[shark]

11.9-11 Average  164.0 (down 0.6lbs)

M. AM Nice and fresh. (The other and proper) Dr Tom just finishing up on Bens which was handy. Bit of improvement on the moves but still a long way to go. Had a play for 10 minutes on start of Revelations with Ben Heason.
Eve. Max hangs on ergo edge. Much improved session in volume and scores compared to last Monday. Best hangs Half crimp +20kg x 8 secs, Full crimp +20kg x 8 secs, Drag +25kg x 8 secs

T.

W. Morning. Crag X with boy. Equatorial (hottest day of year so far?). Good to be back here but too sweaty for sendage even for Tom. Refamiliarised with Moff / JR. Did some pulls on bachar ladder when got home.
Evening. Fingerboard. Max hangs on ergo edge but time constrained. Best hangs Half crimp +20kg x 10 secs, Drag +25kg x 10 secs and +27.5kg x 6 secs

T

F AM Tor for 9.30 Breezy,  cooler. Bens. Best  link the first two of the newer hard moves but failed on set up for kick. Moved on to cragx. Jack Gould there. Gusty. Tried JR. Best go crossing through for slot. Tommy ticked it. We started on Moff but tired and finger tweaky. Finished 2.00pm Couple of decent pulls on bachar ladder when home
Late Eve. Attempted Max hangs session but below par so aborted

S. PM Systems Board. Built up to doing hardest version of throw move Felt ok then did it again. Felt strong through full range of the move. Then banged it out repeatedly - maybe a dozen times in total. WTF ?!! Happy normally to do it once even when weighing half a stone less. Felt like a different move. Stunned. Still can’t get near with just front 3 on undercut though.

S. Lunch density hangs. PB’s.

Not sure what to make of Saturday’s session. Would love know definitively what made the difference as I haven’t got a clue.

[Rob F]

You do an Egyptian???

[shark]

Ha. No technique on this move. Sit start, undercut for left, awful barely-a-hold hold for right stand up and get pinch at full stretch - you don’t even move the feet. Definitely a strength gain thing. I could only do it once last Saturday. Would love to know what the magic bullet was in the intervening 7 days. 

[Coops_13]

M: 2.5 mile run, 23:22. Max HR 184
     Lower body workout

T: Lower Body Stretching. 300 core movements. Density hang pickups due to shoulder, one hand at a time. 10lb, 20lb, 30lb X3 (20lb last set with LH - bad fingers). Between 30 and 45 second 'hangs'

W: 2 mile run, 17:33. Max HR 197. Was gunning for a 2 mile PR which I achieved as well as a  400m PR on the final sprint! Rotator cuff exercises. Pistol squat progressions

T: Rotator cuff exercises.
Clear Creek Canyon - Little Eiger Boulders. My intended boulder was underwater due to spring snowmelt. Ended up at Animal, a hard four-move V9 roof problem I had been wanting to try. Warmed up doing the V3 top-out and got to work on the moves. V core-intensive and v hard. tweaky finger on LH made me not able to do most of the moves while a hole in my L shoe made it hard to put the required force through my feet. Managed the first move though so that was good. Moved on to try a poor lowball problem round the corner. Grim. Ended up scrambling up a neighbouring gully to look for some boulders but didn't find much. Finished doing a V2-ish problem near the road

F: 50 press-ups, Core Workout 2, Shoulder Press, Rotator Cuff Exercises, Lower Body Stretching

S: Flagstaff Mountain. Out early and straight to Valhalla V7. Spent ages trying the normal beta with a knacky heel and shredding the skin on my right hand. Managed to do it a different way with more power from an undercut. Spent the rest of the day flailing and failing as skin was too sore and I was too weak. Video of Valhalla:


S: Short hike round Echo Lake in the snow (10,500ft)

[gollum]

Back on it, although it’s all gone to rats in lockdown. Weight up, no weights, no finger board, just a bit of running. Got to get a grip.

A few days out on Yorkshire Grit last week has given me something to aim for.

M - Early start up at Caley. Some good ticks on old skool problems. Great fun and things I want to do on future trips.
Get home and then out for a really steady 10k.
Do some work with the pinch blocks both wide and narrow playing with different finger combinations on the narrow block.
Basic core work. Planks for a minute, minute rest, for five reps.

T - Hetchell in the morning with some going sideways. A bit damp in places but good fun. Stop after 90 minutes as skin starting to wear and got plenty more days I want to get out this week.
10k on the treadmill as awaiting a delivery.  Seems like bloody hard work today.
Spend half an hour or so messing about with my Problemsolver triangle thing and weights. Pretty comfortable up to 46k in half crimp but then run out of weights. Easy way to train and very skin and joint friendly.
Again finish the day with core. More planks, crunches, leg raises and twists.

