[comPiler]

Almost there
27 May 2012, 1:31 pm

It was a family trip. Sonia, me, Ben (13) and Poppy (8) and Pip our dog(14). We arrived at the catwalk at 6pm and had it to ourselves. No one there - not surprisingly. The blazing sunshine that day would have detered the informed or quickly seen the un-informed off. I had timed our late arrival in the hope that the combination of evening shade and easterly breeze would yield good conditions. The breeze had already died off and the crag was warm.

Putting the draws in I felt stronger on the moves than ever.

Sonia's belaying was rusty. Its always diffrent with the family. There are distractions aplenty. You end up marshalling the kids so they dont get hungry, argue, distract you, your belayer or harm themselves. Sonia seemed particularly distracted by Pip wandering along the catwalk. I encouraged Poppy to play stick with her by the Beck. She gave quickly gave up on this so we tied Pip up and I sent Poppy on an expedition to below the right wing where it was still sunny. She got excited spotting a rabbit but ended up in the nettles. Ben was put on camera duty.

The swifts were out in force. The peregrine kept a lofty vigil in the dead tree above Gorgon Direct.

My repeated goes at the start of the route where frustrating. The holds were were 10% worse than they could/should have been. Certainly the route was climbable if it didn't represent your limit. Therin lay the problem. I got to the throw once, fingers more tired than they should have been and right hand greasing slighty on the intermediate pinch. The throw was more of an upward sag.

Further attemptage led to foot slippage. It wasn't happening but I kept at it till after 9pm then finished by doing a big link of the upper part shouting as I went at Sonia for slack not realising that the rope had snagged behind a horn of rock.

On the walk out I treated my forerms and fingers to the cold water treatment in the chilly running water of the Beck. The kids then played a game seeing how long they could keep their hands in the water. Poppy won. They had been great that day and enjoyed themselves. Sonia too. I was grateful for their indulgence. It doesn't always or even usually work this well.  

As for the Oak I know now that I can do it if I get the conditions. I'm light enough, strong enough, uninjured and psyched. How long can I stay that way ? Forecast looks promising for Thursday...

Source: The Shark

[comPiler]

..but not quite
9 June 2012, 12:38 pm

Seems the optimism in my my last post was misplaced. I have had five further sessions on the Oak but no tick. Best conditions and attempt was last Sunday (clip below) where I equalled my lucky highpoint of a couple of years ago. This is to move 13 on the route. I have also linked from move 7 to the top (move 22).

The key issue for me is the throw to the horn after doing the initial fingery moves. Although I've got pretty slick on the start now those moves still take the edge off when making the throw and turning it into a low percentage gamble. I need to get consistent enough on this to allow me at least two redpoint attempts in a session where I access the upper section. Somehow I've got to get slightly stronger on that move and the fingery climbing to reach it. Interestingly quite a few people dont find this move that hard but then get shut down on other moves which I find casual such as the move right from the horn.

My last two sessions have gone downhill since Sunday. From being psyched out of my mind I'm now jaded - sick of the drive, the dieting, the stress and the failure. I've been on it 6 times in the last 14 days doing powerful moves at my limit so its not really surprsing except when you have tunnel vision. The route is also starting to get wet. Its almost a relief. Time for a week's layoff to recharge mind and body starting with a beer and curry last night.



Source: The Shark

[tomtom]

Keep the faith Shark, we all get like that with projects at some point.. Maybe leave it for a couple of months?

[Fiend]

From being psyched out of my mind I'm now jaded - sick of the drive, the dieting, the stress and the failure.

You're having fun though, right?? 

[Duncan Disorderly]

Fun? Fun!

If you're having fun you're "just" bouldering...

You looked well strong on the bottom section the other week Simon, keep the faith and it'll be yours!

:D

[Three Nine]

The thing i think its good to remember is that, after all this hard work, if/when you do it, all you'll have done is climbed a bit of rock.

