[tomtom]

Double post for me - been away this week

Mon 17th: 1 arm day - down to -8 assist on pullup for both arms (new PB)
Tues 18th: Board day. Average session :/
Weds 19th: 1 arm day - got down to -8 on both arms again - so monday wasnt a fluke.
Thurs 29th: Stanage RH end with Lagers, Nai and the toddler. Great times - playing in eliminates. Superb.

Friday: Drive up to N. Lakes, above Dockray, Ullswater for the week.

Sat: Rained. In the eve went and scoped out the 7A and 7B on Gowbarrow above Aira force (on the lake side). 7B looked good - 7A looked like a death landing without a spotter!

Sun: Rained. Went to Carrock to have look around with the Toddler.. Park up and waiting for a shower to pass when a car pulls up about 100m away. Fella gets out with a geological hammer - disappears into the lower boulders - chink chink chink. I got out and asked him what he was up to (as an academic - I know this think is not allowed for school or uni groups here.. take a sample from the floor etc..). Turns out he was leading a field trip there the next day and was bashing a lump on the floor to prep for his class. Been working there for 50 years or so - and all was amicable.

OK. This week:
Monday. What a gorgeous day. Up to Carrock in the morning - played on undercut boulder. Eventually got undercut arete (6C+) which really is a superb problem - a proper thuggy fight on good holds - though no where near the 5 to the left :D Went up to Punks Life and just as before couldnt pull on with out barndooring off (one pad felt iffty too) started to get midged. Went up to have a look at Lock Stock & Toothbrushes - couldnt commit to the lunge with only one pad. Went down the bloc and did Fangtastic (6C) ace! And left while I still had some skin. Superb - two well deserved two star problems!

Tues: Storm Francis. Ugh.. sat it out inside playing lego with the nipper watching the valley below flood and receed.

Weds: Showers - grabbed what looked like an OK window and headed up to Carrock again. No wind - and nothing drying fast (unusually for Carrock). Nearly went home - but had a look up at the Boardman boulder and after warming up on the mushroomy thing below went and found that Fast cars and camper vans was dry... spent an hour working this - and just got all the moves done in isolation then ran out of steam and skin!

Thurs: Parents came up to visit for the day - toddler had a 40 min meltdown walking through a muddy field. Wouldnt go forwards. Wouldnt go backwards.

Friday: PSYCHE. Clearing forecast, strong northerly, beta worked. At the first opportunity barrelled out of the cottage and up to Carrock (its a 17 min drive...). Having gone through the worked beta for Fast Cars and Camper Vans loads in my head I thought it would be a warm up and nail first go job. Oh no. Not quite as grippy as the other day  - or I wasnt squeezing that heel as much... 2, 3, 4 attempts and no joy. A change of shoe and got through the rail traverse and dopped it missing my pad and bashing my thigh on the boulders below - ouch. Went through two tips that attempt too... taped up I had another go - nope. And another nope. OK, long rest... Had a look at the rain radar (it was showers forecast) and there was one 5 min away.. so got my boots on and went for it. Apologies for any profanity at the end - I was happy!



Brilliant - really chuffed... My first 7A at Carrock (problems there always seem tough to me) and  went home covered in cuts. Had a bath and enjoyed the rest of the day avec family...

Sat: Potter around pack up and home

Sun: Met up with 3T at Holmfirth (with all our kids) no skin - 4 tips holed - but had a good potter and nearly got Old Lace Strict (7A+) but had my wrong shoes with me.. Great session - more bruises - but tips intact!

[shark]

11.3-4 Average 157.9 (up 0.3lbs)

M. Was torn but in end decided not to go to Malham due to seepage reports. :-(
PM Tor with Ewa. Quiet. Sunny. Played around on Bens for a few hours, mooched in the sun and took dogs for a walk. Got the hardest move at first attempt but coordination faltered a bit after that. Linked the two hardest moves a couple of times and also managed to climb from the start to set up for the hardest move a couple of times.
Eve Warm up including some long hangs on ergo edge. Recruitment hangs on ergo edge, speed pulls on 20mm edge

T. Evening. Systems board. AnPower intervals. Reduced rest time from 30 secs to 20secs. 5 sets of 3 repeats failing on 3rd go each time

W.

T. AM Malham still soaked. Back to Tor with Ewa After Monday’s experience of her stamina I steeled myself for a long day again. Cloud inversion in Grindleford valley. Cool temps. THFML x 3 Worked on Bens again. Best goes did cross through move again and linked the two hardest moves again a couple of times. Didn’t try start section. Sussed a new bit of micro beta. Mat left quickdraws in on Tin Of for me and I led it clean twice. Probably could have done it a third time but had started to rain and top was getting wet/greasy. Pleasantly surprised at my stamina level.

F. Eve. Recruitment hangs on ergo and speed pulls on 20mm edge

S. PM AnPower. Systems board. 4 sets of 3 attempts with 20 secs rest 10 completed. Progress

S. AM Group walk from Robin Hood Inn to Froggatt and back bumping into Louise Hawson of Stanage Forum on way out and Al Williams on way back. Sunday roast at Robin Hood

Crap weather. Frustrating not to be able to get back on the Oak after good session the previous Friday. Looks like we are in for a dryish spell. Currently aiming to head back to Malham on weds.

[nai]

M - Froggatt pinacle boulders, plus a few, circuit in the evening with Plattsy. 24 problems. Andy was done, I headed to Burbage Bridge but didn't even make it as far as removing kit from the car before I was midged off.
T 30 mins LI, stretch eve
W 30 mins LI
Th  - early start with Dolly, another session of circuiting and making up eliminates.
F - 30 mins LI, bit of core, stretch eve
S - intended to go out in the evening but then it rained.  Went fishing instead.
S - intended to go out in evening but had a decorating malfunction. 20 mins LI

[gollum]

A new week and back to an element of normality. Fifth week since started training again in earnest.

