[Will Hunt]

Early, I know, but going on hols tonight so it's the end of the climbing week for me.

M:
T: 2nd regular board session. Warmed up and had a play on some new projects. Then moved onto this AnCap thing I'm supposed to be doing. Did 3 sets of 4 reps. 1 rep = a problem mostly on jugs, lasting about 40 seconds, then 1 minutes rest. During the course of the 3 sets I fine tuned the sequence as it started off too awkward, then too easy, and on the final set managed to get it just right. This is what it looked like on the second set. I've tweaked this to add a couple of crimpy moves on the end which are quite a struggle on the later reps.


Does that look like the right sort of thing?

W: Felt pretty decent. Could tell I'd had a session the night before but not completely wasted.

T: Lantern session at Earl Crag. Good connies: just under 10 degrees, decent easterly breeze, not too humid. Warmed up with a few laps and hangs on the lovely Warm Up Arete (which really deserves classic status as an easy problem - holds it's own for quality with any of the easies at Almscliff). Then got stuck into Andy Brown's Wall which went without too much trouble, just a case of getting the high layaway well and using the correct right toehold. Then moved onto Handy Andy's which I've tried on a couple of occasions in previous years and struggled with. Took a little longer than I'd hoped as I inexplicably started using some crap foot beta after a couple of good goes at the start and didn't get another good go till I re-sussed where I should be putting my right toe. Anyway, felt like a really tough problem, wouldn't argue if it slipped into the 7B category. Maybe one for you to try, Shark!

Just about had time to play on The Flakes but had to call it a night when I landed awkwardly and rolled my ankle a bit. Doesn't feel too good this morning. Left ankle. If I try and rotate it in a circle in either direction I get to about the 2/3 o'clock position and have to stop. It just sort of gets stuck and there's pain. If I push through the pain it sort of clicks through. Almost like there's something catching on something where it shouldn't be and with a bit of encouragement it just pushes past it. Not a good sign but I can walk and drive, and probably climb and fall off things, without problems. I gather there's not much you can do about ankles other than leave them to sort themselves out so will see how it gets on over the next week and then maybe get it seen to when back from holiday if it's not right. Any thoughts on what I might have done to it?

F: Skins all intact and fingers feel like they've had a nice workout.


Quite happy with the session at Earl. Was concerned that I might come back to bouldering and be completely useless, but doing a new 7B and a 7A+ (that could hold it's own against some 7Bs that are out there) in a short session is about as well as I would normally hope to perform. So all may not be lost.

[Footwork]

Any thoughts on what I might have done to it?

Quite happy with the session at Earl. Was concerned that I might come back to bouldering and be completely useless, but doing a new 7B and a 7A+ (that could hold it's own against some 7Bs that are out there) in a short session is about as well as I would normally hope to perform. So all may not be lost.

1. You've rolled your ankle
2. Handy Andy's is never 7b. Andy Browns wall is far harder!

[Will Hunt]

Hmmm. When I've twisted my ankle before it's been an "all over" pain and I've limped for a couple of days. This is painless and limpless but for one specific part of the ankle which is painful when placed in a particular position. No idea what that means. Is that what everyone else was experiencing when they said they'd "rolled their ankle"?
Weird question, soz. In a similar vein, I still don't know whether I've ever had heartburn or indigestion. No idea what they're supposed to feel like.

[nai]

T:  Then moved onto this AnCap thing I'm supposed to be doing. Did 3 sets of 4 reps. 1 rep = a problem mostly on jugs, lasting about 40 seconds, then 1 minutes rest.

Sounds like too little rest for AnCap, you should be looking at 2-4 times your work time. Shorter rest time required means lower intensity work so you have to try and strike a balance, for bouldering (Red Baron Roof?) aims I'd guess higher intensity with longer rests would be best?

Also don't see any mention of AeroCap, apparently if you work AnCap without AeroCap you'll end up going backwards in terms of what you're trying to achieve.  There's technical explanations of what happens out there if you search.

Can't say this is what you need for RBR though, I'd guess at long & burly? Guess it can't hurt learning to hold on through suffering though.

