[shark]

11.0-4 average probably the same as last week.

M.

T. Afternoon. Didn’t sleep well following interview. Headed up to Dales with Poppy stopping off en route for another interview. Met Paul Malham. Catwalk deserted when we arrived. Sunny to begin with then very chilly in shade. Did Taking the Space clunkily with rests. Head too full of other stuff. Dogging go on the Oak and started to get into it. Felt really strong. Go 1 pissed through start and unlucky not to hold horn. Go 2 did it even more easily but this time held horn and got to top traverse fairly fresh but fingers numbed out with cold did the first few moves of traverse then right hand fired off undercut Go 3 Ground to touching horn Go 4 big effort required to do Ground to touching horn then throw to part way across top traverse and then start of traverse to top. Goal of getting through throw move within five sessions achieved. Stayed up in Settle.

W. Sore throat

T. Chesty cough. Stout walk fro Settle up around Attermire to Victoria Cave and back

F. Malham. Bit glassy to begin with then got a bit warm. Not feeling well or up for it. Go 1 Got horn but didnt hold Go2 Got horn well but slightly too low Go 3 Redpoint compromised by coughing up phlegm but got to set up for throw. Drove back to Sheffield

S Not well. Went back to bed in the afternoon

S AM Decent fingerboard session on ergo edge. PM Out with boys to an undisclosed esoteric crag. Cleaned and put up a few new problems of modest difficulty and questionable quality. Failed on a couple of harder ones. Had a moment on a dirty highball 5. Great stuff.

Decided to sak off Malham with this chesty cough and then flying to Boston on Thursday and spending a week there with Sonia so she can do the marathon. Weather and work commitments permitting will get stuck back into Malham when I get back.

Comparing with my all time best go in September 2015 I've reduced the time from the first pop to matching the horn from 45 secs to 33 secs. To the point of falling off it took me 65 seconds this time compared to the previous 102 seconds. Even taking out that I didn't shake this time compared to before (5 secs at the horn and 17 secs before the top traverse) thats a  considerable improvement which I put down to the changed starting sequence and better mental rehearsal. Also given that I have focussed on strength rather than stamina I probably need to be quicker anyway.

[tomtom]

Ahem.
 #ClimbFaster 😃

[Duma]

Ace effort shark!

[Duma]

Power Club

Goals: Uninjured, 70kg, 8A in UK, Rocklands in June.

M - 35PU, 15VSit, 15SU.

T - TCA, hard bouldering on the blacks. Decent session, managed to tick 2 more off, including a quick ascent of a slopey pinch problem on the 45 that I thought would be hard. Spent a while working out moves and sequences on a couple more, but links feel a way off. 8 to go. 35PU, 15VSit, 15SU.

W - 35PU, 15VSit, 15SU.

T - TCA, max hangs +25kg, 6x10s. Then more trying blacks, but no progress. Still got 8 to go, 3 I've done the moves on but don't really feel close to any of them. In contrast the last hard set I completed in 3 sessions. Bit demoralising tbh, but maybe they're a particularly hard bunch. Found an undercut of the right sort of size and did a few reps touching as high as I could alternating hands, matching between. Felt like it was working my poor undercutting at least. Few goes on moonboard (pure wood RH) but not enough left by then. 35PU, 15VSit, 15SU.

F - TCA, hard bouldering. Blacks again, no ticks but felt much better than yesterday. Focused on the one on the 35° as it feels the least tweaky of the ones I've done the moves on, it's the most fun to climb on, and it has a hard move off an undercut that should work one of my weaknesses. Pleased to get through the undercut move once from the start. 35PU, 15VSit, 15SU.

S - 35PU, 15VSit, 15SU.

S - 35PU, 15VSit, 15SU.

Av 70.5kg.

OK week, was a bit down after Thursdays session, and weight going wrong way (over 71 for first time since mid Feb this morning). But much improved on Friday and weight is probably mostly about an unhealthy weekend at work, so should be sorted easily enough.

[Duma]

To the point of falling off it took me 65 seconds this time compared to the previous 180 seconds.

Though for the sake of pedantry we should note you do do ~17s more climbing in 2015

[nai]

Family holiday last week so just what I could fit in around doing nothing:

Sun - decent leg & hip stretch
Mon core
Tue conditioning - an hour of various pressups, pullups, one arm assisted scap pullups,
w short leg stretches
Thu -  quick conditioning session, alternated pull, push, leg exercises. Core.
F
S flew home
S - hour of bouldering in garage, pretty good, repeated all hardest problems and circuits fairly readily
conditioning - scapUps, pike pressups, TRX Vs, Ts & Reverses, bit of legs
floor & bar core

Amazingly weight only raised 0.2kg over the week. Have started writing a book about the miracle fish and wine diet.

[cheque]

Sounds good Shark! 

Rehab Diaries Week Thirty-three

STG- Sub-HVS *** Peak Grit Trad list (20/20 remain), onsighting HVS/ low 6s by end of September.

M- Rest. Very tired and sore after 4 days climbing in a week and 2 days successive climbing for the first time in a year. It seems I tweaked my right ring finger at Black Rocks too- I didn’t climb anything fingery but was tired and dehydrated. 

T-Given my finger and the fact that last week I redpointed a lime 7a but failed on three VS jamming cracks I decided that old school brute strength stuff would be better than fingerboarding. The last time I did pushups for reps from fresh was when my back was newly healed and I could only do two. Impressed myself by doing 10 straight off, then 9 then an unimpressive 3. I guess that’s the weakness! My PB is 13 in one set and three sets of 10 so room for improvement. Did 3x40 pushups too. 

W- Gym. 30 minutes on the bike, normal routine with every interval up one level setting as usual. Tried hard.

T- Rest. Pretty knackered.

