[shark]

~11.11

M. AM Home warm up. With Mina at Tor. Too warm. Had a play round on the Push Up start but still has some wet holds. Sacked it off. Had the usual 15 attempts  on the crux of Bens. Held the crimp 5x but only twice properly. Scorching when I’d finished

T.

W.

T. AM Home warm up. High Tor with John W who is looking to get back into trad and has finally retired. Led Original Route but it felt sweaty so sacked off notion of trying to repeat Supersonic. We went and did Delicatessen which was great and turns out I’d not done it for 37 years! gulp.

F. Weighted deadhang and pull up session. Decent scores.

S.

S.

Psyched to have John as a midweek trad partner. More of the same this week though weather is unsettled.

[Wellsy]

Monday - indoors, did most of the new Irn Brus

Tuesday - Anston. Started trying Fine Art Direct. Bit shit really imo. Also noticed quite a lot of pain in my right hand middle finger, in the big joint and between it and the palm. Suspect inflammation of some sort. Stopped trying hard in order to avoid making it worss.

Wednesday - Squatted up to 85kgs for 5 for 3, benched up to 70 for 8 for 3. Rehab.

Thursday - morning swim

Friday - rest

Saturday - indoor session again. Finger definitely still v painful so not just use, its an actual injury. Rehab, eased it, taped it, able to climb. Cleans cos bored with time to spare. Many hours spent doing DIY in an allotment followed by a nice swim of a good length.

Sunday - Kilter Session. 7A+ and 7A done. 7A+ sieged for later completion. Assisted one arm lock offs for shoulder development. Finger rehab. Many Cleans and Power Cleans up to 60kg.

Weight: roughly 77.5kgs. Need to try and trim a bit. Knee very good. Right shoulder not ideal but getting there. Finger swelling hopefully resolvable with the right use. Looking; jacked.

[Duma]

M - eve, Cheddar, Remnant, Bristol Weed. Hot. First session of doubt. Did make microscopic progress from the ground, attempting to hold move 9, rather than just slapping the hold as I fall (as in previous session), but tbh didn't feel that close to moves 9 & 10 once I try and include all the foot moves. Rescued the session by linking from move 9 to the top on my last tie in (including foot moves to set up move 10, but not the 3rd clip). It was hot and I wasn't feeling brilliant, so hopefully there's still progress available.
T - eve TCA, 90 min. New white set (nominally 6B+ to 7A) so tried those. Fun but bit soft. Did all downstairs in an hour, 18 problems, 13 flash, 3 second go, 2 took a few tries. Tried a few things on the moon board to finish off.
W -
T -  am, run, 6k, hilly, trail, slow. Wasn't early enough to beat the heat.
pm, TCA, 45 min, whites upstairs. Stupidly hot. 12 problems, flashed 10, slipped off one a couple of times until I stopped being an idiot. Last one took a bunch of goes, double dyno to slopers. Felt a bit harsh on the elbow until I pushed with leg a bit more so I could catch it engaged. Shame to have finished these off so quickly, normally there's a few in this circuit that take me a few sessions or don't get done. Sadly I think it's an easier set than normal rather than any improvement on my part.
F - am/lunch drive to Yorkshire. pm Kilnsey. Exhausted, 3 goes up Sticky Wicket 7b, OS fell 3 moves from the chains, then in same position next 2 tries. Should have skipped last draw, or more sensibly just rested today. Ace swim just up the road after.
S - Stoney Bank, gentler venue but did a fair bit of milage (7 routes, 9 tie ins). Few 6's, plus Jocasta 7b second go, held the crux move on the OS but couldn't get feet up. OS Oedipus 7a (probably 6c+ really) which was excellent but felt really tough, I think we assumed a retroed E3 would be around 6c, which didn't help. Also scraped up Burlesque 7a OS.
S - Kilnsey, did Sticky Wicket first go putting the draws in, felt steady with a bit more sleep and skipping the last clip. Then flashed the excellent Vizzy Vu 7b, tough start and finish but the quality is really the lovely wall climbing between. Had thought I might try 50 for 5 but feeling broken so called it. Drive back south.

