[tomtom]

Evening all.

Another busy work week for me.

Mon: Burgbage North with Nai. Nice warm up then play on Flick of Time stand. Had alot of difficulty getting my heel up - let alone doing anything else on it. Conditions were nice - so went and had a look at Blind Date while Nai quested for kneebars on Blind Ali. Did OK actually -got the two hard moves - and felt good on it. But of course I can't do the first 6B first move. Very rushed session. Back home then onto train to Swindon.. When I arrived at the hotel I was staying at they'd left me £25 to have some food. So I ate 5 meals on Monday :D

Tu: Meeeeeetings....

We: Meeeeetings. Finished early - managed to get back to Manchester for 5:30

Thu: Mammoth 3 hour session with the toddler at the local soft play centre.

Fr: Core (sides) ached from clambering after the lad at the play centre... but....
GRITSTONE CONNIES CLAXON GRITSTONE CONNIES CLAXON GRITSTONE CONNIES CLAXON GRITSTONE CONNIES CLAXON Went to the Eaglestone to meet up with Nai and Plattsy. I had 90 min there (time pressure to get back to look after boy) and rushed everything. Worked all the moves on the 7A+ thing on the nose near the path - and just couldn't get my weight over my tummy for the slopey hell topout. Lost skin. Then tried 7A round to the south side - but this really tweaked my knee that I hurt on BetaBlocker a few weeks back. Had fun on where beagles dare - but couldnt remember whether I used to lank it and then udge LH out of undercut and pop right onto ledge or do it properly...

Sa: Toddler poorly ish... (persistent medium temperature) was with him from 6am to 3pm whilst MrsTT went Xmas shopping etc.. Very bored of Go Jetters...

Su: Not good conditions. Got some time off so went to Craig Y Longridge. Damp - wet tops. Felt weak - no bounce. Sorted out my feet on Big Marine but didnt get anywhere...

A hard week. Managed to get out 3 times which is good - but every session has been really time limited. 90 min here and there. Not enough time to rest properly between go's - having to just go full at it etc..

[Will Hunt]

(TL;DR for Stubbs. No downgrades this week. Stand down. I repeat: stand down).

M - S. Nothing except Free Solo.

S - Took the bab swimming at Skipton baths. Nothing quite like the 30 degrees pool to prep the skin for some grit. Checked in with Ben and, despite warnings to the contrary, he was going to inspect Earl Crag. Thought I'd do him a favour and called in on the way home and sent him photographic evidence of the piss wrapped state of affairs. He went anyway.
Met at mine and headed to Glen so I could dispense beta/heckle/bask in glory/repeat for camera RBR. Wet. Have a desire to have a go at Dead Baron, not to do an 8A, you understand. Is there anything more trite and tedious than climbers trying second-rate alternative-starts to problems they've already done just to tick an 8A? I think not. No, the reason to do Dead Baron is that it would unlock the door to a far loftier goal - Tick The Glen.
Bailed to Baildon. Got straight onto Pinch 32 and did all the moves but connies were crap. As the light failed we moved to Armageddon (7A+). My logbook comment says "very soft". We couldn't touch it. I'm such a twat. We made ourselves feel better by slagging off every climber who is better than us before going home.

Tune in next week to see how I can string absolutely nothing of note into the greatest number of paragraphs possible.

[nai]

Mon - Remergence with tt, I'm at the point that I was happy to manage Hanging Rib
Core

T - nowt

Wed - 3x10mins LI AeroCap. Core

Th - Was set to nip out when my wife asked "any Christmas shopping you need from town, is there?" and the next thing I knew I was in Primark

Fri - Baslow. Went to try Heroes before tt and Plattsy arrived. Did all the moves on the LH exit (Heroines?) but should have taken a shoe with toe rubber.  Up to Eaglestone. Should have done TGBatB but kept bottling the top, didn't actually mind though, did all the nice moves so all the fun without having to endure the grovelly topout and nervy descent. I make that a Win Win.
Core back home, hard work

S nowt

S - B3 & F2 repeaters. Core.

