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_847-7607...

Ian Parnell:  Plenty of very positive reactions to your trip report across the thread last week – not surprising as it is hard to imagine a more successful time being had.  Lots of great routes done and even getting on to the original target route at the end of the week.  Excellent stuff.

Good reflections on your fit club voyage as well.  It feels like you have been on here for ever, so it was a bit of a shock to be reminded that you only started at the beginning of the year with your quite ambitious plan.  Clearly, your approach has worked really well if it has got you ‘into a state where I climbed better that I have for many years’, all the more remarkable as you haven’t had that many climbing days across that period.  It will be interesting to see where you go next and it might be worth thinking about goals again, now that your original goal has come and gone?  Mind you, that week has put a lot of credit in the bank, so you could just kick back and relax!

Somerset Swede Basher:  Sounds like a busy week getting back to work after the holidays – exam time so somewhat inevitable I guess!  Anyway, the long break will soon be here. 

Excellent to see the bouldering appearing on the report – those sessions snatched as you cross the Peak often seem really productive and is something I used to do myself years ago.  It is a good way of putting some quite intense effort into movement and a lot more fun that messing about on a fingerboard!

Great to get onto Mortlock’s Arete as you have had your eye on it for a couple of years.  A bit of a shock to discover that it is so difficult however, though a lot of that has to be the conditions surely?  I know I’ve found things difficult over the last week or two – some of it is a lack of recent mileage, but it is certainly compounded by the debilitating heat.  Not sure you chose optimum conditions for something notoriously strenuous, sustained and slippy!  I keep looking out for the rematch, but no sign yet.

Impressive distances for the kids on a hot day!

I like the upper body routine you have got going and the pull ups at plus 10kg are quietly impressive.  A good foundation being maintained there.

Tyler:  Sorry to hear that ‘the wheels have come off’ and pleased to see that this week is likely to include a good return.  Interesting reflections on trad and the amount of time that can get consumed – you are right, but I look back at the some of the days I had when younger with disbelief.  Some of it is definitely the absence of broader hill fitness for me and that the approaches take much more out of me than they used to in the old days.  Just got to do more of them I guess!

Picked up a copy of the new North Wales Limestone guide so am still fired with enthusiasm for the area.  That said, had a fairly poor return from a Lighthouse session on return from holiday where everything felt much harder than it should have done, but enjoyed getting more familiar with some of the stuff down there anyway.  I’m starting to develop my own unfinished business list lately, which I don’t want to be habit forming!

I think I’m reluctant to comment on the dietary list you provided and indeed the very fact that you assembled it probably says it all anyway.  I’m also inspired to list my week’s drinking as a similar parade of shame!  Might make you feel better about the fast-food based diet…

Like the idea of ‘what would Ian do’ wristbands to drive the appropriate mindset, although I’d reflect it soes arrive at some point for me and I’ve decided that I don’t get much value from forcing it.

AlanLittle:  Some good learning on your kilterboard projects, although no quick solutions from the beta video.  Anyway, it is all progress towards finding solutions and eliminating the things that don’t work.  I like the shoulder health workshop – a very positive approach to a perceived weakness is always good for confidence and broad-based capability.  I guess a lot of the gains we strive for are fairly marginal, but I like to think about a process that improves the odds by working on a variety of contributory factors.

A decent day out at the weekend with a different focus to the last couple in the Frankenjura.  As you remark, doing something different probably helps with endurance and the head and ticking things is fun isn’t it?  Good to be getting out and applying yourself to things and nice to be doing it with somebody new as well.

The walk sounds great.  For years I hated walking, but realised it was because I was usually flogging up to crags with a big bag of heavy gear.  When I had kids and started going for walks in the Alps, my views changed dramatically and I’d say I almost prefer walking in the mountains to climbing them (after all, the Alps close up sometimes resembles rubble, whereas it always looks nice from a footpath).

Biscuit:  I’ve got Pembroke on my list regardless, but as you suggest, let’s see what develops.  I’ve got quite a bit to fit in over the next few months, but I will keep it open as a possibility.

You are putting quite a lot of volume into the strength sessions.  Should you be reducing reps and raising loads if strength is the aim?  Re-reading it I think that is your basic plan anyway!  Good to see that your open hand work is showing gains already – some of this must be neural – and it demonstrates what can be delivered with a bit of focused attention to a weakness.  Impressive.  I think you identified this on a particular sport route, so you’ll be ready for a rematch soon.

These weekend trips are getting really adventurous – Gower one week and then off to the Ben with some great ticks obtained.  Good to take advantage of the weather though the trip in the van must have been a bit of a grind in the heat.

Liam P:  Spanish wine club is something of an experience.  Needless to say not a good week for the diet.

That does look like a strong training week.  I’m impressed when people put together such strong weeks in the middle of the climbing season – very focused to be keeping working so hard.  Making decent, tangible progress on the micro hangs with a 20% improvement in time over the week – I guess much of this must be neural as it is with most max hang type things.  Not that this matters as it still means doing things you couldn’t do previously.  Also, impressive progress with the one arm hangs and the lock offs work – some real strength showing here.

I commented in the week on the diet thing.  I had a good week losing holiday weight and more, but have just got back from partying all weekend with my daughters, so expect that the scales might be groaning tomorrow!

Randy:  Great to hear that your application to one-arm work has delivered such good gains and it sounds like you are now really close.  Pulling 177% on a bar is really strong and it will be interesting to see how this translates to moves on rock.  I’d reflect that you should have the strength in hand for some big numbers in terms of grades (i.e. your benchmarks must equate to climbing at a much higher standard?).