M - Deadlifts for form and tension. 10x5 @ 60, which is pretty steady and breaks nicely back into the week, particularly as shoulders feeling a bit battered from all the time spent yarding in roofs yesterday.
Chest after that. Start off with 10x5 bench press, with 2 sets @60, 2@65, 2@70, 2@72.5 and 2@75. Feels like a good progressive exercise, although quite tough  due to volume. Follow this up with 3x8 incline guillotine press. Finish with some ring flys.
For core do some lowers from inverted on the rings with one leg tucked and finish with both legs tucked.
Nip up to Caley as for first time in ages, temperatures are lower, the crag dry and I have nothing else to do. Easy circuits just wandering about at Roadside. Have another go at Scoop Arête but to no avail, may be one for a winter crisp day.

T - Deadlifts for speed; 85k 3x8. Steady enough. Do knee raises for abs in between sets to get today’s core work in.
Move on to tricep work. Start with 5x5 close grip presses, keeping speed nice and slow and elbows tucked. Next it’s skull crushers for 3x8 keeping the weight low and the form good. Standing French press for 3x8, increasing weight but slowing speed on each set. Definitely worked the long head today. 5x5 Ring dips  for a bit of stability and balance. Finish with some scapular work.
Pouring with rain and a bit at a loss of what to do, so nip to the Depot for a bit. A couple more purples ticked, one so, so close (dab......back around) and some progress on individual moves on a couple of others. Still have plenty to do. Quick go on a couple of yellows, but think they are just too hard for me at the moment and while I don’t have the belief I can do them, I know I won’t.
Quick effort on the campus board, nothing flash, just ticking along. Feels tough at the start but at least aches in shoulders and fingers have gone. Will keep plugging away.
Nip over to City Bloc as still raining and nothing else to do. Dabble on the Kilter board doing problems at 60° for arms and core and then 40° for more fingers orientated stuff when I get tired.
Do some more with Max hangs for 8 seconds with 32k added for 3 sets, 10 secs at plus 24 for 3 sets, 12 seconds at 16 for 3 and Bodyweight to failure, which at this stage is 28 seconds. Playing around with a bit longer times and a bit less weight, which seems to work reasonably well. Probably need to check where failure is at bodyweight, so I can compare.

W - Big lifts day. 10 singles. Start with 120, then 130x2 sets, then 140x4 and finish with 130 for last 3 sets. Certainly good work for CNS and overall strength and equally one that takes quite a long time as the rests are extended. After, what are for me, big lifts, do some German hangs for core but also to stretch my back a little. Lay pull downs for 3x10. Followed by offset pull ups on the rings and finish with some pull-ups trying to get chest as high over bar as possible.
Make an early call on the weather and it’s drizzling so we opt for the Depot. Get on the new Reds and manage to do them all, flashing all but one. Not sure if I’ve done this before, but if I have, it’s been a while. Happy enough with that, as feels like solid progress. Have a brew to regroup but decide I feel weary so leave it at that. Only down side, is it looks like we made the wrong call on the weather and could have got outside today.

T - Weather much better when I get up early doors so I can quick nip up to Buckstone Edge, working moves on the Pig in a Pokey boulder, but decide it may be better to get out with a spotter some time.
Get home and do the massively tedious 20x20 kettlebell swings, although do them as 4x100.
City Bloc to do some max hangs followed by some shoulder work with weights. Deadhangs are back to 5 seconds with 40k added for a total of 8 sets. Feels more solid than has done in the past.
For shoulders, last week was very press orientated, so this week will be raise orientated, although as always there will be a bit of pressing. Start with J presses for 3x5 to get warmed up, followed by some half and halfs, before moving on to raises. Start with seated lateral rather sets for 3x8. On to alternating front raises, with a hold at top of each rep and holding weight under tension at the bottom of each rep, which ups the intensity massively. Fence pulls on the machine gradually increasing the weight but keeping form solid. Then do some cross body work with the cables and some cable iron crosses. Finish with a bit of core with the ab roller and some scapular work.
Thursday was always social night at the Depot pre-lockdown and we are trying to get it going again. Potter around repeating some of the reds and working the beta with friends, also manage another purple, on the slab. Any more will just be slowly ticked when a fair wind is in the east.

F - Raining again. Paused deadlifts. Nice and steady with pauses on way up and down.
Biceps curls today. Start with 3 sets of incline curls with increasing weight but decreasing reps. Move on to superset plate curls and drag curls, each for 3x10. Then spider curls with increasing weight, followed by Zottman curls with a lightweight, which are always a battle, as it puts arm into the only position that is affected by the torn bicep tendon. Finish with concentration curls in a very low rep range but keeping very strict form and slow negatives. Finish gym with some tick raises and lowers into levers with alternate legs tucked. Good session.
Trip to the Depot (again), working on some of the yellows. No tops but quite a lot of progress on a handful. Tired by the end of the day.

S - Nip up to Almscliffe in the morning and get a stark reminder of what it’s going to be like later in year. Blowing and very wet underfoot, need to take boots and coat in the future. Reasonably good session playing about on the Virgin boulder, mostly doing laps on second half of traverse, via a range of different methods. By the time it comes to it, I’m too tired for the whole thing.
Deadlifts are back to one every 30 seconds for ten minutes with a weight of 120. Feeling even more solid and think I should creep the weight up just a touch next week. Pleased with progress as no longer feels like the physical and mental battle that it felt just a few weeks ago.
Finish off with raising feet to bar for three sets, 9-6-6. Still a long way to go.

S - Rest day.

Good solid week.

[Fiend]

Gollum there are no elements of normality about your weeks.

[cheque]

Have another go at Scoop Arête but to no avail, may be one for a winter crisp day.

...Quick go on a couple of yellows, but think they are just too hard for me at the moment and while I don’t have the belief I can do them, I know I won’t.