F- Awesome Walls. First session with the Trad Rack Simulator 4000^TM aka a pre-loved diver’s weightbelt that I got from Ebay for £20 and looks like it was salvaged from the Mariana Trench.

This badboy weighs 4.4kg, as much as a pretty generous trad rack but not excessive- at the start of January I weighed roughly that much more than I do now. The plan is to climb on the autobelays with this to condition my body (particularly my legs) to the demands of trad. I only took my crappy indoor shoes with the intention of climbing easy stuff only but when the autos were crowded out by kids I ended up trying a 7a anyway which wasn’t a great idea for my finger. 

Did routes up to 6a+ successfully apart from that and it felt very like I do with a big rack on- everything felt way tougher, even slightly dynamic moves felt very unlikely and I had an uncomfortable feeling of being pulled down. All this is good as I want to be out of my comfort zone and work back up to a new one. The only real downside was that when lowering off put me in the sitting position one of the weights dug painfully into the deformed bit of my rib cage.  Need to change the spacing on them.

S- Rest. Very tired and sore, particularly shoulders, calves & forearms. Finger not great either.

S- Plan was for some grit trad mileage but got scarily ill in the night. Some sort of stomach ache/ achey fever thing.  Feeling surprisingly improved now so not sure what it is/ was. Finger improved too.

Tough week. Started new job (same organisation, same pay but more to do, more responsibility, lots to learn and unfamiliar colleagues) which has been stressful. Also a year ago I was in a deeply traumatised state in hospital which is feeling strangely recent again (a day in bed feeling shit hasn’t helped with that) in response to all this plus my new trad goal I trained really hard this week on the back of non-ideal sleep which has probably contributed to getting ill. Hopefully feeling better this coming week.

[nai]

Effort getting the link, shark. Pretty pointless having that chalkbag swinging around weighing you down and causing drag. Might as well ditch it if you''re not going to use it.

[Coops_13]

No climbing at all this week. Spent packing, stressing and drinking before leaving the country today. In NY for a few days of work before I make my way to Denver. Doesn’t quite feel real yet...

[gollum]

 M - Lunchtime stretching and rehab for tired legs and arms.
Evening session at the Depot. Start with a campus session working on max pulls. Do 3 steady warm up sets and then three a bit harder and two a bit harder again. Plan to get a bit more disciplined with campusing and working hard to improve, as I do know it pays dividends for me, at least.
Strength intervals on 50 Board. Feeling a bit heavy after the weekend and so a bit lethargic. Get a reasonable session done with plenty of moves where I feel like the muscles are firing, although not climbing with any style other than a brutal one.
Relaxing 5k when I get home with a niggly knee, followed by a lot of stretching.

T - Today felt like a big day. Push this morning with Benching off the pins for 3 up to 90k which is a very different exercise when there is no elastic reflex from the muscle. Then did triples up to 95k and shoulder press up to 47.5 for 4 reps. Finished session with DB incline and press ups on bands across the rack which was really good for core work and very entertaining.
Knee still niggling so rest at lunch and just stretch a bit.
Evening session at the Depot. Power Triples for five sets. Two problems on the 30 Board and a finger purple in the main room. Pretty solid all the way through, only dropping one problem due to setting up from wrong foot position. Then get some minute on two off done on the comp wall going up and down steady problems. Move on to some edge pulls. Work out what my 2RM is on the BM2K 14mm edges and then do three sets of 3 reps with just under 90% of that. Finish off with prone IYT on the TRX. Felt like I’d had a solid session.

W - Pull day today. Start with some quick off the floor deadlifts. 140 flies off the deck which is usually a good sign that I could go heavier and will start trying to push on again. Do think running up hill has improved core and hamstring strength. Do some Roman Chair and shrugs for lower back and traps. Then do some heavy pull-ups. Six sets of 3 with 40k added, which feels about right. Finish off with some tension work and some scapular work before heading off to work.
Lunchtime is the last time I will need to do my fitness test at work before I retire and I passed, so that’s good news. Then did a knee testing 5k on the treadmill which felt okay. Made sure I stretched and did some strengthening exercises straight after though.

T - Full day in that big bad London. Get home and go for a steady relaxing trot in the wind and the rain which cleared the head nicely.
Back home and testing what Max Strength is on Fingerboard for 10 seconds. Need more weight than last time I did this, although only 0.5k and think that changes to pulley have made it lose a bit less friction and so a touch harder. Was working on Lattice Edge and plan to do this again at the weekend to work out Max on centre hold on BM2K.
Do some core work and lever raises to finish off.

F - Stretching for shoulder and knee and just rolling it out. Steady run just to get some blood flowing in the evening. End of the week and time to chill.

S - Push day. Bench for doubles up to 100k, decline tripled to 95 and incline to 85. Solid day for chest. Chest dips and chins superset for arm strength and then a bit more tricep and core work to finish off the weights for the day. Feels like a great way to start the weekend.
Project Session at Depot. Change sequence on easiest Zoo York replica and finally get it done. Really chuffed as it’s been a while and been struggling on one move in the middle for weeks. Now to try the harder ones. Play around on the second hardest but am going to need to improve my pinch and contact strength to get it done. Finish project session with bits of Steady Intro, which feels tough at this stage.
Finally do some Max Hang testing on centre hold of BM2K. RH bodyweight for 10, LH For 7. LH for 10 seconds takes 1 kilo off, with a body weight of 67.2. Too tired to see what Max was with small edge, another day.
Finished session with a quick zap on one of new yellows.

S - Pull and long run day. Warm up with deadlifts up to 140 and then onto OAP. Manage plus 12 on RH and plus 4 on LH. Weight on LH definitely helps prevent rotation. Try two finger pull up on RH which feels okay so go for one finger.......just hurts so use 5k counterbalance and manage it. Need to find a sling that is a bit friendlier I reckon. Then weighted pull ups up to 50k added, although form is rubbish at that weight. A bit of core and shoulder work and finish off with some preacher curls, working in a pyramid. Quick but good session.
10K PB, I am not a runner but happy to be plugging away at stuff. Big hills on the way out, long descent on way back.
Stepped up the intensity a bit this week and it felt pretty good.