As before, some great performances running giving me something to chase!  Some of the distances and times you are putting together are really decent, though I know you have running in your history.  I did some speed work this week and really had to work hard – bizarrely my heart rate reported lower than usual so the wrist-based measurement is clearly BS!  Your bouldering is continuing to show good results with a lot of good grades being achieved.  You say 7a/7a+ shape, but as above, I think your markers would indicate a fair bit higher than that.  Also your floorwork is going well with handstands seeming stronger than when they were clearly one of your targets.

Mattrm:  Now I’ve got your goals I’ve got something else to benchmark, which I find motivating and helpful.  I haven’t set myself a 10km goal yet, but want to get my 5km down to 30 minutes by the end of July.  Mine is mostly pretty flat canal running though, so the comparison isn’t very fair.  I should probably introduce a bit of up and down, but I definitely associated that with injury (ITBS) last year, so I am being cautious.

You should be happy – three runs and some basic goals set is a good start with a plan.  I’ve no real experience with running other than regular jogging, so I am interested in approaching it a bit more thoughtfully over this year.  Quite interested to see if I can get my times down by using a structured approach.

Are you still hoping to climb at some point?  I’m sure you wanted to get some done earlier in the year…

AJM:  Weather makes such a difference to UK holidays – if you get it decent then there is no finer option than staying closer to home, but we’ve all experienced washouts I’m sure!  You might plan something for August and get a lot more ‘rinse’ from your repeat than you hoped!

Yes, I think the planning bit is pretty critical to getting something done with kids.  I do remember coming to terms with the idea that it wasn’t ever going to be how it was BC (before children) and I soon realised that the more I worked with making things work for them the better.  Via ferrata were something that really worked well in giving a mountain experience with everybody involved, though I think there is some concern about lighter weight children potentially not activating the dynamic aspects of the systems nowadays.  A long while since I’ve done any, but lots seemed to have alternative harder or easier versions as well.  Similarly, canyoning was something they liked and it felt adventurous.  We were also very surprised with how far they could walk in the Alps when young – certainly Robyn (youngest) went to over 3000m when she was still only three.  Anyway, glad the Wales / Peak trip worked well.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Ross Barker:  Good to see some gains apparent on your return to the board.  I hadn’t really registered the absence of board sessions – probably because you were reporting lots of outdoor hits instead.  Anyway, some good ticks considering you were out of practice!

Lots of effort going into the Dugout again, though it sounds like a fairly tough session.  Not sure I like the sound of the kneebar rest, but it also sounds like you are working through it and it is getting closer.  The start of the DWS season sounds relaxed though also fairly intimidating?  I don’t know the venue though it is down towards the Lleyn isn’t it?

A week away from it might be good as conditions have been really hot anyway.  Certainly well above optimum bouldering temperatures I suspect, though AJM and Tyler got some done recently and SSB continues to chip away at the Peak District on his way to and from work.

Tom Green:  As it happens, I’m okay with statting for the foreseeable future and may well stick with it for a while.  I guess I am just encouraging people to chip in, which I think adds to the whole thing anyway. 

I think your approach (more climbing) is clearly delivering better outcomes so I’m not sure that training being messed is that critical.  That said, some strength work doesn’t take long (like weighted pull ups where sets are typically quite short) and I am usually fine climbing the following day.  I don’t try for as many sets as I would in winter.  I guess I think of it as maintenance, though I do try to up the loads and make progress as well.  I also train things like slopers at this time of year – a different sort of grip than isn’t going to feature much through the following climbing day.  You seem to do well keeping the running levels up.

It seems like you’ve had a real run of poor health, though picking Burbage North was a beginner’s error!  That said, I’ve managed to find myself trying routes in full sun a couple of times recently as well, which seems to add quite a bit to the grades!  Anyway, as health returns, I am interested to see how you find the right balance.

SteveJC94:  Very interesting test results.  I’d say that I’m quite surprised that after three months essentially out of action and that coming after the winter training was only just getting going, I’m quite surprised that they are not a lot worse!  As you say, a good place to start anyway.  I’d also remark that the basic numbers are in a pretty good place anyway – you may have declined somewhat, but they are still numbers that many of us can only dream about, though you will have noted Randy’s weighted pull up results recently I’m sure.

Yes, good to be finding joy in some polished Stoney titbits.  A person in my circle gave up climbing for thirty-five years, having just returned from a world tour that included climbing in America, Australia and everywhere in between.  When I asked him why his response was that the Peak District somehow didn’t match up and he couldn’t get excited about it.  At least you continue to find delight in those scruffy little walls!  Excellent.  I look forward to seeing your exercise plan taking shape.

The Sheep:  You’ve had a very rough few weeks so delighted that this week saw a corner turned (if only in an ambulance!).  Reading your report was interesting, partly because the recovery was a swift as the original decline, so that you were back to a plan by the end of the week.  Given the description of midweek pain, I was really surprised and delighted that you had got back out there again!  I like couch to 5k as a programme and it will give you control, though I expect you will feel that it isn’t stretching given your recent performances.  However, also delighted to see that your wife is able to join you again.

Any idea what triggered this episode as the pain sounds horrific?

Ally Smith:  All mine were tiny to start and fairly easy to fit on one hand.  I think the lightest was 5lbs 10oz, but the others were only in the low 6lbs as well.  Despite this, it wasn’t long before they felt heavy to carry very far!  Following the birth, it sounds like you have all had a pretty difficult week with unwanted acrobatics, post-birth pain and family passing, so I hope things are settling down. 

As discussed, I have adopted your ‘daily minimum’ concept.  I think of it as a base level workout to maintain alternate days, but the idea is simply to have a consistent platform of exercise.  I’m still tweaking the content, but will settle on something soon to see me through summer.