...Reasonably good session playing about on the Virgin boulder, mostly doing laps on second half of traverse, via a range of different methods. By the time it comes to it, I’m too tired for the whole thing.

From a casual reader’s perspective you seem to always be too tired from the huge volume of weightlifting you do to ever perform at your best when climbing.

[Will Hunt]

W - Almscliff after work. Big wet streak down Wall of Horrors. Damn. Top out of Big Greeny drenched. Damn. The sun was coming round onto the wall and the wind was on it so we crossed our fingers and went round to Demon Wall to warm up. Came back to WoH and it was dry. The first overhanging section is still a bit fluttery I find but the whole climb is a different animal when you know the gear and it goes in fast without having to pull up to look at the placements.

Su - Malham with Jim. Took a while to get the psyche going and felt undernourished throughout. Obsession and ended up having an onsight-putting-the-clips-in go which was dumb. Got to maybe a bolt or two after the first rest then dogged to the top. Tried a premature redpoint afterwards and made a mess of everything and just about scraped up to the crux by skin of the teeth. Shook out a bit, knowing I was going to fall off, but gave it some effort anyway and fell off. Last go went really quite smoothly through everything but fell off the crux at the top - might need to find a better sequence.

Tactically shambles. Should have worked it properly on the first go. If the second go up had gone well up to the crux I might have done it.

[Fiend]

From a casual reader’s perspective you seem to always be too tired from the huge volume of weightlifting you do to ever perform at your best when climbing.

At what point were you reading gollum's updates and thinking "This guy is trying to train effectively for climbing prowess"?? 

Gollum is pathologically addicted to training for the sake of training, not that there's anything wrong with that if it's a personal choice (or at least it's better than many addictions!).

[gollum]

From a casual reader’s perspective you seem to always be too tired from the huge volume of weightlifting you do to ever perform at your best when climbing.

At what point were you reading gollum's updates and thinking "This guy is trying to train effectively for climbing prowess"?? 

Gollum is pathologically addicted to training for the sake of training, not that there's anything wrong with that if it's a personal choice (or at least it's better than many addictions!).

I really couldn’t have put it better myself.

[SA Chris]

The joys of retirement?

Either that or get a road bike, which seems to be the favoured route of friends who have just got there, you can then spend the hours not cycling shopping for bits, and "rebuilding bottom brackets" and the like.

[gollum]

The joys of retirement?

Either that or get a road bike, which seems to be the favoured route of friends who have just got there, you can then spend the hours not cycling shopping for bits, and "rebuilding bottom brackets" and the like.

It is the joys of retirement, unfortunately where we live doesn’t lend itself to bike ownership.

Have to do lots not to get under Mrs B’s feet, to be fair.

[cheque]

At what point were you reading gollum's updates and thinking "This guy is trying to train effectively for climbing prowess"?? 

I’ve never thought that, he often mentions needing better conditions etc. to climb things which seems far-fetched.

I’ve no idea why anyone would post their training details on here if they weren’t open to climbing-related feedback though,

[MischaHY]

A new week and back to an element of normality. Fifth week since started training again in earnest.

M - Deadlifts for form and tension. 10x5 @ 60, which is pretty steady and breaks nicely back into the week, particularly as shoulders feeling a bit battered from all the time spent yarding in roofs yesterday.
Chest after that. Start off with 10x5 bench press, with 2 sets @60, 2@65, 2@70, 2@72.5 and 2@75. Feels like a good progressive exercise, although quite tough  due to volume. Follow this up with 3x8 incline guillotine press. Finish with some ring flys.
For core do some lowers from inverted on the rings with one leg tucked and finish with both legs tucked.
Nip up to Caley as for first time in ages, temperatures are lower, the crag dry and I have nothing else to do. Easy circuits just wandering about at Roadside. Have another go at Scoop Arête but to no avail, may be one for a winter crisp day.

T - Deadlifts for speed; 85k 3x8. Steady enough. Do knee raises for abs in between sets to get today’s core work in.
Move on to tricep work. Start with 5x5 close grip presses, keeping speed nice and slow and elbows tucked. Next it’s skull crushers for 3x8 keeping the weight low and the form good. Standing French press for 3x8, increasing weight but slowing speed on each set. Definitely worked the long head today. 5x5 Ring dips  for a bit of stability and balance. Finish with some scapular work.
Pouring with rain and a bit at a loss of what to do, so nip to the Depot for a bit. A couple more purples ticked, one so, so close (dab......back around) and some progress on individual moves on a couple of others. Still have plenty to do. Quick go on a couple of yellows, but think they are just too hard for me at the moment and while I don’t have the belief I can do them, I know I won’t.
Quick effort on the campus board, nothing flash, just ticking along. Feels tough at the start but at least aches in shoulders and fingers have gone. Will keep plugging away.
Nip over to City Bloc as still raining and nothing else to do. Dabble on the Kilter board doing problems at 60° for arms and core and then 40° for more fingers orientated stuff when I get tired.
Do some more with Max hangs for 8 seconds with 32k added for 3 sets, 10 secs at plus 24 for 3 sets, 12 seconds at 16 for 3 and Bodyweight to failure, which at this stage is 28 seconds. Playing around with a bit longer times and a bit less weight, which seems to work reasonably well. Probably need to check where failure is at bodyweight, so I can compare.

W - Big lifts day. 10 singles. Start with 120, then 130x2 sets, then 140x4 and finish with 130 for last 3 sets. Certainly good work for CNS and overall strength and equally one that takes quite a long time as the rests are extended. After, what are for me, big lifts, do some German hangs for core but also to stretch my back a little. Lay pull downs for 3x10. Followed by offset pull ups on the rings and finish with some pull-ups trying to get chest as high over bar as possible.
Make an early call on the weather and it’s drizzling so we opt for the Depot. Get on the new Reds and manage to do them all, flashing all but one. Not sure if I’ve done this before, but if I have, it’s been a while. Happy enough with that, as feels like solid progress. Have a brew to regroup but decide I feel weary so leave it at that. Only down side, is it looks like we made the wrong call on the weather and could have got outside today.