W - Bit of a potter at Caley on low boulders although managed to puncture a tip on one of the very first goes of the day which made everything feel hard. Given the temperature, surprised to have actually got up anything.
Once we’d finished I went for a 10k trot around the Chevin. Very hot, hills bigger than I remember and lots of, sort of, getting lost. I think they call it character building, although it’s hardly the Barkley Marathon. Don’t think hot coffee is the answer when it’s hot and you get a bit dehydrated.
Core while watching Pointless.

T - Drop van off for MOT so run back the long way. Not long home and it’s ready, so go back for it, although the short hilly way.
Plan to go to West Vale but can’t find a parking spot so head up to Woodhouse Scar. Not been here for years and years. A bit of bushwhacking as can’t quite remember how to get down to crag but then have a reasonable session on Clingen Face doing lots of the easier stuff. For a crag in the middle of Halifax there are some cracking views from the top.
Core work in the evening.

W - Trip to West Chevin. Blowing a hooli, but end up climbing on Ground Up wall which is really sheltered. Good session doing quite a lot of stuff. Never been here and like the feel of the place. Scope out other areas for future visits.
Steady treadmill 10k when I get home and finish with some core work again.

S - Resting my fingers and core today so do a longer really steady run, which has quite a lot of ups and downs.

S - 10k around the big block. Great conditions for running.

Overall a pretty good week. Got out every weekday, ran everyday, weight going in the right direction, successfully applied the no alcohol before 9pm rule. Just got to keep it going now. Have definite steps in mind.

[tomtom]

Mon: rest

Tues: Board day. Adjusted a couple of holds. A teeny change and things go from impossible to hard. Good session -90 min or so. Hot.

Weds: 1 arm day. Usual up to -4kg

Thurs: Out in the evening. Surprisingly OK conditions. Didn’t do anything new - tiny hole in a finger or two.. Great to be out

Fri: 1 arm day. Usual up to -4kg. Feels like I’m plateau-ing a bit - though it’s easy to forget that stuff that was hard on the warm ups is now piss - and I’m hanging stuff for ten secs that I used to just snatch 5 secs from..

Sa: Out again. Frustrating day... Got an afternoon pass - went to explore a small venue - when I arrived parking was rammed (its near a viewpoint) and saw a party heading down with mats. Grr. Drove 40 min to somewhere else which had a couple there climbing (which is OK but...) they had their stuff strewn out along the length of the crag and playing music - hammock up etc... They were OK and wanted to chat (a bit too close for my liking) and I was by now pissed off and grumpy. It does irk me when I get beta shouted at me for something I’ve done 10-15 times before - but just forgotten bits of because I’ve not visited for a year or so... ffs.. We ultimately co-existed fine for the 60-80 min I had left before I had to go home. Quarried grit in the sun... with a couple of taped tips. Not ideal...

Su: Felt unsatisfied from Sat so had a board session instead of 1 arm stuff. Was pretty decent - enjoyed myself and climbed a bit saggy - but got up some quite hard stuff.

An hour on my board works my fingers more than a regular fingerboard session - they ache for a good day or two after....

[mr chaz]

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

M. 20 minute lower body HIIT
T. 2 hrs bouldering at Nesscliffe, brilliant to move on rock again. Failed at both crux moves on the traverse, but I was expecting that.
W. 20 minute HIIT
T. Fingerboard - 2 arm max hangs. 15 minute HIIT.
F. 15 minute HIIT.
S. Fingerboard - 2 arm max hangs (PB on smallest two moon fingerboard holds, 10s and 5s - good connies though). 3hr walk around Wenlock Edge, spotted some absolutely prime choss near the car park.
S. 15 minute HIIT, followed by a beer.

[JohnM]

Weight: 145-147lbs

M: My back felt stiff so I thought I would stretch it out on the bar and immediately twinged something in my back. Back pain all day.

T: Woke up with bad back pain. Hard to get up out of bed.

W: Nothing. Back pain. I had been struggling to get consistent climbing partners the last few weeks. When you have got bad back pain suddenly everyone wants to go climbing!

T: Nice weather and a public holiday. I was meant to be doing a trail run "fastest known time" (FKT) attempt with the Mrs and a friend which is what everyone is doing now to compete now that the races are all cancelled. My back was still too stiff and sore so stayed at home. Got impatient waiting for the back to get better so I thought I would test it out by doing some foam rolling, pull ups and a half set of repeaters. Didn't feel much worse afterwards.

