[tomtom]

Another week (7 of my lockdown training diary). This week was supposed to be a bit of a rest week - and - er it was a little bit

Mon: Supposed to be a rest day, but the lad decided he wanted to play Lego on the mats under the wall - so I did a few sets of 1 arm hangs on a 20mm edge. Managed a few repeats at -15kg (open hand) no chance on half crimp.. Right upper arm/tricep/shoulder feeling a bit tweaky still...

Tu: Board session 80min. SUPERB session - did some new problems and one up the rattier crimps up the board (15, 15 and 12mm). Real gurn and pull job. Loved it.

We: Fingers were feeling it after tues... 1 arm day. 3x -15kg (very easy now), 2x -8kg, 5x -4kg (Yay! Hard but just ish made it through the sets, 1x -15kg warm down.

Thu: a rest day!

Fri: Board day. Very hot (wife closed the attic windows that I’d left open to keep it cool) so by the time I got going (3pm) it was roasting. Double fans. Took ages to get going - 40 min to do a medium grade problem. Managed to repeat the pinches which isnt that hard - but was given temps and my form. Managed 80 min again somehow. Core faded (Joe Wicks fault...)

Sat: 1 arm day. 3x -15kg, 2x -8kg, 5x -4kg. Good session - right arm faded a bit towards the end - and still feels a bit tweaky if I go too front on.

Sun: Board day. Alright ish session. Warmed up much better than Friday - repeated medium problems fairly easily. Moving quite well. Got shut down on crimps problem from Tuesday (tips hurt) and on the gaston problem I did last week. Fingers felt tired. 

A decent week when I was planning to take it easy. Stopped interval timing on wall sessions - and they feel much more productive as a result. Crimp problem was ace. I don’t’ think my fingers could take some small hold added weight FB’ing at the moment - they get a real workout on the board (small and slopey wood holds at 50+ deg). I’ve had achy fingers (in a good way) several times this week...

No idea whatsover whether this will help my outdoor climbing - but it probably helps stem the rot... Made good use of 1 arm/shoulder work on one of the board problems, catching the final jug with a wild swing as everything came off - with bent arm and held it :D

[monkoffunk]

M - rest
T - rest

W - One arm repeaters. -15kg
6 on 4 off x6 alternating hands each hang so 3 total per hand for one set.
One set half crimp, 2 30 rest. One set open hand, rest.
3 sets each grip.
Need to get used to this. Didn’t feel like I was working as hard as with two handed stuff on small holds with more weight, but struggling to complete 6secs with less weight removed so clearly it’s hard for me even if it is just in maintaining the shoulder stability. Open hand was on top sloper, half crimp on middle bottom crimp, 20mm? Open hand felt much easier, next time will do different weights.

Two sets finger tip pull ups 6 and 5.

T - Rest

F - One arm hangs. 10 secs each arm. Varying from -10 to -15kg. I’m somewhere around -12.5kg for 10 secs at very best. 
Rest then Horst style hangs using +20kg on the 15mm edge. Felt really good, most hangs 10 secs, a few 9. Given I was failing to make 10 secs for one hang at start of lockdown very pleased with that.

S - Rest

S - Sets of one arm hangs again. 10 secs each hand, 3 per hand, -13.75kg
Anderson style repeaters. Humid and felt hard. Tried hard.
Short calisthenics circuit, because I’m basically doing no non finger board exercise.

Another steady week, feel good, but also feel like I’m forgetting how to climb. Really wish I had a board.

Considering buying some beastmaker micros when they are back in stock. Have a number of potential projects with very small holds, maybe be better specificity. In meantime will aim to get weight assistance down on one arm hangs.

[AJM]

Considering buying some beastmaker micros when they are back in stock. Have a number of potential projects with very small holds, maybe be better specificity. In meantime will aim to get weight assistance down on one arm hangs.

You’re Dorset somewhere, right? I don’t know quite how small you want, but you could probably have my 6mms because I’m too weak (and borrow my 10mms to tide you over if it’s helpful - I have the 8mm and a 15mm so could do without them for a bit) if you’re anywhere in striking distance of poole.....

[Murph]

I said I would do something or get off PC.

M-5k jog
T-"Just Do Something" routine of 10 24kg goblet squats, 10 decent press ups and 3 decent pull ups. 3 sets.
W-5k (felt a bit of DOMS)
T-JDS
F-5k
S-JDS
S-JDS (feel improvements already)

Weight just now 68.7 so I've put on less than 2kg during lockdown. Not bad really.

Stepping it up a gear this week, going to try a couple of sessions of unweighted fingerboard and get back on the IF.

[Duma]

TT - when you say one arm day, I assume you're talking about pull ups, not hangs?
Couple of questions as I seem to really struggle with one armed stuff.
How are you warming up (for hangs or pulls)?
IIRC you use a band for assistance? How does this work on pulls, surely you're getting much less by the end of the pull (or more at the start)?

[Bradders]

Did most sessions this week first thing in the morning, mainly to beat the heat. Worked really well though, think I prefer training early rather than late.

M - board project session. Tension suddenly seemed to have returned after going AWOL last week; did a problem that on a good day feels like a harder warm up and on a bad day feels impossible. Worked three hard problems and did stand starts to two of them, plus linked sit starts into stand on both. Have done the third before; couldn't repeat but got close.

T - 4km run, 20 mins or so, 20 mins stretching after

W - warm up on board and then one arm repeaters. Six sets 3r 6/4 alternating half crimp and 4f open on the large outside 2k slots w/ 10kg assistance. Followed up with 4 sets of open mono pick ups, including up to 22kg on both middle fingers, 15kg indexes and rings and 10kg pinkies.

T - board project session. Repeated the stand to one of the hard ones from Monday and got close to linking sit (got to move 3/5). Managed my longest standing project 4th go, having dropped the last move on 1st and 2nd, very satisfying. Did all the moves on a new long one (11 moves) and made a good link through first half, but couldn't link second.