[Will Hunt]

Is there a link which explains this AnCap, AeroCap, AnPow stuff? I've never seen the explanation behind it, it just started appearing in people's lingo. I expect the fashion will change soon and everyone will be talking about improving their Beast Index or some shit. If AeroCap stands for aerobic capacity then surely that is absolutely no help for a 10 move boulder problem? Dave MacLeod had a whole chapter of his book that was simply called "Climbing is not an aerobic activity".

[nai]

There's Barrows doc: http://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php?topic=23652.0

Scan down to Tommy's input.

Aerobic Capacity meaning of the forearms not your cardiovascular lung capacity which I think DMC was getting at.

[36chambers]

Is there a link which explains this AnCap, AeroCap, AnPow stuff? I've never seen the explanation behind it, it just started appearing in people's lingo. I expect the fashion will change soon and everyone will be talking about improving their Beast Index or some shit. If AeroCap stands for aerobic capacity then surely that is absolutely no help for a 10 move boulder problem? Dave MacLeod had a whole chapter of his book that was simply called "Climbing is not an aerobic activity".

I find it hard to believe that you are such an active member of this forum and you don't know anything about this stuff yet.

[tomtom]

Just climb faster. Seriously it's easier to understand than all that stuff - and takes less time than training for it!

[Will Hunt]

Thanks for the link. I'll read that tomorrow.

I'll try and climb faster, but it's not possible to complete a boulder problem of about 10 moves in an infinitely small amount of time. There is a limit to the effectiveness of combing fast!

[csl]

Is there a link which explains this AnCap, AeroCap, AnPow stuff? I've never seen the explanation behind it, it just started appearing in people's lingo. I expect the fashion will change soon and everyone will be talking about improving their Beast Index or some shit.

If you've started doing 'AnCap' having never seen the explanation behind it, more fool you.

If you're going to start using this approach, then just take the time to understand it as much as you can. Simple as that, don't just moan because you've decided to hop on the bandwagon without doing any research.

[Will Hunt]

I read The Barrows Manifesto on the plane today and it makes a sort of sense. It is obviously geared, understandably, towards sport climbing, which makes it a bit trickier for a sport science ignoramus to put the information to use in such a way that may assist somebody trying to tip the scales of fortune in their favour on a burly boulder problem.
Nathaniel said I should do AnCap and, thus, I shall do some AnCap. Ben said I should go to the Depot and swing off the roofs three times per week which, besides being logistically improbable, sounds like a bit of a blunt instrument to me.

[Footwork]

Ben said I should go to the Depot and swing off the roofs three times per week which, besides being logistically improbable, sounds like a bit of a blunt instrument to me.

Yes but Mrs Peacock still managed to bludgeon Colonel Mustard with a candlestick didn't she.

[nai]

I read The Barrows Manifesto on the plane today and it makes a sort of sense. It is obviously geared, understandably, towards sport climbing, which makes it a bit trickier for a sport science ignoramus to put the information to use in such a way that may assist somebody trying to tip the scales of fortune in their favour on a burly boulder problem.

Listen to Tom's Training Beta podcast, he gives a case study of a plan he did for a boulderer wanting to do a long problem with some of the reasoning science behind it. From about 50 minutes.  Might help, might not....

[IS2]

Mon DCC being taught stuff about coaching. Managed to do a few laps on long link up so some training value too.
Tues DCC hard boulders session
Wed Endurance at Newton Aycliffe 9 x 25m routes attempted with a good block of 7c+ / 8a links mid session.
Thurs Rest day much extra stretching and antagonists training. Short sharp finger strength session pm with the pinch machine.
Friday Much sleeping loafing stretching and working on ankle rehab
Sat Endurance at NA 9x25m routes with longer links on the 7c+ routes mid session.
Sun Resting loafing and stretching. Penultimate week of training plan completed. Still relatively strong from the strength phase and endurance building significantly... Finished off climbing up and down steep 25m 6c.

[nai]

goals -  Aberration, Body Machine, 7b OS, E4 OS.

