[shark]

11.5 average 159.4 up 0.1lb

M

T

W Flew back from Berlin (great trip). Caught a cold maybe from goat who picked us up.

T  Cold got gradually worse

F  Early AM Tor with Nick. Mint conditions. Felt rotten. Just belayed. Went home and went to bed

S. Spent day in bed

S. Spent day in bed

Pretty unlucky to catch a cold especially at the end of a rest period and when connies are coming good. C’est la vie. On the mend but still feeling a bit fragile so cancelled tomorrow’s Tor session. Will play it by ear what I do between now and Thursday’s session.

[Fultonius]

2 days in bed from a cold 

I've got a really mild, like REALLY mild one, but decided not to go out mountainbiking in the rain yesterday. Did a fingerboard session today, first since.....April?

I think I've either just be chronically undereating, or missing something from being mainly veggie as the last few weeks I've been eating more meat (gf is home in NL) and just generally eating a bit more carbs (i.e. curry, rice AND naan, instead of just curry and rice). Feel way more energetic right through to 10/11 pm (usually zonked by 9), most of last week slept 7 hours a night and waking up without alarm clock, rather than 8-9 hours and still feeling tired.

Drinking less, but mainly because I haven't felt the need/desire at 5/6pm like I usually do. This will also help, but it definitely feels more like a reaction to better energy levels than a consequence of less alcohol. I.e. normally I'll be slowing down and feeling lethargic by 6pm, and often then have a beer to ease into the evening.

Either way, weight seems to be staying constant despite eating more. Been reading a bit recently about the "constrained total energy expenditure" model which seems to explain a few things I'd never quite understood about physiology. In the past I'd always have thought eating less = weight loss, more exercise = more calories burnt. I hadn't appreciated how much the body can manage the overall daily energy expenditure by, for example, reducing your output elsewhere.

[Will Hunt]

Fuck all! 

Brother recently moved back from the far east, permanently, having lived there for the last 13 years. So had him over for a long weekend. Drank wine and spent lots of time as a family, doing stuff with the kids etc.

Guidebook is entering the final stages now so I ended up doing that rather than an evening board session earlier in the week. Should try and do a lunchtime board session or two to keep ticking over rather than jacking it in.

[shark]

2 days in bed from a cold 

At least Ive got a reasonable excuse for lying in bed feeling sorry for myself this time

[Fultonius]

Might give this a bash this autumn, mainly as a way of keeping track what I've actually been up to.

76kg (good)

S/M/LTGs TBC

Mon: TCA Propstore. General bouldering watching for wrist and shoulder (Left wrist been causing some issues, seems like a minor TFCC strain, shoulder is early onset impingement / movement disfunction). Then upstairs for some deadlifts (85kg, haven't done any in ages to just working on form etc.), shoulder work (face pulls, external rotation on the cables)and wrist work (). Both wrist and shoulder feeling better after which is good.
Tue: Nowt
Wed: Quick TCA sesh before going to see the Alpinist. Shoulder and wrist in gym. No deadlifts as my left knee felt weird on Monday, so did some hamstring bridges. Not yet sure what's going on there.
Thu: Nowt
Friday: Nowt - felt a mild cold coming on, bad weather.
Sat: Nowt - had planned to go MTB, but sacked it and did some woodwork in the shed
Sun: Woodwork and short fingerboard session - bodyweight repeaters, scap pulls on the bar, knuckle press ups, one leg squats.

[RobK]

M - Boardroom. Good Moonboard session. 12 benchmarks between 6A+ and 7A. Tried to do some endurance-y sort of stuff afterwards but wasn't psyched by the circuit board and was struggling to find good boulders for on-the-minute so gave up.

T - Rest. Stretching (30 mins).

W - Lunchtime max hangs at +24kg. Reps 1-5 complete at 10s, rep 6 failure at 8s. Boardroom after work. Brief warm up on boulders and then a good session on the routes.

T - Rest.