T - Weather much better when I get up early doors so I can quick nip up to Buckstone Edge, working moves on the Pig in a Pokey boulder, but decide it may be better to get out with a spotter some time.
Get home and do the massively tedious 20x20 kettlebell swings, although do them as 4x100.
City Bloc to do some max hangs followed by some shoulder work with weights. Deadhangs are back to 5 seconds with 40k added for a total of 8 sets. Feels more solid than has done in the past.
For shoulders, last week was very press orientated, so this week will be raise orientated, although as always there will be a bit of pressing. Start with J presses for 3x5 to get warmed up, followed by some half and halfs, before moving on to raises. Start with seated lateral rather sets for 3x8. On to alternating front raises, with a hold at top of each rep and holding weight under tension at the bottom of each rep, which ups the intensity massively. Fence pulls on the machine gradually increasing the weight but keeping form solid. Then do some cross body work with the cables and some cable iron crosses. Finish with a bit of core with the ab roller and some scapular work.
Thursday was always social night at the Depot pre-lockdown and we are trying to get it going again. Potter around repeating some of the reds and working the beta with friends, also manage another purple, on the slab. Any more will just be slowly ticked when a fair wind is in the east.

F - Raining again. Paused deadlifts. Nice and steady with pauses on way up and down.
Biceps curls today. Start with 3 sets of incline curls with increasing weight but decreasing reps. Move on to superset plate curls and drag curls, each for 3x10. Then spider curls with increasing weight, followed by Zottman curls with a lightweight, which are always a battle, as it puts arm into the only position that is affected by the torn bicep tendon. Finish with concentration curls in a very low rep range but keeping very strict form and slow negatives. Finish gym with some tick raises and lowers into levers with alternate legs tucked. Good session.
Trip to the Depot (again), working on some of the yellows. No tops but quite a lot of progress on a handful. Tired by the end of the day.

S - Nip up to Almscliffe in the morning and get a stark reminder of what it’s going to be like later in year. Blowing and very wet underfoot, need to take boots and coat in the future. Reasonably good session playing about on the Virgin boulder, mostly doing laps on second half of traverse, via a range of different methods. By the time it comes to it, I’m too tired for the whole thing.
Deadlifts are back to one every 30 seconds for ten minutes with a weight of 120. Feeling even more solid and think I should creep the weight up just a touch next week. Pleased with progress as no longer feels like the physical and mental battle that it felt just a few weeks ago.
Finish off with raising feet to bar for three sets, 9-6-6. Still a long way to go.

S - Rest day.

Good solid week.

I'm curious about the amount of volume you're doing. Whats the goal here?

Training for training is fine by me but I'm curious what such a high volume combo of weights and climbing is looking to achieve.

I feel like based on this you'd easily up your max in all activities by taking 2 more rest days per week and focusing on session quality.

I also used to love marathon training weeks but stopped when I realised it didn't really get me anywhere. I'd be interested to know how you respond to a lower volume higher intensity work block. 

Extra points for effort though   

[JohnM]

A double post from me as I have been away too.

M 17th - Eating + drinking + wandering around Uchon a nice forest with Dartmoor style tors and granite boulders.
T 18th - Climbing at Cormatin a small compact sandstone crag somewhere in the middle of Burgundy. Did a 7a and then did all the moves on an 8a on tiny grozzles and crimps. Didn't manage to link it as it was 32 degrees!
W 19th - Climbing at Roche de Solutré. Climbing on Jurassic limestone (not unlike bits of Portland and Swanage). Did a 7a and a 7b both second try. Tried another 7b but it nearly circumcised my finger. Too hot again!
T 20th  - Drove to Collioure + swimming in the sea
F 21st - Nice sunrise trail run on the French/Catalan border. 21.85km with 1170m height gain. More sea swimming.
S 22nd - Morning jog before a wedding 6km with 171m height gain. A lot eating + drinking until 3am.
S 23rd - Swimming in the sea.


M  - Swimming in the sea. Drove to Gorges du Tarn over the beautiful plains of Causses and Cirque de Navacelles.

T - Climbing at Gorges du Tarn. Did a 7a (Farniente) in a big overlap. Had a wobbler at the top and found it runout and scary. Tried an 8a (Moules Frites). Did the moves quickly but became too hot to link. Swimming in the river. In the afternoon went to try Priez pour nous as I read it was good but there was a Spanish team on it so went elsewhere. Probably for the best as I got spanked on a 7b+ with a bouldery start around the corner. It was far too hot and I could barely hang anything.

W - Warmer in the morning but overcast so had hopes to finish the 8a. However, it was humid as hell and I couldn't even climb sections I had onsighted the day before let alone the crux. Got spanked on a 7a+ next door in the sun. Spent the rest of the day climbing 5/6s in my trainers as it was too hot and painful to put my comfy boots on and then swimming and a hike up to Point Sublime overlooking the gorge.

T - Drove to Cadenet near Lourmarin over more beautiful plains with semi-wild pre-historic style horses. Went for dinner in the Auberge in Buoux.

F - Really nice trail run in the Grand Luberon. It was hot as hell and I was sweating faster than I could drink. However, somehow I survived and ran quite hard and the views over Provence towards Mont Ventoux were really nice. 34km with 1709m height gain. More eating and drinking.

S - Drove to Breschia in Italy.

S - Drove back to Innsbruck.

Two weeks of mainly eating and drinking but with some climbing, swimming and trail running thrown in + too much driving. The running and the swimming was good but I am disappointed I didn't get at least one decent hardish route done. Some of it was definitely because of self-inflicted excesses. However, it was far too hot, even in the shade. I was under the impression that Gorges du Tarn was a summer venue but I guess not when it is 30+ with no breeze! I need to lose the 1-2kg I put on now and get back to training. I am going to spend the month training like I did in the lockdown. Basically, basic stuff like pullups and weighted pullups on edges as I got good gains doing that. I also have a 100km ultra race to do starting on the evening of the 11th. I am not really prepared for this but hopefully all the kilometers this year will pay dividends (even though my average distance is only 20km) and I will be able to finish it.