[cheque]

last time I did pullups for reps from fresh was when my back was newly healed and I could only do two. Impressed myself by doing 10 straight off...

  Correction.

Woken up feeling fine today.  Must have been food poisoning or something.

[shark]

Effort getting the link, shark. Pretty pointless having that chalkbag swinging around weighing you down and causing drag. Might as well ditch it if you''re not going to use it.

Good spot. Didn’t realise I didn’t chalk up. Usually would before the top traverse but guess I didn’t because my tips were numb with cold. Maybe wouldn’t have slipped out of undercut if I’d chalked up. Did notice my chalk bag was heavy so should dig out or buy a lighter one

[highrepute]

Sounds like a strong week shark. Maybe you should do interviews before every sessions!

T- Couldn't make it for board session as RR wouldn't go to bed. Did a bit of fingerboarding last instead. Felt reasonably strong somehow 🤷‍♂️.

Did this little campus routine - from the pullup bar to matching the smallest crimps on BM. Not managed to do it on both sides before but did last night.

Also smashed out 5 pull-ups on the tiny 14mm edges which is more than ever.

One arm max hangs on 20mm edge. Can comfortably get to 10 sec hang on left, slightly less comfortable on right, with -12.5kg. At -10kg fail around 5 seconds. Which I think is as good as I've ever been.

S - pull-ups in park while on a snooze cruise with RR. did a pull-up pyramid that collapsed at 8.5, but managed to make it back down the numbers... just. Something to improve on.

S - Mini-works with MM. was able to do a few climbs while she did laps on 🏰. out grown shoes so on the lookout for a cheap pair that fit size 13 feet.

In summary... good week in end, snuck in two unexpected bonus sessions at the weekend. shoulders are ruined from the pull-ups. be good to be able to complete a pyramid upto 10.

[nai]

I have a small Decathlon one on a piece of cord that I keep that gorilla dust stuff in that serves as a redpoint and weighs less than half of my normal bag. Or, if opportunities to chalk are going to be really limited I just rub chalk into my trousers and slap my hands against it, saves time that way too.

[jwi]

Effort getting the link, shark. Pretty pointless having that chalkbag swinging around weighing you down and causing drag. Might as well ditch it if you''re not going to use it.

Good spot. Didn’t realise I didn’t chalk up. Usually would before the top traverse but guess I didn’t because my tips were numb with cold. Maybe wouldn’t have slipped out of undercut if I’d chalked up. Did notice my chalk bag was heavy so should dig out or buy a lighter one

Arnaud Petit recommends ditching the chalk bag but absolutely cake the first bit of the rope in chalk so that when you clip you also get some chalk on your hands. (Just one of the many tricks from his discursive book "Escalade".)

[Nibile]

Power Club

Mon - PE on the board. PE1 problem x5, 1' rests in between, x2 (25' rest in between sets). Fell on last moves of the last go. High pulls x5, snatch x5, clean and press x5, x2 in between PE sets.
Tue - rest.
Wed - fingers, garage session on 15 mm edge (one arm at 90%) and 9 mm edge (front3 and back3), quite strong. Power clean in between hangs, up to 92% (74 kg). Clean and press.
Thu - ab wheel static, static/dynamics pull ups, x2 sets. Hard. Overhead walk 41 kg 30/30 x5. Very hard. Quick session, but a heavy one, especially after Wednesday.
Fri - clean and press with 10" overhead walk. Snatch pulls. Tired.
Sat - rest.
Sun - board climbing with friends. Fun.

[Will Hunt]

Sacked off the wall all week due to poor mojo, and replaced it with guidebook work instead. I think I got to bed before 12 once in the whole week on Saturday. At least I learned that that's not really sustainable 

Still, got the Gigg North chapter virtually done, then had a day at the crag on Sunday doing the last load of checking and fine tuning with a small group of volunteers. Did a heap of drawing lines onto topo photos and did about 5 routes. Dogged Rampage (7a!) when I tried to go too direct and finished the day onsighting Direct Debit (7a).

[duncan]

Sounds like a strong week shark. Maybe you should do interviews before every sessions!

I do challenging interviews via Skype for my usual fee. Not the cheapest but well worth it for the performance enhancements.

STG: Manage aches and pains. One session of strength (bouldering and/or fingerboard), one of long endurance, climb outside.
MTG: Colorado bucket list in May, a classic sea cliff E5 this summer.
LTG: 5.13 at 60; a LH&F BHAG.

M - Westway bouldering. 6 purples ‘V3/4’. A decent session.
T - Brisk 10km walk.
W - Shoulder strength: IsYsTs on the rings etc. Westway routes: 90 mins (8mins on / 7 mins off) session on the autobelay, 300m up to 6a+.
T -  Shoulder strength.
F - Shoulder strength. Epic drive to Pembroke.
S - Met up with Wil. Misty Walls, led Master Blaster (E2), Bon Voyage (E2) and followed Not Even Some Red (E2 or E3). 
S - Mosaic Wall and Mewsford, led Crystal Edge (HVSish) and Mural Landscape pitch 1 (E3), swang leads on the immaculate Day Dreamer (E2). 

Another mediocre week for work and life but the climbing was great. Pembroke was lovely, a little damp in places (don’t plan to do anything in The Leap soon), but sunny,  ideal temperatures and great company. Happy to lead a burly E3 on my first weekend back on trad. after 7 months. Battered everywhere today, it’s hard to replicate the full body effort of spending five worried minutes fiddling wires whilst wedged awkwardly in a damp niche. Ideas on a (seaside) postcard? Been working on the hip flexibility and results immediately apparent, especially on high steps. Happily surprised how much easier these feel.

