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Training - where to start (Read 15712 times)

Mike_H

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Training - where to start
March 11, 2003, 10:31:46 am
Ok I thought I would post a message on training here.

To be honest I think it will be better received here, rather than getting loads of totally useless and contradictory answers over on CT.

Basically I'm looking for a bit of advice to get me started on a training plan and get motivated to climb harder this year. I'm not looking for any quick fixes, but need something that is relatively flexible so that I can stick to it.

At the moment I work fairly long hours, atleast a 40 hour week and then maybe another 20 hours a week on freelance work, as the nights get a bit longer I will begin to cut this back and aim to get out atleast 2 nights a week.

One thing I am strict on is keeping my weekends free and have begun to climb on both days generally boulder on Sat and routes on Sun.

At the moment I can onsight pretty much every 5b first go, 5c within five goes, but I cannot seem to get my act together and tick many 6a's hence me wanting to get my act together.

Any suggestions as to where to start?

fatboySlimfast

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#1 Training - where to start
March 11, 2003, 10:34:18 am
Dont say want u want to do Mike?
Routes or bouldering?

dave

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#2 Training - where to start
March 11, 2003, 10:45:36 am
Sounds like I'm being pedantic here but when you say 5c 5b etc i assume you're meaning english tech, but you could be meaning french grades or something?

As fatboy says before you set out its worth pinpointing exactly what you are trying to acheive. Are you mainly wantint go improve routes, if so, are you talking sport or trad? If you are talking trad, are you doing well geared steep pembroke stamina routes, or grit type short bold delicate routes? If its bouldering, similar questions apply.

Its important to have this explicitly set out, cos if you go off training without really knowing what you are trying to train you are bound to be wasting you valuable time.

Mike_H

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#3 Training - where to start
March 11, 2003, 10:57:50 am
Ok guys - I suppose these are fair points. I'll do my best to answer them.

Yes I'm talking English Tech Grade.

I'm really looking to progress in both bouldering and routes. What I'm aiming to do is concentrate on bouldering to push my tech grade a bit more.

I'm climbing HVS 5b without too much of a problem, and am looking to push this towards E2 5b by the end of the season.

Then next year I want to be pushing the technical grade and look how far I can progress past E2 at that point. Hence me wanting to boulder loads and push the tech grade this year.

I'm mainly climbing on trad on grit, with the occasional trips to lakes wales etc.

The types of boulder problems I seem to do well on are either crimping on reasonably small edges, or problems where strong lock offs are required.

P.S I should mention I've got access to a finger board at home, if some aspect of fingerboarding needs to be built in.

Cheers Guys

dave

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#4 Training - where to start
March 11, 2003, 11:20:18 am
In that case i would maybe suggest bouldering as much as possible, keeping it varied, i.e. different angles, hold types, indoor and out. If you are already good at lock-offs then try to balance it by doing some slappy problems. Also if you feel strong on edges, do pleanty of slopeing stuff. At your kind of standard i wouldn't advocate anything like campus boarding, just stick to actual climbing, getting technique good.

Someone else must have some good suggections too...

Bubba

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#5 Training - where to start
March 11, 2003, 11:27:25 am
I agree - just general bouldering but make sure you don't only train your strengths. As Dave says, if you're good at crimps, then also make sure to train slopers, sidepulls, undercuts, etc.

No point in getting good at just one sort of problem. General bouldering should improve your technique, especially grit bouldering where there is a lot of reliance on friction/balance and good technique rather than just cranking up a series of edges.

Mike_H

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#6 Training - where to start
March 11, 2003, 11:33:16 am
Can you think of any decent problems slappy problems I could have a look at in Yorkshire then?

dave

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#7 Training - where to start
March 11, 2003, 11:38:51 am
I no expert on yorkshire 6a bouldering, but what about:

That flying arete at Almscliff

Bubba

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#8 Training - where to start
March 11, 2003, 11:44:21 am
Ha! That problem feels really highball and gnarly - well it does to a wuss like me. Bridstones has much fine bouldering on slopers...and slabby walls like Smarter, etc are top class problems.