Got the new North Wales Limestone and you are in it a lot!  A decent guide and inspiring as there is so much available.

A fairly impressive week from you with a pretty strong session on the Wednesday and some other worthwhile training through out the week.  Liam will be watching the micro max hangs with interest as he works down through the pull up bars.  I keep promising to redevelop my set up to include these, but I think it will wait until winter now.

Steve Claw:  That does sound like a heavy workout on your new line and reminds me again of the value of top roping stuff that is at or near the limit.  I did consider it this week, but it was just murderously hot so took it easy instead.  Good to get Tarzan done after top roping a few weeks ago and interesting as you have said that you often don’t bother going back to lead things.  It’s on an area that I don’t think was developed when I was there, so I’m not familiar with things at all.  Any good?  At least it is clean now though I think I noticed that it hadn’t been done much.

Another week with a lot of outdoor climbing and plenty of good results with new stuff and the repeats.  All this coupled with the workout on the harder thing is a fairly intense week so I hope the elbow is holding up okay – certainly no recent grumbles about it and another rest week coming up anyway.

Climbthatpitch:  Burbage is a fair way off your normal WYE Valley haunts though not the best place in the heat.  Long Tall Sally would have been hard work in those conditions so well done.  I think the gear slots are pretty worn nowadays as well, though it seems to remain popular.  Amazon Crack is entertaining though as you note grit can end to quickly.  Hope that it has helped with your crack climbing skills, though not sure how it will translate to Wintour’s or Shorncliffe!

I have done a fair bit on Fly Wall, but not been on Split Flies (which sounds fairly hard btw – unrelenting I think it says).  Good effort for getting on these things and giving it a go as it all helps develop something.  It has been intensely hot, so things are bound to feel harder as it just slows you down somehow.  Anyway, getting away for a weekend out of area was one of your goals, so that is a result regardless.

Inglesp:  Great bit of last-minute posting.  As it happened I was away, so I’m late myself this week and hadn’t noticed at that point.

Still climbing indoors in June?!  Obviously very dedicated though I think it is a club night of sorts for you?  I am trying to learn from these examples of dedication to the walls that I see every week from Germany, the Lakes and the SW and hoping that the enthusiasm rubs off on me for winter!  I really need to train movement and strength at the wall this winter, so I am working on motivation now!

Pull ups going along well – sticking to the pattern of 3x10 twice a week.  Getting running done (especially hills) is also good and keeps that early season fitness going along nicely. 

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks Derek, I was a bit shocked at how hard mortlocks felt but I think I might just be a bit out of shape at the mo, confirmed by some sessions where I've struggled this week too. This week has been really busy at work (my GCSE students had their last exam for me on Friday so it should get lighter now) plus it's been Mrs Swede and small Swede's birthdays so lots of family stuff over the wkend and unfortunately another week with only 2 climbing sessions.

Mon and Tues. Rest, busy at work.

Wed. Cornice session, got on an 8a (Unleashing) that I've not tried before and it felt really hard, the first half felt ok but there were 3 sections on the top wall I couldn't work out the beta for.

Thurs. Rest.

Fri. Back for another look at Unleashing. Worked out one of the 3 sequences I couldn't do, still feels well beyond me at the mo though.

Sat. Party day! Combined 7 and 41 yrs parties at our house.

Sun. Squeezed in an 8km run. More party activities.

In reply to Derek Furze: Thank you Derek for your stats. I think one thing I’ve learnt from this training block is that even though I got injured, occasionally struggled with some training sessions, felt tired and often didn’t get the returns out on rock I wanted I managed to put together a consistent block of training. I think this consistency has been the key.

Monday-Thursday: nothing but work and eating, felt exhausted.

Friday: aware I needed to do ‘something’ tried some Yves style finger edge lifts using 20mm? Edge on Lattice lifting block. Series of 5 quick lifts. 2.5kg, 5, 7.5, 10,15, 20, 25, 30. Tried and failed 35kg, then 32.5 Left x2 Right x4. Approx 2mins between lifts when warmed up. Found these surprisingly hard and  mind boggles at Ally’s 70kg!

Saturday: quick session to begin to get back into pull-ups. Aware that one of my many weaknesses is the huge difference between my ability to pull on flat rather than positive holds so tried the 45mm slots on Beastmaker. 2 pull-ups x 6 with 2 min rest. Easy session but injured myself previously on pull ups so aiming for very gradual progression.

Sunday: 4 mile jog in woods

Talking of consistency- this week I’ve consistently done very little except go on an eating frenzy! I think therefore my short term goal will be to gradually get back into a training routine whilst trying to maximise climbing opportunities as they come along.

Medium term goals are basically a route tick list aiming to get on at least a couple of Byzantium (E4 6a), Mortlock's Arete (E4 6a), Flaky Wall (E4 6a), Right Wall (E5 6a), Mother Africa (E4 6a) or Wall of the Worlds (E5 6a), False Gods (E5 6a), Breakaway (XS 5b)

long term goal might be something involving running and climbing, plus something hard in Scotland which might be too ambitious?

In reply to Ian Parnell

I think you'd absolutely cruise Flakey Wall. Supersonic too. You can rest your way up both, the gear isn't fiddly and there's a massive rest in the middle.  I think you'd be fine on Right Wall too, it's a bit harder than FW and S but not loads (probably 6b+?).

Mortlocks felt about 8b the other day but I know it can't be so message me for another go when you're keen!