[Steve R]

Is there anything more trite and tedious than climbers trying second-rate alternative-starts to problems they've already done just to tick an 8A? I think not.

Climbers stamp collecting an entire sector/crag/boulder is probably worse.  Unimaginative, myopic and will likely entail significant opportunity cost.  I'm sure we can tell you what you should actually want to climb next if you want       

[tomtom]

Don’t head to Griffs then Steve

[Murph]

Evenin chaps

M-shoulder still a bit tweaky
T-works power hour of pinkles (5) trying but failing to do them in line with The Kettle’s exercise #2. Shoulder felt not too bad. Some youth there cruising the murple circuit (6c-7b) about as quickly as I was doing pinkles. Seemed effortless. Inspiring stuff.
W-
T-works session. Tried working everything on one bit of wall and climbing it well. Bit of a mixed session as a result. Sort of half trying hard and half trying well. Went on the fingerboard for 13 minutes just to see how that’s going after maybe 2 months off. 3x +40kg HC on the 19mm edge, and 2x +30kg Open on the 14mm. All hangs 10s. Felt easy.
F-mojo returned. Don’t know where from but on Friday morning, there it was. 24kg kettlebell routine, several different shoulder exercises (rows, shrugs, 1kg side raise things), hollows and some pull ups.
S-5k easy run (first run in 3 weeks?) and repeat of yesterday’s kettlebell & shoulder routine.
S-works. 15 minutes of Kettle exercise #2 this time actually reading the description fully and watching the video to see what I was doing wrong  Turns out this “two feet on” drill involves multicoloured climbing of the easiest variety so you train yourself to use the absolute best feet. I think the idea is that if you train this enough then in the real world you will be able to instinctively find good feet. I sort of get it but going back to basics like this is *hard*. Then set to war with the murples. In an hour and a half the score was: Murph 2 Murples 4. It was a royal ass kicking that at one point was 0-4. No idea how that kid did it but still inspired. Shoulder routine.

66.5kg on Friday. A good couple kgs higher than a few weeks ago. Ha! Maybe that’s why the mojo was back 

Mon - Remergence with tt, I'm at the point that I was happy to manage Hanging Rib 

Hey dude you’re getting out there and climbing rocks. All is right with the world!

Is there anything more trite and tedious...

Climbers stamp collecting an entire sector/crag/boulder is probably worse.  Unimaginative, myopic and will likely entail significant opportunity cost.   

I don’t look at it like this. When it comes to climbing a rock - itself one of the most objectively pointless activities imaginable and utterly first world - I don’t think value judgements really apply. If someone is psyched to climb everything on a page or something of a grade or at a certain place then that is every bit as valid as wanting to climb a mega classic. Beauty really is in the proverbial.

[Bradders]

Is there anything more trite and tedious than climbers trying second-rate alternative-starts to problems they've already done just to tick an 8A?

Some of your posts are surely up there? 

sorry...low hanging fruit, couldn't resist

[user deactivated]

Is there anything more trite and tedious than climbers trying second-rate alternative-starts to problems they've already done just to tick an 8A? I think not.

Climbers stamp collecting an entire sector/crag/boulder is probably worse.  Unimaginative, myopic and will likely entail significant opportunity cost.  I'm sure we can tell you what you should actually want to climb next if you want       

What is there if there isn’t stamp collecting? 