F - LPT. Back on Mussel Beach. Primo connies. While putting the draws in I managed to find a tweak to my crux beta which cuts out a foot move. Had three redpoints. First go I got a high point of moving off the pillar for the crimp but didn't latch it. Second go I felt great and went for the crimp but fumbled it. Nightmare, thought that was the go. Third go I barely made it into the crux. Psyched with the new beta and now feels like a matter of time, I just hope I manage to finish it off this year before winter sets in.

S - Boardroom. One arm negatives and dips. Then onto the Moonboard. 10 benchmarks between 6A+ and 7A. Then 4x4s on benchmark 6A+s, hard! Only made it through one complete set. Stretching (30 mins).

S - Climbing Hangar Sandhills. About 2.5 hours doing as many of the whites as we could. Got all bar a few done. Lots of volume.

Renewed excitement for LPT project. Hopefully back Wednesday after a double rest day.

[James Malloch]

Quite a fun week for me, but no ticks.

M.

T. Last day of job

W. First day of new job. No laptop due to various complications so some sitting around and waiting for things to get sorted mainly. Kilnsey in the evening to try Launch Control (7C) having worked out the sit at the weekend. Felt great soaking up on the stand/variations. Managed to consistently climb into the stand but those 3 moves are hard for me and I’m lacking the power for the first big move of the stand when I get into position. Never quite getting the pocket properly.

T. Same situation at work. Back to Kilnsey in the evening. Awful conditions (every hold condensed) but some good fan positions and towelling meant it was climbable after 30 mins. Same situation as the day before though. Not quite getting the pocket after climbing the sit. Very tired from previous day and conditions meant I was happy though. Also the lack of people meant I could put some tunes on - like my own little party up there.

F. Same situation at work with a little progress towards getting sorted. Back at Kilnsey in the evening due to the bad forecasts for the next week. Changed beta for the stand part a little so I can set up for the throw a lot faster. But same thing really. Not quite getting the pocket - was v.tired after the previous 2 days.

S.

S. Session at The Climbing Hub in Bradford. Went around the Pink (6B+ to 7A) circuit. Managed all but 3 I think. Keen to go back for those I missed and try the next circuit up. Tried a few at the end which seemed a considerable step up. Feel like it will be more a case of choosing a few to try a bit more consistently as the pinks were mostly flashable with a bit of try hard.


Quite a fun week and glad I managed to get out 3 times. At 7C Launch Control would be my hardest boulder (only done one 7B+ before) so I guess it makes sense that it’s fighting back. The move I’m struggling with requires a lot of left Bicep and mine is pretty sore at the moment - really feeling it whilst climbing.

I think this rainy week will be good to take a step back, rest a bit and do some other styles of climbing. Hopefully it’ll still be dry in a week or two and I can get back on it. Happy with the sessions/progress though - but not quite sure if there’s anything I can focus on to help.

Problem breaks down into three quite shouldery/precise moves where I really need to try quite hard. Once I’ve got the start holds it takes a few seconds to get my feet sorted and then it’s a huge throw to a good pocket. Maybe a bit of campusing might help for some short term gains. A bit of extra power in reserve feels like it could be a game changer….

[duncan]

There are some nasty (non-covid) bugs going around...

M - Carreg-Y-Barcud: see last week.
T - Monsoon rain, drove to Weston. Shoulders: planks, handstands.
W - Culver Cove with Sue and Olli, new crag number 14 for 2021. It's a short but steep (40 degrees in places) Old Red Sandstone outcrop on the coast between Clevedon and Portishead. The rock is clean with burly climbing on big rough holds. There are around 10 7s, with harder link-ups available or to do. Bolted mostly by Martin Crocker in 2012-2014, lthe gear is starting to look a little tarnished, probably OK for now but the aim is to replace them with glue-ins. It’s tidal and faces north west, so could be a bit miserable in winter, but was very pleasant on a sunny autumn late afternoon.