F - big session, warmed up on board and did a couple of advanced warm ups using the poorer feet. Then fingerboard, 20s hangs 19mm edge +15 & +20kg. Attempted +25kg on 14mm edge and managed 15s. Then repeaters; 6r 7/3s on 19mm x2 +20kg, x1 +15kg, followed by 1x 7/3s on medium slopers +5kg but this was fucking desperate so just did last two sets at bodyweight (in fairness, still pretty flipping hard). Superset all of the repeaters sets bar last w/ 5x 5r +4.5kg pull ups, 5r +4.5kg leg raises, one leg tucked maximal front levers, 20r push ups and 30s plank. Finished with a few attempts at one leg tucked front levers and did 1x 6r 7/3s repeaters supinated half crimp on 19mm and 2x same on 14mm (hard, failed last rep), at bodyweight.

S - 10km walk, 20 mins stretching after

S - board projects. Great progress on two of them, one an 11 move power endurance fest (got to move 9 on best go) and the other a 5 move pure power boulder (got to move 4). Brief tries on a couple of other things. Warmed down trying 5 of my advanced warm ups with a 4.5kg weight belt and did 2 of them.

[tomtom]

TT - when you say one arm day, I assume you're talking about pull ups, not hangs?
Couple of questions as I seem to really struggle with one armed stuff.
How are you warming up (for hangs or pulls)?
IIRC you use a band for assistance? How does this work on pulls, surely you're getting much less by the end of the pull (or more at the start)?

They’re hangs - but with quite a bent arm. So neither really! I wanted to get the stability/strength in my shoulder and upper arm right before going down the one arm pull up or harder one hand hang paths...

For warm up i have a foot loop with bands for assistance. I start by doing 2-3 sets of 10 ‘pull ups’ (that are a scrap shrug going into half a pull up (elbow just greater than 90 degrees. I do these in jugs and then smaller crimps. These seem to warm up the shoulders and fingers fine. So far!

I have two managed injuries I’m trying to keep a lid on - 1 tennis elbow - hence not going too high on pull ups - or any one arm work with my arm too bent 2. A wee bit of deuptryns (sp?) on the other side - little finger - which starts to tickle/complain if I do too much weighted two hand small hold deadhangs etc... both of these are tweaked a little by the board work - but I can be quite selective of problem design to get around this (little or no left arm locking off - not too much ratty crimp work with right etc..).


Edit. Realised I’ve not answered your last point- yes with bands you get max assist at the bottom not the middle! Though you can double up the bands and this gives more in the middle  proportionately.

[Will Hunt]

Have been reading Make or Break this week which is good but is basically like being given a bollocking for 226 pages and it makes you quite scared to pull.
The tenderness I've felt in my fingers is probably some pulley damage of the kind that I've felt after past board climbing campaigns. I'll lay off the crimps a bit and things should settle down

M - still feeling a bit tired and fingers felt a bit tender. Rest.

T - board. Had a very enjoyable session setting a new problem. Figured out the Rose move at the end of Pot Shot then stuck the lower crux. Had a good rest then did it a few goes later. Psyched.
Changed plan for rest of the week as a few pulleys are feeling the strain. Will rest fingers until next week and see how they feel. Ring finger A2s and RH middle just above the PIP joint.

W - core. Ab ripper X has been taken down! Had to make do with doing the bits from the start to the Fifer Scissors that I could remember. Not the same without Tony encouraging me to bring it. Then switched to BD thing to finish.

T - rested

F - short repeaters session. 6 sets of 6 hangs. All open handed. Using the 33mm slots so fingers are quite deep in them - that's still open handed, right? I always think of open handing as more of a fingertip drag. Actually feel more tired and shaky in the shoulders at the end of this.

S - cycle. 25km taking 3rd birthday presents to the other two families in our NCT group. So a couple of stops on the way. It was nice to have a chat.

S - rest. Helped my neighbour cut down and dismember a tree.

[Duma]

Thanks TT. So what size edge are you on? You mention 20mm on Mon but not the other days, assume its bigger?

[Duma]

MoF - if I read yr post right you're doing one armed repeaters on the middle edge (on a bm2000? In which case it's 24mm ish) with 15kg assistance, but your best 10s one arm hang is 12.5kg assistance? That can't be right, is that on a different edge?

[Nutty]

Two weeks to update:

M: Wrist feels painful doing daily tasks like picking up a kettle. Rest.
T: Itching to do some exercise, but wrist continuing to hurt. Go for first post-lockdown run, 8.5km.
W: Calves are so tight I have to hobble/crab down the stairs, to the amusement of my wife. Rest.
T: Calves still tight. Foam rolling, stretching and wrist exercises.
F: Rest.
S: Stretching and wrist exercises.
S: Rest.

M: Run. Same 8.5km loop as last week.
T: Foam rolling and stretching.
W: Foam rolling and stretching.
T: Rest
F: Rest. Wrist felt ok? No pain in normal activities today  .
S: Finger board session. Decided to start a block of assisted 1-arm hangs rather than add more weight to the 2-arm hangs. Rigged up a pulley to take off weight. 5 x 20sec hangs on 25mm edge @ 70% bodyweight per arm. Wrist exercises.
S: Rest. Wrist feels fine after yesterday's fingerboard session.

Couple of (very) light weeks. Think wrist pain was De Quervain's tenosynovitis brought on by pinching hard on board problems (no thumbs! ) and having insufficient rest between sessions, probably also aggravated by picking our little boy up more and the increase in volume of push-ups etc. Finger board session was good, felt easy at the weight but will take it slowly. Having been running at least once a week pre-lockdown, my runs the last two weeks have shown how much having 5 weeks of not leaving the house has reduced my fitness - will do more running now restrictions on exercise are being lifted. Aims this week are to get a board session in, 1-2 fingerboard sessions and a run.

[shark]

11.10-12 Average 165.4 (up 1.0lbs)

M.

T.