[jamesturnbull97]

Not the best of weeks really, last weeks tweaky shoulder is the least of my issues now 

M. RCI training. Shoulder felt a bit sore after Sunday's bouldering so had it taped up just in case for moving around and rigging.
T. RCI training.
W. RCI training. At The Beacon so got to climb a climb a few routes, shoulder was feeling better but still took it steady. 6a+, 6b, 7a+, 7b, 7c all first go.
T.
F. Stanage with G, Callum and Issac. Warmed up over on the RHS did a few 6's I hadn't done before and Glass Hour 7a. Then headed over to try The Storm, always wanted to do it but just never got round to trying it. After a couple of goes attempting to get the left foot up I slipped off funnily and spun on the the pads, my left leg missed the pads and went off the drop in to the uneven ground. The impact hyper-flexed my ankle upwards sending a shockwave all the way up my leg. Sitting on the ground with the initial pain all the way through my leg was worrying about how bad it was but thankfully after a few minutes of trying not to be sick the pain concentrated to just my ankle and a bit in my quad. With the aid of plenty of painkillers i was able to hop com hobble around and on the plus side I did manage to get a nice photo of G on Crescent Arete of the sun was setting.
S. Woke up still unable to really weight my foot so decided to check it checked out at A&E. To my relief the prognosis was nothing broken just ligament damage from severe hyper-flexion, although the x-ray did show an old break on the top of my foot I had no idea about. Advice was rest and ice for a couple of days and then to attempt to begin walking on it a bit with the aid of crutches, said that I should be able to fully weight bear again within 2 weeks but then it could be up to 6 weeks for the ligaments to fully heal.
S. Didn't waste any time of being board and got back on the fingerboard for the first time since last winter which was a shock to the system of how weak my fingers had become. Recalculated my added weight for max hangs, came out with 26.25kg (36% of body weight) quite a bit down form the spring's highpoint of 39kg. Finished off with some TRX I's, Y's & T's on my knees.

Bummer to have hurt myself which hasn't happened in years but at least it'll force me into some training and hopefully being young and bouncy it'll heal up quickish. I anyone has any advice or good exercises to do while injured they'd by much appreciated. 

[shark]

11.3-11.6 average 159.1lbs up 0.2lbs

M.Tor. Soggy, rainy. 6 degrees. Despite wet holds Will Bosi on Mutation and Jim Pope and Ethan on Evo. After 10 days off I was half expecting to rubbish. After warming up did the kneebar to kick move on second attempt :-) and then again on third attempt :-) :-) Tried from start and got thru to kneebar but struggled to recover and fell off doing kick. Second go same point but recovered better and almost connected with niche. Third go again in control releasing kneebar but not such a good kick. Then did Tin Of but powered out on Sardine and had to dog up it.

T. FB warmup

W FB warmup

T Tor with Nick chilly. Drier than monday. No wind fortunately. Mimi there and short visit from Kristian. Glassy to start with. Did kick move onBens a couple of times but felt slightly less strong than Monday. Had a go on Nicks top rope on In Brine once. Mega hard crux. Tried Bens from start but didn’t get thru to kneebar Led Tin Of with two rests. Finished off with max hangs and offset pullups on rock rings

F

S Home strength training. FB warm up. Progress on new powerful Oak moves on board. Did a max hangs fingerboard session Then offset pullups, pinch deadhang, weighted pull ups, weighted undercutting, skullcrushers, flys and 3 x 125kg deadlift

S Big walk with Poppy and dogs from Cuthroat bridge and up to Back Tor then down to Derwent reservoir and back. Great walk spoilt by falling out with Poppy following her losing my favourite hat.

Felt like a good week after 10 days off. Tried not to overdo it.

My training plan which I had proudly constructed was heavily criticised by an experienced coach which was demoralising. One of the recommendations was not climbing outside so much which I would find demotivating. 

Couple more Tor sessions lined up with Nick tomorrow and thursday.

[tomtom]

James.

[Steve R]

What is there if there isn’t stamp collecting? 

continual overreaching and prolonged failure is the alternative as far as I can tell.  So much more fulfilling!

[Footwork]

Is there anything more trite and tedious than climbers trying second-rate alternative-starts to problems they've already done just to tick an 8A? I think not.

