[Duma]

Happy new year power clubbers!

M - hungover.
T - eve TCA, 90 min. Slab/vert day to try and give golfers a rest. Fun and made up some tricky balance stuff.
W - run, 5k very gentle to try not to aggravate ongoing low level cold. Flat, pavement, 30 something min.
T - eve TCA, 120 min. New whites ("high 6's"). Attempted all in a session. 30 problems, 18 flashed, 6 second go, 4 in three - five goes,  1 couldn't work out at all, and 1 was inaccessible due to building work (but looked straightforward). Excellent fun session, but ridiculous that this set has come out easier than the oranges ("mid 6's")
F - bit of core and rehab to tick the sharkathon box. I hate core.
S - aft TCA, 90 min. Plan was to finish off the last 2 whites then moonboard. Reality was whole session falling off last 2 whites. Repeated a few at least.
S - run, 6k, flat, pavement, easy, 33 min

71.5 kg

[Fiend]

Next week STG: Sharkathon - yes.
The usual STG: Stay focused and don't make silly mistakes - n/a. Do something challenging and inspiring on a rope, or above a pad - no. Keep in regular contact with suitable friends and partners - no, slacked off. Falling practise if I do routes indoors or out - n/a. Look after injuries, gym x 1 - yes but too weak to count, elbow rehab x 2 - once and it made things worse, shoulder rehab x 2 - x1, stretching x 3 - yes.


M - Active rest: Raking and shoveling scree in a quarry. Kinda tiring. Elbow rehab via isometric holds - hard.

T -  Indoor bouldering @ Depot. 10 Black V2-4, 6 Purple V5-7 (2 flashed, 4 worked). Attempted another 8 that I couldn't do / progress much in 3 goes, expect I could do a few with further seiging. Ignored another 16 (?) but could stand a chance on a couple of those. Got schooled by one half of the abominable Fartneck entity but did manage to show him a crucial foot placement on one problem. Enjoyed the few Purples I did do but don't like the recent sets overall as they're still sandbaggy, and at least half of the holds have really polished to a fine sheen over the last year, which is not fun on often slopey hand holds and smeary feet. TE fairly sore. Full stretching session.

W - Rest. Gentle walk. TE the worst it has been since re-aggravating it. Shoulder rehab and mobility.

T - Indoor bouldering @ Depot. 10 Black V2-4, 6 Purple V5-7 (worked). Re-attempted another 4 I'd tried previously but weren't going to happen. Enjoyed the few extra Purples I did do despite the holds having been really polished to a fine sheen over the last year, which is not fun on often slopey hand holds and smeary feet. TE sore in the morning after a full rest day, sore warming up, and sore at the end, but not more sore.  Full stretching session.

F - Active rest: Misc tree clearance assistance in a quarry. Chainsaws and awkward angled trees were involved, but I only managed to injury my jaw by rolling a fully felled caber and twatting the side of my face with a sawn off branch. TE okay. 1 hour gentle walk.

S - Active rest: 3.0458 mile hillwalk. Brief gym session with short bursts of medium weights (weak beyond weakness). Full stretching session. TE fine in the morning, more sore after walk, less sore after gym.

S - Indoor bouldering @ Summit Up. 8 x V2-3, 8 x V3-4, 4 x V4-5 (3 flash, 1 x 2nd go), 1 x V5-6 (3rd go), tried a few more things. Was okay but a bit tired and unfocused, also had forgotten how much novelty blob weirdness SU bouldering setting involves. Preceded by 1.5 hours light heather clearing / brushing at Pinfold - kept it steady and managed to not get too fatigued. Met Sam the husky who had a sore paw but got a parsnip as a treat. TE sore after but probably the combination of both rather than pushing too hard in either activity. Leg doms from squats on Sat.


Okay-ish week. Bad start with aggravating TE by doing controlled rehab. Okay balance of indoor climbing and quarry stuff - more than usual of the latter but kept it sensible by avoiding too much hacking and long ab sessions. Still no doubt contributed to the Grand Strength Decline.


Next week STG: Sharkathon. Look after tennis elbow better.
The usual STG: Stay focused and don't make silly mistakes. Do something challenging and inspiring on a rope, or above a pad. Keep in regular contact with suitable friends and partners. Falling practise if I do routes indoors or out. Look after injuries, gym x 1, elbow rehab x 2, shoulder rehab x 2, stretching x 3.

[tommytwotone]

Enjoyed the few Purples I did do but...at least half of the holds have really polished to a fine sheen over the last year, which is not fun on often slopey hand holds and smeary feet. TE fairly sore. Full stretching session.

As someone who primarily trains at a different wall, and only occasionally frequents a Depot (in my case the Armley one), I've noticed this as well.

Went yesterday for the first time in a month or so and the difference in general friction / hold quality was huge compared to my regular haunt (LSD in Leeds).

Are Depot using something different to wash (or not) their holds with? Are they just climbed on more? Is my technique / body tension just crap?

I suspect most probably the latter, but interesting you pointed this out as I was going round yesterday thinking the same.

