[tomtom]

And so the indoor training begins. I have a BM1K and a heath robinson assist set up based on a series of therbands and a harness waist belt as a foot loop. Works very well for reducing the load on the smaller holds to warm into them. Each band is c.3kg assist.

I’ve also been doing the Joe Wicks YouTube morning kids workout with the family. Good fun - and my Fitbit tells me 120-160 bpm during it - so having the desired effect on my CV.

My week:


And my set up:

[tomtom]

Sorry. Hit reply instead of modify. Was going to say it’s the first time I’ve ever had a training diary.

[Will Hunt]

 
TomTom has a harness! And it's a sit harness with leg loops! Based on wet an I expect it was last worn I was expecting a Swami belt.

[tomtom]

TomTom has a harness! And it's a sit harness with leg loops! Based on wet an I expect it was last worn I was expecting a Swami belt.

No leg loops now - it’s just for weights around the waist - or in this configuration as a foot loop. Last worn as a proper harness in 2017 in Boulder I think.

[nai]

I bet you mean 2007 or even 1997

[tomtom]

I bet you mean 2007 or even 1997

Hmm. Checks diary. 2016.

[shark]

11.3-7 up 0.4lbs

M-S Nothing

No gainz except around midriff. 

Dressing change and inspection at Northern General tomorrow morning. Arranged to pick the Kettle’s brain to refine battle plan.

Feeling optimistic.

[Will Hunt]

Kind of a cool week. For the first time in forever my entry actually looks like everyone else's.

T: core and stretching. Did the core workout that teestub linked to. Felt really hard. I was doing the harder variations of things, but still.

W: walk at lunchtime. Took net and bucket and dipped in a pond with sprog. Found a water boatman, freshwater shrimp, hoglouse, snail, leech etc. Evening: board for hour and a half. Worked on a couple of projects, one of which should go without too much issue and the other one is harder - though I did do the crux of that in isolation for the first time ever.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-K7uRmDAqI

T:  30 mins fingerboard. I am pathetic. Maybe not fully warmed up but 2 finger pocks were fairly max hangy. Two smallest crimps not far off either. That's with no weight added. Wow - an utter weakling.

F: Morning stretching. Core workout and stretching in evening. Core workout felt steadier this time.

S: Morning run. Running is stupid. Did 8km with a climb of about 150m about a mile or so in. It was nice because I ran across some deer at close quarters, but at about 2/3rds distance on the descent my knee predictably started to complain. Stop started the last bit home to try and prevent it becoming too injured. My wife chastised me for thinking I could run 8km off the sofa. I didn't think that was far? Is this what getting old is?

S: Walk in the morning. 30 mins fingerboard. Experimenting with isolating fingers on the monos and giving them assist with other hand crimping. Ring finger feels ultra weak. Like very very very weak. Good goal would be to strengthen this finger to reduce reliance on front two. I've sort of known for a while that my ring finger is very weak and have theorised that I get so many split tips on my front two because they're digging in extra hard to take up the slack. Middle finger feels ok but not amazing. Better overall than the session earlier in the week.
Evening stretching and core in front of telly. Absent mindedly reached in front of me doing a hamstring stretch and TOUCHED MY TOES. Not done that in years! Actual progress within the week!



Next week. Receive new board holds and put them up. Set new projects. Keep up the core and stretching. More short fingerboard sessions, trying to coax the ring fingers into action and generally beefing up the others. I guess I will try and do this by a mix of half crimping and open-handed-monos on whatever (4-7 second hangs I can manage?). Do not overdo it with the ring fingers - they feel on the brink of ripping off with even the mildest pull. DO NOT RUN. Get bike in working order to try and get a little cardio in when knee recovers.

[Dolly]

2 weeks worth for me
We’d already decided to take the youngest 2 out of school before the lockdown so I’ve had 2 weeks of a different life with all of us at home after oldest came back from uni in York last Friday
Apart from 13 days ago when I went to Burbage and did the FA of what is obviously one of the best highball  LGPs on grit I’ve been in the shed pulling hard, lots of gArdening digging sawing carrying lifting and a few kettlebell or Bulgarian bag sessions outside in the sun. Also sorted out cellar so me and youngest did some core/crimpd workouts down there
Bought a netball hoop which has been ace fun, worked on chipping a golf ball into a bucket from 4 yards with a 9 iron ( no I’m not really a golf twat) and devising outdoor circuits with youngest like 20 skips into press ups into netball shot etc ( quite difficult TBH skipping is knackering)