71.5kg

[duncan]

Well done those getting out. Temps. in London felt too warm to climb anything. Mosquitos were biting, it all felt very Mediterranean and it's only June.

M -  Hips/knees rehab./conditioning: frog squats, single leg squats, heel raises. Went to see GP about hip. Referred on, so now 'in the system'.
T -  Westway autobelay: around 10 routes to 6a+, easing back in.  Hips/knees conditioning.
W - Westway autobelay: aerocap, 8-10 mins on x 4 sets.
T - Shoulder and elbow conditioning: handstands, press-ups, side planks, lock-offs and so on. Walked 8 km.
F - Westway with the Engineer: leading routes to 6b, all pretty mellow.
S - Shoulder and elbow conditioning. Fingerboard: 35mm three fingers, 20mm four finger half crimp. Desperately weak.
S - Westway with the Lad: leading routes to 6b. His first time belaying a leader, he didn’t drop me!  Legs conditioning. Fingerboard as above.

An easy week. Hip is a bit better. The Lad enjoyed going to the wall, his first time in about 4 years, I hope we can do more of this together. He’s now just about big enough to belay me without it being ‘soloing with rope-drag’ .

Off to Somerset this week to see family and will sneak out for a day or two of sport or sporty trad. Would like to start trying hard again.

[Will Hunt]

Tu: Attermire evening sesh. A few VSs to start. Stood under the rarely dry Comer and considered it. Couldn't see much gear, looked tricky in the middle, and first trad of the year meant I opted for a top rope. Needn't have bothered as the climbing was a path for Yorkshire lime E2 and there was bomber, easy-to-place gear all the way up in very good rock. Came down and led it, then Will led us out up the sublime Layby.

Sa - Kilnsey for a date with the Dominatrix. This has been a side-hustle for a couple of years, having had a session in 2021, a session in 2022, and a session a couple of weeks ago. Goal was to get to the roof which I've never managed on redpoint, always falling somewhere between the first roof and the groove. In the breeze it felt like a different route and I had enough left to do the pull off the flatty into the groove and then I was up at the roof. Shook out here for a good while (thank you, Ruin Bank Woods training traverse with steep shake outs) then started the final roof section. All too soon I was out on the lip above the exquisite void, toe up on the smear, flag the leg into space, grope the two finger intermediate and explode up to catch the very distant edge. Somehow my fingers made the distance and held it. There may have been a power squawk as I wrestled over and got established at the chain. Where did that come from?

Later attempted a flash at Vizzy Vu. Messed about going up and down (the wrong way) trying to gain the niche before the finish. Found a rest in the niche and recovered some but not enough to then figure out the final sequence. After falling off found a good finger jug next to the final bolt which could have saved the day.

Thought I'd do WYSIWYG in two halves to warm down and gave the spectators some great entertainment as I could barely make it between the bolts.

[Nibile]

Power Club

Mon - AM as usual; PM 3x AM session, back work, high pulls.
Tue - Tyson push ups, loaded carries, goblet squat.
Wed - AM as usual; PM good mornings 5x6 100 100 105 105 105 100 kg. Bar work.
Thu - AM as usual; PM 2x AM session. Very short on time.
Fri - bike trip. Tyson push ups, theraband.
Sat - bike trip. Tyson push ups, theraband.
Sun - bike trip. Boxing bag. Exhausted.

[Duma]

Nice work on Dominatrix Will, looks ace

[Duma]

Where did you go on the bike nibs? Any recent upgrades?

[SA Chris]

M - 7 km run, too hot.
T - 5 km run with Kyle, our usual 5km loop. He was hoping to do best time, just fell short with 26:34, but it was roasting.
W - no run, too much to sort for rockpooling with Scouts. Fun evening.
T - ran down to Newtonhill Bay and went for a swim. Didn't need wetsuit, but wore thermal top to take off chill, could have lay on a warm rock and dozed off, but sadly back to work.
F - heard from Sister in law my older brother finally lost cancer battle, head messed up moping round house, eventually got on road bike, for first time in ages, 40km in the beautiful Aberdeenshire countryside. Went down to coast to boulder in evening, rock was a bit greasy so didn't do much, just took comfort in watching the sea and it's life. Maybe saw an otter. He would have loved it, he was a great sea fisherman, unlike me.
S - lovely day, went down to Murrayheugh with some mates and their kids, messed about in the sea, did some of the fun easier DWS traverses, such a fun place.
S - Westhill for a swimming gala. Watched some of the races, then ran to Kingshill Wood and played on the boulder I cleaned when i worked nearby years ago.  Did 2 probs, couldn't touch the other, forgot all the blind footwork required. 9km run in total. 

