[kroozin]

Hello people. I am a bit stuck with what to do with myself while the weather is terrible. I started climbing/bouldering about a year ago. I boulder at Summer hill in Hartlepool but the weather has been so crap I cant get out to play. My new college has a climbing wall about 12m high with an over hang and a features section. However all this top roped up and down climbing shit doesn't really interest me. My training at the moment consists of traversing the wall loads and making it harder and harder.

Anyway getting to the point of this post. How can I improve my bouldering/technique if I only have a flat wall to climb on. Oh and I am allowed to add/remove holds and create routes. Any suggestions on things to do or types of routes to set ?

Thanks
James

p.s If I pass my A-Levels Im coming to live in Sheffield to go to university     

[psychomansam]

Well if you want to improve technique, then a lot of time on rock/ a wall is a good thing, so keep up the traversing, vary the moves - bunched up, stretched out, awkward matches, delicate balancey switches and nice big dynamic moves on to horrible slopers etc. Face grinding heel hooks maybe?

Sounds like getting on the ropes would be helpful though, even if it's just as training for bouldering - go up! Especially if its got an overhang too.

If you are lacking the ability to climb on overhanging stuff/roofiness and want to train for bouldering, then think about what you're missing, and need to do to fill in the gaps.
Pure power on the arms - so do some fingerboarding/campussing/pull-ups/weights - in order of preference
The main thing is core body strength, so make sure to use shitty footholds so you're having to tense your entire body while traversing/climbing, and think about doing some training to supplement it a bit - it's fairly straightforward and obviously transferrable since you can do stuff that - like climbing - is just you lifting your own body weight. Planks are great for body tension - i.e. hold yourself in press up position (press ups are also good). Also useful to do them side on, resting on one arm (locked straight). Sit ups, obviously great.
If you want to improve your mantles, then do some nice tricep dips off a chair/bench

Do bear in mind though that you've only been climbing a year, so your tendons are still vulnerable - if you've had any problem with them so far, then you definitely want to be going for some less aggressive bouldering/climbing while you rehab them, or if they're fairly good, then alternate between aggressive stuff and not. May not be a worry, just a thought!

Or how about losing weight, or are you dead skinny already? Go running! (Or anything cardiovascular, but running is good for core strength)

Hope those thoughts help, but remember everyone is different, strengths, weaknesses and training needs. There are good resources if you dig about on here, or online, blogs, books etc


Have fun!!
Sam

P.s Eat less, climb more, or failing that, have a great big fry up and watch some climbing films.

[kroozin]

  Thanks a lot! Ill get trying the thinks you have said. I cant afford to loose any more weight I am just muscle and bone at the moment. 8 stone 9 and about 5 ft 10/11. I think that means I am "underweight" according to bmi 
I believe my core strength needs to increase.

Im off to climb at college now.
cya soon 

[highrepute]

I'd say the key thing for me when I started out was having people to climb with. Get some mates to climb with you and start setting problems for each other and being a bit competitive, if your lucky you'll find someone better than you who you learn from.

A steep wall is really useful for bouldering, helps with all types of strength. Could you traverse the steep wall maybe?

Why doesn't the top roping interest you? With what facilities you've got that sounds like the best way to get better. Again some enthusiastic friends could be useful here...

[Moo]

your eight stone 9 and five foot eleven, fuck me mate stick with it and you be pulling down big numbers in no time.

[kroozin]

Highrepute - there are plenty of people that turn up from college to climb. Yes they set little challenges but I find them to a certain extent pointless. For example who can get up/across in the shortest time ( usually the tallest/longest reach.) Yeh its fun and competitive, but I don't really feel like I am benefiting by throwing my self across/up a wall without any technique. Today I set a little challenge, I took my old tooth brush and said brush a hold before you use it. By the end of traversing I felt like my muscles were going to explode.
There are lots of people better than me at getting up routes. However I'd say I'm the top at bouldering. We had a little route going where you had to stay under a set line. The route was crazy ! I did manage to get the furthest by a great distance  but this is only one route. I plan to put up my own bouldering route using lots of smear/tiny edges for feet, mixed with some small pinchy's and some medium sized.

I cant traverse the steep wall its too small. Although there is an arret (spelling mistake ?) that I could do something on.