Anyway main power club highlights ( not all main courses)
Trofie with nettle and kale pesto. Yep foraged from garden. Yep I do read The Guardian
Ottolenghi smoked haddock risotto
Grilled aubergine with olive oil tahini dip with Lebanese rice and smoked chickpeas
Home baked pumpkin seed and garlic bread
Bengali coconut Dahl with home made chapatis. Meera Sodhas recipes are the best ever
Courgette grilled with lemon zest olive oil and halloumi
17 year old baked Chelsea buns which took hours but were the best sweet baked thing I’ve ever tasted
Salmon tikka masala. Absolutely gorgeous
Chipotle bean and lentil burgers eaten outside in Spring sunshine
Pad Thai made with PSB and obvs organic tofu. Amazing

[gollum]

M - Wander around the block

T - Wander around the block again but mixing it up on far side of the road.

W - Wander around a different block

T - As Wednesday

F - 5k at home on treadmill. Fifth wedding anniversary so walk up to get a take away to support our favourite restaurant. Never within 2 metres of anyone but Mrs B. Thee Er y put the good on a table outside, step back and then you step forward to pick it up.

S - 10k on treadmill plus a bit of walking up hill. Playing about with weights and bands to see what I can actually do at home.

S - 10k run on treadmill in the morning followed by 6k walk again on treadmill in afternoon.

Another odd week. Determined to get back on it a bit more to take this heavy perms-injured pensioners body of mine and turn it into that of a crimp waif. Two hopes no doubt and one of them is Bob.

[Nutty]

Goals: Get strong, don't get injured, stay healthy and sane.

M: Rest
T: Fingerboard and mobility/body weight exercises - 5 x 20sec hangs: body weight +20%, 25mm edge
W: Rest
T: Fingerboard and mobility/body weight exercises - 5 x 20sec hangs: body weight +20%, 25mm edge
F: Rest
S: Rest
S: Fingerboard and mobility/body weight exercises - 5 x 20sec hangs: body weight +20%, 25mm edge

Slightly disappointing week in that I had planned to get out on my board in the garden but didn't for various reasons. Skin on my hands is trashed from the extra hand-washing. Wife started coughing on Tuesday so haven't left the house. Hopefully get some board sessions in this week.

[andy popp]

Some great sounding meals there Dolly.

This one especially. I've been making a lot of baba ganoush recently - so much better than humous.

[JohnM]

Weight: Feeling heavier

M: Rest

T: Shoulder stability + core. Repeaters (6 secs on 4 secs off 1 minute x 6). 200 pull ups. 100 on bar (50 + 4kg, 50 bw only), 100 on edges (12mm to 30mm, 50 + 4kg, 50 bw only). 10 x 2 sling assisted one armers each arm.

W: 12.45km run + 500m. Foam rolling and shoulder mobility.

T: 50 pull ups. Finger boarding. Front 3 half crimp x 3 (10 secs, 3 + 4kg, 3 bw only 12mm and 15mm edge). Back 3 x 6 (12mm edge and 15mm edge bw only). 10.62km + 634m. 

F: 14km run + 572m.

S: Shoulder recruitment + core. 100 pull ups (assisted one armers, travelling, typewriters, frenchies). Repeaters (6 sec on 4 sec off 1 min x 6. 3 min rest). 50 press ups (20 normal, 10 wide, 10 narrow and 10 with knee tucks). 12km run + 613m.

S: Shoulder recruitment + core. Finger boarding (front 3 crimp x 12 with and without 4kg on 12mm and 15mm, back 3 x 6 on 12mm and 15mm + repeaters). 200 pull ups. (100 on bar - 50 + 4kg, 50 bw only, 100 on edges (12mm to 30mm) - 50 + 4kg, 50 bw only). 8.59km run + 511m - best I have felt running for a while.

A decent training week given the limitations. I have never done repeaters much before as they feel horrendous but I will stick with it and increase the sets, reduce the rest time and add weight etc and hopefully get good gains. I am determined to at least maintain my running fitness despite running being banned. The health minister has even said that running alone poses close to zero risk for transmission of the virus but the fat suit who decides the regulations says jogging and running is too dangerous as an activity. Still boozing way too much. Will try and go alcohol free until Thursday this week!

[spidermonkey09]

Jesus John, some good pull up volume there!

[cheque]

Looking at that carabiner it’s perhaps for the best that you haven’t climbed with a rope for years Tom. 

OK, where I am- two years ago (exactly two years ago yesterday in fact) I decked out from 25 metres, spent a month on hospital (three weeks of which I couldn’t move at all for) and it was five months total before I could try climbing again. With muscle wastage, nerve damage, restricted movement and mental scars it was like starting again from scratch with the added complication of not being able to boulder.