See Yorkshiregrit.com for more details, it should be back up tomorrow....

Mike_H

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#9 Training - where to start
March 11, 2003, 11:46:08 am
Yeah I struggled on both problems on Small Smart Wall towards the end of last year, definately got to tick them this year.

I'll have a look at Flying Arete next time I'm at Almscliff

dobbin

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#10 Training - where to start
March 11, 2003, 04:58:12 pm
It sounds like you have a pretty tight schedule to contend with too. I totally agree with Dave and Bubba that variance at your level is the key to improvement. Mileage counts for a lot. You may not be able to make it to the wall during the week due to your work commitments, but how about some sort of home training facility? this doesn't have to be a full on board it could be a combination of things, argos sell pull up bars for about £7.99, or you could invest in a fingerboard for about 30 or 40 quid. That way you can improve your finger and arm strength in a few spare minutes - these methods are boring mind!

When I first started out my parents had a loft with one of those retractable ladder things that you could pull down. I used to prop it on the linen basket (waited until me mam was out) and then climb up and down the back side of the ladder footless. I found this was a great way to get strong. Arguably this is also a great route to injury! listen to your body - stop at the slightest hint of joint pain (rather than muscular fatigue) and do make sure you warm up properly!

It depends what it is you feel is stopping you from pushing your limits. You may be dead strong already in which case go climb slabs!

Mike_H

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#11 Training - where to start
March 11, 2003, 05:13:34 pm
If I only knew!  I think sometimes it is really difficult to be objective about your own progress - this is definately where I'm at the moment.

I don't think I'm that far off climbing 6a I just need to get a solid 6a problem done and I'm sure I'll gain more confidence and the grade will come tumbling down.

I do think part of my problem is technique - more specifically footwork although since getting back from font I have noticed my foot work has improved quite a bit so maybe I just need to keep this in the back of my mind and think about my footwork more.

Maybe I just need to get up to the Bridies a bit more over the next couple of weeks and just climb as much as I can.

One thing I don't want to do is begin to start beating problems in to submission though,  normally I try and climb everything within 3 go's. If I can't do it I move on rather than get hung up about it, maybe to get over this barrier I need to spend some more time on a couple of 6a problems.

dobbin

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#12 Training - where to start
March 11, 2003, 05:21:17 pm
climbing with someone else, preferably someone better than you is a great way to pick up technical skills. Most climbers, even the good ones are pretty safe, so if you see someone doing a problem you like the look of - get the beta, if you can't do it, they might be able to tell you where you're going wrong!

Bubba

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#13 Training - where to start
March 11, 2003, 05:25:44 pm
Quote from: "Mike_H"
I don't think I'm that far off climbing 6a I just need to get a solid 6a problem done and I'm sure I'll gain more confidence and the grade will come tumbling down.

Try not to get too hung up on grades. If you choose problems because you like the look of them, the moves/line/etc and are enjoying your bouldering, then sooner or later you'll end up trying things that push your grade anyway. Also, Brit tech grades start becoming less meaningful the higher up the scale you go anyway. A V3 might have a single 6a move, and a V4 might have ten 5c moves, but the V4 is still probably a harder problem to do (crap example really, sorry).

Quote from: "Mike_H"
do think part of my problem is technique

That'll come with experience, and watch what other climbers do as well

Quote from: "Mike_H"
One thing I don't want to do is begin to start beating problems in to submission though...

Nothing wrong with having a few projects on the go, I've got problems I've been trying for years, but if that's all you do then you'll probably get bored quickly. Sometimes it can take a while to work out a sequence on something that's at your limit, but that's part of the learning process, so I'd say give up on a problem when you feel like it, rather than at a certain number of tries. Sometimes, something will just capture your imagination, and you'll want to try it all day...

Mike_H

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#14 Training - where to start
March 12, 2003, 09:29:53 am
Right guys cheers for the advice.