W. Evening. First session after effectively a 7 day break (not counting a short AeroCap session on the Saturday) Fingerboard warm up with intention of benchmarking max hangs. Fingers melted at modest level of added weight so sacked it off. Did a few crappy pulls on bachar ladder. I have gone to rat shit

T. AM Cooler morning conditions. Did slightly better with max hangs but still well below what Ive done recently. Feel like Im starting from scratch all over Few pulls on bachar ladder. Strength still down but managed a single pull through off right just once

F. Morning. Bit the bullet. First go on the Board. Plenty of documented problems to go at courtesy of Ben and his uni mates. Did a 6C but then got shut down on a 6B+ (Later found out I was missing out a hold). Fingertip held up despite problems being snatchy though still a bit sensitive and getting used to its new shape

S.Morning. Had another play on the board and did the other two 6’s Ben recommended. Had a feel of the holds on a 7.
PM/Eve. Systems board. Was intending doing AeroCap but felt strong warming up but got carried away and ended up doing an extended hard session. Worked on variations of throw move and ended up doing hardest version. Back to full power! Managed to lock myself out of the shed at one stage and had to break back in causing needless damage as found I was using the wrong key which I broke in the lock) Did the old AnCap circuit and two sets of 20/10s to finish. In doghouse when I got home as missed Zoom session with in laws and late for evening meal

S.

Mood considerably improved throughout week. Thought it was going to be a long road back but systems board session on Saturday proved otherwise.

So happy at prospect of going outside again with the boys this week

[mr chaz]

Goals:
i) Exercise everyday ii) End lockdown fitter iii) Maintain current finger strength

M. 15 mins kettlebell HIIT. 20 mins (2 sets) foot on hangboarding.
T. 25 mins kettlebell HIIT. 20 mins yoga.
W. 20 mins foot on hangboarding. 15 minute yoga.
T. 15 minute HIIT. Short run (!!), reckon about 2km (2 laps of my local loop anyway).
F. Nowt 
S. 20 minute HIIT.
S. 20 minute HIIT.

Big week ahead, MSc project deadline on Tuesday and then teaching gf to belay.

[tomtom]

Thanks TT. So what size edge are you on? You mention 20mm on Mon but not the other days, assume its bigger?

Yeah - 50mm. Two padder slot.

I’m on about -15kg for 5-6 secs open handed on 20mm.

[monkoffunk]

MoF - if I read yr post right you're doing one armed repeaters on the middle edge (on a bm2000? In which case it's 24mm ish) with 15kg assistance, but your best 10s one arm hang is 12.5kg assistance? That can't be right, is that on a different edge?

I’ve been experimenting with taking off weight, did the repeaters at start of the week with -15kg, and then tried taking off less weight for single rep hangs. I could definitely do -13.75kg on Sunday but not better, on Friday I’m pretty sure I managed one -12.5kg. The repeaters did feel like maybe I could have less assistance I think!

[monkoffunk]

Considering buying some beastmaker micros when they are back in stock. Have a number of potential projects with very small holds, maybe be better specificity. In meantime will aim to get weight assistance down on one arm hangs.

You’re Dorset somewhere, right? I don’t know quite how small you want, but you could probably have my 6mms because I’m too weak (and borrow my 10mms to tide you over if it’s helpful - I have the 8mm and a 15mm so could do without them for a bit) if you’re anywhere in striking distance of poole.....

Ah, thanks very much for the offer, but I managed to source some in the end yesterday! I’ll be starting with the 10mms for a bit I reckon, 6mm will definitely be too small.

[nai]

M - Small hold repeaters then mono pickups. No doubt did some conditioning but can't remember what now.

T circuit of 10 problems x 3. Again, possibly something else too

W - mostly rest I think, maybe some stretching

Th Board - good session, did a couple of new problems and close to another.  Definitely stopped after 3 or 4 x 10 minute sessions so likely to have done some Calisthenic stuff afterwards.
Or maybe it was today I did the stretching?

F- 2x10 x20kg straight leg DL, 3x10 30kg Front Squat, 2x20kg single leg hip thrust, 3x10 Floor Slides, One Leg Straight leg DL  2x10x8kg, 1x10x10kg, DL 3x6x60 kg

S - Glutes and Hamstrings very sore, good stretch PM

S - Legs still a bit sore.
Conditioning - 3x10 Scap Shrugs +10kg, Dips, Pike pressups, Crane Stands, HI core including lever variations, LVL sits, Bat crunches.

[cheque]

M- Rest.

T- Beastmaker 7:3 repeaters. Felt strong and recorded what are possibly my best numbers since the big reset- actually seeing an increase in the amount of the hangs I can do without assistance. 

W- Rest.

T- Iron Thursday. 5 deadlift reps at 20, 25, 30 & 35kg then 2 reps each at 60, 70, 80, 90 & 100kg. Felt good so tried 110- got it off the floor a few times but didn’t feel like I could get it up (so to speak) with anything like decent form so settled for 105kg. Only did this once but the video shows my form is massively improved from the other week.

F- Rest day.

S- Walk to Stanage and back. My other half says it’s about an 11 mile round trip to the pole so I reckon I did 13-14 miles in total with walking around once there and taking a longer route back. Felt great to go out for a whole afternoon, put my contacts in, make sandwiches etc.

Weird to be at Stanage on a sunny bank holiday Saturday almost completely alone with hardly any chalk on anything (only the Pebble and Business Boulder)- the road to the reservoir was very busy with runners, cyclists and cars but the edge was virtually deserted (only two cars in the popular end parking) and I saw a lizard under Goliath’s Groove!

S- Very tired and sore. I’ve barely used my legs since the start of lockdown and it’s a bit scary how unfit I’ve become! Did 9 pull-ups and 35 push-ups after- plan was to do more but didn’t have it in me...

No plans to go out climbing again for a while yet.

[AJM]

Ah, thanks very much for the offer, but I managed to source some in the end yesterday! I’ll be starting with the 10mms for a bit I reckon, 6mm will definitely be too small.

No probs!

I've not done much with the 10s but from a brief play they didn't feel that much worse than the bottom edges on a bm2k - smaller but with a more clearly defined edge. But I've not exactly rigorously tested my comparative weight limits on each.

The 8s I can do with a bit of weight but at half pad they aren't enormously comfortable. For me, good for adding some specificity on small holds but I'm not sure I'd want them to be my primary training tools.