I got heavily into my rehab over that winter and managed to repeat a 7a one year after the accident. I then realised that my trad onsighting was still at absolute beginner levels and had a fantastic season addressing that- the most fun period of my climbing ever pretty much.

Like all of us in Britain the very wet autumn brought my fun to a premature end but, although I stopped posting in Power Club at the end of the year I kept on at the rehab and have seen great progress this winter- I’ve been alternating mileage sessions on the autobelays with a weight belt with “bouldering on a rope”/ technique drill ones (very encouraged to learn Pete Whittaker did the same thing on a recent Training Beta podcast), fingerboarding, stomping on the stair-treadmill with a heavy rucksack to the extent that I finally feel as fit as I used to when walking up real hills, lifting weights, working on antagonists, stretching  etc. (in some ways my posture is better now than it was before I broke my back!) and for the fourth year running I’ve cut out sugary food Jan-March to gradually reach fighting weight. All set for a year of undiluted fun which I hoped would see me regain the lower extreme trad grades and climb on the crags of my dreams in the American west...

But now we’re all stuck in the house all day for the foreseeable future.  My Dad was seriously ill in hospital a few weeks before the lockdown and I’m not afraid to say that the experience with the backdrop of the encroaching pandemic brought on my PTSD and led to a bout of depression for the first time since I was in hospital myself. Feeling alright now though (my folks are safe at home with a neighbour looking after them and I can’t complain about my own lockdown situation) so this is my first week of training for a few. Makes sense to rejoin Power Club for it!

Anyway, goal is to equal all of the pre- accident strength PBs that are possible while on lockdown. I have a BM1000, a pull-up bar, lots of weight (no racks though) an exercise bike and a shared arsenal of therabands/ balls/ rollers etc. I tried setting up a makeshift TRX but things are pretty tight in the flat and places with the arm room and places with a sturdy enough anchor don’t currently coincide  . I could also go running but let’s not get giddy.

M- Nothing.

T- Deadlift. 2 reps at 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 & 95kg. I did 100 last time I was at the gym but couldn’t quite do it this time.

W- Walk to Bell Hagg & back.

T- Walk in the morning, fingerboard session evening- 7 on, 3 off repeaters, on all the holds. I don’t use assistance, just kneel on scales to see how much I’m taking off. Still can’t do 7 seconds on anything but the three deepest slots but it’s all pennies in the bank.

F- Rest.

S- Walk to Bell Hagg & back.

S- Pull-ups/ push-ups. Kind of a benchmarking session. It seems the benchmark is 3x5 pull-ups, 3x20 push-ups. 

[36chambers]

M:
T: run. mono no hangs. Was planning on doing a proper fingerboard session but got carried away playing with these. Chisel grip, 10 sec, 8 sets. Up to 7.5 kg. Just trying to laid down some ground work at the moment rather than push it. Felt easy on all but my RH ring finger... 
W: run. General body workout
T: run. Fingerboarding. Two hand, half crimp, 10 sec, 20 mm, with +45 kg, 8 sets. Would have liked to have used more weight, but that's all the iron I own. It also hurts my waist hanging that amount off a harness. Tempted to buy some bigger plates and a dipping belt. 
F: run
S: run. One arm hangs. half crimp, 5 seconds, 20 mm, 8 sets. A shambolic and sweaty session, had the oven on full blast 2 meters away, so ended up having to take off 2.5 kg for RH and 5 kg LH for the latter half.
S:

I did a session of pull ups and front levels at some point too.

Recently got a puppy, which currently means fuck all sleep and limited chance of floor exercise without being viciously attacked. The dog's a right bastard.

[spidermonkey09]

M - max hangs. Was weak on 5kg assist but completed the set anyway. Presumed I was just a bit run down after sleeping in the van but in hindsight not so sure.

T - Repeaters. 3 sets of plus 10kg on BM2K bottom outside. Some failure, but not bad considering the heating was on. Finished with 3 x 5 +20kg pull ups. Finished with some stretching.

W -  bit of core. Did a quick run through on the BD core workout and found it reasonably steady. Might have to make it bit higher octane though as it felt more like yoga. Some more stretching after going out on the bike for half an hour.

T - Max hangs. Better than Monday but still some mild failure. Finished with the full core workout and stretching.

F - nothing.

S - Repeaters. Really enjoyed this session. Did a set of repeaters alternating between the 35 slopers and bottom outside. Completed 3 sets of each at 7 on, 5 off, x 7. Might be worth adding another grip in and trying the Anderson hangs protocol, although not sure how adding weight will go on the slopers. Finished off experimenting with a chair to see if I could engineer some foot on campus style exercises using the fingerboard. Got reasonably pumped, found towards the end of the session the pump was significantly increased by putting my heels on the chair rather than my toes. Obviously this weights your arms more. Finished with some stretching; so much better.