[Probes]

Do you do any weights Shark, particularily curls. As I remember (not done it but had a few sessions on it) the left arm/bicep gets quite a working early on as you go into the horn. Maybe targetting your left low undercut lock for a few weeks could up your power a touch enough to improve percentage on the move? Just knock out a few heavy weight negatives every other night.
Poss stating the obvious i know.

[Doylo]

From being psyched out of my mind I'm now jaded - sick of the drive, the dieting, the stress and the failure.

I know the feeling... Well apart from the drive...

[Fiend]

Unless you mean the Marine Drive 

[shark]

Thanks for the thoughts

Enjoying eating and drinking liking a normal human being again. Not touching weights, wood, resin or rock till friday at the earliest. Hopefully test myself on the Oak if dry then takle a view... 

[mrjonathanr]

Food and rest can make you a lot stronger. Tuck in, that's what I say!

Beck Hall cakes, that's what you need...

[Doylo]

It's important to keep it fresh, need to climb on other things. My problem is i've been keeping it a bit too fresh!

[Nibile]

From The Bible:
Step n. 10. Never, never quit.

Stick at it Shark, it's a mental battle first of all. Enjoy the battle. Enjoy the pain. Enjoy the struggle. Everyone is capable of taking it easy, but you are not eveyone. You are you. You are better than anyone else. Enjoy hell.

[Three Nine]

That's some profound hippie shit right there

[marky8b]

Remember Sharky boy....less is more, keep the faith!

[comPiler]

My new hero - Lukas Rosol
29 June 2012, 12:14 pm

I was lucky enough to stumble into the TV room whilst the tennis was on last night and witness the final set where Lukas Rosol crushed Nadal.

I quite like tennis but as with most sport prefer to do rather than watch. But this spectacle was electrifying. This unknown ranked 100 had Nadal on the ropes and he was absolutely wired like he was on cocaine or speed. He couldnt stand still jogging back to the seats and not allowing Nadal to slow things down or get unsettled by his attempts to do so. Rosol just couldn't wait to get to his next service game hitting lightening fast aces and amazing backhand returns. He was unphased by the surroundings either, spitting regularly and unself-consciously on centre court (is that allowed?).

Where did this performance or confidence come from? In a way I dont care. The fact that he was able to raise his game and maintain it with unflinching self-belief against a titan of the sport was standalone magnificent. It is testament to the fact that we all are capable of a performance leagues ahead of what we ever dreamed possible and that is what was so inspiring.

Source: The Shark

[Wood FT]

Good post

[comPiler]

Venga
20 July 2012, 12:16 pm

According to the Beeb this year has been the wettest April and June on record. July's been shit too.

It has sent the climbing community demented. I gave up the struggle weeks ago as I've found I can burn up a lot of psyche scratching around for dry rock to the point that when the good conditions arrive I can scarcely be bothered.

Instead I have diverted my energies elsewhere. One thing I've been doing is experimenting with the deadhanging regimes recommended by Eva Lopez on her blog and discussed extensively on a UKB thread

I have always felt that maximal finger strength has been a big weakness for me. It is one of those things that if you have it (Stu) you take it for granted. I can see that if you can hang an edge one-handed it would feel piss, but if you can't, then take it from me, it feels utterly impossible. There's very little middle ground. I tried to bridge the gap by using a counterbalance setup (pulley, string, etrier and free weights) but progress seemed slow.

Ultimately I aim (dream) to do a one-armer on an edge but doing this one armed work I ended up straining the tendon attachment to the inside of the elbow (golfers). That was about 9 months ago and it is still slightly tender. Naturally I stopped doing it.

Eva's studies have some intriguingly counter-intuitive advice on deadhanging. First that hanging a larger edge with weight on is better at stimulating strength gains than a small edge without weight and with ultimately better gains for hanging the small edge. More tricky to come to terms with are the actual sessions. There are 2 sessions a week (preceded by a day of rest). But each session is effectively only 3-5 hangs. That's it. Stop. Furthermore each hang (of 10seconds) is not even to failure. How can so little work and so little effort result in any gains?.