F: Schleier Wasserfall. Woke up massively grumpy. My back was less sore but with more stiffness and less mobility and somehow I seemed to be suddenly a kilogram heavier according the scales! Went to Schleier with a very negative mindset. However, by the time I hiked up to the crag I felt like I had much more mobility in my back and surprised myself by getting my fingertips over the edge of the jug at the end of the boulder crux on the 8b+ route I had been trying. Unfortunately on my third attempt I broke off the key foothold at the end of the crux sequence. The move still goes using the rock scar below but it is a bit harder and you need to be more precise with the foot. I didn't really need this route to get any harder! Finished by doing a classic long 7b+ and a brutal 7a with a slopey mono.

S: Trail run 12km 500m elevation. The back felt ok and the legs felt less heavy and wooden then they had been. Was 27 degrees by the time I got back down and having next to zero heat tolerance I instantly got some kind of mild heat stroke for the rest of the day.

S: Back to Schleier. Cold windy conditions. Warmed up on the 8b+ and the moves felt pretty steady. I felt nervous on my first redpoint as I didn't really have any excuses and conditions would rarely be this good again throughout the summer. Fell with my fingertips just short of the jug. Lowered down, stayed tied in with my boots on and had two minutes on the ground. This time I climbed through the crux and hit the jug. Spent way too long on the jug as the next move is really drop-able and I was anxious not to mess it up. Got through that move and then spent an age climbing to the chains chalking and shaking out way too much! Happy to get this finished as conditions weren't getting better and the crimps were trashing my tips every session after only two attempts. Probably the hardest moves I have climbed on a route (albeit within the first 3 clips) and the hardest route I have climbed since 2016. Tried the moves on a really fun 8a+/8b afterwards. I very nearly did this first redpoint but fell just before the easier moves. Oh well next time! 

This week was mainly rubbish with back pain but with a surprisingly good end to the week! I need to be careful now as usually when I start to feel like I am climbing well is just before I get injured. I need to rest and take it easy a bit as I usually don't decide to rest, more that it is forced upon me (as evidenced by the week of back pain)!

[teestub]

Can we surmise that not running 250km and doing 1200 pull ups in the week may have helped with the route success?!

[cheque]

Effort everyone.

M- Dumbell complex. 3 sets with 5kg (1kg up on last time which felt like a lot), each set being 10 reps of various little exercises, some of which I can barely complete a set of! 

T- Rest. Felt nailed by the ‘bells.

W- Rest. Stretching.

T- Deadlift. 5 reps each of 25, 30 & 35kg then 2 reps each of 70, 80, 90 & 100kg. Couldn’t shift 110. What I do every week basically. 120 (nominally 2BW and all the weight I have, although 127 would really be 2BW right now...) is the target and while I don’t seem to be getting any closer to that it can’t be doing me any harm to do these sessions every week!

F- Rest.

S- Walked to Rivelin and back. There were some climbers this week. The parking is closed though which partly explains why it was deserted last Saturday. Took some photos before the showers started then walked back via an unbelievably convoluted route that took in Wyming Brook and the nature reserve east of Rivelin Crag that I'd never been to. Saw some cool birds.

S- 7 pull-ups.

My motivation is in the bin at the moment. I still feel like I’m “on pause” and just doing conditioning sort of training which is good as I’m still recovering from what I lost after my accident (barely walking anywhere in lockdown has scarily rolled back what I’d regained in my legs too) in some areas but it’s the sort of stuff that you need to recover a lot from and I’m not sleeping enough.

Going to reschedule my USA flights for next year rather than get a refund I think.

[JohnM]

Can we surmise that not running 250km and doing 1200 pull ups in the week may have helped with the route success?!

Ha ha it could be or it could be purely coincidental 

[tomtom]

Can we surmise that not running 250km and doing 1200 pull ups in the week may have helped with the route success?!

Not doing these are key parts of my training regime :D

[Nibile]

Power Club

Mon - board, 4 laps on problem 1 with 5" pause on every move. 2 normal laps and 2 on extended version. Rings finisher 30"; dumbbell complex.
Tue - rest.
Wed - ab wheel x20, clean and press x10, x5. DL, snatch pulls.
Thu - board, circuit. 1-23, happy. TBDL x10, farmer's 1' x3.
Fri - rest.
Sat - weights.
Sun - 13' of loaded carries.

[duncan]

Buy one, get one...

Good effort JohnM: the taper worked!  Good to hear about others making small steps outside again.