[gollum]

At what point were you reading gollum's updates and thinking "This guy is trying to train effectively for climbing prowess"?? 

I’ve never thought that, he often mentions needing better conditions etc. to climb things which seems far-fetched.

I’ve no idea why anyone would post their training details on here if they weren’t open to climbing-related feedback though,

I think I am open to feedback and do occasionally get outside with a view to getting up things. Am I bothered about being the best I can be, probably not to be fair, those days are behind me. 

I would think that people on who know who I am, know that I always had a reasonably high tolerance for training and did get up some things that were reasonably hard.

I suffer with anxiety, have suffered with depression and training helps me with all that.

I make a training log, as I have always done and conveniently it fits here. As I say, I am open to feedback and do know that lifting less would help my climbing but I do enjoy it, so will continue to do it. Fiend is absolutely right about the pathological addiction.

[MischaHY]

I think I am open to feedback and do occasionally get outside with a view to getting up things. Am I bothered about being the best I can be, probably not to be fair, those days are behind me. 

I would think that people on who know who I am, know that I always had a reasonably high tolerance for training and did get up some things that were reasonably hard.

I suffer with anxiety, have suffered with depression and training helps me with all that.

I make a training log, as I have always done and conveniently it fits here. As I say, I am open to feedback and do know that lifting less would help my climbing but I do enjoy it, so will continue to do it. Fiend is absolutely right about the pathological addiction.

Caveat - I don't know who you are 

If you feel mentally robust and heathy when you're active and high volume then it sounds great to me.

My input would be that if you could shift some of that daily activity need into lower impact sessions such as flexibility or walking that it might well result in some more achievement on the goal oriented side of things - but if you're loving smashing the weights and rock/gym six days a week then that's whats important 

[SA Chris]

Don't say that, he'll be going back to ultramarathon training!

Gollum, just do what works for you.

[gollum]

Cheers ta.

[Nibile]

Power Club

Mon - weights. Tired.
Tue - light boxing bag.
Wed - gym, legs and stuff. Watching three real bros training was a real treat! "C'mon bro, another hit!"
Thu - fingers, garage after a lot of time, 2 kg added from now on. Took it quite easy with -7 and -5 kg taken off for left and right. Not too bad. Then front 3 on 9 mm and finger curls on 15 mm and Lattice Edge. TB DL finisher 70 kg, clean and press EMOM 5x10 30 kg.
Fri - rest.
Sat - weights.
Sun - rest.

[Coops_13]

M: Eldorado Canyon trad. I led Calypso 5.6 - run-out and v polished and insecure in 32C+ heat. Mate led on up Reggae 5.8, a touch of choss to a steep finger crack which was cool. Abbed off and just got down before dark

T: Density Hangs - 40mm 30s *3sets. Push day. Bench press up to +140lb, two sets of 10 reps at +90lb. Tweaked wrist slightly rotating bar back to lock (smith machine). Rotator cuff exercises. Bicep curl 40lb X6*3sets, shoulder press 40lb X6*3sets, lateral and front raise 20lb X6*3sets.

W: Repeaters 7 on 3 off X5 *5sets. 1 set 40mm, 4 sets 22mm (40 - AAA). Pullups - 5 EMOM 10 mins = 50 pull-ups. Knee durability exercises, 5 exercises *3sets

T: Density Hangs - 40mm 30s *3sets. Lower body stretching

F: Density Hangs - 40mm 30s *3sets.

S: Sharkstooth, RMNP. One of the cathedral spires topping out at 12,630ft. Northeast Ridge 5.6. Left car at 0330. Tough three hour approach up to 11.6kft through a lot of talus. Led pitches 2, 4 (linked 4 and 5), 5 (normal pitch 6). Ran it out quite a lot for speed due to oncoming storm. Managed to ab off before the deluge hit. Roughly 11 miles and 4000ft ascent total, watch cut out mid way Amazing day, 10.5 hours car to car

S: 3 mile walk round Denver with pup

Saw physio today and did a lot of testing and loading - he's happy with me to start bouldering again. Psyched!

[duncan]

Good news Coops. Easy does it...

M - Fingerboard max. hangs. Upped the time to 10s. Drove to up to Stockport to stay in the Holiday Inn Express (as bad as it sounds).
T - Storm Francis. Scoping out Marple Bridge and socialising with friends there. Shoulder stuff: handstands and side planks in the park, pull-ups on the swing.
W - Showers. More scoping/house hunting. Met up with my brother and family in Heaton. Shoulder stuff.
T - Back to London. Fingerboard: started Aerobic Power session (repeaters at ~50% MVC) but feeling low energy so stopped early. 5km run.
F - Fingerboard: good Aerobic Power session, arm-blasting pump.
S - Shoulder stuff in the local park. Also walked the rolling log in the kids playground for the first time ever. Never seen anyone over 5’ manage this, perhaps I should take up slacklining...
S - Anstey’s seemed too big a risk after all the rain so headed for Portland and met up with csl. We warmed up on Cruise Control then I put the draws in on Road Rage. Lovely day, pretty good conditions, but my forearms felt tired and I couldn’t do the last move of the crux which was baffling. I’d managed it without too much difficulty the previous session. Brushed and ticked it on the way down and Conor duly despatched it first go. He pointed out a hold had broken off at the end of the crux, not that it bothered him too much. Had another working go, making good links from the ground then from the shake-out to a couple of moves below the top. Still a bit baffled by the finish which now feels like the hardest move as well as the redpoint crux. Another long journey home, 7 hours driving solo for 40(?) minutes on rock. Completely battered today.

