[Tim Broughtonshaw]

if the squats and deadlift work hasnt mostly added muscle bulk to your hamstrings/ quads/glutes and lower back also then ill plat shit mate..

Cheers
Tim

p.s. hopefully the increased core stablility will help you out with your project?

[shark]

Thanks guys   

p.s. hopefully the increased core stablility will help you out with your project?

Hope so - in theory it should as many of the moves rely on reasonable core and lower body strength particularly the big throw/reach but also keeping weight down on the feet on the smears when moving back left which is the redpoint crux.     

[Jaspersharpe]

Walking back from the lab

[nik at work]

by having feet high I took the strain in my upper body which is better developed making the move less efficient but lower % in terms of failure due to feet popping.

Bloody ek, I do this all the time. One to work on then!

*wanders off muttering about coaching*

I'm not sure feet high is by necessity a bad thing and, without wishing to put words into coach Randalls mouth, I imagine he agrees. I've never had the delight of seeing Shark climb (or at least not that I'm aware of) so can't comment on his particular style but I'd suggest that perhaps his high footing style had become overly predominant and his repotoire of moves had been accordingly stifled.
I also regularly use a high foot, in common with lots of shorter climbers. It is often a very efficient way of climbing but along with pretty much all techniques can be over utilised and develop into a reliance.
Good technique isn't knowing HOW to flag/crimp/smear/egyptian/heel-hook/toe-hook/etc etc etc but rather knowing WHEN to flag/crimp/smear/egyptian/heel-hook/toe-hook/etc etc etc.

[shark]

I'm not sure feet high is by necessity a bad thing and, without wishing to put words into coach Randalls mouth, I imagine he agrees. I've never had the delight of seeing Shark climb (or at least not that I'm aware of) so can't comment on his particular style but I'd suggest that perhaps his high footing style had become overly predominant and his repotoire of moves had been accordingly stifled.

You're not wrong

To quote Tom's feedback on this point:

"Footwork and body positioning is one of the major areas in terms of technique that can be worked on for you. In terms of footwork – you could improve on your accuracy and timing. In terms of body positioning – you often will sit too high on moves, which means your hips come out from the wall too much and you involve you upper back muscles too intensively on many easier moves"

On training routes I am trying to re-educate myself to straight arm for holds where possible rather than bunch myself up. If you can reach a hold by straight arming it (and usually twisting) then usually it will be a more efficient way to do the move (but obviously if you can't reach the target hold then it isn't). There was a good illustration of this in Performance Rock Climbing where a burly overhanging route with a reputation for powerful moves was climbed by a relatively weak female climber by straight arming and twisting on all the moves. Can't remember the climers name or the climber. 

[SA Chris]

As part of your re-education you should wear a shock collar and have someone watch and zap you every time you get your feet too high. Quckly correct the problem.

[Norton Sharley]

FFS you'll be resting your way up routes soon Shark.  Where's the fun in that?

[comPiler]

I like Cezanne, Cezanne
23 March 2011, 3:27 pm

Anyone recall the Innes Book of Records? Thought not. I used to love it. Twas a surreal sketch show from the late 70's on BBC2. One of the songs went "I like Cezanne, Cezanne with him I know where I am". Innes was right. You do know where you are with Cezanne. Its all laid bare on the canvas with his struggle to represent the 3d world on a 2d canvas and being honest without resorting to trompe l'oeil trickery. He wasnt too intersted in the subject matter I think but more trying to reconcile the unreconciliable. His finished works were probably never for him a perfect end product but just a stopping point when he had eventually reached some uneasy equilibrium. I feel like saying "FFS Paul - stop torturing yourself and take up sculpture instead".