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

M - Weighted pull-ups (sets of 3 reps, 91kg load)
T -
W - Weighted pull-ups
T -
F - Weighted pull-ups
S - Shoulder strength.
S - Weighted pull-ups (sets of 3 reps, 93kg load)
M - Shoulder strength.
T - Weighted pull-ups
W -
T -
F - Weighted pull-ups
S - Shoulder strength.
S - Cycled to Buckingham Palace and back with the lad. Central London is still very quiet, just a very few bewildered looking tourists. Great for cycling, rather sad to see the theatres, museums and galleries all closed. 20km on a heavy folding bike felt like some kind of exercise.

Plus a brisk walk/slow shuffle for 7-8km every day.

Weight is still 3kg more than typical in May but has stopped increasing. One finger is a bit sore so no fingerboarding. Have done 11 sessions of weighted pull-ups over 3 weeks, with a large increase in volume and small increase in load. Sets of three feels good: the third rep is a lot like trying really hard on the last move of a sequence. Shoulders have been fine but elbows are starting to grumble a little.

Plan: time for a week off from pull-ups. I should do some hip stretching but it's so boring (and x-rays suggest not much would change).

Struggling a bit with motivation when the training is just basic exercises. Dispiriting national and more personal news does not help. Still not sure about the morality of driving to climbing from London - not that it seems to bother some - but badly missing being in the countryside. Need to pull my finger out and engage with the hateful business of car buying!

[nai]

M -
Started at Paint It Black where I could barely hang on let alone make any moves
Lees Bottom. Arrived to find a hold broken on LTdCdL. Realised by using better footwork I could move to the bigger hold out right, it's harder and feels off route but I don't think it's used for anything else so likely to be the way. Still reluctant to make the top move without a spotter but almost did the Goose finish which would mean being able to complete a few links if I can summon the courage for the final lunge.
Another play on Mr Creosote but no chance of making that span, sacked that one.

T - conditioing day
3 sets offset scap pullups
3 sets assissted static 10s scap holds one arm -10kg
3 sets offset pullups
3x pike pressups
3x crane/frog stands
2 sets TRX YT, one arm low row
3x LVL sits
2 sets dips
2x Band IYT flows
2 x band Rev Ys & Ts
Mtn climbers, Crunches, Leg raises, V sits

W - Hurty. Stretch

Th had a pass but was too warm for me. Started warming up to FB but fingers on LH were a bit uncomfortable. Might be time to admit that it's an injury.
Went fishing instead

F -
Good board session, big moves on big slopey holds. Finger ok
Few push exercises, forget what now.
Single straight leg DL 18kg, Single leg hip thrust 18kg, Floor slides.
Something Corey

S - intended to stretch but accidentally had an early beer

S - few test deadhangs. BW on mid slots ok
3 sets offset scap pullups
3 sets assissted 10s static scap holds one arm -8kg L -6kg R
2 sets offset pullups
2 x Band IYT flows
2 x band Rev Ys & Ts
3x Wall hollow bodies Repeaters
Core circuit

good stretch Eve

[Bradders]

Not the best week. I'm being plagued by finger joint and nail bed splits at the mo which are really annoying; no sooner has one healed than another seems to open up. Skipped a couple of planned sessions too which is disappointing but tried to make up for them where I could.

M - went to Levitt Hagg. Pretty warm, early 20s temps and humid; portable fan a God send. Dropped a rope down Light Worker to give it a scrub although thankfully it was already very clean. Basically then warmed up doing the first moves a few times and dangling off a jug, then did it 2nd time I properly went for it. Top was full on desperate, emergency crimp pulling as I got a bit scared. Pleased to do it fast although it's clearly a bit soft. Went over to The Hagg and again did it 2nd go, dropping the top mantel on 1st. Came home and did a 4x4s session on the board, same 4 problems as last Monday. Felt desperate, had to try really hard, but completed every problem just about. Humid conditions probably not helping.

T - rest

W - one arm repeaters. Bit of a shambles tbh. Standard session of 3 sets of 3r 6/4s in half crimp -10kg and same 4f open -7kg on 30mm edges, but dropped several hangs and generally didn't feel great. For last two sets upped the assistance by 2kg which was better. Did at least manage easy bodyweight 10s hangs on the big middle slot so lockdown goal achieved; couldn't do before.

T - board session. Two hours mainly trying 4 projects after harder warm ups. Matched high point on long project and got the two over lapping halves in the same session for first time. Still feel a way off linking. Half decent attempts on others. End of the session did an excellent new one which didn't turn out to be too hard but great moves. Good session actually.

In the evening had intended to do a repeaters and conditioning session, but my fingers were too tired and it was too warm for conditioning. Settled instead for doing lock offs on the board, hovering my hand for 3s over each hold before grabbing it. Could only really do properly on jugs but did 50 mins with 1-2 min rests between problems. Definite weakness this, found it really hard.