Successful trip to Marple Bridge and good to meet-up (outdoors) with friends and family. The place seems like a good mid-point between somewhere Range-Rover compulsory like Altrincham and the more grim-oop-North possibilities. More importantly, the rest of the family are psyched by the idea of a proper house and both have friends in the town who are helping with the sell! Thought about sneaking out to climb but weather was not amazing and decided to play the long game.

Slight concern the broken hold on Road Rage will have nudged it out of reach for now. I’ll give it at least one more session, the place is lovely down by the sea, the moves are great, I’m enjoying learning the game, and potential partners have things to do in the area. Hopefully working it top-down with well-rested arms will do the trick.

[Sasquatch]

I'm curious about the amount of volume you're doing. Whats the goal here?

Training for training is fine by me but I'm curious what such a high volume combo of weights and climbing is looking to achieve.

I feel like based on this you'd easily up your max in all activities by taking 2 more rest days per week and focusing on session quality.

I also used to love marathon training weeks but stopped when I realised it didn't really get me anywhere. I'd be interested to know how you respond to a lower volume higher intensity work block. 

Extra points for effort though   

What's odd here is that I really don't see that much volume.  Lots of description, but not that much volume.  Here's a shortened version:

"M - Lift-DL and chest for form. Quick look at Caley, easy circuits and a few go's at project.
T - Lift-Dl for speed, triceps multi-exercise, core. Rainy so indoor session, mixed volume on a variety of stuff, short campus and board session.
W - Short hard DL session, core, velocity pullups. Still riany so indoor session again-depot red circuit flash all but one.
T - Outside - short projecting session, but need spotter. KB swings, max hangs, shoulder work, core.
F - Lift - Paused DL, Biceps, Core.  Depot - hard session on yellows.
S - Short outdoor session almscliff. messing on traverse.  Lift - DL, core.
S - Rest

Big DL week. "

As far as training goes, it seems about spot on for a focus on DL, general body, Fingers and a good amount of climbing movement. 

[Yossarian]

4x weeks…

M - Down to just over 100kg (from 108ish some weeks back). Mini FB session before wall, where I mainly stuck to trying new problems rather than anything vaguely training. Good fun, felt ok.
T - Back to wall. More fatigued than expected. Anything steep is quite full-on while fat and seems to take a lot longer to recover from. 4.5 mile walk with kids pm.
W - Antag / push strength / core, then hour of hardish turbo trainer
T - Wall as Monday, fairly hard turbo trainer pm
F /
S - Intended to go for walk but sweltering. Camping with kids in parents’ field.
S - Camping continued

M /
T - Wall. First go on 40deg board since last autumn. Everything felt desperate. Also tried campus board - barely managed 135 on each arm. Then a bit of circuit board and predictably got v pumped.
Then did 5 hour South Downs mountain bike ride - got extremely hot.
W - 99kg - probably mostly dehydration, but took it all the same. Fingerboard and 75 pull-ups, various press stuff and ring dips. Quite syked.
T - Still under 100kg. Wall - arms felt a bit fucked, but did some fun problems inc flashing things I thought were going to be a bit hard.
F - Another Downs MTB, but only a couple of hours.
S - Wall - another go on board, slightly more successful. Various problems with mixed success.
S - Wall again - felt stronger on steeper problems, great session.

M /
T - Wall - did v little. Slightly sore elbow.
W - Drove to Font - we’d intended to go on the 25th, but brought it forward so kids could quarantine before going back to school. Had intended to climb, but early start and setting up camp quite exhausting. Had 5-year-old as well as 9-year-old this time, so was semi-prepared for them to exhaust me.
T - Rocher Canon. Did some blues which were quite a struggle - immediately clear than daughter and I were both quite some way off our level last August. Still, made some progress on Magifix, and then had a few goes on 42 Fillette. Got closer than I expected.
F - Roche aux Sabots - had already figured out that I wouldn’t get up Graviton (which I came close on last time) but tried it anyway. The start felt so hard, and the low RH heel behind the flake trick seemed improbable at 16 stone. Daugher only just made it up the red (7?) she cruised last time. Both tried Jet Set and couldn’t get off the ground. Decamped to Oiseaux - what a place! So quiet and untrashed. Tried Morphine Gauche, Action Directe assis (daughter did better on that area), Satan m’habits stand and Ça Tend à Droite. Feeling quite fucked by this point.
S - Rest day
S - Apremont Envers - Red circuit. Did a reasonable chunk of the red circuit and had a very good picnic.

M - Cuvier. Started the blue circuit but lost syke, mainly because of general tattiness. Had a look at Charcuterie but it felt totally improbable. Decamped to Est and then Rempart, which were far better. Did all of Le Bivouac apart from the first move which I failed to work out feet for, but realised afterwards using a L heel on the starting hold would probably have worked. Quite annoying. Tried Salathe Wall stand, but unsurprisingly couldn’t get up to the RH crimp below the top. Kids found all sorts of fun stuff to climb / explore.
T - Rest day in Paris. All a bit of a faff with museums requiring rebooking and masks everywhere. Musee d’Orsay, decent bistro lunch, playground one, more drinks, playground two, tried to emulate Action Bronson’s natural wine tour of the 11th with two tired children, sometime later got Uber back to Gare de Lyon, frantically chased around looking for loo before train left, got back to tent very late, watched Ghostbusters.
W - 5-year-old woke up at 9.20 (at home never later than 6am). Back to Rocher Canon. Light blue circuit - what we should’ve done at the start of the trip (if not some oranges). Ticked most (all?) up to 13 - both struggled in various ways, but great fun.
T - Cloudy so opted for JA Martin. 1-5 of blue before the sun came out and we started roasting. Some also low - mid 7 prows that I fancy on a return trip. Decamped to Gorge aux Chats, where there was a bit of shade. Both defeated by a couple of sharp crimpy blue slabs at the top. Managed a couple of juggier blue and red highballs around the corner, then watched a friendly French bloke working Rubis sur dongle. Skin pretty sore by this point.
F - Back to Rocher Canon. Started with a session on Les Calins de Kim. Was hoping that I could lank my way through it, but though I made some progress I couldn’t get either arête or further right over the top. Then back to continue the light blue circuit which went ok despite general fatigue. Delayed departure so 5-year-old could play mini golf, got stuck in Paris traffic, missed ferry, and then almost missed last one. Home 1.30am.