This business of trying to reconcile the unreconcilable is of course the meat and veg of anyone trying to be the best they can be in diffrent parts of their lives typically as a dad, spouse, climber and insert profession. There is an unrelenting grind of daily compromises which can get you to generally score well enough in all areas with the occasional victory to celebrate or set back to brood over. There is always the constant nagging doubt you could do better. C'est la vie. Or as Cezanne said to me only yesterday "FFS Sharky take up walking instead"

Source: The Shark

[comPiler]

Stepping down
28 March 2011, 10:09 am

Malham - yesterday. Beautiful day. A bit too beautiful for optimal conditions. It cooled down later though. Felt really bad and jaded on the warm-up. Head has been all over the place this week and find it hard to string two thoughts together let alone two moves.

I have recently been re-trying Baboo Baboo. The crux on it seemed as hard to me as it ever was. This is a route I have tried on and off for the last 15 years after doing Zoolook in 1994. Although Zoolook is graded harder (8a+ some would have you believe) the fingery brick hard crux of Baboo is something I can only just about dog.

The sequence I use is off a large sidepull to the left and a pinchy undercut for the right to go for a high crimp/pinch with the left. The normal sequence uses a high gaston for the left just under the bolt so you can snatch into a thin undercut with the right before going for the same high crimp/pinch. I had tried the normal sequence many times but it never worked and I concluded I just didnt have the finger strength for it. Today, on my second go up Andy Farnell encouraged me to try the normal sequence again as he was sure my sequence was whack. Same problem. Can't hold the gaston well enough to make the snatch. Doing this move I always use a high right foot (my signature move) but cannot put enough force on it to stop it popping whilst making the snatch. Then eureka. I tried it keeping the right foot low and pressing hard on it while standing tall and BOOM the thin undercut is mine. Using this undercut sets me up much better for the next long move for the high crimp/pinch.

It was funny in retrospect the rationalisation I used for not being able to make the move whilst up  there on the dog - lack of finger strength, lack of shoulder strength etc all of which seemed plausible. The real reason was my ingrained habit of placing my foot high at any opportunity. I'd like to report that I redpointed it straght after but it didn't happen.

Source: The Shark

[comPiler]

Cartoon time
17 April 2011, 5:16 pm

I wasn't especially looking forward to going to Font as the Malham season was in full swing and there were chains to be grabbed (I mean clipped)but it had been booked a year ago. We had spent last easter in Font and it had worked out so well that before we left we had booked the gites for this year as well - we being me, Rob Barker, Mark Hundleby, John Welford..and respective partners..and kids. This year with Andrea as well and her 3 kids that made a total of 21; 12 kids and 9 adults. Sounds like a nightmare but again it worked out superbly for everyone - no rain and good times all round.

In the past I never got on with Font and trips have left me fed up and frustrated. I like open spaces and always felt a bit hemmed in at forested venues like Font and the Frankenjura. Being shit generally at bouldering didn't help and specifically even shitter when it comes to bouldering at Font. But these last two trips have been different. First off they are family trips foremost - in fact it was Sonia who had made the arrangements. Consequently I had no particular expectations and consequently no self-inflicted pressure to perform and took each day out as it came. I left the evening planning to the others, Forest veterans to a man, and then was chaperoned each morning to typically esoteric quiet venues - I don't think wild horses could drag John to Bas Cuvier.

We got up at 7am each morning to avoid the worst (best?) of the heat returning around lunchtime. But it was a bugger to get up on the last morning. I felt done in from the climbing and was very tempted to lie-in as the morning sun started to poke through the sides of the curtains.

On the walk in we passsed an enticing and intimdating 7A crack line - obviously burly and a bit high for comfort. Further on we sussed out some warm-ups. It was a painful struggle just getting my swollen feet into my boots and I wondered again why I bothered leaving my bed when I obviously wasnt going to get anything done. But after a slow start the banter and beta started to flow and some keeness seeped back. Nothing hard was topped but some good fun was had from trying. We headed back to the crack we passed on the walk in and started to piece it together; two spotters on the ground and one on the boulder just behind. Rob got it first then John. Me and Mark struggled on the burly start. Then suddenly I was up there with the fingers of my right hand curled in the crack and thumb braced against the other side left foot on a sloper right foot trying to get purchase on a teeny weeny edge. With my whole body side-on facing right and with heart-in-mouth I arced my left arm over to reach for the for the jug. I touched it as the right foot slipped and was on the ground. Not a bad fall. I would do it.