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks Derek. A major setback at work badly affected my energy and motivation for everything else this week, but a plastic 6c+ tick and a deadlift pb were at least some consolation

STG: tick any of my local long term projects
MTG: tick my first 7a for two years
LTG: Be a confident, well rounded low to mid 7's sport climber. For measurable definition see Fit Club 823
LTG: Winter 24 or 25 - do an actual off piste ski tour.

M: Rest day. Half an hour stretching before bed

T: Wall, Thalkirchen. Routes. Have been focusing on bouldering lately for my midweek wall sessions, but I've noticed the last few weekends that I really need to do some work to get my head in order on anything other than already-familiar projects. So time for some falling practice. Met up with a bunch of friends, including a couple of my most trusted belayers, so was quite happy to get some moderate mileage in and jumped off most of the routes. 6a 6a 6b 6a 6b 6b 6b+
    45 minutes bike there & back

W: Rings: pullups, dips, supports, face pulls

T: Disaster Day at work.

F: Wall, Boulderwelt circuits. A desultory and unfocused end to a dismal week, although I did tick a 6c+ in a handful of goes, so that's something I suppose

S: MTB in the woods 2½ hours

S: Just to add another disappointment to cap the week off perfectly, my shoulder health workshop was cancelled. I had already bought a non-refundable ICE ticket to Erlangen, so I decided to head up there anyway and check out Blockhelden, the supposedly biggest bouldering gym in the world. It's certainly big, but other than that I found it not particularly amazing. For atmosphere and routesetting would still regard Café Kraft as the better option for a rainy day in the Frankenjura.
    Blockhelden does have a fully equipped weights room and a nice yoga room though, so I took advantage of both. Deadlift sets of 3 in 10kg increments from 70 up to 100 - pb and my first ever three figure lift! Plus false grip hangs, shoulder press, face pulls and half an hour stretching.
    1½ hours in total cycling to & from railway stations at both ends
 

In reply to Derek Furze:

Rubble and/or dodgy snow conditions. This sent me off on a long trip down memory lane / through my logbook archive to review my long and complex relationship with an utterly obscure alpine foothill (feel free not to bother reading) The foot of the mighty Hohe Kisten (1920m) is a convenient 40 minutes drive from my front door, right at the end of the Garmisch autobahn. The Bavarian foothills aren't particularly high, but being pretty steep and on the north side of the range, they can be in winter conditions at any time from October to June.

March 2014: the voie normale up the north east corrie. Nice woodland hike with a little bit of UIAA II scrambling at the top. Turned back by deep snow & zero visibility, no tick. (Also no gaiters. Won't make that mistake again)

March 2014 (2): north west corrie. This is a popular ski tour - though way too steep for my skiing ability for the foreseeable future. Tried it on foot. Turned back around 1500m due to snow conditions feeling iffy - and had my suspicions confirmed by fresh avalanche debris over the path on the way down, that wasn't there on the way up.

June 2014: Failed attempt #3, a direttisima up the pathless north ridge. Turned back by scary choss. 

August 2014: Summit Day!! I was supposed to be climbing in the Kaisergebirge but it was raining. Long wet weather hike from the south, taking in some other summits and a hut lunch en route. Hut lunches are a major plus of bad weather hiking in the alps, compared to huddled shivering behind a cairn in the Lakes or Scotland

Having finally redpointed the proj, I shifted my hiking attentions elsewhere for a while, only to return with ...

Feb 2021: proper winter attempt on the NW corrie, properly equipped with snowshoes. Once again turned back due to snow conditions feeling too spooky for a solo outing

May 2023: actually hiked up a snowless NW corrie, which turns out to be a horrible loose scree grovel and very much not worth doing other than as a ski tour. Still plenty of snow up top on the other side though, which resulted in me not seeing the top of the descent into the NE corrie, and doing a very long and tedious forest road trudge down the next valley over instead. A good value mental endurance training day but rather light on Type 1 Fun

May 2023 (2): read on a blog about a "secret" hunter's path to the right of the NW corrie that isn't on the DAV map. Turned back at 1700 by snow & poor visibility

June 2023: ascent via now snow free and super scenic secret path, descent via not missing the top of the NE corrie route. Definitively the best way up and down.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Crumbs, did I promise that? Oh well, maybe next week.

I feel exactly the same, and that's despite feeling you had all the time in the world as a youngster whereas now...

I was impressed with the climbing at Penmaen head but I guess there is plenty as good near to you and the real draw of the Lighthouse area is the aspect. 

Yeah I almost an accidental tea totaler, I'd be in real trouble if that were to change. This week's diet has been better, so much so that I didn't have a chippy tea on Tuesday when I got one for my dad

Having just read his medium term goals these are now on hold, I'm not ready for that level of commitment yet!

M: Rest

T-W: Forced rest (went to see the Simon and Garfunkel Story on Wednesday, thoroughly recommended).

T: Drove around Eryri but kept getting rained on so ended up on my board. Oh the humidity! Trashed my skin before giving up.

S: The team suggested an early start was necessary for Devil's Gorge so was at the crag by 9 o'clock ('all training for the Walker Spur'). Connies weren't good but on my route that didn't matter. I hoped I'd get a couple of things done but Bananas and Coffee (7a+) took all day and all my energy. That I got it on my fifth trip up (including bolt to bolt) suggests I'm getting fitter, that it took so long is indicative of poor execution, something I'm normally quite good at.

S: Despite the iffy forecast I reluctantly answered Joe's bat signal for a belay at LPT as he's close on his project. Just as I was pulling up the heaven's opened so I came home and did 20 mins yoga, probably the most useful thing I've done in two weeks.

In reply to Tyler:

Crumbs, did I promise that? Oh well, maybe next week.