The 6s are a bit pie in the sky for me, but then I strongly suspect you're stronger than I am!

[duncan]

Well done everyone who is managing to get something done with any regularity. I seem to have missed a week but this is lock-down “where time becomes a loop”. 

STG: stay mentally stable, do something active every day, don’t get injured, work finger strength every other day.
MTG-LTG: who knows?

M - One armed fingerboard hangs. 20mm edge but lots of help from the other arm. All good. 
T - (Light) weighted pull-ups.
W - One armed fingerboard hangs. 45mm edge with some help from the other arm per tt. Felt like I was trying hard; fingers, elbows and shoulders all tolerated it.
T - Weighted pull-ups (+15kg). Knee strength (high step-ups, single leg squats).
F - One armed fingerboard hangs. 45mm edge with some help. Left shoulder felt as tired as the fingers, probably due to the pull-ups the previous day.   
S - Shoulders. Shoulder strength exercises: IYTs, planks, handstands.
S - Weighted pull-ups. Warmed-up for a fingers session but left middle PIP felt creaky again so binned this for pull-ups.
M - Heath walk/shuffle/skip/jog
T - Weighted pull-ups
W - Shoulder strength /
T - Weighted pull-ups
F - Knee strength, hip stretches
S - Weighted pull-ups, knee strength
S - Shoulder strength, hip stretches


Plus brisk walk/jog/shuffle for 6-8km on the Health every day. Added a Heron and a pair of swans with six cygnets to the list. Neither unusual but both cool to see in London.

Taking a short break from fingerboarding but the weighted pull-ups still feel vaguely relevant. I feel very well-trained for the walk-in to Carn Dearg Buttress or Cloggy followed by some vigorous trad. thrutching.

I’ve not climbed since mid-January, initially due to being a temporary single parent. I was fine about missing what I anticipated would be a couple of months knowing it was a good chance to get stronger. Didn’t anticipate I’d still be doing pull-ups and fingerboarding in mid May.  Have unsurprisingly experienced a dip in motivation as weeks turn to months and badly missing being in the proper outdoors. Biggest physical impact has been an expanding waistline: I always cycle ~3kg up and down from Winter to Summer but it’s like I’m still in winter hibernation.   

[monkoffunk]

Ah, thanks very much for the offer, but I managed to source some in the end yesterday! I’ll be starting with the 10mms for a bit I reckon, 6mm will definitely be too small.

No probs!

I've not done much with the 10s but from a brief play they didn't feel that much worse than the bottom edges on a bm2k - smaller but with a more clearly defined edge. But I've not exactly rigorously tested my comparative weight limits on each.

The 8s I can do with a bit of weight but at half pad they aren't enormously comfortable. For me, good for adding some specificity on small holds but I'm not sure I'd want them to be my primary training tools.

The 6s are a bit pie in the sky for me, but then I strongly suspect you're stronger than I am!

Agreed, I think the BM bottom edges will still be what I use mainly. I have tried hanging the 6 before and don’t think I could even get off the ground, but maybe the 8 is worth a go!

[Will Hunt]

I'm considering having a dabble on the fingerboard that but must be careful to leave the pulleys alone and rest them.

This is a stupid question, but if I put my fingers in the 33mm slot as far as they will go, is that still achieving an open handed grip? I've always thought of open hand as being a slight angle at the DIP joint to achieve a drag effect. So by definition if you're on slots as opposed to slopers, you'd only be able to drag them with your tips while open handing?
Is this nonsense? Maybe safer to just stick to the 35 degree slopers while resting pulleys? The workout will still have an effect on the shoulders and arms which I feel is the weak link in the chain for me.

[teestub]

Why not just climb on big holds on your board until you are happy with how your pulleys feel? This will get the blood flowing and probably be better ‘active rest’ than fingerboarding.

[Bradders]

I'm considering having a dabble on the fingerboard that but must be careful to leave the pulleys alone and rest them.

This is a stupid question, but if I put my fingers in the 33mm slot as far as they will go, is that still achieving an open handed grip? I've always thought of open hand as being a slight angle at the DIP joint to achieve a drag effect. So by definition if you're on slots as opposed to slopers, you'd only be able to drag them with your tips while open handing?
Is this nonsense? Maybe safer to just stick to the 35 degree slopers while resting pulleys? The workout will still have an effect on the shoulders and arms which I feel is the weak link in the chain for me.

I'm doing my one arm hangs on this edge, and am doing both a forced half crimp (I.e. I'm actively making sure my pip joints are higher than dips on front 3 fingers), and open 4 finger where pips are lower. There's a really noticeable difference between the two.

[cheque]

project deadline on Tuesday and then teaching gf to belay.

In this coming phase I guess living with a climbing partner is the new having a home board for route climbers. 

[Will Hunt]

I think the issue is that there aren't really any big holds on the board. There's some blue things which form part of the warm up but they're more like little dishes than big sinkers. Some of the wooden things are a bit open-handed but there's not so many of them that you can really make up a variety of easy problems.

Maybe it's just McLeod putting the fear in me. I've never really had a finger injury other than a bit of tenderness in the pulleys that vanishes after a couple of weeks away from focussed crimping. I'd quite like to keep it that way and the book is very scolding of ignoring what your body is telling you.

Anyway, Nick has sent some helpful photos demonstrating an open handed grip on the slots - so yes it is possible.

[spidermonkey09]

M - core. Abripperx. Bit of DOMS the next day.

T- max hangs. Really good session. Success on 5kg assist. Experimented with max 3 finger drag hangs at the end and got down 1.25kg assist on the left and 2.5 on the right. Think i could habe probably managed it on both at the start of the session. Shoulder stability serms to be improving. TRX to finish.

W- repeaters. Changed the protocol on the anderson hangs so i do the heavier weights at the start. Completed set on bottom outside +6.25kg baseweight, slopers +1.25kg base, battery edge 3FD +2.5kg and the deep pockets at body weight.

T- rest.