S - attempted to do max hangs. Probably not surprising this was shit considering fingerboard workload, increased alcohol intake and second day on. It was incredibly shit though. Think one good session where I felt good with 5kg assist has conned me a bit and really the max is closer to 7.5kg assist.

Being furloughed from the 1st so will have more time but will need to work out a system so I don't get chronically bored or just fatigued from over-fingerboarding. I have done a months worth of one arm max hangs now so might switch back to two arm using a battery in the back of the big slot. This is a smaller edge than my last set used and isn't incut so should hopefully produce some better gains. Alternatively I stick with the 1arm hangs for a while and just increase the assist; haven't decided yet. Will try some anderson style repeaters too. Think the crux for me will be trying not to drink so much (every night this week I think) and having enforced rest days; at least one, maybe two a week.

[Nibile]

Power Club

Mon - board climbing again, I seem to like it. 5 laps on test problem 1. One normal lap, two one footed laps + 8 kg, two one footed laps. Absolutely beasted it. 30" rings finisher. DL, snatch, high pull, bentover row, 1' overhead carry complex x5.
Tue - recovery session, light boxing bag.
Wed - garage, back3/front3 hangs with 25 and 30 kg x9. Long, boring, tweaky, long setup, maybe better to sack this session. Weights.
Thu - garage 14 mm edge: normal 10", back3 5", front3 5" back to back x10. DL, clean and press in between hangs. Nice. Weights.
Fri - recovery session, light boxing bag.
Sat - tests on 1 cm edge one armed, improved! Snatch, press, snatch pulls, gluets, squat, farmer's finisher 45/15 x10 60 kg.
Sun - board climbing, 2 normal laps on problem 1 + 8 kg. The tried the corcuit after a few years, got to 19. Not bad at all. Push ups, Tb Dl 30" finisher.

Third week of lockdown completed. No rest days whatsoever.
Running out of weight complexes I was forced to climb again. It's very fun. I could dedicate some time to it.

[Wood FT]

Looking at that carabiner it’s perhaps for the best that you haven’t climbed with a rope for years Tom. 

OK, where I am- two years ago (exactly two years ago yesterday in fact) I decked out from 25 metres, spent a month on hospital (three weeks of which I couldn’t move at all for) and it was five months total before I could try climbing again. With muscle wastage, nerve damage, restricted movement and mental scars it was like starting again from scratch with the added complication of not being able to boulder.

I got heavily into my rehab over that winter and managed to repeat a 7a one year after the accident. I then realised that my trad onsighting was still at absolute beginner levels and had a fantastic season addressing that- the most fun period of my climbing ever pretty much.

Like all of us in Britain the very wet autumn brought my fun to a premature end but, although I stopped posting in Power Club at the end of the year I kept on at the rehab and have seen great progress this winter- I’ve been alternating mileage sessions on the autobelays with a weight belt with “bouldering on a rope”/ technique drill ones (very encouraged to learn Pete Whittaker did the same thing on a recent Training Beta podcast), fingerboarding, stomping on the stair-treadmill with a heavy rucksack to the extent that I finally feel as fit as I used to when walking up real hills, lifting weights, working on antagonists, stretching  etc. (in some ways my posture is better now than it was before I broke my back!) and for the fourth year running I’ve cut out sugary food Jan-March to gradually reach fighting weight. All set for a year of undiluted fun which I hoped would see me regain the lower extreme trad grades and climb on the crags of my dreams in the American west...

But now we’re all stuck in the house all day for the foreseeable future.  My Dad was seriously ill in hospital a few weeks before the lockdown and I’m not afraid to say that the experience with the backdrop of the encroaching pandemic brought on my PTSD and led to a bout of depression for the first time since I was in hospital myself. Feeling alright now though (my folks are safe at home with a neighbour looking after them and I can’t complain about my own lockdown situation) so this is my first week of training for a few. Makes sense to rejoin Power Club for it!

Anyway, goal is to equal all of the pre- accident strength PBs that are possible while on lockdown. I have a BM1000, a pull-up bar, lots of weight (no racks though) an exercise bike and a shared arsenal of therabands/ balls/ rollers etc. I tried setting up a makeshift TRX but things are pretty tight in the flat and places with the arm room and places with a sturdy enough anchor don’t currently coincide  . I could also go running but let’s not get giddy.

M- Nothing.

T- Deadlift. 2 reps at 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 & 95kg. I did 100 last time I was at the gym but couldn’t quite do it this time.

W- Walk to Bell Hagg & back.

