbing at Gimmer. More easy mileage, but felt a bit clunky and slow. Need to get back in practice at moving quickly over easy ground in less than perfect conditions. Highlight was 'D' Route (S 4a) -what a wild line for the grade! 

Week 7:

M: Run.

T: Climbing (supposed to be Scottish winter, but probs going to be rock instead)

W: Climbing and Run.

T: Climbing.

F: Run.

S: Fingerboard, Strength.

S: Rest.

STG (end Feb):

10 winter routes (1/10)

Average 27.5km running per week (On target at 27km)

Max hangs: 92kg (Currently 87kg)

Pull-ups: 97kg (Currently 89.6kg)

Weatherproof and rebuild home board.

MTG (end Apr):

The Jim Grin (7a)

4 of my big UK mountain day list.

Average 37.5km running per week.

Average 2 board circuit sessions per week.

Max hangs 96kg

Pull-ups: 102kg

LTG (End July):

Sula (E2 5b)

Classic Envers rock route.

One of my Grande Course wish list.

Thanks Derek. Pretty wiped out midweek this week but a positive assessment session with biscuit, decent fingerboard sessions on Monday and Sunday and an ok wall session Saturday leaves me thinking the overall doesn’t stack up terribly.

Monday - fingerboard. Decent session working on the 10mm edges, did 10s hangs at bw+8kg

Tuesday - walk to and fro work, c3.5miles

Wednesday - assessment with biscuit

Thursday - about 2.5 miles of walking to and fro work (some bus as running late). Did some of the assessment tests but otherwise was just feeling a bit wiped and went to bed early.

Friday - hamstring rehab, some rotator cuff exercises

Saturday - wall. Took a while to get going, generally not feeling strong in the shoulders, but the heel was fine and I had an ok session.

Sunday - parents house, portable fingerboard session. Tried the 3 3-finger combos (3 finger drag and front 3 and back 3 half crimp). It’s hard to go full gas on a portable fingerboard hung at the top of a set of stairs but I was quite surprised to find there didn’t seem to be that much difference between the two half crimp grips - perhaps on a proper rig you could see it better, but it certainly didn’t feel like a huge gulf (I was hanging them both at bodyweight for a count of 7-8). I wonder if maybe the 3 finger half crimp is stricter than the position those fingers are in with the fourth finger due to respective finger lengths. 3 finger drag seemed the winner. Anyway, a fairly decent session really, was pulling hard.

Thanks Derek. Well the week started off well anyway....

M - I managed the early morning gym session - Yay! Leg exercises for sore knee.

Lancaster Wall - 10 on 10 off x 3

T - Rest

W - Boulder UK - Broken halves. Tried to up it but couldn't do any of the hard moves on the 7b+ or 7c circuits. Completed the session at 7a+.

T - Gym - 1/2 hour cardio. Leg exercises for sore knee. Bad sleep.

F - Preston Wall - routes - struggled. Kept feeling recovered but when I set off I couldn't do any hard moves. Bad sleep.

S - Felt ill. Was supposed to go for a walk but slept on the sofa instead

S - Eden Rock - pottered about. 

So now I am officially ill and this is what has been taking the edge off the last week or so.

Nothing to do but ride it out and get well for the trip in 2 weeks time.

On the plus side my knee isn't sore!

Following Alan's lead - a bit of a month in review for January.

Zero actual climbing during January, including absolutely no wall visits.  Quite pleased to have stayed true to my dislike of indoors!

Did well training - 19 days in the month or 61%.  I didn't particularly hammer it, but I did build up steadily and certainly had to push hard to hit the max hang targets, which I revised upwards when I hit my original goal mid-month.  Pleased also to integrate stretching and make good progress.  also pleased with Hooper's beta as a bit of general conditioning.  I'm also trying to do four sessions a week, but haven't always managed this.  Weighted pull ups are also slowly improving and I am now targeting a 2RM at +20kg by the end of February.  This should be 130%.

Failed with keeping repeaters on the programme.  Whenever I was pressed for time, that was what I dropped.  I'm back climbing outside again now and noticed that endurance is poor, but happy that it will return over the month.

Weight reducing - peaked at 68kg after the festivities, but now at 65.5kg.  Will aim for 64kg by the end of March.  No running in the month, but thinking of getting this going soon.

Thanks Derek, a flying update as the week seems to be getting away from me!

Monday, rest day

Tuesday, 16k ride into work and 1k lunchtime swim

Wednesday, 12k lunchtime run

Thursday, stretch class

Friday, 2 k swim

Saturday, 6 Nations and beer 

Sunday, 5 k run

Hi Derek,
again, thanks for your thoughts and tips. It's helpful to listen to another voice. In the end I suppose cycles is all about positive synergies or loops, and maybe it’s a way of warding off negative thinking, namely of the type: you never do enough, you’re too old for this, etc.; focus my energies for four weeks or so on two areas besides climbing at the wall, and see how it goes, measurable progression instead of trying to cover all areas at once…which seldom turns out well or is sustainable. Now just got to knuckle down, take the plunge - and plan
The Dolomites were fantastic days, blessed with mostly great weather, no avalanche dangers to consider, the play of light, the colours, the stillness, the views, the wind-sculptured snow…a beer and a decent meal…hit the sack…

The training / touring week went thus:

Mon: stretching
Tue: boulder session Thalkirchen – the little boulder run continued, 11 6A/+s in all, six new ones, and even a 6B in three goes…finished on the 15° spray wall
Wed: stretching, light upper body work
Thu: train to the Dolomites, hike up to the hut
Fri: snowshoe tour Monte Castello; great day, indescribable views north-westwards and amazing close up of the Tofana peaks in the adjacent valley
Sat: out very early, perhaps too early, poor visibility due to low cloud cover; we turned back – an hour later clear blue skies; headed in the direction of Conturines
Sun: Sas Crusc…another fantastic tour

This week: bit of climbing partner chaos; my wife has Covid and my regular midweek partner is presently too stressed out with her little ones…so bouldering continues…

Wishing you and everyone else a good weekend.

Paul

Sounds good. I would be keen on going there as soon as conditions allow it.