Lifted some weights and did some fingerboarding in the week, but didn't record which days.

[Duma]

Commiserations Chris, hope you're OK

[SA Chris]

Cheers Duma. Yeah, ups and downs. Going to take a while to get head around it. Went to see him in March for a couple of weeks, thought it better to see him when we were still able to do things, rather than just be there at the end.

[Coops_13]

Sorry to hear Chris

W: MH warm-up down to -35lb RH, -15lb LH (PB!). Board session. RH feeling a bit delicate

T: Bench press 185lb X3 *3, 200lb X1

S: 20 mins peloton

S: Wild Basin. Exploring new area in the upper basin. Finger feeling much improved. Went to White Noise boulder, home to the 8C of the same name. Tried Future Nature V8, flashed through to the top-out then proceeded to fall off the top repeatedly. Felt worked and skin shredded. Moved over to Apparition and explored some other boulders which look good for a return visit.

[Will Hunt]

Nice work on Dominatrix Will, looks ace

Ta. When I got home I treated myself to looking at the photo in Extreme Rock of Wolfgang Gullich cutting loose on the lip. "That's me, that is," I thought wistfully.


Chris, that is incredibly shit. Sorry for your loss.

[Wellsy]

Yeah my condolences Chris, much love

[Nibile]

Where did you go on the bike nibs? Any recent upgrades?

Ciao Duma!
I went with a bunch of friends to the lakes area NW of Milano, very nice place. Lots of twisty roads and beautiful settings.
Had to do some motorway to get there, boring as hell but worthwile.
As for the bike, I mounted new Nissin calipers from a CBR 6000, new Brembo clutch and brake master cylinders from a 1098 Ducati, and most of all I finally had a bespoke aluminium seat and tail unit!

[SA Chris]

Cheers Guys.

[andy popp]

So sorry to read your terrible news Chris; my deepest sympathies.

[Nibile]

Condolences Chris.

[Duncan Disorderly]

Sorry for your loss Chris...

M: Mileage @ AW with GF - F5+, F6b, F6b+, F6c, F6c+, F6b
T: Sheaf bloc, red hot so avoided anything slopey, worked a new variation on steep faces, aprox 15 moves... Finally did it in a oner, finished with doing the main traverse crux just to see if it was possible - it was!
W: Short Sheaf bloc session - just a warmup really.
T: AW with daughter - Did some bouldering while she rested - 1 new yellow (V6-V8)...
F: Sheaf bloc - Traverse of steep face in reverse - hard! Almost managed in a oner but dabbed so no tick... Hot!
S: Rest
S: Moonboard - 2019 set 25 degrees - @ AW - 3 new benchmarks up to 6B+ and just dropped new 6C one - Would have been my first MB 6C in a session (6C my arse!) - next time!

Was thinking I'd not done much this week but looks like I did a fair bit - Trying to concentrate on pulling hard but not aggrovating anything... Seems to be working. Shoulders and elbows not grumbling too badly, going to get on rock again this week and see how I'm going...

[Duma]

Where did you go on the bike nibs? Any recent upgrades?

Ciao Duma!
I went with a bunch of friends to the lakes area NW of Milano, very nice place. Lots of twisty roads and beautiful settings.
Had to do some motorway to get there, boring as hell but worthwile.
As for the bike, I mounted new Nissin calipers from a CBR 6000, new Brembo clutch and brake master cylinders from a 1098 Ducati, and most of all I finally had a bespoke aluminium seat and tail unit!

Ah nice! Sadly the Triumph hasn't seen much apart from the Motorway this year.

[webbo]

Condolences Chris, hang in there.

[SA Chris]

Thanks everyone.