Bananas and Coffee.  That would do it 🙂

In reply to Derek Furze:

Cheers Derek.

If I was within 90mins of any climbing I definitely wouldn’t be training! But needs must, and only a few months until we’re moving closer to some rocks.

Mon

Antags & Core

• 15x reps of Reverse Crunch/TuckDFlag/StraddleDFlag then 5x reps of DFlag negatives
• Parallette BA Planche: 3x 8s
• Elbow Levers 3x 10s
• 10x 15 Parallette Pressups

Wed

Wall

• 3x 2 8mm Pull-ups
• Campus 30mm 1-4-6
• Hour on on the woody
• Hanging Wipers 3x 15

Fri

Fingers & OAPU

• OA Hang 25mm 6x 7s (90%BW)
• Lockoffs 3x 3 at Top/90/120 (90%BW)
• 15x reps of Reverse Crunch/TuckDFlag/StraddleDFlag then 5x reps of DFlag negatives
• Parallette BA Planche: 3x 8s
• Elbow Levers 3x 10s

Sun

Portland Bouldering

• One of those days where you’re falling off everything and it stops being fun. It felt more mental than physical so think it’s time to have a break from bouldering and get back on the ropes for a bit.
• Said ‘alright mate’ to Toby Segar which was cool, and went for a dip which was nice.

FatClub

Finally started shifting timber again. 81.5kg. -0.7kg on last week and almost at my 4month low of 80.6kg.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks for the excellent statting Derek.

STG - 5k - 30 mins

MTG - 10k 1 hour

LTG - Come up with better goals!

M - Rest

T - Rest

W - 3k run (23 mins)

T - Rest

F - 1.2m run

S - S - Rest

The 3k run was supposed to be 5, but I took a wrong turn and ended up home earlier than planned.  Nice to do a run longer than I normally do.  Hope to keep it all up and do a 5k this week.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Excellent statting Derek. 

I suppose it goes to show that building a good base over many years really does pay dividends. Also interesting to see how relatively low the drop off in strength is versus the massive drop in power endurance! 

though you will have noted Randy’s weighted pull up results recently I’m sure.

Absolutely, something for us mere mortals to aspire to! 

M - Board session working on a couple of 7B+ very fingery projects on the 30 degree board

T - Zone 2 ride. 28km / 112m ascent / 56minutes / 30km/hr average

W - Bouldering volume session with 10 problems on the 40 degree board (6C, 6C, 6C+, 6C+, 6C+, 7A, 7A, 7A, 7A+, 7A+)

T - Zone 2 ride. 39km / 242m ascent / 1hr19mins / 29.6km/hr average

F - Sunset bouldering at  Carrock Fell Crag, the highlights being Undercut Arete (f6C+) and Hanging Arete (f7A)

S - Dodging the showers at  Goat Crag, Borrowdale and  Steel Knotts (Borrowdale). Praying Mantis (E1 5b), Tumbleweed Connection (E2 5c) and Paint It Black (E3 5c) were all excellent. If it saw more traffic and had a good clean, I think Goat Crag has the potential to be one of the best crags in the lakes and has the benefit of a walk in thats shorter than the guidebook description for a change!

S - Prana (E3 5c) followed by Wild Sheep (E2 5b). Both stunning lines with great moves though the former felt very top end and the latter had a surprisingly bold start to the mid-height ledge

I'm planning to turn my attention more towards sport for the medium-term, partly as training for harder trad routes but mainly as I'm quite psyched to get out redpointing! Most of my mates are very dedicated to trad and aren't keen to clip bolts all day so on that note, is anyone from FitClub keen to buddy up (either as a one-off or more regularly) to get out redpointing either in the peak or in Yorkshire (Kilnsey, Gordale, Malham, Giggleswick etc), either at weekends or on alternate Fridays (non-working days for me)? 

In reply to Derek Furze:

Cheers Derek, thankfully the chronic pain was induced by an adverse reaction to new pain meds which somehow amplified the pain rather than reduced it. So recovery was as simple as stopping taking them  Still on the co-codamol but that is now down from 4 times a day to twice. Also you were right about the couch to 5k, i may have gone a little off plan.....

Monday, back in the pool, nice 0.5k swim to see how it felt. All was good but didn't try push it.

Tuesday, 1k in the pool at lunch time and 4,5k run/walk in the evening following the plan.

Wednesday, 0.5k swim, pool was busy so didn't bother with the 1k as planned

Thursday, 1k swim at lunch time. Started out on the C 2 5K planned run in the evening but after the initial walk/warm up i felt good so just continued with the run to do 5k at a gentle pace. So that's the couch to 5 k nailed

Friday, quite a while ago my wife and I entered the Rise of the Phoenix solstice run event at Beacon Hill in Leicestershire. You essentially run up and down the hill twice using different routes. Unsurprisingly its quite steep and a good challenge at 8km. Anyway we decided to just give it a go and walk when we needed to, given our recent history. Happy to report we both made it round with a bit of walking on the first ascent and mainly walking the second one. However we were not last and made it round without adding to our injury list so taking that as a win 

Weekend was spent being a parental taxi service as normal.

In reply to Derek Furze:

I am no so sure how much of that strength really translates to climbing it harder. My feeling is that pullup strength helps with certain kind of moves, but e.g. on my long term project Slimline (8a+) i don't think that pullup strength is a limiting factor if you can do at least 8-10 pullup. And my fingerstrength is more or less than with what you expect from  somebody who climbs 7c. Hence, just based on my strength numbers i would not expect big grades jump, though i am pretty sure that i would climb much harder if i've managed to climb outdoors much more.