Mon - rest

Tue - Body Machine, made it through lower wall for first time, fell at start of traverse.  Bit of a break-through session

W rest

Thu - BM
sorted rest positions a bit better
reworked top section to include a crossover move starting the traverse saves two hand moves and a lot of changing body position.
Never made it through bottom wall on RP attempts but managed to work something I can do consistently for the move after the horrible press off the gaston.

Friday - Woke up  suffering with sore skin and tired muscles but with habrich's post in mind

I was reminded that the only way to make this redpoint thing work is to keep showing-up and keep putting in the burns, regardless of how I feel.

I did a long, slow warm up at home and headed out, knew a mate was going to be there on it so figured I'd have at least one shot at it. Maybe, just maybe....

Burn 1 - from the floor all the way up to the end of the traverse, had a mind freeze and used a wrong foothold, too high so that you then can't lean out slightly to spot the foothold to standup into the break on. Waved my foot in the general direction of the hold until my arms gave out. Bugger, couple of moves from a final shake before much easier finishing moves. Did I say Bugger already?

Burn 2 - fell off the Gaston move low down.  Rarely get this twice in a row for some reason.  Pulled straight back on and lead through to the top, so got the historic 7c tick which I'd have taken 2 weeks ago, but not now I can do the lower wall.

SS rest

Feels frustrating but probably shouldn't, come along way this week, lots of reasons to be positive and having linked the original I now know i can do it, I can definitely get enough back on the undercuts shake before the rockover, it'll make no odds whether I climbed from the floor from there on.  But however long it now takes it'll be slightly marred by the fact that I should have done it on Friday.  Hopefully back on it tomorrow.

[tomtom]

Jeez Will - just checked out the video having been away from my PC all week.

No wonder its all going wrong. FFS man, theres no music playing, no swearing AND no pictures of Wolfgang, Jerry or Ben (or all together) training.... WHAT KIND OF TWISTED TRAINING ESTABLISHMENT HAVE YOU CREATED????????

( )

[shark]

10.11 - 11.2

M.

T. Screwed up with Malham plans so stayed local. Went to CragX. Condensed but not impossibly so. Felt good warming up and deadhanging off the rail but conditions not good enough to do the moves and didn't improve despite attempts to dry holds. Popped to Tor to chat with Nick, nai and Mark Richardson

W. Llanberis. Quick hit with Nick. Nivce day but trad head fucked. Failed on two E3s and followed an E4. Dont really want to talk about it.     

T.

F. Malham. Up with Luke Dawson and Jerome. Ended up climbing with Richard and Nemo  . Started at 19degrees and dropped to 13 but humidity went up from 70s topping out at 89% so far from ideal - really still, even a bit midgy at times. . Cons x 3. Go 1 Warm up and did horn to top Go 2 Ground to slightly overshooting the horn (a first) Go 3 Ground to stubbing thumb on horn Go 3 Got through to horn  then unexpectedly greased off sidepull going right  Go 4 Attempted from second bolt and did three goes fumbling horn each time. Then did from throw to top in various sections. Nice to be climbing in a brand new pair of whites (only two replacement pairs left now). Richard looking really strong on Rainshadow especially factoring in conditions.

S.

S.

Conditions are continuing to look to be on the humid side this week. Yet to have a mint day on it. Booked to go Monday but no firm plans for rest of week thoufgh would prefer friday so I can get a rematch at CragX on weds.  Lost 4lbs this week. Scarcely drinking - just had one pint on monday and two sips of gin last night - dont even crave it any more. Weight loss is quite rapid but still safely in 8-10% body fat zone. Will aim to keep losing more until Oak gets wet which may not be very long now.       

[tomtom]

A poor week....

After Sundays 'ate something bad' multiple toilet visit illness....

M > W Fieldwork in Shropshire. Didnt eat especially well (didnt really feel like it to be honest) and no time for any exercise or wall visits

W > Sa London with the in laws. All very nice - few drinks, some nice food - no climbing - long drive back up on Sat...

Su: Managed to squeeze out a decent hour at Helsby. Not climbing too bad, raw power good, knack less so....