Climbers stamp collecting an entire sector/crag/boulder is probably worse.  Unimaginative, myopic and will likely entail significant opportunity cost.  I'm sure we can tell you what you should actually want to climb next if you want       

Isn't Ben Bransby trying to tick the whole of Stanage 

[gollum]

First week of Lattice Programme which should hopefully target some weaknesses and putting it on here for first time making it very public.

STG - 1-4-7 on Campus Board again
MTG - Be able to do all of first set of set problems on Leeds Depot 50 board (again)
LTG - Be reasonably solid at 8A, preferably before I retire.

BW 67.5

M- Morning Press day at weights, up to 3 x90k Bench and Decline Bench. and some Press ups etc and stretching.
Evening Depot
3 x Purple V5-7 five times
Picked three that I find hard physically
1) 7 moves 30 degree wall
2) 6 move roof followed by 6 move 15 degree headwall
3) 8 move 35 degree wall
Got through them all, got progressively harder, took two goes to do Problem 2 on last round.
T - Morning Leg Day, Squats up to 2 x 120 and Deadlift 2 x 150 plus stretching and cardio. Lunchtime Big Depot 5 On 3 Off x 3 up to 6c+. First time in a harness for about 15 years so took some getting used to but once in the swing was okay. Went to see Free Solo in evening and really inspired.
W - Pull day. OAP +5k on RH, -2.5k on LH, Pull ups, Archer Pulls, Rows, Activations and stretching followed by cardio.
Lunchtime Big Depot 5 on 3 off x 3 again. Felty easier and getting the right level for staying chilled and not working too hard.
T - Push day again. Doubles up to 95k on Bench, 5x5 on Decline and Incline, Press ups and stretching.
Boulder mileage.
New Reds at Depot, First time had done them all in a single session.
Had done three new Yellows earlier on and worked out moves on another long Yellow. Good evening all round
F - Pull ups, Archer Pulls, V Pulls, Activations etc with stretching. Cardio at lunchtime. FB Max hangs at 85% with a total of 12k taken off for each hand. Very steady.
S - Back to Push. Doubles up to 100k, followed by Decline and Incline up to 90k for three and OHP up to 45k. Cardio and stretching
S - Pull day. Deadlifts 100,120,140, 160 which all flew up. Tried 167.5 and got it off the floor but failed to lock out. Still pretty chuffed with that though. Pendlay rows and Roman Chair to balance my back after Deads.
OAP up to +8k on RH and -2.5k on LH. 5 x 8 Pull ups and 5 x 8 Archer Pull Ups to finish.
Cardio and Stretching.
Max Hang FB session at -8k on each arm, equates to 92% of Max as 85% felt a bit too steady. Think the heavier sets in coming weeks will be tough.

Overall I am pretty happy with how the week has gone particularly as manic at work as well.

[Bradders]

Sorry to hear that James. Hope it heals quick.

M - up to Birk Gill in the afternoon for third session on The Lash (great cons, first time getting on it in non-warm temps). To summarise, dropped the crux move most goes, albeit at times was finding the start a little knacky, then after my last realistic go before it got dark Dan pointed out I was going for the crux in completely the wrong way. Then took the lamps up to Slipstones - atmospheric to say the least. Had been meaning to try Self Suicide for ages but it's one of those you wouldn't bother driving up for specifically. My hands were freezing by the time I'd stumbled up through the heather and I almost sacked it straight away but did all the moves quick then linked it second go from the start. Fun problem.

T - stretches etc. at lunch. Free Solo in the evening.

W - gentle evening run

T - short Depot session. Annoyingly tweaked a recurring hamstring problem I've had, then got really pumped.