At 48 and having climbed a long time I covet even marginal gains. I wish I had properly benchmarked right at the start of trying this new deadhang regime so I could quantify the gains properly as they have been remarkable. 3 weeks ago I did a quick test on a small edge. Although I held it as a drag for 12 secs I could only hold it for 4 secs to failure in the recommended half crimp. Maybe the first hang tired me out but even so, yesterday, using the same hold half-crimped, I managed 4x for 10secs with with 2.5kg added. I felt I could add more weight. And I'm heavier than before.

It feels like cheating.

Source: The Shark

[Three Nine]

So you're resting a lot for these really short maximal sessions and your performance in this exercise is getting better? That seems really obvious to me. Sounds like tapering and recruiting up - good for short term gains but not for the long haul.

[shark]

We'll see. These sort of gains I will be keen to hang on to and build on

[comPiler]

Venga, venga
11 August 2012, 9:34 am

Following on from the last post I've now completed my first Eva Lopez style 8 week cycle of maximal hangs.

For those not familiar this involves 2 sessions a week of 3x10second hangs on a medium edge with a lot of weight attached for 4 weeks followed by the same session on a small edge with no weight attached for a further 4 weeks. At the start of the second 4 weeks I needed 2.5kg assistance to do the 3 hangs but by the last session I even managed a couple of hangs with 15kg attached !

This has blown apart my preconception that I was only capable of small incremental strength gains from fingerboarding. The excitement of adding more weight with each session has been tremendous.

Last night I popped into the Foundry with my pulley and a few weights to repeat a benchmarking exercise I did about 10 months ago on the Beastmaker doing one arm assisted hangs on the bottom rail. In some ways I was disappointed with the level of improvement compared to the big measured gains I'd had recently. The result was about 2-5% total improvement (ie including body weight) for the right and 8-9% for the left with a 2-3kg strength improvement for the right and a 5kg improvement for the left. This has shown that the big right-left discrepancy has been reduced but the absolute gains on my right have been limited - for this exercise at least.

I realised whilst doing it that as a benchmark the test was fundamentally flawed in two ways. Firstly one arm hangs can be compromised by shoulder instability being the limiting factor (rather than finger strength) especially as the counterweight gets lighter. The other thing I noticed this time was that the Beastmaker rail is a weird hold for my fingers that I have to use in what I can only describe as a 'chiselled drag'. This is not a grip position I have been training so you would expect that the crossover from other grips that I have been using (mainly half-crimp) would be limited.

At the end of the session I managed to one arm hang one of the beastmaker first joint slots for about 5 seconds with my right which was a big YYFY. I can hold the slot half-crimped and the clearance on the Foundry Beastmaker allowed me to do this side-on using my thumb on the side of the board which not only improves purchase but also assists with limiting rotation. Whilst it doesn't fully qualify as a one arm hang from a first joint edge, it's damn close.

Now my elbow seems to have recovered from last year's strain I might start dabbling with working back to being able to do a one-armer, then who knows...?!

Source: The Shark

[lagerstarfish]

I might start dabbling with working back to being able to do a one-armer, then who knows...?!

doing a one-armer will set you up nicely for being able to start training for doing two one-armers

that's £397 training consultancy fee please (at 10% off the Grade 8 Guidance Rate)

[shark]

set you up nicely for being able to start training for doing two one-armers

Pah ! I can do that already on both arms - at the same time !

 

[comPiler]

For Doylo x
11 January 2013, 12:46 pm

I achieved another PB yesterday doing 3 x 10sec weighted deadhangs on the 23m edge of the Wedge. The weight was 42.5kg which represents a collosal improvement from when I started last July. Unfortunately I didnt start straight away with the 23mm hold so I can't be exact on the improvement but factoring in winter weight gain it is over 20kgs.

Some people are understandably put off by the jargon stemming from Eva's blog and research paper. If you think these are complicated then take a butcher's at the training progamme that comes with her fingerboard. It is still at Bletchley Park for deciphering. Joking apart, content is more important than style and Eva has made a great contribution to our training knowledge.