[fried]

M- Rare day off work, beautiful weather, wenr to Isatis, warmed up on one blue problem, then got into L'incommode https://bleau.info/isatis/3040.html, took a while to get the sequence, but was fairly O.K in the end, not really 6A with the sidepull, but good fun nonetheless. Tried a few other things, got close on a slab I've been trying for a while...

- Rest of week, nothing. Tired, bit sniffly, feeling lazy.

Su - Rocher canon, trying to knock off some more from my tick list, not happening today, felt the best ever on Caprice https://bleau.info/canon/1766.html, but not quite. Bateau pilote https://bleau.info/canon/1663.html O.K, but sun directly in my eyes put paid to continuing. Had 2 sessions on L'oeuf de colombe https://bleau.info/canon/3306.html, good fun with a lot of people trying, holds got greasy quickly. Did a really soft 6A in between. Have to do something different at Rocher Canon, every visit is ibecoming dentical.

Cut out carbs in the evening, eating lots of different veg, weight down to 75.4kg yesterday...then I cracked for a kebab...

[Coops_13]

STG: Heal finger
MTG: Get solid at 7B/+
LTG: 8A

M:
T: Indoors, bouldering and some FOC
W: Squash, beat housemate
T: Indoors, more FOC and did a green at the Arch (v6-8) for the first time in over a year, definitely soft
F:
S: Froggatt, spent a lot of time getting close to Old King Cascade, sent it!  Vid here:

Then checked out Suavito, was too buggered to make much headway. Moved onto Mark's Roof at the end of the day, came close but slopers still too sweaty
S: Heavy night so not much crushing today. Did Bullworker at Stanage which was really nice.

Fairly productive week, sick weekend!

[Murph]

Goals:
Big goal - Picnic Sarcastic.
Grit – Grit 7 specifically Piss & G.
Lime - Solid 7B+ maybe 7C should be within me this year.
Training - 50kgs for 10s on small BM edge and 1-4-7 campus. (PBs 40.5kg & 1-4-6)

M- Man plague.

T- Still under the weather, but quick visit to Beginner’s to (have a look at Measles ) work Advanced Training, 7C/+. After a fair few goes I finally managed to do almost as well as I had done the very first time I pulled on. A very interesting problem – but is it within me at all…? Also went to Rubicon to, basically, suck.

W- “Date day”. The first day in an age that my other half and I were child free. We went to Stanage for some easy trad, of course. Damn it’s been a long time since I had to fiddle those metal things into cracks.

T- Blackwell again to, this time, fail on Free Range Abattoir. I thought it would be as easy as Red or Dead had been the week before. Wrong! It’s a different sport entirely. Also went to Gib Torr to fail on Stall, 7A. Class problem. A second visit to FRA and I met someone who told me different beta to fail with. Turns out there's another way too. So I now have three ways that all seem impossible. Great!

F- rest.

S- Early morning session at Griffs (failed to do Ovine, but re-wired the first moves, should go next time out), Beginners (felt much stronger on Advanced Training, but not sure I am forging a path to success), and with the last of my flagging strength I thought I would go and quickly repeat RoD to at least come back with something. Wrong again. The start felt so easy too. Lots of failure but a lot to take away.
Came home and, just to see if I’ve still got it, put 38kgs round my waist and hung the small BM hold for 10 seconds. Easy. 50kgs could easily be in reach if I wasn't outside so much. Haven’t used the BM in 2 months but clearly all this outside puntering hasn't set me back too much. 

S- Rest. Made a big discovery though about the Advance Training beta – the way I was trying it which is similar(ish) to the video of Ash doing it (he is *way* stronger than me!), goes LH to vertical hold, RH to the right side of the central Steel/Swing hold. However, Neil (the FA) went LH vert then LH again, and the Andy B (the 2nd A) went RH vert then LH up. There are three ways to skin this cat too! Please PM me with any cheeky beta if you have it, especially if you are short (5’7”).