Martin Crocker’s topo. The parking in the topo is no longer recommended, use the layby on Walton Road here and walk north on the road 50 m, then follow the public footpath NNW 300m across fields to the clifftop path, walk NE along this for 400m until the crag is visible. Continue on the footpath a short way, drop down onto the foreshore and boulder-hop the last 150m (the crag is labeled “Portishead Sea Cave” on gmaps).

Only had a short time but climbed the 6c warm-up and had a flash go at the 7b to it’s left. Got 3 bolts up this, to the crux, but ran out of ideas. It’s a tricky onsight but, on brief inspection, looks like a very feasible redpoint for the grade. Couldn’t stay on to finish the job as was on family duties.

T - Walked 10km. Drove to London. Had booster jab.
F - Fingerboard. Haven't done this for a while so eased in with bodyweight on 20mm edge ie about 70% of max. Feeling a bit post-vaccination.
S - Shoulders conditioning: side planks focusing on end range stability; end range elevation, in prone; handstands. Still feeling a bit post-vaxxy.
S - Shoulders. Fingerboard. Still bleurgh, perhaps this is actually a cold...


A very enjoyable couple of hours by the seaside. No expectation - it is pretty esoteric - and no self-imposed pressure. Might need to learn from this! 

Plan: not sure, may revert to temporary single parenthood shortly which will curtail outdoor activities.

[James Malloch]

Might give this a bash this autumn, mainly as a way of keeping track what I've actually been up to.

76kg (good)

S/M/LTGs TBC

Mon: TCA Propstore. General bouldering watching for wrist and shoulder (Left wrist been causing some issues, seems like a minor TFCC strain, shoulder is early onset impingement / movement disfunction). Then upstairs for some deadlifts (85kg, haven't done any in ages to just working on form etc.), shoulder work (face pulls, external rotation on the cables)and wrist work (). Both wrist and shoulder feeling better after which is good.
Tue: Nowt
Wed: Quick TCA sesh before going to see the Alpinist. Shoulder and wrist in gym. No deadlifts as my left knee felt weird on Monday, so did some hamstring bridges. Not yet sure what's going on there.
Thu: Nowt
Friday: Nowt - felt a mild cold coming on, bad weather.
Sat: Nowt - had planned to go MTB, but sacked it and did some woodwork in the shed
Sun: Woodwork and short fingerboard session - bodyweight repeaters, scap pulls on the bar, knuckle press ups, one leg squats.

I had a TFCC injury last/this year. I did exercises similar to third one in your video - the rotation one. Though I held the dumbbell in a normal position rather than the very end as in the video.

This was prescribed by a physio - I did it morning and evening, three sets of 10 reps. At first I could only do it with an empty bar but over time progressed to it being back as strong as my good wrist.

I found that taping (I eventually ordered one of these too: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08J7LD1S2/ref=redir_mobile_desktop/261-7025801-3999805?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title ) really helped. For taping you just put a thin (6/7mm wide) piece around the wrist as per some images on this site: https://www.wristwidget.com/pages/tfcc-tear-test

Hope it recovers fast. I found it was easy to get a set back by overdoing it with (for me) undercuts or sidepulls that I need to stand up into (i.e. holds high up above my head).

[Fultonius]

Cheers James. I reckon mine is very minor. It's basically "gone out" a couple of times, and been sore with limited ROM, but then randomly will just fix itself and feel fine.

Forgot to mention TCA Monday - found pinks hard (usually I can flash most, and then get all within a few sessions), but randomly got a white within 5 goes and flashed another, both listed as 7B....  I reckon the grading is a bit out, as the best I've ever flashed is 7A+ and I was going a lot better then!

Actually, Short and Medium Goals are:

1.Improve general strength and resilience to create a better base for whatever my LTG is
2. Decide what my LTG is 

[andy popp]

Culver Cove with Sue and Olli, new crag number 14 for 2021. It's a short but steep (40 degrees in places) Old Red Sandstone outcrop on the coast between Clevedon and Portishead.

I grew up just minutes from Ladye Bay in Clevedon and spent much of my childhood "coasteering" along the rocky foreshore heading northwards (and pretending I was climbing once I'd started climbing) but don't remember ever seeing this quite impressive wave. I think I must have always stopped just short of it.