For me there were a few simple things I took away from Eva's work that guided the way I approach weighted hangs. 1. Bigger results are achieved on a medium hold with bigger weights. 2 These hangs are good training for both hanging smaller holds and improving finger endurance. 3. Intensity is everything requiring sessions that are preceded by rest.

Whilst Eva suggests that going to failure isn't optimal I prefer to for a couple of reasons. Psychologically I am highly motivated trying to beat previuos sessions. Also what is 100% max to failure? even when I am psyched and think I am trying 100% am I really?. I'm sure if I was off my face on speed or there was a gun pointed at the head of my first born I would squeeze a couple more seconds out. Additionally I think climbing near my limit for 30 years my brain is accustomed to ignoring the regular messages it gets from my fingers to get stronger so extreme stimulus is required.

So Doylo its not complicated if you choose to do it my way. Usually I do 2 sessions a week for 3 weeks and have a break for a week. In each session I get fully recruited and allow as much time as I want between hangs (4-6minutes). Best if you start by finding an edge you can half crimp for around 3 x 5-7secs to failure with 20kg attached. When you have progressed to doing 3 x 10 secs then add 2.5kg for the next session.  

HTH

Source: The Shark

[comPiler]

One move
12 May 2013, 7:08 pm

My longstanding seige of Austrian Oak at Malham is now a standing joke.

I started it on it in 2007 soon after redpointing Overnight Sensation. The sensible thing when trying to break into the next grade is to choose a route that suits you. For me that should have been a technical long route like Predator. The Oak on the other hand is a short, burly, bouldery route and I suck at bouldering. #

But that's what makes it such a compelling challenge. Also the moves are amazing which has helped me return year after year and directed my training to get strong enough to do it. And I have got stronger as a consequence - but clearly not strong enough. The main issue has been a stopper move at 10 feet pictured.



Photo courtesy of Seb Grieve

From an undercut and sidepull you get a high right foot and cross in underneath with the left hand to a crozzly awkwardly angled undercut pocket and then reach out with the right hand to a polished intermediate sidepull. Left foot goes up and from a crouching position you dynamically straighten out and throw for an undercut brick shaped pinch with the right hand at full stretch with the left hand still holding the undercut pocket.

What is slightly galling is that some don't even find this to be the crux move. I have done the throw 7x in a row on the dog recently but as soon as I start linking the preceding moves into it I pretty much always fall off (with the exception of 2 redpoint attempts in the past). Despite being stronger this year 15 visits has failed to see me reach my highpoint in June last year which was captured on video here.



I can't blame the conditions this year either as the route has been dry since the end of February and the temperatures generally good.

Going back to the stopper move I reckon I need to be at something like 70/80% of my maximum capacity on the move rather than 90% currently. When I was in Font at Easter John Welford (who knows a thing or two about hard projects) said he usually found he had to do something different to get success on a hard project. It was good advice as clearly I have failed to grind it down with persistence.

Isolating the things that are likely to me help me I have come up with 5 things to focus on:

1. The undercut pocket is something I have to hold with 4 fingers to do the move and often my pinkie flips out which means I cant do it, yet many people do the move comfortably on their front 3 fingers. So I need to train that.

2. The step up on my legs is something which requires me to sag down before moving back up so some dynamic leg strengthening and core exercises will help.

3. Often I get to reach the brick but my contact strength isn't good enough to hold it in the instant when everything else is falling apart - so some weird pinch strengthening exercises and practice moves grabbing pinches or a beam may help. 

4. In the past have trained for the move by replicating it on a home board which Im sure helped. Since moving house in October I have yet to put the boards back up so I need to find an alternative.   

5. Looking back at my notes I was around a record low of 11stone 1lb when I did the redpoint in the video. Unfortunately that weight wasn't sustainable and I was burnt out on subsequent visits. Of late I have been 11stone 7-9 which is about 11% body fat. 11 stone 4/5lbs is a target weight that has been sustainable during the climbing season so I need to be that sort of fighting weight when I get back on it in the autumn.

Hopefully one or a combination of the above will give me a few more % on the move to consistently get through the move and who knows, the top one day

Source: The Shark