F- max hangs. Felt weak from the start, especially in left arm which was weird as i am usually stronger on that one. Attempted 3.75 assist but predictably failed. Complete set but most hangs feautured poor form and/or an early drop off. Finished with the 3FD hangs which were quite consistent. Was pissed off at the lockdown today so hoping I can blame the poor session on that.

S- very warm repeaters. Succeeded on battery edge with +6.25kg base. Attempted +2.5kg on the 10mm but felt hard. Slopers with 2.5kg also hard in the heat but not bad considering. Finished with a bodyweight 3FD set on the bottom outside edge which felt ok but was definitely tired by this stage.

S- rest.

Another week goes by. Good progress and think the poor max hangs session was an abberration. Will do one later and see! Hopeful of going to do some traversing somewhere later in the week but will wait for the BMC response.

[Duma]

MoF - if I read yr post right you're doing one armed repeaters on the middle edge (on a bm2000? In which case it's 24mm ish) with 15kg assistance, but your best 10s one arm hang is 12.5kg assistance? That can't be right, is that on a different edge?

I’ve been experimenting with taking off weight, did the repeaters at start of the week with -15kg, and then tried taking off less weight for single rep hangs. I could definitely do -13.75kg on Sunday but not better, on Friday I’m pretty sure I managed one -12.5kg. The repeaters did feel like maybe I could have less assistance I think!

Sorry, maybe I'm being thick - it sounds like you're doing 6:4 repeaters at only a kg or so less assistance than your max 10s hang?? That's not right surely, or am I just weird?

[monkoffunk]

MoF - if I read yr post right you're doing one armed repeaters on the middle edge (on a bm2000? In which case it's 24mm ish) with 15kg assistance, but your best 10s one arm hang is 12.5kg assistance? That can't be right, is that on a different edge?

I’ve been experimenting with taking off weight, did the repeaters at start of the week with -15kg, and then tried taking off less weight for single rep hangs. I could definitely do -13.75kg on Sunday but not better, on Friday I’m pretty sure I managed one -12.5kg. The repeaters did feel like maybe I could have less assistance I think!

Sorry, maybe I'm being thick - it sounds like you're doing 6:4 repeaters at only a kg or so less assistance than your max 10s hang?? That's not right surely, or am I just weird?

Hmmm, what’s normal? Maybe I’ve made a mistake somewhere!

[duncan]

Why not just climb on big holds on your board until you are happy with how your pulleys feel? This will get the blood flowing and probably be better ‘active rest’ than fingerboarding.

Gradually increasing the load on the hurty bit - not too much and not too little - is a primary aim of rehab. The advantage of fingerboarding is it's easier to be like Gollidilocks. A very minor tweak might be fine with using bigger holds on the board. With a more significant injury it might be better to back off and just use the fingerboard for a bit before easing back onto the board where the loads are a lot more unpredictable.   

[JohnM]

Good work everyone. I worry for the UK rock after this lockdown with how hard people are going to be pulling down! I have definitely felt the benefits of being forced to train some basic strength during the shorter lockdown here in Austria. I need a self-imposed strength gain lockdown every quarter!

Weight: 142-145lbs

M: Repeaters (6 seconds on 4 off for a minute x 6 with 1.5 minute rests). My fingers felt good but my fingerboard hanging of the pullup bar setup means I have to lift my legs up and engage the core. This felt brutal after running 100km the day before. Put together a very amateur vid documenting my 100km run here:



T: Wanted to do a power endurance session such as the one Neil Gresham posted on Insta. Basically mixing repeaters with a minute of pullups and leg raises for 6 minutes then with 8 minutes rest. I completely underestimated how hard this would be and skipped Neil's calibration part (20-30 pullups on the edge of choice) and went straight to body weight on a 15mm edge. Failed in the first set so decided to calibrate on a 30mm edge. Managed 15 pullups with 6kg assistance and then 17 with 8kg assistance and then realised I was just too exhausted for this kind of training so stopped.

W: After work climbing session at Müll. Tried a 7c but it was boiling hot and the crux revolved around a dyno or static lock off a heel using a very glassy sloper. I could do the move off the rope every time but by the time I got there from the ground I could barely deadhang the sloper!

T: Climbing at Schleier Wasserfall. Finished off a cool 30m 8a with a hard boulder in the sky and then onsighted the classic Skywalk. This is never 7b but I guess classics almost never get upgraded!

F: After work climbing session at Kofnertal. This is Angy Eiter's local crag near Imst that she seems keen to publicise on Insta as a quiet place to go at the moment. It was a nice crag situated in a narrow wooded river valley and we were the only ones there so it was quiet! Put the draws in an 8a with a tough boulder right at the top. Surprised myself by getting though the boulder on the first RP only to realise I never bothered checking the final clip. Found myself out to the right unable to reach it before executing the final on-off mantle. The braver me would have just kept going and tried the mantle diagonally way above the last draw I had clipped, but the braver me is still in lockdown so I just jumped off. Go 2 I messed up the feet on the boulder. Go 3 I got though the hardest part of the boulder but the rope had wrapped itself around my leg. Fail.

S: Nice trail run - finally with another friend and his dog. 21km with 1700m height gain.

S: Schleier Wasserfall. Tried Hoanata Haltling an 8b+. I had been putting off trying anything above 8a+ in the last month as I wasn't ready to take a spanking. This went better than expected though after I found a sequence though the hardest first 4 bolts. Probably a Font 7C boulder followed by a 7c/+ route with really cool big moves between pockets and huecos in grey limestone. Had one decent RP but then my skin was trashed as the holds are small and it was very warm. It should hopefully  go on a cloudy day with a bit of a breeze (crux sequence in vid below). Finally tried to onsight the classic Schwing dei Ding but I chickened out of the diagonal "run out" at the crux. Seems to be a problem for me at the moment!



A pretty good week with some increased volume on rock and getting a couple of things ticked. I was pretty exhausted on Monday and Tuesday after running big on the weekend but bounced back to normal after that. Need to try and fit in some max. hangs this week but it is hard with the increased rock climbing to get rested and deal with very sore skin. Could be worse I suppose!