My feeling is wrist based measurement is a little bit more prone to errors, but generally it works fine on average for easy endurance work. What i did notice when comparing it with a chest strap is that the latter is much better in picking up sudden changes, e.g. when you are doing intensive exercises with long recovery. And i also need to wear my watch quite tight if i want to get decent results from the wrist measurement.

Recap last week:

Mon: 45 minutes steady run; 4:31/km, 148 hear rate. Felt good so i picked up the pace a little bit and was running 4:20 splits towards the end

Tues: Rest

Wed: 20 minutes threshold run, 4:00/km splits on the first 4 km and then a little bit of a sprint finish on the last 500m to get under the 20 minutes mark for 5k in 19:52. 170 heart rate on average, 185 max. My watch also calculated my lactate threshold to 4:02. Will be interesting to see how that will develop over the next weeks.

Thurs: Assisted One-Arm-Pullups: 3 reps on each arm with 82,5% BW. Two more sets of 3 reps with 85% BW. Afterwards, assisted lockoffs with 92,5% BW at various angles. Was a little bit surprised that i needed that much assistance for the lockoffs, but i drained my tank a little bit more with the assisted one armers than i though. Afterwards some easy Fingerboarding with 90% BW on the 20mm egde, L-Sits and Handstand

Fri: Easy run, 30 minutes, 4:53/km, 133 heart rate

Sat: Long run, 70 minutes, 4:53/km, 135 heart rate, was still a little bit tired and the last 10 minutes were quite hard, but good to get the distance in. Overall mileage for week was 44km (or 27 miles), which is a decent increase compared to the last weeks.

Sun: Assisted One-Arm-Pullups: 3x3 at 85% BW. Afterwards, assisted lockoffs with 92,5% BW at various angles. Fingerboard repeaters: 3x6x7,3 at 90% BW on 20mm egde. L-Sit 20s,15s, Handstands, 2x12 Pikepushups, 25 weighted pushups with 10kg added, 45s V-Situps

Finger is feeling better but is still a little bit inflamed. Hence, i will keep the next week easy on the finger and just do 2 easy fingerboard session and see how it develops. On the bright side this gives me a little bit more time to focus on the one-armer training and my running. Quite happy with my progress on both. The last time i did assisted one-armers over a year ago i could barely do two reps at 82,5% BW and now i could do comfortably 3x3 sets at 85% BW, which is a big improvement. Running fitness also increases very nicely and it will be interesting to see what is possible if stay consistent with my running.

In reply to Derek Furze:

the last holiday before this one that we had in wales was a complete washout, so yes, this rings very true!

> Via ferrata were something that really worked well in giving a mountain experience with everybody involved, though I think there is some concern about lighter weight children potentially not activating the dynamic aspects of the systems nowadays.  A long while since I’ve done any, but lots seemed to have alternative harder or easier versions as well. 

I’d also thought about via ferrata, although partly also through the lens of it being a good way to get into the mountains given a half day pass without some of the faff associated with a proper mountain route - somewhere like the dolomites is on my radar for this at some point.

Monday - walk to and fro work, otherwise nothing.

Tuesday - 3x10 (well, 10,10,9) chin-ups at bw+6 in the morning. In the evening, a few sets of press-ups.

Wednesday - to and fro work, plus extended summer holiday faff

Thursday - see Wednesday

Friday - Lulworth after work - back in my happy place! I was feeling pretty wiped out to be honest, been struggling a bit with sleep with it being quite so bright in the mornings. So I basically did a bunch of easy stuff, sat on the beach and chatted, and basically just enjoyed being in the place

Saturday - lap of the park teaching microAJM to ride her bike. Still feeling tired. 

Sunday - more park lapping. Increasing microAJMs effective range is a valuable long term climbing facilitator In the afternoon I went to the wall for the first time in ages, which was good, I had a fairly decent session. Plus their shoe sale meant that both MrsAJM and (at some point when his feet get bigger) miniAJM managed to get a pair of shoes for £24 apiece with a free climb thrown in, which is a bargain by anyones measure.

Been struggling a bit with sleep. New sleep mask ordered as I suspect fading elastic on the old one may be causing it to let more light through. Otherwise an ok week - I went to the wall, I went to Lulworth, I organised a summer holiday, made some progress on other life admin, and there are vague shapes on the cards for Christmas and Easter that could be very appealing. Hoping to get out again this midweek. My parents are here at the weekend but there may be an opportunity for a power hour, who knows? If not I should try to get a pump on on the circuit board to prep for a long weekend the following one.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Good evening, hope everyone is well. Solid stats work as per, Derek!

Quite intimidating yeah. I think it's probably a combo of being an unfit boulderer, the cold Irish sea, a serious-feeling environment, and just generally not having that much DWS experience anyway. I'd like to push the envelope in that regard, maybe in hindsight I should've properly given one of the routes a go.

Enjoyable week from me, no climbing but one strength session slapped in the middle. Looking forward to getting back on it!

​​​Last Week:

M - Travel day, started at about 2am so didn't bother sleeping beforehand (yes, straight after Gwrtheyrn!) Got about 30 minutes of sleep in transit. Had maybe 2h napping in the afternoon after we'd arrived.

T, W - Swimming and walking.

T - Hotel gym. 6x7s one arm lockoffs with a couple kg cable machine assist. A couple lengths in the pool to cool off.

F, S, S - Swimming and walking again. Managed to capsize a pedalo...

M - Travel home.

Next Week:

​​​T - Climbing?

W - Rest.

T - Climbing.

F - Rest.

S, S - More climbing!