Plan: continue building the strength and long endurance base. Hip flexibility, shoulder strength. Get outside more.

[monkoffunk]

STG - Job interview then plan Spring Font trip
Climb Fighting Torque.
Weight ~75kg. (Done, could be easily lower)
MTG - Get boulder strong.
LTG - 7C

M - Rest, post nights

T - Red spider 30 mins warm up, campus board medium beastmaker:
RL 13579 x2
R 145 L14(6 touch)
R145 L146!!
RL146 whoop, whoop
R14141 (alt) L141414141 (alt)
Little bit of short powerful but submaximal bouldering on big safe holds after that.

W - Rest

T - Long day. Max hangs. Warm up then 10sec hangs 3 min rest bottom BM 2000 crimps:
1x0kg
2x10kg
1x22.5kg
4x25kg
25kg personal best for me I think, certainly at 4 reps. Felt pretty maximal. Usually do 20kg, but weight is 73.5kg today down from 76.8kg a month ago.

F - Planned hard vert crimpy boulders, but late at work. Ended up doing Anderson style repeater finger board. Don’t feel hugely strong but the heating had been on in the flat. Looking forward to having a garage soon.

S - Yoga class, very good. Rest.

S - More gentle yoga class, also good. Anderson style finger board repeaters. Much better than Friday, made sure to get it in before the heating came on. Best session ever I think actually even with 2.5kg extra until last couple sets.



A good week really! Really psyched after the last finger board session, seemed to be some tangible progress or at least felt good. Been busy with work and prepping for an interview next week so good to keep up some training momentum anyway.

Weight minimum of 73.3kg this week, consistently 74kg or less. Maybe slightly lower that I was aiming by this point, but does feel like could get safely and easily down a bit more before next go at Fighting Torque.

Job interview Tuesday, so after that back to hard training for a week(ish), next day on rock will be Good Friday weather permitting.

[jwi]

Tue April 2
Climbing outdoors, La Ola Campo
On-sighting within limit
Thur April 4
Climbing outdoors, La Ola Campo
On-sighting within/at the border of limit.
Sun April 7
Climbing outdoors, Fosado Ainsa
Psyched to be climbing after two days of heavy rain.
On-sighting within limit

Had I known that I'd be forced to do 2 days of rest I would have done a physical on Friday.

[spidermonkey09]

Good effort Shark, looked strong on that redpoint. Keep at it. Are you taking a fingerboard to Boston?!

Good luck Ross!

M - sat at work slightly down about how weak I'd felt the previous day and resolved to actually do some training; just turning up to the crag isn't going to do the job! Fingerboard in the evening; ludicrously weak on a set of repeaters which is encouraging as it should improve quickly.

T - Depot. Decided to try something new on the board so formulated a new problem on the 50 roughly reflecting some moves I'm finding hard between kneebar and bird hole. Felt desperate which is good as I can actually do the move in reality! Finished with some power endurance on the 30. Good session.

W - Core. Horrible, but effective.

T - Malham. First after work session of the year. 3x up on Bat Route working the boulder. Felt way better than on Sunday immediately. Did the boulder several times in halves and on the final go up had a good go at my previous best link from the sidepull jug which was good at the end of the session. Very pleased with this as I was doing hard moves when knackered after 3 goes up in a few hours. Promising.

F - sets of pullups and stretching. Elbow/bicep feels better for putting some work through it.

S - Robin Procter's Scar. Lovely crag with a great view. Enjoyed just onsighting some 6's on good rock. Did the 7a+ on the right which was good; thin. Beautiful weather.

S - Moughton Nab. Got completely shut down on the 6c Burly in Ribblesdale; can only presume I missed a jug as it felt unreasonably desperate! Arm started complaining so left it there and belayed in the sun instead.

Good week; felt much better for doing something each day. More of the same this week I think; out after work on Thursday and a day over the weekend.

[shark]

Are you taking a fingerboard to Boston?!

Decided ages ago I’d take the week off. Think that having a strategic full week off every 4 months or so is more beneficial that keeping at it.

Not taking that sort of break was I think the root cause of my lacklustre performance on the Oak last Autumn.

[Will Hunt]

S - Moughton Nab. Got completely shut down on the 6c Burly in Ribblesdale

Oh dear, Jim! This does not bode well for Bat Route.

[spidermonkey09]

Oh dear, Jim! This does not bode well for Bat Route.

That's what I thought! Particularly when I looked on UKC and say you'd onsighted it with no comment...honestly felt desperate, there was a move up to a grim little two finger incut which didn't much resemble the 'deep slot' in
 the guidebook! Must have missed it somewhere.

[tommytwotone]

Goal: 3 1 new (to me) 7as before end of 2019


M - usual working from home day. Running errands on lunch but did some theraband stretching while on calls.
T - forgot I'd been granted a pass, came home - and then rapidly went back out again. Was going to just head to Big Depot but realised that I could get to Church Crag and squeeze a very quick session in before dark. Ummed and erred, actually got 5 mins down road to Leeds and past the M62 turning before thinking "sod it" and heading to Church. Arbitrary warm up, then did Used For Glue (7a) first go. YYFY. Realised afterwards I hadn't even got changed - did it in my skinny jeans with my work pass still clipped to the belt loop!
W - nowt
T - nowt
F - nowt
S - pass given as other half had plans with kids. Headed to Smeaton Edge as it looks right up my street. Found it after a bit of hacking about as I was right - shame it was all just a bit too damp to climb though. Someone has also left some huge tick marks there too which I couldn't reach to erase sadly. Bailed to Church Crag to try Used For Glue SS (7a+), which I realised following some beta enquiries I'd virtually done on Monday (as I'd just thought starting matched on the big ledge seemed the logical way - hadn't realised the stand pulls on a bit higher up). Dropped it first go due to memory failure on foot sequence, then did it second go. YYFY again. Spent rest of session working The Shield RH, which feels significantly harder for the same grade.