[Duma]

MoF - if I read yr post right you're doing one armed repeaters on the middle edge (on a bm2000? In which case it's 24mm ish) with 15kg assistance, but your best 10s one arm hang is 12.5kg assistance? That can't be right, is that on a different edge?

I’ve been experimenting with taking off weight, did the repeaters at start of the week with -15kg, and then tried taking off less weight for single rep hangs. I could definitely do -13.75kg on Sunday but not better, on Friday I’m pretty sure I managed one -12.5kg. The repeaters did feel like maybe I could have less assistance I think!

Sorry, maybe I'm being thick - it sounds like you're doing 6:4 repeaters at only a kg or so less assistance than your max 10s hang?? That's not right surely, or am I just weird?

Hmmm, what’s normal? Maybe I’ve made a mistake somewhere!

Well (and this is for 2 arms) the hardest repeaters session on the lattice app is at 80% of total max load (though they test max at 7s not 10), but you're doing them at around 95% - 98% depending on body weight.
Seems either you've got more in the tank on max hangs, or yr anpow (or whatever it is) is outrageously good in comparison.
Or I've misunderstood...

[monkoffunk]

MoF - if I read yr post right you're doing one armed repeaters on the middle edge (on a bm2000? In which case it's 24mm ish) with 15kg assistance, but your best 10s one arm hang is 12.5kg assistance? That can't be right, is that on a different edge?

I’ve been experimenting with taking off weight, did the repeaters at start of the week with -15kg, and then tried taking off less weight for single rep hangs. I could definitely do -13.75kg on Sunday but not better, on Friday I’m pretty sure I managed one -12.5kg. The repeaters did feel like maybe I could have less assistance I think!

Sorry, maybe I'm being thick - it sounds like you're doing 6:4 repeaters at only a kg or so less assistance than your max 10s hang?? That's not right surely, or am I just weird?

Hmmm, what’s normal? Maybe I’ve made a mistake somewhere!

Well (and this is for 2 arms) the hardest repeaters session on the lattice app is at 80% of total max load (though they test max at 7s not 10), but you're doing them at around 95% - 98% depending on body weight.
Seems either you've got more in the tank on max hangs, or yr anpow (or whatever it is) is outrageously good in comparison.
Or I've misunderstood...

Sure. It might be because I haven't tested anything, I've just been making it up slightly arbitrarily. I'll try again tomorrow, see what happens.

[Coops_13]

M: Lower body workout, focusing on Glutes and Hammies followed by TA-focused core

T: Lower body stretching. 30 pull-ups. One arm max hangs, 7s holds. R 3 sets -20lb, 3 sets -25lb. L 6 sets -30lb. Finger Curl hypertrophy 40lb. Weighted pull-ups +40lb X5 3 sets, +60lb X3 4 sets. Didn't want to go heavier on the doorframe pull-up bar

W: 2 mile run, 18:53. Max HR 209 but kept HR in zone 4 for majority of run. PR for the final 400m sprint.
Front Lever Level 2 exercises 3 sets. Biceps, shoulders, front and lateral raise 3 sets. 100 press-ups

T: Pistol Squat progressions, ankle stretches, elevated touchdown squats X8 3 sets, elevated single-leg sweep squat X5 3 sets.
30 pull-ups, Beastly 6C repeaters, Lower body stretching

F: 1.5 mile run, 13:52. Max HR 187

S: Camp Dick. 4X4 road closed due to snow, road to campground closed to stop people camping during virus. This made for a 5 mile walk-in to the boulders up to an altitude of 9,900ft. Lots of snow to negotiate and 900ft ascent, more postholing than I'd like. Found the boulders to be dry and amazing, psyched. Managed to flash Ball That Jack V5 before moving onto an amazing looking V8 Put Some Hair Around It. Did all the moves and was close to sending but too exhausted I think. Walk out was even more grim as the snow had softened further. Watch said I'd burnt 2,500 calories on the hiking alone. Destroyed after this but mega day


S: 4 mile hike near Boulder with pup, 600ft ascent

Amazing day out at Camp Dick, keen to return when the snow's melted a bit

[spidermonkey09]

Good work everyone. I worry for the UK rock after this lockdown with how hard people are going to be pulling down! I have definitely felt the benefits of being forced to train some basic strength during the shorter lockdown here in Austria. I need a self-imposed strength gain lockdown every quarter!

Weight: 142-145lbs

M: Repeaters (6 seconds on 4 off for a minute x 6 with 1.5 minute rests). My fingers felt good but my fingerboard hanging of the pullup bar setup means I have to lift my legs up and engage the core. This felt brutal after running 100km the day before. Put together a very amateur vid documenting my 100km run here:



T: Wanted to do a power endurance session such as the one Neil Gresham posted on Insta. Basically mixing repeaters with a minute of pullups and leg raises for 6 minutes then with 8 minutes rest. I completely underestimated how hard this would be and skipped Neil's calibration part (20-30 pullups on the edge of choice) and went straight to body weight on a 15mm edge. Failed in the first set so decided to calibrate on a 30mm edge. Managed 15 pullups with 6kg assistance and then 17 with 8kg assistance and then realised I was just too exhausted for this kind of training so stopped.

W: After work climbing session at Müll. Tried a 7c but it was boiling hot and the crux revolved around a dyno or static lock off a heel using a very glassy sloper. I could do the move off the rope every time but by the time I got there from the ground I could barely deadhang the sloper!

T: Climbing at Schleier Wasserfall. Finished off a cool 30m 8a with a hard boulder in the sky and then onsighted the classic Skywalk. This is never 7b but I guess classics almost never get upgraded!

F: After work climbing session at Kofnertal. This is Angy Eiter's local crag near Imst that she seems keen to publicise on Insta as a quiet place to go at the moment. It was a nice crag situated in a narrow wooded river valley and we were the only ones there so it was quiet! Put the draws in an 8a with a tough boulder right at the top. Surprised myself by getting though the boulder on the first RP only to realise I never bothered checking the final clip. Found myself out to the right unable to reach it before executing the final on-off mantle. The braver me would have just kept going and tried the mantle diagonally way above the last draw I had clipped, but the braver me is still in lockdown so I just jumped off. Go 2 I messed up the feet on the boulder. Go 3 I got though the hardest part of the boulder but the rope had wrapped itself around my leg. Fail.