F - tiny bit of stretching and a walk

S - early morning session at the Satellite Boulder. Repeated Geminid Trail although took a few goes warming into it, then tried Under a Full Moon. Really inspired by this thing and 3 years since I last tried it so wanted to see how it felt. In short, hard. Couldn't do the 2nd move, although felt close to sticking it quite a few times. Also tried Stasis Interrupted and actually did 3 of the moves which was encouraging. Crux felt very hard though. Finished doing Geminid again which really is brilliant. Done by 10am.

S - didn't get to bed till 1am the night before for reasons I won't go into so woke up feeling a bit ruined and had a very slow start, plus felt irrationally angry all morning. Board session in the afternoon. Hour and a half. Normal warm ups and re-did last problem from Thursday first go; turned out to only be easy-medium sort of level. Then worked 4 projects; 2 new ones that have moves I haven't done yet on (still haven't), plus my 11 move one which I matched high point on twice and very nearly held the move 2nd time, and another longish one. Again was actually a good session, tried hard.

[Will Hunt]

Training appears to have been well and truly sacked off!

M - It's called Ab Rip Per Ex!

W - Cycling. An hour with some modest climbing. Enjoyable in the heat.

S - Family walk.

S - Walk then Ruin Bank Woods in the evening. 10 problems between 5 and tough 7A.

Fingers feeling a bit tweaky still. Mainly LH ring finger A2.

[tomtom]

General question for all PC regulars (and anyone else I guess!)

This is the first time in my life I’ve ever had such a long block of training* (now into my tenth week)

What do I do now? :D Should I carry on as I was (seems to be working - no injuries so far - seem to be getting better (at training at least!)) - or should I have a week off - or tapering (is this a week off?).... I’m really not up to speed on how this works - but seem to remember something about having a block of time off every few (8?) weeks...

*at anything... ever....

[Bradders]

Time for a week off TT. Still go climbing outside if you can but stop training or massively reduce volume. I'm doing 6 week blocks atm, 5 on 1 off.

[yetix]

Lees Bottom. Arrived to find a hold broken on LTdCdL.

which holds broken sorry?

[tomtom]

Lees Bottom. Arrived to find a hold broken on LTdCdL.

which holds broken sorry?

Le Toit du Col du Lees I think...

[Bradders]

Training appears to have been well and truly sacked off!

 

Sack it off now and it won't be long before you lose any gains you'd made, rendering the whole exercise pointless. Always do something!

[nai]

Lees Bottom. Arrived to find a hold broken on LTdCdL.

which holds broken sorry?

I would match this, RH on the broken bit, to go up the good hold then incut edge just under the roof on what I think is referred to as the hanging block

IMG_20200518_125927843 by Ian_Thomas, on Flickr

[yetix]

Ahh okay, I went on Thursday (21st) and used LH pressing in the 3f dish like hold (you use it off a heel with RH on chiggas) then RH into another opposing slight gaston (I think slightly rightwards of where the scaring in the picture is) to then reach to the hanging block with LH .

Was my first time on the things through this part of the roof and assumed everything which was broken had been for sometime, so was curious what else there might have been there.

[spidermonkey09]

Like a lot of people on the thread this week I've fallen off the training wagon a bit this week. Probably a combination of getting outside and it being really hot.

M- tried the Virgin Traverse in the Churnet. Took ages to sort a sequence and fell off the end a few times from the start. Good training though.

T- core. First stretching in a while.

W- Max hangs. Speculative effort at 2.5kg assist which felt OK for the first few sets but fell off a cliff thereafter. Just too hot I think.

T- went to the Churnet and finished off the Virgin Traverse after warming up on the individual sections. Very good and probably 7c route grade. Went to Gentleman's Rock for a look and did a few nice things. The 6b traverse is dire but the 6C and 7A were good, although pretty high without a spot.

F- rest.

S- Chee Dale Cornice. Busy on arrival but seemed to thin out very quickly so had no qualms staying. Did whose line is it anyway which I tried back in 2015 and armistice day after that. Played on Powerplant which I enjoyed, did all the moves and got to the roll over to the crimp from the deck. Got the bones of a sequence through the crux. Top wall is beautiful climbing.

S- masson Lees with girlfriend. Too busy when we arrived so we had lunch in the fields and waited for it to thin out. Did a good 6c and a 7a+ with some death choss at the top. Girlfriend took her first proper lead fall. Good day out although slightly on edge throughout due to the behaviour of several large groups of 12 and about 6 respectively, making no effort to distance whatsoever. It appeared to be a birthday party gathering. In hindsight I wish I had said something but I didn't really know how to at the time...