Great week. Confirmed that (I hope) the majority of what's holding me back is opportunity rather than ability. Made me more motivated to focus on time on rock, massively hoped by having this newly discovered limestone stuff a convenient blast down the motorway away.

[cheque]

Nice work Tommy.

[Yossarian]

Two weeks worth again...

M - Wall. Focused on the new vert / slab set. Finished most of the harder things. Good progress on the last two (both 7B/7B+) but eking out the remaining hard moves might take a while.
T - Beastmaker. A few repeaters then max hangs. Managed 5x -18kg / 10sec on both arms, which was my first time in the teens.
W
T - Wall. Surprisingly fatigued. Ended up doing some foot-on campus sets, and then AeroCap circuits.
F
S - Wall. Long session with a lot of chat and not much hared pulling. Sore skin with a little split tip. General lack of conviction. Shoulder hurting a bit too.
S

M - Wall. Skin still sore, so tried to focus on technique / footwork drills.
T
W - Wall. Shoulder feeling better and energy levels / skin much better generally, so warmed up and then got on the 45 board for the first time in ages. Went through previous probs with not too much trouble and started some new projects. Tried campus board - managed 145 booth sides, but not 146. Did some campusing on various steep problems on the comp wall too.
T - Wall again. Felt fresh in the morning, but seemed to fatigue quite quickly once I started. Did some more foot-on campus, 1.30min / 1min rests x 7. Felt like I’d made quite a lot of improvement.
F
S - Wall. Warm up and then focused on 45 board. Progress on my projects, plus tried 3x others around 6C/7A. The latter were mainly much bigger moves on reasonable edges, whereas I’ve been focusing more on smaller moves / crimps. Quite good progress. Back downstairs for some roof stuff and problem campusing.
S

Shoulder issue seems to have largely resolved itself which is good as it’s been a pain in the arse. Weight has refuted to budge much in the last couple of weeks. After listening to TheKettle’s podcast I decided to experiment with tracking / raising my protein intake. Working on 85kg BW (which I wish I was) this is 135 - 150g per day, and takes some doing. However, this proved extremely interesting when my clicking knees / crepitus (about which my kids have been complaining about over the past 2 months) totally disappeared after the first day of extra protein. It’s made me question the logic of the intermittent fasting approach, as trying to cram down and absorb protein in a restricted window would seem to be sub-optimal, and perhaps this might be related to general lack of recovery over the past few weeks. Going to press on with protein and see what happens...

[tomtom]

Well done Shark. Pleased to see your 'be kind to belayer' classes are having a bit of an effect "DOWN please" :D

Good stuff Cheque and 3T too... Nai - I expect to see you on Saturday kitchen sometime soon epousing your wine and fish diet.

M: elbow pain. Drive to Hull and back with a full day at the office in the middle.

Tu: Day at home - less elbow pain...

We: Wimberry. Why? Well, thought I'd mined Wimberry out for what I could do a number of years back. I'm better now - so went back to have another look. Besides, slopey grit slapping scrittle action is better for a dodgy bilbo than hardcore lime crimpage. Right?

'kinell its hard... anyway - had a good morning session on the slopey top boulder and managed to do flat slapper and the sit (7A) after a bit of work. Pleased with this - the newly acquired leg flexibility certainly helped with the start which isnt that friendly for the taller gentleman...



Thurs:

Fri: Fieldwork near Pickering (my yearly chance to get to NYMoors)... Long drive over from Manchester delayed by motorway closure... long day working in the field then had a couple of hours before I had to get back. Not really time to go anywhere new, but went to Ravenswick. Yup. Slightly overhanging crimpy limestone. Elbow tastic... Didnt manage anything I'd not done before - but had a bit of a 'deliverance' moment when I was swearing away at a sit start I couldnt get off the ground with - you know, thrutch, swear, kick the rock with your feet whilst lying on the mat and repeat etc.. I turned around and someone was stood there watching me... and had been for a few min I think. And then they went..... very strange. Anyway I carried on and was then suitably spooked again when some large bird of prey or other crashed down through the trees and plucked some unfortunate woodland creature from the wood floor about 5m away from me and then noisily flapped up again.

The drive home was calm :D and no-one was hiding in the back seat....

Sa:

Su: Quick morning hit before flying off to Vienna in the late afternoon. So went back to Wimberry. Car park was surprisingly busy at 9 am on a sunday... weekend fitness types doing running stuff... nutters. Anyway, pottered around on the sugarloaf (boulder by the stream?) and was unable to do the 6B Local Hero (I clearly am not) but got stuck into the 7A sit to Chips



Very anti my style (cramped - and a sit - lie down start) but very satisfying. Took about 45 min to get the moves wired - then managed to link it in one go which I was very pleased with. Whilst doing it - there was the somewhat surreal experience of a tractor parade/convoy heading up the steep road on the valley opposite (its in the video)... some with union flags waving away. I did wonder whether it was some sort of Brexit shit but figured it was probably just a vintage tractor runout. Standard fare...

[cheque]

[Battered everywhere today, it’s hard to replicate the full body effort of spending five worried minutes fiddling wires whilst wedged awkwardly in a damp niche. Ideas on a (seaside) postcard?

This is what I’m looking at currently- the demands of onsight trad over sport and bouldering aren’t just limited to the mental side and standard climbing training doesn’t really prepare you for them.

Thinking of the days when men were men and it was standard among dedicated climbers to operate at what we now consider really high levels of trad onsighting (you’ll know better than me as you were actually there!) it seems the biggest factor was that they just did trad every time they went out (so enforced specificity) and training was meat ‘n’ potatoes high-volume strength work. 