I am thinking that with my current levels of strength it really is my lack of technique, flexibility, determination and vision that lets me down. Plan to work on this "going for it" weakness somehow in the coming weeks. Currently lurgy-free though so hopefully next week should be better.

Weight-63.2kgs ave. Nice. Could maintain this long-term which still feels surreal as it was an unbelievable goal weight for so long.

[petejh]

STG: first 8b+ (Mecca), in July October
MTG:
LTG: 8c, by June 2018


Strength phase

M. Spent hours scoping new lines on a rope at crag x. Eventually put lower-off in another newie, might be an 8, will find out in a few weeks when I'm next over.
T. Flew back
W. Pilbox wall after work. Short 1hr lamp sesh on millenium drive .
T.
F.
S. Core and mobe sesh.
S. Pilbox wall. Best sesh yet on millenium drive! Getting through hard drop down move and into the whisky bitch traverse. Feels like 7C+ to me... Minty crisp connies today, best yet.

Wheels have fallen off training plan a bit in the last month or so, lack of psyche due to family illness, hectic work and distractions of the NI commute. Good to see progress on M.D. On the bright side if I do manage Mecca this year I'll only have two more sport grades to go until I'm good enough for E6 os...

[Doylo]

STG: first 8b+ (Mecca), in July October
MTG:
LTG: 8c, by June

S. Pilbox wall. Best sesh yet on millenium drive! Getting through hard drop down move and into the whisky bitch traverse. Feels like 7C+ to me... Minty crisp connies today, best yet.
.

It was originally, I did the 2nd ascent in 2002 then Mule downgraded it on the 3rd ascent and it stuck. Its a hard 7C though for sure.

[Dolly]

M. Felt terrible all day at work. Gym in the evening for some core which grew to deadlifting and more weights
T Wave, but I was tired from Sunday and Monday night. Didnt have a lot of pull and my elbow hurt a lot. I know from experience that when it gets like that its best to rest, so decided not to climb for the rest of the week. Started tidying out the cellar for new Broadband next week and found 2 cases of wine I'd forgotten about which need drinking quickly. Bollocks
W Skating at lunchtime. Nearly did a backside rock n roll - hopefully will manage it next time. HIT with weights including squat presses which are nails.
T MTB at Parkwood Springs lunchtime. On my new Whyte T130RS which is a great bike
F
S MTB, Houndkirk, Blacka Moor. I thought I wasn't very riding fit but I did it in pretty much a best time. My new bike literally just flies over bumps
S. Bulgarian Bag 3 exercise HIT. Squat press, swings, press ups. Sounds easy, but wasn't 


I'll start climbing again tomorrow

[Muenchener]

STG: Moon Board 6B+
MTG (2016/spring): Redpoint 7b
LTG (<= 5 years): Redpoint 8a before I hit 60.

M: Sella Pass. Awoke to a light dusting of snow. Tried to remain optimistic until after breakfast, then discovered that under the snow on the car was a thick layer of ice. Bailed to lower altitudes at Mahr, a little sport crag on the way home near Brixen, where we did a really nice 6c+ with super-technical moves on little slopy granite edges. A good day, even though sitting for bloody hours in bank holiday traffic jams listening to Jam Crack on the way home was less fun. (Liked the Tommy Caldwell interview though)
T: Bike one hour.
W: Had planned to go to the wall, but felt like I was going down with a cold (again - bollox) so stayed at home & did Beastmaker max hangs instead
T: Sick
F: Sick
S: Recovering. Boulderwelt with M jnr & friend: successfully restricted myself to a coaching role and resisted the temptation to pull on.
S: Flashh bouldering wall, Hamburg. On a business trip, took the opportunity to check out one of the local bouldering walls. Unimpressed with the wall in general - certainly not a contender with Highball in Norwich for best unexpectedly great bouldering wall in a city miles from any climbing - but at least they had a moonboard. A humbling and eye-opening experience. I clearly need to stop farting about on vertical techy nonsense and spend more time doing basic stuff on steep boards.
   Otoh I held a +25kg hang for 8 seconds on the medium rung on their beastmaker, which I certainly couldn't on my beastmaker at home #frictionisaid