The post match analysis identified that I needed to be more front-on to get better purchase on my feet and to be able to catch the jug better. We watched a pair of red squirrels. A few more goes and I grabbed the jug and yarded to the top of the best boulder problem I've ever done. Ever.

Source: The Shark

[Jaspersharpe]

What was it?

[SA Chris]

Fissure facile, actually grade 4+

[shark]

What was it?

I thought it was 'Cartoon' at Rocher d'Avon but looking it up on Bleau info it's actually 'La Fissure de droite'.   

[Norton Sharley]

You got video evidence?  I don't believe a word that Barker or Hundleby may tell me and Welford is such an enigma that we won't get to ask him.

[Paul B]

I'm amazed it was 'that' problem that changed your mind about Font, some people ... 

[shark]

I'm amazed it was 'that' problem that changed your mind about Font, some people ... 

We all thought it was superb - it's a great looking line, good moves and highball enough to be exciting. What more can you ask for ?

[Jaspersharpe]

The arete to the left looks fucking stunning:

http://bleau.info/avon/1114-1393.html

[shark]

The arete to the left looks fucking stunning:

http://bleau.info/avon/1114-1393.html

It didnt catch my uneducated eye unlike the big slab taken by Calamity Jane on the other side of the boulder which looked amazing but route-like. http://bleau.info/avon/361.html and even had a sling and crab in-situ. Worth taking a short rope next time. There were a few bolts at the top of boulders at Rocher Greau too - one for a really good looking sharp arete.

*Edit: looking in the comments looks like its been Johnny Browned - ground up no doubt

[lagerstarfish]

You got video evidence?

There's not even an entry on Bleau.info

[shark]

You got video evidence?

There's not even an entry on Bleau.info

There is now OOFO ! 

[Norton Sharley]

lists, lists, lists, its all about the lists 

[comPiler]

Shock of the Old
26 April 2011, 9:17 am

Malham again. Less hot than Friday but still hot. I brought the boys up again too and again left them to it with a top rope on Rose Coronary - bickering and baiting each other. They had sorted the moves on Friday I watched from the other side of the catwalk as Tommy then Ben top-roped it in a oner - a decent milestone for both of them - their first 7a outside.

Things where going less well for me on Baboo baboo. The working go went well enough but first redpoint left me an inch short on the crux stretch for the crappy pinch/crimp and I was off. The feeling was growing that this was going to take weeks and weeks despite the improved crux sequence. I hung around on the crux trying to work out what was the key thing that would make the difference on the stretch. I was looking for a single thing that I could concentrate on at the crux that would make the difference. I experimented in twisting my left knee. No great difference there. I worked out how close to the rock I needed to be and how much extra I could gain by lunging whilst aware that this was a low percentage option when your co-ordination is shot. I was groping for stability. Yes - I might have found it. By arching my upper back just before reaching off the thin undercut I seemed to gain extra stability through my legs and an extra inch of reach.

Second redpoint go. Adam Jee insisted on giving me knuckles before I headed off. This made me smile all the way to the rest where it departs from New Dawn. I messed around as usual trying to get a rest - working a jam in to the tufa and all sorts of shifting body positions - none entirely satisfactory.

The next moves always give me the heebie jeebies as it is reliant on a bad bolt which if it blows will leave you on the deck in a mess. Worse still the key foothold is a big smear. It went OK. Clip. I was getting lots of support from below. :-) .Left foot up. Gaston under bolt. Feet bridged out. Snatch into thin undercut. Arch upper back and bang. I had the hold. Really well. I stalled stretched out not daring to move. Then up with the right foot then left and snatch out right for a crozzly edge. Right foot pops off. Ive only got three fingers on the hold and need four. Replace foot adjust fingers feels greasy. Foot up and snatch into an undercut. Clip. Moving up I get a pinch - it feels greasy - too greasy to clip my extended clip. I decide to press on. Two more moves. Can I clip now? Yes. Clip. Bring my left foot up and in onto a finger jug. Feels awkward - off balance HOLD IT. Rock up for a thin fin and pinch it to hold the balance. Right foot on dreadful smear. Brain scrambles where do I put my left foot? Start to place it high in my mind then remember and put it low. Its not going to stick - lunge for the jug - I've got it. It's over ! Big smile and loud whoops. I don't want to leave the jug I want to savour being on the route and successful. I shake out longer than I need to. Time to leave. Two more moves and at the belay. The consumation of an on/off fifteen year courtship.