I got fit for the lugging massive loads required for making the Seaside by carrying weights with me everywhere in my day-to-day life and my first attempts to transfer this approach to climbing with a rack are detailed in my post above. I’m thinking that making very long-winded laps of the Foundry traverse wall (wouldn’t be very popular on the autobelays!) with added weight would be a good specific exercise too. Might try this on Friday.

[monkoffunk]

Two weeks worth again...

M - Wall. Focused on the new vert / slab set. Finished most of the harder things. Good progress on the last two (both 7B/7B+) but eking out the remaining hard moves might take a while.
T - Beastmaker. A few repeaters then max hangs. Managed 5x -18kg / 10sec on both arms, which was my first time in the teens.
W
T - Wall. Surprisingly fatigued. Ended up doing some foot-on campus sets, and then AeroCap circuits.
F
S - Wall. Long session with a lot of chat and not much hared pulling. Sore skin with a little split tip. General lack of conviction. Shoulder hurting a bit too.
S

M - Wall. Skin still sore, so tried to focus on technique / footwork drills.
T
W - Wall. Shoulder feeling better and energy levels / skin much better generally, so warmed up and then got on the 45 board for the first time in ages. Went through previous probs with not too much trouble and started some new projects. Tried campus board - managed 145 booth sides, but not 146. Did some campusing on various steep problems on the comp wall too.
T - Wall again. Felt fresh in the morning, but seemed to fatigue quite quickly once I started. Did some more foot-on campus, 1.30min / 1min rests x 7. Felt like I’d made quite a lot of improvement.
F
S - Wall. Warm up and then focused on 45 board. Progress on my projects, plus tried 3x others around 6C/7A. The latter were mainly much bigger moves on reasonable edges, whereas I’ve been focusing more on smaller moves / crimps. Quite good progress. Back downstairs for some roof stuff and problem campusing.
S

Shoulder issue seems to have largely resolved itself which is good as it’s been a pain in the arse. Weight has refuted to budge much in the last couple of weeks. After listening to TheKettle’s podcast I decided to experiment with tracking / raising my protein intake. Working on 85kg BW (which I wish I was) this is 135 - 150g per day, and takes some doing. However, this proved extremely interesting when my clicking knees / crepitus (about which my kids have been complaining about over the past 2 months) totally disappeared after the first day of extra protein. It’s made me question the logic of the intermittent fasting approach, as trying to cram down and absorb protein in a restricted window would seem to be sub-optimal, and perhaps this might be related to general lack of recovery over the past few weeks. Going to press on with protein and see what happens...

What was your aim with the intermittent fasting? I have tried it and find it works pretty well because I find it a useful way to restrict over all calories. I don’t think it really has a major metabolic effect that some ascribe to it. So if you have x amount of food you are planning to eat and it’s a struggle to fit it in, you’ll be no worse off if you spread that out starting a bit earlier in the day.

[36chambers]

S - Moughton Nab. Got completely shut down on the 6c Burly in Ribblesdale

Oh dear, Jim! This does not bode well for Bat Route.

Even Coops flashed it

[Will Hunt]

S - Moughton Nab. Got completely shut down on the 6c Burly in Ribblesdale

Oh dear, Jim! This does not bode well for Bat Route.

Even Coops flashed it

And Sam Marks. It's comforting to know that a good performance on the Depot 50 board is no match for a <10m tall ladder of jugs.

[spidermonkey09]

And Sam Marks. It's comforting to know that a good performance on the Depot 50 board is no match for a <10m tall ladder of jugs.

 

[Will Hunt]

And Sam Marks. It's comforting to know that a good performance on the Depot 50 board is no match for a <10m tall ladder of jugs.

 

Indeed. Such is Sam's great size, the power output he must have been generating to get himself up it must have been huge. I'm surprised that some nuclear launch early warning system didn't go off somewhere.

[spidermonkey09]

Indeed. Such is Sam's great size, the power output he must have been generating to get himself up it must have been huge. I'm surprised that some nuclear launch early warning system didn't go off somewhere.

I'm clearly going to have to go back. What I was trying did not feel 6c! Least I've got a new project.

[SA Chris]

2 weeks off!

First week is easy;

M - nothing - recovery
T - nothing, finally book ski holiday
W - easy 7 km
T - easy 8 km, pack
W - nothing, pack
T - nothing, pack
F - nothing, pack and drive
S - fly, arrive italy, run 10km at over 1500m altitude, after waking up at 4 - unsurprisingly knackering
S - ski 20k

M - ski 30k, run 10k
T - ski 37k
W - ski 18km, poor vis and snowing all day. Run 5 k in the snow
T - lifts closed after enormous dump of snow. go for a walk / wade in thigh deep snow. Play on kicker buil by hotel staff and guests. Stop after bruising calves, not as easy on skis compared to board.
F - powder day - off piste all morning, piste all afternoon. 43k
S - nothing, travel.
S - 31 km run. last long one before tapering

[Murph]

TTT - well pleased for you dude. 2 out of 3 ain’t bad at all!

TT - cool looking problem that second one. Your posts always leave me amazed how much you manage to get out. If that sounds like jealousy it is!

Pretty poor week this one. I basically overdid it last weekend and didn’t listen to my body complaining. Symptoms include pain at the bottom of the biceps and generally being knackered. Should have backed off at the first sign.

M- Ill advised fingerboard session including going up to +24kgs HC on the BM small holds. Only managed that for 9s. Stretches.
T-works session on irn bru (6b) circuit. Pain in arms.
W-5k run. First in 2 months? No back pain. Stretches.
T-works Irn brus. Arm pain. Shouldn’t have been there.
F-
S-took kids to windgather. Lovely day. No real climbing tho. The 5 year old had a bit of an epic on the classic duff of the crag and refused to go up, down, or traverse. Got thru it tho and no one was harmed.
S-took 5yr old to awesome walls. She had such a nice time. (Edit - actually *I* had such a nice time. Her topping out there for the first time, and nine more times, was my best climbing experience of the year. Just me and her. It was great!)