F - best connies day of the season so far? Perfect and lucky enough to have the day off. Went to Fairies Chest first. Did Troll Arete in a few goes; very committing top move, felt amazing to stick it before teetering up the slab! Did Pixie Tits stand and all the moves of the sit. Had three goes from the start but didn't do it. Sun was out so it did feel warm on the crimp. Then down to Sole Fusion; second session this season. Did the top a couple of times off a rope. Lots of tries from the bottom, at first completely faffing but gradually warmed into it. Slapped the lip hold quite a few times but didn't feel close to holding the cut. Then fell off the top of The Fly by phone-torchlight.

S & S - visiting family

Generally feeling a bit tired and burnt out at the moment. I think I basically peaked far too early in the season (when it was still warm/wet), and then continued trying to train reasonably hard which has left me knackered, so despite having been able to get out plenty of times I've struggled to close the deal on almost everything I've tried. Frustrating. Decided to sack off any sort of training over the next three weeks and just try and get lots of sleep. Will still get out when I can but just aim to potter about and keep things moving.

[user deactivated]

What is there if there isn’t stamp collecting? 

continual overreaching and prolonged failure is the alternative as far as I can tell.  So much more fulfilling!

Hehheh get yer self on a lettuce program. Nothing but lettuce for months on end. You’ll not be achieving those goals for the foreseeable future.

[teestub]

Generally feeling a bit tired and burnt out at the moment. I think I basically peaked far too early in the season (when it was still warm/wet), and then continued trying to train reasonably hard which has left me knackered, so despite having been able to get out plenty of times I've struggled to close the deal on almost everything I've tried. Frustrating. Decided to sack off any sort of training over the next three weeks and just try and get lots of sleep. Will still get out when I can but just aim to potter about and keep things moving.

Top marks for this, I think this is the stage where a lot of people push on and end up either injured or jaded, either way they don’t make the #gainz they are after.

[moose]

["... noteworthy success club"]

Oh Tom,you elitist! That title discourages me further from ever contributing to this thread! My infrequent successes are entirely un-"noteworthy"!  I dream of ticking a mildly diverting warm-up for someone capable of "noteworthy success".

[tomtom]

Personally noteworthy?

I was going to have Power club google translated in Toureg, but ultimately looked at the screen and those words came out

I’m amazed at the training some of y’all get in! My life with Toddler is so unstructured and random - that climbing/training is snatching a hour or two when I can - often when shattered/hungry or not recovered. At 6pm today my iFitnessdevice informed me I’d been standing at some point every hour for the last 14 hours... which isn’t that unusual. I tried doing core exercises whilst supervising the nippers bath time - he found it very funny to pour water over me/throw rubber ducks in my direction

But getting out or going to the wall provides little islands of something that’s not work or family in the week.

[TobyD]

Feeling generally work tired all week, but trying to knuckle down to addressing some weaknesses to get some things done next year. Knee a bit sore at the moment so not running hence going to a gym a bit

M wave bouldering
T repeaters, endurance on autobelays up 7a, down 5 back up 7a X 3
W gym, general conditioning session.
T bouldering on 45° board foundry
F gym: treadmill, rowing and core
S foundry mainly 45° board plus 15 minutes aerocap
S works. Trying wasp circuit. Few double laps of c. 7a on circuit board

[lagerstarfish]

not a great week, but it had it's moments

M - can't remember, probably nothing

Tu - Burbage N in the mist. Warmed up on "easy" routes - not so easy with mist condensing on anything big and horizontal. Headed to remergence coz it was that sort of a day. Decent conditions on dead tree traverses and tiny slab. Worked a pointless project on Tiny slab and managed to do it eventually - start on low foothold by R arete and traverse the bottom of the slab leftwards to the arete, up one move and then traverse rightwards without holding the top to get to the hold on the R arete (scary crux). The final move was a proper crux and the next and only thing to do then is go for the top of the slab which is the thing that was avoided to get to the arete. Pointless. Felt pleased. Decided to have a rest and then do it again for the camera. By this time the sun was out, so I took my shoes off and sat on the mat and closed my eyes. Woke up 10 mins later in cold mist with no sunshine; feet like blocks of ice. Didn't feel like repeating scary eliminate so went to fail on Blind Date again (30 years of failure). Went home to look after wife with stomach bug.