[Fultonius]

2 week catchup.

Tbh I've been mainly just rehabbing my left LCL. Finally got physio last week and it was confirmed as a grade 1 strain, well on its way to recovery.

Managed to get out doing some mid grade trad, getting up high (knee surprisingly OK with hiking/approaches). Unicorn and Scansor in Glencoe, shibboleth in the buachaille and a 2 days up the cobbler one working Wild Country, an E6 on the extreme rock list that is often touted as "harder than Dalriada" (which, incidentally has been getting a lot of attention recently). And a way day with B on wither weather and direct direct.

Foudn Wild Country quite hard. Never managed to link the crimpy PE sequence, possibly due to my lack of doing much in the way of PE this year...

Oh, and finished 1 month no booze, but kinda just kept going ish. Mostly no booze since. Following a slight weight loss protocol of basically skipping breakfast on rest days, but eating more than maintenance on training days. Maxed out at 82kg when I got back from pabbay (heaviest ever!) and down to 77.7kg now. So far it's not been too much of a struggle, not feeling low energy or too grumpy and metabolisn seems to be staying high. (I've tanked mine before from chronic undereating).

question I'm trying to do a fairly non periodised plan this year of doing a bit of base Endurance and strangth work for much of the year, with cycles of more PE and power when it seems sensible. When doing this type of "constant top up" what's the approach during moan seasons? Just stick to quality training but lower volume? Maybe some targeting specific weaknesses?

Since I'm not "peaking" as such, is it possible to maintain an OK average performance over a few months without de-training too much / getting injured?

[Aussiegav]

Thoughts are with you Chris.



Back to usual week. I have a theory that I got from Eddie the Beast Hall on gaining max strength at the end. Be keen to hear others thoughts, think there’s merit there. Couldn’t find any science though to check it. Where’s Lattice????


Monday -

Body weight repeaters. 7:3ratio. 3hangs/set. 4 sets. 1min rest between sets.

Tuesday
Boulder triples. 6sets.

Wednesday
Peloton ride

Thursday

Body weight repeaters. 7:3ratio. 3hangs/set. 4 sets. 1min rest between sets.

Friday
Rest

Saturday
Project Boulder session at the Depot.

Sunday
Walked around Alton Towers all day. 

Saw a video from Eddie Hall about how he worked through plateauing and built max strength. He found that doing max strength session’s fortnightly enabled his neuromuscular system to full recover, specifically the low twitch fibres. So on the alternate weeks he work on fast twitch fibres focusing on system and recruitment.
Got me thinking about finger strength training and maybe applying this approach.
So doing 2 sessions / week of 4 hangs at5-7sec hangs at 95% of 7sec max 5min rests. Then a week of 2 sessions/ week of the standard repeaters at 70%.

Link https://youtube.com/shorts/3AdkisyZtO8?feature=share

What do others think?

[User deactivated.]

I can only imagine what losing a brother must be like. I hope you can hang onto all the best memories you have together. My condolences.

question I'm trying to do a fairly non periodised plan this year of doing a bit of base Endurance and strangth work for much of the year, with cycles of more PE and power when it seems sensible. When doing this type of "constant top up" what's the approach during moan seasons? Just stick to quality training but lower volume? Maybe some targeting specific weaknesses?

Since I'm not "peaking" as such, is it possible to maintain an OK average performance over a few months without de-training too much / getting injured?

I've also been following more of a conjugate periodisation AKA an 'everything at once' plan and find it much more enjoyable to be firing on all cylinders in comparison to block periodisation, which I really didn't enjoy for most of the year. I don't train for routes, so for me it's just a case of balancing strength and power, performing my best bang for buck exercises, and a minimal amount of PE training (I seem to function ok on longer stuff with tactics rather than training). However, it seems to me like any aspect of performance can be maintained for 2-3 months if it's challenged at least once per week while climbing, e.g. in a 'peak phase' I will drop any weightlifting stuff, but if i'm projecting a physical boulder on one day a week this is enough to just about maintain my body strength and when I return to lifting there isn't that much of a dip. I've noted similar for energy systems, in fact my day endurance has improved massively, not by any specific training, but just by having big days out more regularly.