Could have swung a pass for myself but arms pretty knackered. Hoping to get out tomorrow.

Goals - not really sure at the minute. I’ve been going on about Tsunami but it is just too far away. It’s a fantasy not a goal. Turn 40 in ten weeks and it’s be nice to get something in before then but being honest just hope to keep injury at bay.

[Yossarian]

What was your aim with the intermittent fasting? I have tried it and find it works pretty well because I find it a useful way to restrict over all calories. I don’t think it really has a major metabolic effect that some ascribe to it. So if you have x amount of food you are planning to eat and it’s a struggle to fit it in, you’ll be no worse off if you spread that out starting a bit earlier in the day.

I’ve had good results with it in terms of weight loss, and also I subscribe to the theory that it maybe helps you feel a bit more alert in the mornings, vs eating a big bowl of porridge and feeling rather dozy afterwards. The testosterone levels stuff I’m not sure about.

But, exactly as you point out, if you’re actively trying to cram down a certain amount of food, then it’s not so helpful. My issue with protein intake is that, whilst the beefcake concept of having mini meals all day might be a bit extreme, it’s probably not a good idea to cram down 150g of it between 4 and 8pm, both from the point of view of absorption and the quality of life of the people with whom you share a house / bed / lavatory.

I have read that various keto / IF adherents view the consumption of straight-no-chaser protein in the morning as the best of both worlds, combining some of the benefits of IF whilst still actually eating something.

[monkoffunk]

Sometimes when I wake up post a particularly heavy session and feel muscle achey etc, I’ll go for a protein shake with a double espresso in it for my morning coffee. Certainly tastes good if nothing else!

[jamesturnbull97]

Think I missed last weeks but not much to report really, not climbed or trained for the past 3 weeks. Had been planning on just training and then hitting Malham for the season but I've just not had the motivation for climbing at the moment so have just been out on my bike loads instead, especially since I've just spent a lot of my hard earned pennies on a new bike.
Really psyched on my riding right now and for this year having enter a couple of enduro races this summer including the Megavalanche although I'm sure I'll go climbing again soon and get my psyche back.

[Dolly]

Start of school Easter holidays...
M was hoping to go out but family stuff meant only a short session of shed power
T
W big crimpy  shed session. Knackered
T
F Anston to look at The Wookie but it’s not easy and tears my skin. The ent at Frodo was a consolation, at 6b it’s probably a bit harder than Saruman at 7a 5 yards further left
S
S gym for kettlebells core and HIT. Felt all virtuous getting there At 8:15 but overdid it and spent the rest of the day eating and napping. I just couldn’t eat enough

[andy popp]

No climbing at all this week. Spent packing, stressing and drinking before leaving the country today. In NY for a few days of work before I make my way to Denver. Doesn’t quite feel real yet...

Are you going to miss Denver's upcoming snow bomb event tomorrow?

[highrepute]

.
S-took 5yr old to awesome walls. She had such a nice time. (Edit - actually *I* had such a nice time. Her topping out there for the first time, and nine more times, was my best climbing experience of the year. Just me and her. It was great!)

Is this AW Sheffield. Is it good for 5 year olds then? Don't remember any kids bouldering last time I was there?

[Wood FT]

Effort getting the link, shark. Pretty pointless having that chalkbag swinging around weighing you down and causing drag. Might as well ditch it if you''re not going to use it.

Good spot. Didn’t realise I didn’t chalk up. Usually would before the top traverse but guess I didn’t because my tips were numb with cold. Maybe wouldn’t have slipped out of undercut if I’d chalked up. Did notice my chalk bag was heavy so should dig out or buy a lighter one

Arnaud Petit recommends ditching the chalk bag but absolutely cake the first bit of the rope in chalk so that when you clip you also get some chalk on your hands. (Just one of the many tricks from his discursive book "Escalade".)

Me thinks Arnaud is not a sweaty bugger then.

[Wood FT]

..The Shield RH, which feels significantly harder for the same grade

I found the Shield and the RH felt the same grade (at 5’6 and a whisker), looong move on each.

[Murph]

Hi James, yeah we were at AW sheffield. Don’t know about bouldering there for kids - we’ve been a few times just to use the top ropes. I’ve not actually seen other children as young there but it’s set out with v small children in mind. If they can get up a green or two in the mini works then they can get to the top of a few multi colored routes at AW. Plus, when they want to just play there is a parent-free area with a rocket ship climbing frame thing. It’s great!

[tommytwotone]

..The Shield RH, which feels significantly harder for the same grade

I found the Shield and the RH felt the same grade (at 5’6 and a whisker), looong move on each.

Yeah - I'm exactly the same height. TBH it didn't feel that far, think it was just one of those techy co-ordination pop type moves that it'll take a while to stick once, but then when you've dialled in the muscle memory you'll be fine.

Thanks for the props all - feel a bit of a fraud making 2 of my ticks different versions of the same problem but beggars etc. I also compromised any further progress on Sunday by roughly chopping some coriander while cooking, and also the tip / nail of my left thumb!

[T_B]

.
S-took 5yr old to awesome walls. She had such a nice time. (Edit - actually *I* had such a nice time. Her topping out there for the first time, and nine more times, was my best climbing experience of the year. Just me and her. It was great!)

Is this AW Sheffield. Is it good for 5 year olds then? Don't remember any kids bouldering last time I was there?