Goals:

​​​​​​Rehab vague left index tweak.

Improve ability on tiny edges.

Work on PE.

Oberth Effect Proj.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Hi Folks. Thanks for statting, Derek.

Week 24:

Still not feeling fully recovered from the lurgy. Not sure if it was something more than just a cold, or if I've gone from lurgy to hay-fever, but either way I've not felt very fit so deliberately taken it steady with the cardio.

M: Trad at Highcliffe Nab. Still felt ropey but crawled up Scarecrow Crack (E1 5b) and Queer Street (E1 5a) and had some good laughs.

T: Trad at Iron Crag (a great tip for hot days). Found the style hard and a bit scarey, so only led Granolithic Groove (E1 5b). Highlight was actually seconding Marble Staircase (E4 6a) -don't often get a kick out of seconding, but this was exceptional.

W: Prehab.

T: Core and prehab.

F: Supposed to be a big hill day before the rain came in, but got stuck in traffic for 3.5 hours. Managed to link three routes in Ogwen before the rain got too heavy to solo comfortably. Highlight was Grooved Arête (HVD 4a) -what a treat that route is!

S: Muchos partying for some friends' wedding. 

S: Trad at Holyhead Mountain. Somewhat weary from the previous day's celebrations but eventually pulled myself together for some evening soloing. Highlight was The Wandering Primrose (S 4a).

Week 25:

M: Rest.

T: Core and strength. Prehab.

W: Run.

T: Bouldering. Prehab.

F: Core and strength. Prehab.

S: Hill day.

S: Hill day.

STG (End June):

Average 2 core sessions per week.

Average 3 prehab sessions per week.

4 of my 'big mountain day' list.

MTG (End July):

Two routes off my alpine bucket list.

In reply to the sheep:

Nice one! That’s a good comeback. 

In reply to AlanLittle:

Awesome! A proper long term relationship!

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thank you Derek,

Its a very odd part of Avon, and no-one has really been there since the 90's when a few of the old aid routes were freed.  Its a 45 degree overhanging wall, so pretty rare in these parts and quite the challenge. However, it stays wet all winter and then is dirty from the seepage, so is an esoteric venue.  I led Trazan as we were doing other stuff there, its a fun route (in a Mendip kind of way).

Elbows are still an issue, but more of a long term niggle now, so I am trying to just get on with things and avoid those that upset them too much.

Nothing to report this week, a been away working.  However, I did manage to get a few hours a day to do some prospecting, with interesting results if I ever have the time to invest in that area.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Hi Derek,

A lot to read and catch up on for me with all the exploits of the Fit Club and what’s going on for some outside of / parallel to climbing and training: birth, injury, health, job…a tapestry indeed. I hope all are well, recovering and coping…and getting out as much as possible or seems appropriate…

Regina del Lago / Arco

We had a great week away. Lots of climbing, very fortunate that the weather held. The odd thunderstorm rolled in early evening during the first few days. Then a succession of scorchers, ca. 30°…the slabs up in the sun felt piping hot and the rubber seemed to be softening like cheese on a grill…releasing my feet from the ‘coffins’ of the shoes on the very last route of the trip: they looked as if Jack Nicholson had taken a shining to them – covered in red dye they wouldn’t have been out of place in a horror movie, hacked and mutilated…

I went with no goal but to climb a lot, find some rhythm and build a base on rock – so a general tick! Onsighted lots of 6a/6a+…– it was all very relaxed and I took things as they came, route for route, putting up top ropes for my wife…who herself climbed really well – how she gleamed after a very smooth seconding of a great 5c pitch reminded me that the joy of climbing has many faces.

Just being outside all day was great: the scores of sunbathing geckos; the climb & fly performance of a long-horn beetle (incredible antennas); startling two snakes mating on the path – they slithered off into the bushes still entwined; the reflection of the forested mountainside, sky and clouds on the lake surface, carps gliding beneath and mosquitos skimming across it – creating a quite enthralling illusion; was that a squirrel in a large hole on the slab, possibly hoarding its acorns behind the shield of grey rock? All kinds of little encounters like these…tired and contented (and no nightmares, amen!) I’m looking forward to the next outing…

So, back to training and a bit of taking stock. 8 days on rock so far this year, already more than half of what I’ve managed to climb outside over the last four-and-a-bit years. Another small step taken. To put it in black & white for myself, the background for the Fit Club starting situation is: 2018 was the last ‘normal’ year climbing for me. Days out on rock between then and this year, i.e. in just over 4.5 years, ca. 15, most of them ‘family’ climbing with my wife (ca. 11-12). At the opposite end of the scale are the plastic sessions – throughout therapy I’ve kept going to the wall (thankfully). What would the ratio be? 1:30…obviously I’m a grumpy old gym monkey
I mention this also because at times I did feel like a ‘plastic’ climber on the trip – pulling too hard, targeting holds without fully appreciating the subtleties of the rock and the possibilities offered by the terrain in between, etc. On the other hand, one of the good skills – in my experience and having started climbing at a relatively older age (46) – to be honed on a climbing wall is learning and enhancing the repertoire of movement. I couldn’t recruit this on the crux passage of the one 6b I tried, a strenuous and somewhat complicated bulge; swapping the handgrip from three fingers in a positive in-cut hold into an openhand palm, to me quite a standard move on plastic routes. In short, at times I was falling into (or am already in, as it were) the bad habits of plastic climbing without utilising the good ones. Eliminating the bad ones while recruiting the others will take some practice.

Where to from here? Something I need to mull over…and this post is already far too long in any case. But a thanks to all here on the Fit Club for my first 6 months. It’s been very helpful and productive.