W - Fri - feeling unwell with stomach bug; climaxed by throwing up into a bin at work on Friday so was sent home despite feeling much better for the expulsion.

Sa - mini works with youngest kids. took it easy. Evening; eating and drinking with Jasper.

Su - good family walk around Graves Park with some good bird spotting. Evening session at Castleford indoor snow slope with my main snowboarding partner from the mid 90s. Conclusion was that we can still do it.

[duncan]

My infrequent successes are entirely un-"noteworthy"!  I dream of ticking a mildly diverting warm-up for someone capable of "noteworthy success".

I'd be happy with one of your warm-ups!

James, heal up. If it's not improving quickly don't be afraid to get it checked again (ask bubbles his story if you're not aware of it already, his kind of experience is quite common).



STG: strength work (bouldering / fingerboard) 2-3 times a week. Manage aches and pains.
MTG: a proper 7b+ this winter.
LTG: a classic Pembroke E5; 5.13 at 60; a LH&F BHAG.


M - Micro fingerboard session. Shoulder strength routine. Shoulder stretches.
T - Shoulder strength. Didn’t see Free Solo. 
W - BlocFit. Foot-on campusing: 8 sets of 1 minute.
T - Shoulder strength.
F - BlocFit. Foot-on campusing: 8 sets of 1 minute. Smaller holds and strict about the rest times. Pumped stupid.
S - Battered. Stretches.
S - Still tired. Shoulder strength. Shoulder stretches.

No climbing, weather didn’t justify a 3 hour drive any time I could have snuck off, but a decent week of training. Shoulder is 6/10, slowly improving. Experimented with foot-on campusing as a low shoulder stress activity: brutally simple and effective. Shoulders were fine but will need to watch the elbows: you do a lot of the same move in a short time. Was aiming for a powered-out / AnCap work-out as an adjunct to strength training but didn’t do my homework, cocked-up the dosage, and got a classic power-endurance / AeroPower pump of doom. Easy to adjust: smaller rungs and/or longer reaches should do the trick. 

Plan: watch the forecast for any available opportunity to get outside. Otherwise continue strength x 2 and AnCap x 1 weekly.

[Coops_13]

M: Saw specialist, had x-rays. Arch. Max hangs BM2K lower outside crimps 10 sets up to +22kg. Did some lock-offs after

T-W:

T: Had MRI on knee. Arch. Max hangs BM2K lower outside crimps 10 sets up to +24kg including four sets at +24. One-legged climbing on the 50 after

F-S:

S: Arch. Max hangs BM2K lower outside crimps 10 sets up to +24kg. Weighted pull-ups up to +60kg (managed 0.9 pull-ups at this weight this time). Some one-legged board climbing and rings (I, Y, T)

Knee injury means I'm being pretty regimented with my max hangs which is good. Maybe it'll actually do something...

[Bradders]

First week of Lattice Programme which should hopefully target some weaknesses and putting it on here for first time making it very public.

Welcome to PC, nice one getting started.

Crikey that is a big week though!! Not a single bit of rest and strength work every day?! Bear in mind I'm in a total fugue state atm where picking up a weight seems like hard work but still...

[gollum]

First week of Lattice Programme which should hopefully target some weaknesses and putting it on here for first time making it very public.

Welcome to PC, nice one getting started.

Crikey that is a big week though!! Not a single bit of rest and strength work every day?! Bear in mind I'm in a total fugue state atm where picking up a weight seems like hard work but still...

Thanks Bradders. It seems like the same sort of volume that I would normally do to be honest and on some ways a bit lighter in some areas.

I’ve trained in a similar way to this on and off for a long long time and make sure I feed well and sleep well.

I’ll take your advice and keep an eye on things to ensure that I’m not over training.