S: Nice trail run - finally with another friend and his dog. 21km with 1700m height gain.

S: Schleier Wasserfall. Tried Hoanata Haltling an 8b+. I had been putting off trying anything above 8a+ in the last month as I wasn't ready to take a spanking. This went better than expected though after I found a sequence though the hardest first 4 bolts. Probably a Font 7C boulder followed by a 7c/+ route with really cool big moves between pockets and huecos in grey limestone. Had one decent RP but then my skin was trashed as the holds are small and it was very warm. It should hopefully  go on a cloudy day with a bit of a breeze (crux sequence in vid below). Finally tried to onsight the classic Schwing dei Ding but I chickened out of the diagonal "run out" at the crux. Seems to be a problem for me at the moment!



A pretty good week with some increased volume on rock and getting a couple of things ticked. I was pretty exhausted on Monday and Tuesday after running big on the weekend but bounced back to normal after that. Need to try and fit in some max. hangs this week but it is hard with the increased rock climbing to get rested and deal with very sore skin. Could be worse I suppose!

Dream week John! Youre right, could definitely be worse!  great effort on the run. Horrifying.

[36chambers]

S: Camp Dick. 4X4 road closed due to snow, road to campground closed to stop people camping during virus. This made for a 5 mile walk-in to the boulders up to an altitude of 9,900ft. Lots of snow to negotiate and 900ft ascent, more postholing than I'd like. Found the boulders to be dry and amazing, psyched. Managed to flash Ball That Jack V5 before moving onto an amazing looking V8 Put Some Hair Around It. Did all the moves and was close to sending but too exhausted I think. Walk out was even more grim as the snow had softened further. Watch said I'd burnt 2,500 calories on the hiking alone. Destroyed after this but mega day

Allez Coops, that climb looks mega. Big days out ftw.

[HarryBD]

Good job people. Enjoyed your vids Coops and John!

Definitely feeling lockdown fatigued this week, have barely moved. Managed to keep my weight under 81kg avg again which is great. Managed 4hrs of running which is plenty (really felt like I’d backed off and clearly managed to keep some miles ticking over). 2 finger board and pull-up sessions and one core so failing on this but whatever.

M - run 35 mins. 5x5 pull-ups +8kg. FB Max hangs 10s +10kg x6 failing on last rep

T - run 60 mins. Core

W - 5x5 pull-ups +8kg. FB Max hangs 10s +10kg x6 complete and felt like trying hard

T - 40 min run really bad (think it was the heat but head wasn’t in it)

F - run 60mins again poor (head in it put struggled in heat again)

S - Birthday today. Not psyched but felt better as the day went on. went for a walk in the wood by our flat and played on the 3ft tall boulders in there. Managed to do something to my wrist with the mantles ffs. Few beers

S - run 60 mins great. Cold again which I definitely feel better in. Bit cold for shorts and T-shirt though, took about an hour to defrost and we didn’t have any hot water.

Felt more up for it this afternoon so hopefully keep some momentum for the rest of the week and think about where I’m going to be climbing after work.

[Will Hunt]

S - Birthday today. Not psyched but felt better as the day went on. went for a walk in the wood by our flat and played on the 3ft tall boulders in there. Managed to do something to my wrist with the mantles ffs. Few beers

Nice. Did you repeat my problems? Do any new ones? Gosh, we'll have to get an Unknown Stones guide done.

[HarryBD]

Nice. Did you repeat my problems? Do any new ones? Gosh, we'll have to get an Unknown Stones guide done.

Haha yeah. I’ll send you some vids I made lily take

[Nibile]

Power Club

Mon - 16' of loaded carries.
Tue  rest.
Wed - board climbing, circuit from holds 9-10 to top. Push ups, shoulders, snatch pull 30" finisher, dumbbell thruster 30" finisher. Tired.
Thu - TBDL 80 kg x5, landmine row x5, fert to ceiling x5 back to back, x5. Glutes. Overhead carry. Tired.
Fri - rest.
Sat - weights, loaded carries outside.

[measles23]

Sorry late entry:

Great video JohnM - brings back mixed memories of doing the Gurkha challenge 100k South Downs race when I was a young Army medic - highlight being half time stop when we trephined each other’s toenail subungual haematomas.. That was possibly the last time I ran anywhere

66.6kg

New training program as Alison has enrolled us for virtual coaching with Rachel Carr. Impressively personalised programs for the family - I pity her putting up with me, as I bastardise her program to fit in with my own

Mon- Familiarisation with new campus board/pegboard setup. Some novel campus board ideas work, but hard - a gaston variant and a side pull variant. Fridge hugging vertical campus rungs wasn’t on; also small resin rungs agony so relegated to the 40 deg board..
Pegboard great fun and feels butch, but not sure how valid as a real training tool, and need some actual exercise ideas for it, rather than just monkeying around..

Tue- Deadlift: 12 sets up to 48mm block lift single at 220kg, finished with 5x5 at 160.

Compressed core - 3 sets of: Mountain climbers 20/side, L-sit progression 30s hold, bicycle crunches 20/side, hanging leg raises 15
Shocking form as my lack of wrist extension won’t let me do exercises with hands flat on the floor so I’ve ordered some small parallettes which will help.. Also I can’t do more than 5 reps of anything, so had to rest an enormous amount!
Conceptually challenging as I hate this kind of crossfit like training, but RC has given reasoning so will work with it..

Wed- Forearm prehab - 3 sets of:  forearm curls 30/side, extensor curls 30/side, hammer twists 30/side, tendon glides 30/side - liked this, and much needed as well overtrained by now

Hip flexor conditioning - 3 sets of: L sit floats, wide led separate floats, wide leg joined floats, wide leg spins - feels appropriate- as expected shocking lack of hamstring flexibility..