Hmm, not really I'd say. Went once when my two were 7 and 5 and the 5 yr old couldn't get up much. The 7 yr old could top out the bouldering wall via the left-hand corner. He loved the fact that you could actually top it out (rather than climb/jump down). Not been to the Depot yet, but given how successful the kids stuff has been at Manc I would guess they'll set a fair amount for kids. The comp wall was apparently set with junior comp climbers in mind, rather than adults according to Steve D.

[jwi]

Effort getting the link, shark. Pretty pointless having that chalkbag swinging around weighing you down and causing drag. Might as well ditch it if you''re not going to use it.

Good spot. Didn’t realise I didn’t chalk up. Usually would before the top traverse but guess I didn’t because my tips were numb with cold. Maybe wouldn’t have slipped out of undercut if I’d chalked up. Did notice my chalk bag was heavy so should dig out or buy a lighter one

Arnaud Petit recommends ditching the chalk bag but absolutely cake the first bit of the rope in chalk so that when you clip you also get some chalk on your hands. (Just one of the many tricks from his discursive book "Escalade".)

Me thinks Arnaud is not a sweaty bugger then.

I've tried it myself on a sequence of 4 bolts were I couldn't stop to chalk up, but I cannot say that I noticed any difference... but hey, might be worth trying.

[shark]

Liking the concept of chalking the rope but thinking back the only reason I didn’t chalk before the top traverse is that I wanted to press on as I could just feel my fingers suddenly getting colder.

The tactical choice in this instance is tops off for power or tops on for warmer fingers

 

[Will Hunt]

The weight of a chalk bag is going to be such a tiny fraction of the total weight (you could probably make the weight saving by using a rope that was .1mm thinner) of the climber and clothes and harness that I can't see any benefit in ditching it. I don't know the Oak, but surely there's a slim chance that Shark could arrive near the chain, have slightly sweaty hands but no chalk bag, and then be presented with the perfect excuse to flop off and try again for another 10 years? I wouldn't chance it. It might not be in the plan to chalk, but imagine having to chalk near the top and not being able to because you'd left chalk on the ground for "weight-saving".

[SA Chris]

lose more weight having a strong coffee and going for a shit.

[Smith42]

Good work on the Oak.  Inspiring to read about other people plugging away at their personal goals.

M – Ran 5km
T – Sunderland lead wall, Aerobic capacity training (I think!) 6 reps of ten mins on 20mins off.
W – Valley, Aerobic capacity training 3 reps of ten mins on ten mins off. @ 200moves each rep then core work out.
Th – Ran 5km
F – Shaftoe, flipping hit traffic jam for second Friday in row heading to this crag which meant didn’t get to start climbing till 7 instead of 6! Consequently was rushed and everything got damp once sun went down so was rubbish session.  Had quick go on Power Is Nothing Without Control (PINWC) but quickly realised was wasting my time.  Went home in foul mood, horrendous work week and was hanging out for Friday evening bouldering for much needed de-stress.
Sat – Weather damp and not looking any better tomorrow so double wall session, did around 60 easy problems and some aerobic stuff in morning, then went back for 3 reps of ten mins on ten mins off in afternoon.
Sun – hour of yoga then finger boarding, max hangs with +25kg, two sets of four reps then Valley going round random problems close to on sight limit.

Good foundation week for Aerobic stuff but motivation a little low, rather of been outside on the weekend and knew best shot was Friday evening but spent 60minutes of my journey time just sat in a traffic jam.

[xelaxela]

After nearly a year back, following 4 years off with a left hand pulley injury (lots of conditioning) and trying to manage a 1 yr old.

Goals: Remain Uninjured , 62kg, back to bouldering 7C regularly in UK
Currently: OK, 77kg, 6C regularly (7A indoors)

M - 20mm Edge Max Hangs 10 seconds with 2 mins rest between sets body weight plus 35kg for 6 sets and
      weighted pull ups 5 pull ups body weight plus 35kg with 3 mins rest between sets for 5 sets
T - 45 minute indoor bouldering conditioning session before work, 5 routes without touching the ground as a warm up, 5 mins rest then 30 problems of varying difficulty max 30 seconds rest between each.
W - Indoor bouldering session with mates, full conditioning session same as Tuesday, chatting and whatever mates were trying at the time
T - 45 minute indoor bouldering conditioning session before work, 5 routes without touching the ground as a warm up, 5 mins rest then 30 problems of varying difficulty max 30 seconds rest between each.
F - 45 minute indoor bouldering conditioning session before work, 5 routes without touching the ground as a warm up, 5 mins rest then 30 problems of varying difficulty max 30 seconds rest between each.
S - Rest
S - Rest

[Coops_13]

No climbing at all this week. Spent packing, stressing and drinking before leaving the country today. In NY for a few days of work before I make my way to Denver. Doesn’t quite feel real yet...

Are you going to miss Denver's upcoming snow bomb event tomorrow?

I think we'll miss the hit but meet the after-effects...

[highrepute]

Effort getting the link, shark. Pretty pointless having that chalkbag swinging around weighing you down and causing drag. Might as well ditch it if you''re not going to use it.

Good spot. Didn’t realise I didn’t chalk up. Usually would before the top traverse but guess I didn’t because my tips were numb with cold. Maybe wouldn’t have slipped out of undercut if I’d chalked up. Did notice my chalk bag was heavy so should dig out or buy a lighter one

Arnaud Petit recommends ditching the chalk bag but absolutely cake the first bit of the rope in chalk so that when you clip you also get some chalk on your hands. (Just one of the many tricks from his discursive book "Escalade".)

Me thinks Arnaud is not a sweaty bugger then.

I've tried it myself on a sequence of 4 bolts were I couldn't stop to chalk up, but I cannot say that I noticed any difference... but hey, might be worth trying.

If we're taking about marginal chalk related gainZ. I have in the past put extra chalk on the bottom of my palm that I can run my fingers over to quickly chalk up. You can do this so quickly that it can be done mid move without any hesitation.