T- Walk in the morning, fingerboard session evening- 7 on, 3 off repeaters, on all the holds. I don’t use assistance, just kneel on scales to see how much I’m taking off. Still can’t do 7 seconds on anything but the three deepest slots but it’s all pennies in the bank.

F- Rest.

S- Walk to Bell Hagg & back.

S- Pull-ups/ push-ups. Kind of a benchmarking session. It seems the benchmark is 3x5 pull-ups, 3x20 push-ups. 

Glad you’re back at it, Cheque.

[Nibile]

Last worn as a proper harness in 2017 in Boulder I think.

A harness in... Boulder.

[HarryBD]

I don't know what days I did things so going forward I will write my training down as I do it so I don't forget...

I did three bike rides (2 on my 2M lockdown loop and one of a lap of Ilkley moor) starting to feel stronger on the bike - will continue this while I can on the lockdown loop to get CV fitness back up and keep some timber off

I did 3 or 4 focused core sessions (BD Beta that Will shared somewhere) I'm not on the hardest exercises + find the down dog knee touches really hard

I only did one stretching session - this is to become a daily thing

I did 3 fingerboard sessions. All max hangs (BW 2 arm) 6 x 10s half crimp. Then doing volume on 3 finger drag with a lot of theraband assist. I'm super weak on this so lots of room for improvement.

Lots of pullups, approx equal pushups, scapula shrugs and front lever progressions

[mr chaz]

Goals: i) Some form of exercise everyday and ii) End lockdown fitter than I started.

Mon - Kettlebell workout 20 mins.
Tue - Pullups, pressups and levers 40 mins.
Wed - Kettlebell workout 20 mins.
Thu - Max 1 arm hangs. 18 mm edge with 5 kg assistance pulley. 12 min hip flexibility routine (someone posted in isolation training thread, thanks!).
Fri - Nowt 
Sat - 40 minutes of fingerboarding, 20 second deadhangs every 2 mins, various edges and grip combinations: full crimp, half crimp, back three, front three, middle two etc. Some were way south of 20 seconds...
Sun - 20 minute Joe Wicks HIIT follow along vid thingy. My ass hurts now.

[duncan]

"Something is infinitely better than nothing".

STG: keep mental health stable, do something active every day, don’t get injured
MTG-LTG: who knows?

M - Knee strength (high step-ups, single leg squats). Fingerboard: short set of max. hangs with four fingers strict half crimp. These don’t feel safe even with ~15kg less than when I drag (chisel?) all four fingers. 
T - Shoulder strength (one arm planks, handstands, tick-tocks). Pull-ups (n=50 in total)..
W - Shoulder and knee strength.
T - Fingerboard: brief set of max. hangs as before.
F - Weighted pull-ups. Sore (Golfer’s) elbow.
S - Shoulders.
S - Shoulders. Knees. 6km brisk walk on Hampstead Heath. Agreeably quiet, people keeping to themselves, it’s usually heaving on a dry Sunday afternoon. Felt surprisingly tired after this.

Whatever I had/have knocked me out, still feeling quite run-down. Overdid the pulling a little so will wait til I’ve recovered better before resuming pull-ups and just do a few hangs. I guess it’s normal to find a new grip strange (not completely new, I did strict half crimps with my mini-fingerboard pick-ups) but right now it feels like my fingers are about to explode.

Plan: do something active every day. Don’t go mad. Take at least one day rest between each “pull” day until thoroughly over this bug. 

[yetix]

M: quick board session whilst putting the new board up.
T: rest
W: Max hangs x4. Also did some mono pick ups with a no hang device. discovered my back 2 take a total of 24kg (between both hands) whilst my front 2 take a total of 70kg (all done 1 pad half crimp), could probably have added a little more but at this point felt tweaky. Seems quite a discrepancy? Had a short but sweet session on the board.
T: Board session.
F: Rest
S: Max Hangs x6. Good board session.
S: Rings and Weighted Pull ups

Middle LH finger feeling mildy sore in A2 2-3/10 pain to touch maybe. Enough that I'll likely just fingerboard until it improves (like everyone else has to do anyhow! sods law I'd do this just as I finished building a home board). Maybe do some back 2 hangs given how weak I am on them it seems. Has anyone any experience in this? Do people tend to use a pulley and harness when working on back two?

[Dolly]

Some great sounding meals there Dolly.

This one especially. I've been making a lot of baba ganoush recently - so much better than humous.



I love baba ganoush
Do you cook your aubergines on a flame to get them smoky Andy ? That's what the recipes I've looked at suggest. We've got a hob thing so no naked flames to scorch them on unless you can do them in the oven ?