Thurs- Max hangs BM2k small holds pulley assist: 16 sets up to -15kg x 5s on left, -10 x 5 on right. Worse than last wk - struggling with form/conditions/tweakiness

3 hours on 40 deg board setting, projecting, but not doing, a 7 move V8ish problem playing to weakness - long move to small crimp, big slopey pinch, big moves sideways and up. Quite chuffed with my setting on this one, unlike everything else on the board!

Secondary fingerboard session on BM2k smalls, two arms 5 x (+10kg x 5s)

Rower 1hr

F- 5 sets ring muscle-ups (4,4,4,5,3)

Weighted pull-ups: 6 sets up to +50kg x 2, 4 x working sets wide grip +30x3s.

Peg board 5 sets variations of going up and down

Ring stabilisers - 3 sets 10 reps of IYTW pulls - struggled a bit to make these feel purposeful

Forearm prehab again

Extended core- 3 sets of: SpiderMan plank 1 min, wide dish hold 1 min, star side plank 1 min/side, superman plank 20/side. Hard really struggled again

S- Campus board familiarisation. Lightish as fingers tweaky. 6 sets of variety of exercises.

Family circuit - 3 sets of choice of exercises 2 per family member - this is only fun if you have a nice family; if they know how to exploit your weaknesses it is evil!

1.5hour ‘TAB’; family walk while carrying 30lb rucksack

40 deg board 1 hour projecting - did the V8 problem, worked all moves for a V7ish problem on woodies.

Sun- Deadlift: 13 sets up to 220 off 24mm blocks; working sets 5x3 at 180. Feeling good - ready to try 5 plates off the floor next sesh - used some skateboard griptape on the floor to solve my slippy shoe problem.

Had a lightbulb moment with all the anterior core stuff set by RC - I am really bad at indoor high stepping, which usually drops me silly points at the military comp series I do - I always presumed it was just poor hamstring flexibility, but now think it’s a combination of that and weak ant core in the compressed range of motion, so will work on that..

Work’s starting to pick up again, so posts will get shorter!

[teestub]

66.6kg

🤘🤘🤘

[Duma]

66.6kg

🤘🤘🤘

Beast mode!

[Bradders]

Conceptually challenging as I hate this kind of crossfit like training, but RC has given reasoning so will work with it..

Out of interest, what is her reasoning?

[Nibile]

66.6kg

Thurs- Max hangs BM2k 

3 hours on 40 deg board

Secondary fingerboard session on BM2k

Measles, I read that as you're losing weight.
If it's so, I highly suggest you to compensate for the lost weight while fingerboarding and projecting. Weight loss alters your relative strength, so unless you compensate for it, your training is altered as well in absolute terms.
When I got my knee surgery in June '19, I lost 3 kilos due to forced rest. Obviously my fingerboarding scores skyrocketed, but it was a false progress in absolute terms, because of the weight loss and because I intended to recover that weight as soon as possible.
So I started adding 3 kg for fingerboarding sessions (could no climb) and I've kept things that way ever since. So, while I was recovering muscle mass, I was also improving my previous scores, that were already compensated. I never ditched the added weight until I was sure that I had fully compensated, but at that time all my scores were improved by the 3 kilos I had kept until then.
It's the old "Train heavy, climb light" approach. 

[measles23]

Conceptually challenging as I hate this kind of crossfit like training, but RC has given reasoning so will work with it..

Out of interest, what is her reasoning?

Conversation goes something like this:

Me: Think you might be onto something because I got serious DOMS from the compressed core workout, and the DOMS is mightily triggered by high stepping; could it be my piss high step is combination of hamstring tightness and weak core at compressed ROM. But seriously 3 sets of nearly 100 reps of ant core exercises, I’m a strength athlete and hate crossfit - Sharratt would kick me out of his gym!

RC: yeah but you’re obviously so feeble you need to prove you can cope with these piss easy conditioning exercises before I let you up the weight/drop the reps

Me: yes ma’am you’re the boss 


Thanks nibs - my max hangs are max so I can’t add any more! I guess the maths means I’m losing relative finger strength, but have been a little overtrained with fingers.. also at that annoying level of around +50kg on BM2k smalls where conditions/prehension/point of balance make it less predictable for progression - thinking of using bigger holds 1 armed

[Nibile]

Cheers.
I don't exactly get the numbers because I can't recall the previous ones, in any case what I wanted to say is to keep track of the actual weight that you hang, separating relative and absolute strength gains.
I'll try to be more clear.
Time 1. BW 70 kg. Hang BW - hang 70 kg.
Time 2. BW 68 kg. Hang BW - hang 68 kg. Training below par, relative strength constant (BW), absolute strength - 2 kg.
Time 3. BW 68 kg. Hang BW + 1 kg - hang 69 kg. Still training below par, relative strength increased by 1 kg on time 2 but absolute strength still down by 1 kg on time 1.

By adding 2 kg on time 2 we keep things constant for long term progress in absolute strength, regardless of BW variations (that we can happily apply on ze rock).
HTH.

[measles23]

Yup it’s a fair point nibs and I hadn’t factored it in..

I suppose the eternal delusion is that the weight stays off, but it never does!

Reminds me to start using weight vest on the board..

PS Lore now I’ve got my board up I always intended to copy that core exercise you had on the board, but I can’t quite remember what it was - something like moving your hands up while keeping feet on same holds, or moving feet up with hands the same?? Remind me about it dude please!

[Nibile]

I suppose the eternal delusion is that the weight stays off, but it never does!

Remind me about it dude please!

Hey beast.
Well if we maintain weight constant with added weights during a diet, in reality when we go climbing the weight does come off! 

Regarding core, I do three types of exercises (53° board).
1. I grab a high hold (2 cm rung) with one hand, place one foot on the lowest usable foothold (a specially made one) step on and stay put.
2. I grab two decent holds, step on the lowest usable footholds, then move feet up on higher ones, then down, etc. Going down is the hard bit.
3. I grab two bad holds, step on the lowest usable footholds, then move up to a better hold without cutting lose.
Excercise 1 is on an incut 2 cm foothold, 2 and 3 on 1 cm flat (surface perpendicular to board) footholds. All wooden.
Get in!