[Duma]

Rubbish start to the week, excellent end. Shoulder seems to be holding up ok first couple of days here so fingers crossed.
M - nothing, nightshifts.
T - nothing, some desultory shoulder exercises
W - TCA, very easy hr, trying not to irritate shoulder but wanted to stimulate a bit of skin.
T - nothing, shoulder rehab.
F - early start, travel to Kalymnos. Bit stressful but went smoothly.
S - Sikati Beach, still a bit fried from travel. Family Business 5a and Sea Urchin 6a to ease into things, the former was very much jugs on a slab! Then Material Man 7a+ was fun, bit cruxy, pleased to read the move right first go. Did the brilliant flake line of Karpouzi 6a, then managed an OS of Elizabeth 7b to finish off an excellent first day. Swim after, obvs.
S - Odyssey. Couple of 6a's (Argo and Penelope) then scraped up Carribbean Wedding 7a, interesting bridging and only just managed the OS. Then the mega Patroklos Reborn 7b, great wandering line and pumpy finish. Lucky Luca 7b was free when I got down so went straight on that despite not having recovered, managed it pretty comfortably, but right arm never recovered from the double pump so that was me done for the day. Not complaining though, still haven't fallen off anything here, and got to belay Remus on his casual flash of Orion (7c+(and used to get 8a!)) in the afternoon.

71.5kg

[SA Chris]

STG - Ultra this sat
MTG - get some fitness for FW holiday
LTG - fit for winter projects

M- 10k easy pace run
T - bit of fingerboarding
W - nowt
T - 10km hard pace run
F - bit of fingerboarding
S - 23.5km run
S - walk with family, dumbbell flies.

Feeling OK for run, just hope ankle holds up OK.

[Nibile]

Power Club

Mon - board climbing with friends. Bliss.
Tue - rest.
Wed - cleans 60 kg 5x10, bar work in between sets. Tired.
Thu - board climbing on my own. Less bliss. A flapper. Weights.
Fri - EMOM weights.
Sat - rest.
Sun - TBDL + shrugs; squat; 16' loaded carries.

[GazM]

I had a TFCC injury last/this year.

Hi James. So was it a TFCC injury in the end? I've just been reading old threads on wrist issues and saw that you were diagnosed by a physio with something else (ulnar Carpi something?)

I've got a minor tweak in the ulnar side of my right wrist so doing a bit of research. Comparing old UKB threads about people's injuries with their more recent progress is really useful!

[James Malloch]

I had a TFCC injury last/this year.

Hi James. So was it a TFCC injury in the end? I've just been reading old threads on wrist issues and saw that you were diagnosed by a physio with something else (ulnar Carpi something?)

I've got a minor tweak in the ulnar side of my right wrist so doing a bit of research. Comparing old UKB threads about people's injuries with their more recent progress is really useful!

Bloody hell, you know me better than myself. You’re absolutely right.

Sorry, Fultonious!

I was convinced it was the TFCC.

Just gone back over my physio write up from that session which says it was the Extensor Carpi Ulnaris, which is part of the TFCC complex but that it wasn’t a TFCC injury.

[JohnM]

M - Nowt. Driving back from France.

T - Foam rolling back and shoulders. Trail run 10.41km 372m

W - Foam rolling back and shoulders. Shoulder stability + core. Some finger boarding - poor session with low friction.

T - Climbing wall. Shoulder stability (right shoulder not stable). One arm hangs (good). Campus progressions - stopped because it was hurting my shoulder. 8c route boulder replicas. Crux 2 only due to bad shoulder. Crux move a couple of times. Close to linking it from sitter. Designed a 4x4 boulder. Was hard to get difficulty right. Tired by the time I attempted it. 2 sets of 2s.

F - Nowt.

S - Fishing trip in Italy. Probably 10km of rowing.

S - Same as Saturday.

All kinds of shoulder and back pains at the moment. I hope it sorts itself out soon!