(Wad point for the first to explain the origin of the subject title)

Source: The Shark

[T_B]

The route was originally named "Shock of the new".

[shark]

Correct - you were beaten to it by Duncan but have a wad point anyway   

[comPiler]

Me and my back
15 June 2011, 10:22 am

When I was a teenager I developed marks on my lower back which made me look like I'd been whipped. I think they where stretch marks from a growth spurt and have changed in number size and colour over the years but are still there. I am fairly sure this weakened my lower back but also made it quite flexible and I developed the habit of self cracking my lower back into place when it became sore. I also must have been  round shouldered as my mum regularly exhorted me to "put my shoulders back". At times I put it out very painfully doing work round the farm.

At 19 I took up climbing and have been pushing myself at it ever since and am 47 now. Generally I think it was mainly positive for my back but by my late 20’s it was in a bad way. A physio in Manchester  sorted a lot of things out. He identified that my lower back went in too much at the lower back and out too much in the upper back and also I had slight sclerosis with the spine twisted over to one side all of which combined to sieze up my back muscles.

In recent years during periods of training or climbing hard training it was typically my back that was the limiting factor on how much I could do – regularly seizing up when I upped the training load or after a big climbing trip. Typically I would go to a physio for massage to relieve it. This was really only dealing with the symptoms rather than the problem.

In the Autumn of 2009 I went to some yoga classes and bought some weights. The yoga was helpful and in particular made me realise how inflexible my shoulders where and introduced me to some excellent stretches. Excited by my weights purchase I went straight for heavy weight exercises.  This was something of a risk but I referred constantly to youtube videos to ensue the form was OK and got away without injury. The powerclean and deadlifting greatly improved my back strength.

My back never felt so good. Then the following autumn it went again.

This time I went to a new physio and she demonstrated that the reason my lower back still went was because it did too much of the work and I needed to spread the load by using my upper back and legs more. This required gaining mobility in my stiff upper back and activating my lazy glutes for simple things like standing straight or getting up from a chair. Because my upper back and shoulders were hunched forward in order to stand straight I had to stick my lower back in. To get me to mobilise my upper back she had me imagine I had a torch attached to the middle of my chest and to move my upper back to shine the torch to the ceiling then floor then left side of the room and rightside then the upper and lower corners of the room.

These exercises along with spinal twists on the floor and squats have meant I haven’t had any significant back problems since despite packing in more training than ever.

However, I am still working on straightening the shoulders out which has revealed a tightness in my left shoulder which was hard to get past through stretching. A further visit to the physio revealed that this was largely due to tightness in the upper pectoral which pulls the shoulder forward. He also pointed out that I have a noticeable right side dominance in my back muscles which tends to mean that the right side contracts more. I expect this pulls the spine that way too.       

I feel like I have gradually peeled away the layers of an onion. Everyone’s body has adjusts to what life has throws at it. Climbers almost inevitably have imbalances because of the specificity of the demands of the sport i.e. there is a lot more pulling than pushing. The body has amazing capabilities to adjust but if you have a history of these physical corrections it leaves you wonky and can mean that if you  give attention to one area it can reveal or make worse an underlying problem in another.

The goals of being strong AND flexible AND posturally correct is tough one as they tend to offset each other. Stretches, self-cracking my upper back, Serpico's Bolton dumbell complex and visits to the Physio to deal with tweaks as they occur are my current tactics keeps this creaky old machine oiled and serviced.

Source: The Shark