Font was fun. I knew beforehand I was unlikely to get up anything harder than last time as am in terrible shape, but quite enjoyed trying to work out ways to make progress on things that were basically too hard. Lots of stuff that I think I can go back to and tick quickly next time. Daughter got very syked towards the end and we both agreed that it’s circuits only for the first half of any future trips, and then (hopefully) quick project ticks after that. Pretty tiring dealing with 2 kids for 10 days. I ate a lot of saucisson / rillettes / cheese and drank plenty of red burgundy (as soon as they put headphones on and plugged into the iPad I just didn’t have the mental fortitude to stick to Evian and rice cakes) but just about managed to come back at the same weight.

S - Felt extremely exhausted. Drank 2x bottles of Patrick Bouju and finished off the saucisson.
S - Various indoor cardio / turbo trainer, stretching, resumption of more meagre diet and no booze.

2 weeks of quarantine in which I intend to not eat very much, do as much training as possible, make inroads into book writing and illustration for which the deadline is rapidly approaching, and plan the rest of the year. Almost certain that all work will be from home for the remainder of the year, so lots of time for training. Thinking about trying a 6 week training plan to kick start things when I can return to the wall. Would like to join Duncan on Road Rage before too long, although I think he’ll prob have it ticked soon, and also get back to Ansteys to try something new on Empire wall, and maybe also the Lynch.

[Dolly]

Elbow rehab week 3
M Willersley again with 2 oldest kids. Did a few things including Kinky chips and the end of the world Which might be 7a if you squint
T Crimpd core workouts
W Local gravel bike circuit. New PB
T Early start with Nai. Got midged off Burbage South so circuited at Owler Tor. Turned my bloody ankle on way down which was fucking annoying as I’m usually very careful to watch where I put my feet. Got a nice big purple bruise now. Before the swelling started walked round Old Moor Nature reserve which was lovely
F A day of grumpiness with an elevated foot
S Beastmaker for first time in months. Doesn’t get any more interesting after a period of absence does it ?  I wasn’t as strong as I used to be on it which isn’t really surprising after months off
S kettlebells and core up the garden. Apparently I looked like Martin from Friday Night Dinner. Mind you I’m told that at least once a day

[SA Chris]

watched a friendly French bloke working Rubis sur dongle. Skin pretty sore by this point.

Ruby on the memory stick?

Sounds like a good week. We were thinking about Font and Paris in October holidays, but concerned if quarantines are back in place kids won't be able to go back to school.

[MischaHY]

I'm curious about the amount of volume you're doing. Whats the goal here?

Training for training is fine by me but I'm curious what such a high volume combo of weights and climbing is looking to achieve.

I feel like based on this you'd easily up your max in all activities by taking 2 more rest days per week and focusing on session quality.

I also used to love marathon training weeks but stopped when I realised it didn't really get me anywhere. I'd be interested to know how you respond to a lower volume higher intensity work block. 

Extra points for effort though   

What's odd here is that I really don't see that much volume.  Lots of description, but not that much volume.  Here's a shortened version:

"M - Lift-DL and chest for form. Quick look at Caley, easy circuits and a few go's at project.
T - Lift-Dl for speed, triceps multi-exercise, core. Rainy so indoor session, mixed volume on a variety of stuff, short campus and board session.
W - Short hard DL session, core, velocity pullups. Still riany so indoor session again-depot red circuit flash all but one.
T - Outside - short projecting session, but need spotter. KB swings, max hangs, shoulder work, core.
F - Lift - Paused DL, Biceps, Core.  Depot - hard session on yellows.
S - Short outdoor session almscliff. messing on traverse.  Lift - DL, core.
S - Rest

Big DL week. "

As far as training goes, it seems about spot on for a focus on DL, general body, Fingers and a good amount of climbing movement.

I must say I was more thinking about more quality rest. Volume was the wrong word, apologies.

[Yossarian]

watched a friendly French bloke working Rubis sur dongle. Skin pretty sore by this point.

Ruby on the memory stick?

Sounds like a good week. We were thinking about Font and Paris in October holidays, but concerned if quarantines are back in place kids won't be able to go back to school.

I corrected that twice. Maybe they should rename it!

I thought that it was unlikely quarantine will be removed this year, and had bought new tent and various other stuff (and really wanted to get away) so just went for it. I guess a better testing on return protocol could cut quarantine to a few days-week, but then again we’re not a first division / organised / well-governed country...

[Nutty]

Mon: Board session. Made progress on one of the problems I've been trying for the last couple of months, catching the hold on the crux move and keeping my feet on a couple of times - dropped the move to the penultimate hold both times that I got through the crux. Practised the finishing moves after that and tried a couple of new problems. Pull-ups and stretching.

Tues: Rest

Wed: Fingerboard session. One arm hangs @ 90% bodyweight on 25mm edge.

Thurs: Ancap-style session on the board. Completed 5 of 8 attempts at 12 move problems which is one more than last time. Pull-ups and stretching.

Fri-Sun: Rest.

Ok week. Progress on the board and in the ancap session. Didn't get a run in though so will have to do something this week.

[spidermonkey09]

Good week for a few on here. Nice one on Fast Cars TT, I thought that was desperate. Love the Boardman boulder.

M - rest. Gave blood in the morning in an effort to minimise training downtime.

T - max hangs. Steady progression again, a full set at 6.25kg assist. It takes me ages to get max hangs going again after a break but getting there now.