Top roping in general seems from my experience boring, maybe its because I have climbed the same wall for 5 month, 2 or 3 times a week. My teacher says that if I took my bouldering skills and strength then I could be a good top rope climber. College have put me in the climbing team (top rope competition,) I just don't know if I should be there. 

Moo: Thanks, its the sticking with it that is annoying me. I need to take my climbing to the next level.
 


My teacher is the inventor of a new product just coming out into the dry tooling/climbing market. They are called Schmoolz. I had ago of the proto type and they felt ok and were great fun. I tried out the final production set today and managed to traverse over 3/4 of the wall. Found it worked new types of muscle, I felt totally drained of energy. I think if I keep using these my endurance on the wall is going to rocket because you have to look for you next hold and think a lot more. That's why I love bouldering, it makes you think and feel.

If anyone is interested in the product you can find out more:
Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=274523017269&ref=ts
youtube : http://www.youtube.com/user/schmoolz

or you could pm me and I can put you in touch with the main man himself.

Admins/mods please dont lock my thread. If you don't want me posting about the schmoolz I will remove it just say 

[Paul B]

Your indurance will imrpove in a much more applicable way if you're holding onto the actual holds rather than a pseudo dry tooling pole.

I can't see those catching on either, walls aren't going to be too keen on anything that will increase the number of dropped items.

[kroozin]

I can't see those catching on either, walls aren't going to be too keen on anything that will increase the number of dropped items.

If you looked at the pictures you would see that they are clipped to the user.
They are massively catching on, they have many people hooked and wanting their own set. Maybe you should go to a "schmooling taster session" and see for yourself.

Anyway back onto the original topic.

  While waiting today for a supervisor (college rules  ) Myself and the others set about giving the wall a spring clean. We brushed down the holds with tooth brushes and hoovered all the crap/dust/fluff ?? that gathers on the pads. Then when supervision arrived I picked out two holds to go on a feature section of the wall just above the floor that comes out of the wall. I will put the two holds onto the small over hang featured section so I can do pull up's and hangs. They are just a couple of holds with flat tops about 2nd finger knuckle deep. I plan to also add some smaller holds the next bolt holes up or across. 

Didnt get any climbing done today, just a few traverses. Hopefully do a good session tomorrow.

[Paul B]

oh I see they have a loop of loose cord hanging off them. Even better 

How to you use undercuts? or pockets? or hold bigger than the diameter of the loop holds?

I still can't see these catching on and unless you're into Winter/Mixed I can't see the point whatsoever. If I see Patxi using them I'm in, until then I'm out.

[kroozin]

oh I see they have a loop of loose cord hanging off them. Even better 

How to you use undercuts? or pockets? or hold bigger than the diameter of the loop holds?

I still can't see these catching on and unless you're into Winter/Mixed I can't see the point whatsoever. If I see Patxi using them I'm in, until then I'm out.

Its elasticated.

You dont.

Ok fan boy.
 

[Paul B]

I think if I keep using these my endurance on the wall is going to rocket because you have to look for you next hold and think a lot more.

Look, you posted that with two links so its hardly me steering this off topic.

I'm saying that in my opinion they're by far not the best thing you could be doing with your time, but if you think they're going to make you an endurance god, crack on. I've never trained hard anyway.

I've never indulged in mixed or winter and I doubt I ever will but surely part of the skill is placing the axe? I read on a friends blog how difficult he found it to use an undercut with an axe on an indoor dry tooling route. Those loops can't do that, nor can they use pockets, nor (I would expect) can they hook onto edges with a low profile so basically they loop round jugs. WTF are you going to do on a route which has a few of these features in it? You're screwed.

[kroozin]

Schmoolz are to be used to have fun, train strength and simulate dry tooling. Try some and I think you will like them.

So what do you suggest I do with my time ?

I bought a pair of hand grip trainer things from tesco. What is a good way to train with these ? lots of reps, long holds or both ?

[Paul B]

Schmoolz are to be used to have fun, train strength and simulate dry tooling. Try some and I think you will like them.

To try some I'd have to buy some and there's no chance of that. No thanks.

I bought a pair of hand grip trainer things from tesco. What is a good way to train with these ? lots of reps, long holds or both ?

Are you just drawn to the most inefficient methods of training available?

Seriously, go and read the entire moon site, then read the beastmaker articles you might find some tried and tested training methods.

[kroozin]

Thanks  off to do some reading