I'll get out there climb some more and start attempting a few harder problems and see what the next couple of months brings!

Bubba

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#15 Training - where to start
March 12, 2003, 09:35:17 am
You can sometimes surprise yourself when you try harder problems. If you go around thinking "I'll never do that, it's 6b", then the chances are you won't succeed. If you forget the grade and just get on it and try it, sometimes you can find you'll get further than you think. Positive Mental Attitude and all that stuff....

There are limits of course, and I'm not saying go try Walk Away sit-start or something  :wink:

nik at work

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#16 Training - where to start
March 12, 2003, 09:46:18 am
You've mentioned your footwork as a weakness.
One of the best ways to improve footwork is to try tolimb slabs without your hands and try and climb vertical stuff with only one hand. This forces you to really think about your foot positioning and the orientation of the forces you put through your feet. You will be surprised by:
a) the steepness of slab it is possible to climb no-handed
b) the amount of times you can take both hands off on a vertical wall with a bit of foot trickery.
When I started really climbing (i.e. doing it lots) I quickly realised that I was never going to be that strong or flexible or a big stamina monster (I have none of these things natrually and I'm too lazy to train properly) so I really focused on technique and footwork. My top secret training device is a piece of ply wood about 3 foot high by 4 foot wide which I have in my garage covered in a range of slopy holds. Rather than mounting it in the air and hanging from it I have it set up at a slabby angle on the ground. I then jump onto it with both feet at the same time and try and land in balance on the footholds without using my hands. Doing this is very frustrating and hard but it will give you killer balance andordination with your feet.

Bubba

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#17 Training - where to start
March 12, 2003, 09:49:53 am
Quote from: "nik at work"
My top secret training device is a piece of ply wood about 3 foot high by 4 foot wide which I have in my garage covered in a range of slopy holds. Rather than mounting it in the air and hanging from it I have it set up at a slabby angle on the ground. I then jump onto it with both feet at the same time and try and land in balance on the footholds without using my hands. Doing this is very frustrating and hard but it will give you killer balance andordination with your feet.


Wow! I've never heard of anything like that before - good thinking slabmeister!

nik at work

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#18 Training - where to start
March 12, 2003, 10:21:13 am
Yeah it really works well. But like I say it is the most frustrating thing cos you just fall off constantly to start with. I used to try it at the wall, but got fed up of people looking at me like I was a prat. It is a bit like slacklining in that the brilliant thing is that when you can do it you can show your mates and they will fail horribly for ages and theink you are some kind of ninja superstar. The trouble is it still means I can't climb the steep stuff and I have no stamina and minimal strength so maybe a slightly more rounded approach to training should be adopted. :)

dobbin

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#19 Training - where to start
March 12, 2003, 10:29:29 am
in the olden days (FatBoySlimfast will confirm :wink: ) people would advocate climbing with only one foot for technique sakes. Its quite fun if nothing else!

Bubba

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#20 Training - where to start
March 12, 2003, 10:34:09 am
Those hands-free problems at the Cratcliffe top boulders are a right laff...unless you blow it and scrape your chin down the slab.....

I might have to patent the Ninja Footwork Board - could be the next big thing  :D

nik at work

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#21 Training - where to start
March 12, 2003, 11:47:04 am
Bored at work so just cobbled this together if anyones interested...
http://www.geocities.com/nikatwork2003/

Bubba

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#22 Training - where to start
March 12, 2003, 11:51:42 am
Ha ha! Nice one - are you a CAD person or something then?

nik at work

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#23 Training - where to start
March 12, 2003, 11:55:35 am
No, you may not believe it from looking at that page but I work in web development.
Just have a 3D program on my comp so thought I'd have a quick play...

Was quite good fun actually, anyone know how to get into CAD, preferably the route which involves immediately getting a low stress part time job paid big wedge with no experience required? :) ...




..No I didn't think so. :cry:

dave

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#24 Training - where to start
March 12, 2003, 12:15:32 pm
Can you do plyometrics on that then, like 2-footed dropdowns and stuff?

 

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