W - rest.

T - birthday! Celebrated with a session of Anderson hangs as girlfriend was on long days.  Another solid session, base weight of +5kg on bottom outside and battery edge and +6.25kg battery 3FD. Failed on last rep of all of them so look to have found current ceiling. Might introduce the 10mm micros again for something different.

F - rest.

S - walk in the Peak. Crap weather and hordes of people around Mam Tor put me in a bad mood but I should have been prepared for carnage I suppose. Walk was quite pleasant once we got going.

S - met Will at Malham. Everything a big soggy but imagine the sun yesterday will have gone a long way toward fixing it. Tried the bottom of Straightened which I found totally nails, although wasn't really climbing well. Its a shame the first bolt is so grim as it climbs well from there onwards. Linked the crux of Baboo to the top again at least. Will tried his best to short rope me on every clip as he was learning to use his new knock off grigri.

Might give Yorkshire a swerve this coming weekend depending on the forecast. I dislike the Loughborough wall but am missing the volume of problems so might brave a visit at some point in the week around the fingerboarding.

[mr chaz]

M. Fingerboard - 1 arm max hangs
T.
W. Fingerboard - 1 arm max hangs. Messed around on the micros and hung the 6mm for 5 seconds.
T.
F. Visiting family in Weymouth
S. "
S. "

Finished my MSc last week. Now for some climbing!

[yetix]

Decided to log what I'm doing again, here's the last 2 weeks:

16-30AUG2020
M:
T:
Max hangs upto 3x+32.5kg 10s
W:
Greesy bowderstone, regressed slightly on grand going for the 2nd to last hold twice throughout the session.
T:
F :
am: Max hangs upto 3x+32.5kg 10s
pm: BUK 55 board, worked through to what were the end of my warm ups/mid difficulty when I last went in maybe February. Seem to have lost a bit of tension maybe as the holds felt nicer than I recall.
S:
S:
- Ogof, managed to send Wherever I Lay My Hat as quickly as anything around that grade before probably)
- Caseg, tried Main Vein. Can get the heel up alot of the time but it seems hard to be precise. Need to slow down the slap a little perhaps to the next sloper.
- Parisellas Cave, quick session refamiliarising on Ferrino sans pocket for a future session.
M:
T:
Max hangs 3x+32.5kg (2x7.5s,1x10s)
W:
Rhiw Goch, tried Nazguls Traverse, got all the moves, but struggled linking them. Found keeping the heel on for the rollover the living end.
Parisellas Cave, 2nd crag of the day and back on Ferrino sans pocket briefly. Managed to link from the bottom to the pinch but couldn't land into the final RA slot. Should probably start going and trying this first crag of the day...
T:
Depot, just went round doing volume on the purples for around an hour and a half. Fun session and nice to catch up with some folk.
F:
S:
Bowderstone, continuing the seige of Grand Opera. Regressed from previous sessions for first 3 hours and couldn't realise why. Realised I'd been placing the heel in a stupid way and quickly got to the last move a bunch of times but couldn't seem to keep it together.
S:

Also went back to the Bowderstone yesterday with shite skin and clearly still fatigued and fell off the top a bunch more. Think I must have done to the last move of grand easily in excess of 10 times in the last 2 sessions which at the very least is good training I guess  hopefully a few days way enforced by the rain to grow some skin and go back fresh will do me good.

Lots of failing at the end of problems atm, but hoping it's lining up the dominos to fall in quick succession at some point.

[tommytwotone]

At what point were you reading gollum's updates and thinking "This guy is trying to train effectively for climbing prowess"?? 

I thought Gollum doing a load of weights, then going to the Depot, then getting bored and going to City Bloc for a go on the Kilter Board was a slight indication!

[Nibile]

W. Fingerboard - 1 arm max hangs. Messed around on the micros and hung the 6mm for 5 seconds.

If that's one armed on the 6 mm, you are the only existing god to me.

[mr chaz]

W. Fingerboard - 1 arm max hangs. Messed around on the micros and hung the 6mm for 5 seconds.

If that's one armed on the 6 mm, you are the only existing god to me.

There's a short list of things I can do with one arm, hanging a 6mm micro is not one

[Coops_13]

W. Fingerboard - 1 arm max hangs. Messed around on the micros and hung the 6mm for 5 seconds.

If that's one armed on the 6 mm, you are the only existing god to me.

There's a short list of things I can do with one arm, hanging a 6mm micro is not one

[tommytwotone]

Actually getting back into it.


M: 5km run on lunch. Can't recall time but it was 27mins-ish which is better than the 29-ish I ran the week before.
T: Big Depot session after work. First time indoors in ages. Lots of easy volume, pulled hard a few times including getting up a V5-ish.
W: 6km run after work. 29mins-ish. Happy with that, was a very pleasant evening to be out too.
T: Nowt. Curry (at home) and a few beers with the other half.
F: Nowt.
S: Out at Leeds Urban Bike Park with eldest, who's mad for cycling now. Spent ages there, it's a brilliant place. Loads of circuits of a little off-road-y circuit that's there for the kids.
S: As above, met up with T2 and mini-T2 at Holmfirth for a brownie point-gathering "give the missus some peace" / get some climbing done win-win extravaganza. Dragged myself up Old Lace (6c) which I could even pull onto a couple of weeks back.
M: Park with kids. Assorted running about, chasing kids on bikes and scooters, then a kickabout on the football pitch.


Good week.


Booze-free until Thurs, and most days I managed to do some kind of mindfulness exercise too. Seem to be in a much better place mentally than I was ~ a year ago, but think that's a lot to do with being in a job that I didn't realise was awful until I finally left.

[Nibile]

W. Fingerboard - 1 arm max hangs. Messed around on the micros and hung the 6mm for 5 seconds.

If that's one armed on the 6 mm, you are the only existing god to me.

There's a short list of things I can do with one arm, hanging a 6mm micro is not one