[User deactivated.]

Terrible weather and spent the second half of the week resetting my board. Not as much climbing as I would have liked.

M - 1 hour limit bouldering on the board, handstand pressups
T - dragon flags, glute ham raises, L-sit max duration holds, max duration arch holds
W - max hangs in half crimp and 3 finger drag, 1 hour of 6-10 move problems on the board, 1 arm pull ups
T - board resetting
F - max hangs in full crimp and open crimp, front levers, planche progressions
S - board resetting
S - coming up with new problems on the board

[Wellsy]

Monday - Works session. Felt a bit weak

Wednesday - Works session. Graduated to trying the steep board, and made some problems on it, then tried a 7A on the system and had a few dozen goes per side. Didn't get to the top but linked moves and felt very strong and fluid. Great sesh.

Friday - went out to try The Beagle Has Landed 7A (got to the top crimps, slapped up, few inches off) and then tried Jason's Mono as The Mermaid was wet. Made got progress and was getting my hand in the break when my lamp died. Enjoyed just trying hard shit. Need to think about how I can train for these dynamic udges and slaps I'm seeing on grit a lot.

Saturday- Burbage, hopped on the proj, little bit of progress. Did a couple of 5+s and a 6A. Got shut down by a 6B sit that I just couldn't do. Went to the works after and felt piss weak. By the evening realised I had a painful cold

Sunday- cold

Today- cold

Winter of pottering continues, feels like it is what I need. This cold can fuck off

[Coops_13]

M: DBC. Training Phase 1, week 3, session 1. Warmups involving contrast warm-ups (E+), one touch (M-), hovers (M), Three try repeat (M+ fail). Max hangs 7/53 *8hangs 18mm +40lb. Mini project on two H- boulders, good progress. Moonboard for limit bouldering. 2 7A BM and one 6C+ BM

T: Density pickups up to 40lb

T: DBC. Training Phase 1, week 3, session 1. Warmups involving contrast warm-ups (E+), one touch (M-), hovers (M failed then sent), Three try repeat (M+ flash). Max hangs 7/53 *8hangs 18mm +40lb. Mini project on two H- boulders. Moonboard for limit bouldering but cut short as weird forearm weakness, did 1 6B+ and 1 6C+ BM

S: RMNP. Started at Emerald Lake, warming up and trying Kneebar V6 - very techy and not possible for us… Had a brief look at Tommy's Other Arete V9 - hold has broken off so might be harder than that - not too psyched, one for next season. Then we went to find White Wizard V8, a cool rising traverse line up above Dream Lake. Sharp and tough, hard start to an easier middle then a heartbreaker finish. Fell off the end four times but ended up putting it down, psyched.
For those with sensitivity to loud noises, suggest you turn your volume down...

[cheque]

Winter Autumn of pottering continues

[SamT]

Covid is still out there btw..

I've had a really rotten cold for 3 weeks now - lots of negative tests including a proper PCR. 
Feeling a little brighter and tested positive this morning.

Guess I'm saying don't all just assume you've got a normal cold. 

[Wellsy]

I've had a few tests and they're all negative but I do know what you mean, the thought had crossed my mind!

[Bradders]

M - fingerboard, 8x 10s half crimp 26mm edge, 3 min rests. Did whole session +39kg for first time. Good time in reserve still. Then pinch pick ups and other wrist stuff.

T - power hour on the board. Mainly tried same 3 problems as last couple of weeks. Good progress, now done all the moves in this cycle and also linked all moves with at least one other. Very close to doing one of them. Just over an hour in total including warm up.

W - my wife gave birth to our daughter via c-section. She's perfect!

T - Sa - looking after the pair of them. My wife has still only managed one nappy change, but thankfully seems to be getting there now with recovery.

Su - managed to squeeze in 30 mins in the shed. Did my normal warm up, a handful of easy problems on the 45', and 4x 10s half crimp 26mm edge, 3 min rests, +35kg.

Not a bad week.

[Wellsy]

Congrats mate, glad to hear your wife is recovering well