Looks like two wall sessions this week for me and a ‘walk’ / ‘hike’ on the weekend – we’re off to the Berner Oberland in mid-July and a bit more stamina is needed…

Wishing everyone a good week,

Paul

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks Derek.

 Fingers crossed for Pembroke. We'll see what happens between now and then.

You are putting quite a lot of volume into the strength sessions. 

I'm roughly on a 5 sets x 5 reps protocol. It's going quite well atm and feels good to do midweek. 

Good to see that your open hand work is showing gains already 

It's improving for sure. I'm keeping at it and changing the exercises up a bit. 

These weekend trips are getting really adventurous

It was supposed to be Cairngorm and The Needle this weekend but with the weather like it is we've cancelled the long weekend and are just going to have a normal weekend. Probably local or maybe N Wales if that looks driest. I'll give you a shout Ash if we head down your way.

M - 20 mins on. Supposed to be 30 but I got bored.

Finger curls 4 x 10 @ 20kg.

Tired after Scotland so didn't do the gym.

T - Board - active finger protocol. 10 reps of 1 min.

14 sets of 4 exercises to make up for missing gym yesterday.

W - Gym work again 23 sets of 5 exercises

T - Rest as I couldn't bring myself to do a late night gym session.

F -  Reecastle Crag Rack Direct (E2 5b) and finally an E3 onsight with Guillotine (E3 5c) then played about on Penal Servitude (E5 6b). I couldn't do the rockover but I'm keen to have another look and headpoint it. 

S - Family stuff

S - Family stuff

More of the same this week and see what the weather brings at the weekend.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Great Stats as always Derek. 

Fly wall has some great routes on it and I find most of them a bit stiffer than the rest of the crag.

I'm defiantly not a person who likes the heat so now its cooling off a bit things are starting to get easier. Much better week for me this week and fit club is defiantly helping me keep on with my goals. If it wasn't for worry of reporting I wouldn't of done any push ups this week. Got home from climbing Sunday and thought Dam better get those done.

M - Rest

T - Exposure Explosion (HVS 5a) My first time to Ogmore and what a route. About as much fun as you can have on a traverse.

W - Went to Sirhowey for some sport climbing. 2 5c, 6a, 6b and then a few tries on a 7a but it was really hot again and noting felt like it was sticking

T - Swapped leads on Never Say Die (E2 5c) and seconded Yr Herwehla (E1 5b)

F - Rest

S - Yoga

S - Swapped leads on King Kong (E1 5b) and Firefly (E3 5c), lead Balls Out (E2 5b) in one big pitch, seconded Wurlitzer (E1 5c). 3 sets of 10 push ups

Lee

In reply to Derek Furze:

Yes, it's mostly a social thing -- it feels a bit too warm for trying hard!

An odd week last week with not many opportunities to get away, but still quite a lot to write about.

Mon -- Pull ups: 3 x 10.

Tue -- To Wintour's Leap again.  Climbing partner had had a minor non-climbing accident, so I decided to solo Central Rib Route I (S 4a), a route I've done several times and know well.  There was already a party on it, so I moved on to Bottle Buttress (VD 4a).  I got to an airy step right on P2 and, despite an emergency ginger biscuit, I found myself retreating and downclimbed -- oddly, this was not a conscious decision.  I led Tennis Shoe - The Direct Start (E1 5a) last summer which is effectively a much harder solo for the first ~25m, and I loved the way I managed to access a mental state of complete calm and focus.  This was missing today!

Wed -- Pull ups: 3 x 10.  Stretches: hip + leg flexibility.

Thu -- Stretches: forearm mobility.

Fri -- I tried Derek's suggestion of a pyramid of 100 pull-ups.  Didn't quite make it: I managed 1-9 without problem, then 9, 6, 6, instead of 10, 9, 8.  So 94 in total.  I'm going to keep doing pull ups until I can do this to completion, and then I'll find something else to do -- probably fingers!

Sat -- Eldest daughter R (7) has decided she wants to climb Snowdon this summer.  She understands that it's a big day out for a small person and that she might not be able to do it, but we talked about how we might practice for it.  We live at the bottom of the Cotswold scarp, and so we walked to some favourite woods at the top (we've always driven before), which is about 5km with 160m of ascent.  I reckon if we can do this four times in an afternoon, she'll be in with a shout!

Sun -- Joined friends at 4am for leg 10 of their 4 x 4 x 48 challenge (4 miles every 4 hours, for 48 hours) raising money for the Nelson Trust.  Running was barely more than a jog but the early start completely wiped me out!

In reply to inglesp: Wow! That is a highly impressive amount of pull ups. One thing is for sure, pulling power and power endurance isn’t one of your weaknesses 😅

In reply to Derek Furze:

Week 24

M – 45min CX ride. KOM’d a 3km section through Tatton Park (which I think everyone else must have done on MTBs).

T – Board – again, about 60% of Board10. Did a recent “7A+” BM. 3x11 35kg OHP.

W – Daily minimum. 2x12 Internal rotator rehab. 2x12 Assisted half lever-lifts.

T – 5x7 BW pull-ups. Warm-up with 2-arms, then Crimpd 10s hangs on BM2K central slot. Overall -2kg but managed a couple of -1kg hangs with both hands (a PB at this bodyweight).  Aero-power boulder intervals, 20x6C+.

F – short, but intense weights session. 3x11 OHP 36kg. Progressive heavier deadlifts, culminating with an axle deadlift 1RM @144kg. (I tried 149kg and got air under it, but felt like I was losing form, so quit).

S – Legs DOMS. 67min CX ride, another gravel KOM

S – Knackered.