[Dingdong]

The purples are absolutely sandbagged at armley, no doubt about it. I go once a month or so and many of the purples there are equivalent to yellows at Sheffield depot. Funnily enough the yellow and orange set at armley are still fairly in line with the ones at Sheffield. I think it’s the hold type and setting of the purples not so much the friction that’s the issue, requires lots of positioning and body tension. I also found some of the reds absolutely nails!

[spidermonkey09]

I presume Fiend is talking about the Manc depot, in which case I'd agree; I went for the first time in ages and was really surprised how slick they were. Never used to be the case, I think the holds are just tired.

[mr chaz]

Back in the game 6 months post shoulder injury and with a minor set back along the way. Returned to some very mild climbing and training at the end of November. Right shoulder and lat is still very weak, will be a while before I can consider taking swings or campus moves on it.

M.
T. Evening shed session. Fingerboarding, moving between campus rungs with feet on and some mild bouldering on the woodie.
W.
T. Snuck in a lunchtime boulder at Redpoint Worcester as I travelled past for work. Haven't bouldered indoors at a wall for more than a year. Surprised myself by climbing a white V6 slopey thing, amongst a few other problems and many failures. Fingers and core felt strong, upper body and shoulders generally very weak.
F.
S.
S.

Hoping 2024 is less disastrous in terms of outdoor climbing - this will require avoiding further injury through non-climbing activities!

[Fiend]

I presume Fiend is talking about the Manc depot, in which case I'd agree; I went for the first time in ages and was really surprised how slick they were. Never used to be the case, I think the holds are just tired.

Yup. There's a couple of particular type of holds - especially the slopey / gently angled ones that have splodges of dual tex at the edges (not the normal clean / distinct dual tex) - that seem to have worn to a fine sheen, and brushing just seems to polish them up nicely. There's a couple of other types of hold that do seem to brush up okay. I find the reds, that no doubt get hammered more, seem to brush up better (not that 90% of the gym bunnies bother, ofc).

[Fultonius]

2 week catchup.

27th - propstore general unfocused post Christmas boulder session. Unsurprisingly I was uncoordinated and not doing very well.

28th - newsroom, FB warm up, pink slab (6C+) and finished off a Pink 6c+ that I didn't get last time, felt fine fresh.
CH4P finger strength work on moonboard. 1 min on, 3 mins off x 6,longer rest and finished with 4 x 45s with same rest. The shorter ones seem to result in less overall power out.
29th - first winter climb of the season, Inclination at stob coire nan lochain (VII, 7).lets call that "general conditioning and base aerobic work". 6 hours, plus 3 hrs walking.
30th Recovery.
31st, quick pre-travel sesh. Can't remember what...

2nd, short session at Beest Amsterdam. Flashed a 6C, one took a few goes.

5th, another session at Beest. Felt a bit grotty with tail end of head/throat cold, and 2 glasses of red with dinner...
FB warm up.
Flashes 6B x 2
6B+ x 2
6C x 6
6C x 1 (3rd go) 1 fail
7A+ crack fail, arete fail

All with long rests. Weirdly felt fine and quite strong through the session.

6th - hungover / tired after OH's 40th, 3am finish. Still... Tagged along for another session. Managed to scrape my way up 3 or 4 more 6Cs, not many Flashes but all in 3 goes or so. Was feeling the effects of a good session and poor recovery. Left pinky flexor/muscle felt strained after. 

Will be resting a few days now (seems a relatively minor overuse tweak).

[tommytwotone]

The purples are absolutely sandbagged at armley, no doubt about it. I go once a month or so and many of the purples there are equivalent to yellows at Sheffield depot. Funnily enough the yellow and orange set at armley are still fairly in line with the ones at Sheffield. I think it’s the hold type and setting of the purples not so much the friction that’s the issue, requires lots of positioning and body tension. I also found some of the reds absolutely nails!

I'm glad it's not just me!

I did actually tick a (very much my style) purple yesterday at Armley, but it's the first one I've done there since it opened. I'm normally OK with most of the reds, it's just the jump up seems massive (certainly compared with the "old days" of the Pudsey setting as well.

[SA Chris]

I've noted that "tired" holds (we have a lot at the local wall) are fine for about 2-3 days after they are set, then get horrible thereafter, regardless of the amount of brushing you do. So setters think the prob is OK for the grade when it is set, but it quickly goes to ratshit.

[shark]

11.13

M. Few hangs. Tor. Drippy. Just me to start but joined by Nick S on Bens. Various goes on the crux section. The walk through method which requires much more core than the kick method so still not 100% sold on it.

T. A few hangs and fingertip pull ups. Foot-on one arm undercut locks on edge. Foot off one arm undercut locks on bar. Leg presses on counterweight pulley. Assisted one arm undercut locks on edge with pulley. Few goes foot on campus laddering. Easyish auto belay at Foundry

W

T Home warm up. Tor. Got to work on Bens but realised I wasn’t recovered enough for a decent session so sacked it off

F Ergo edge BW hangs FC, HC and Drag 10,10 and 10 secs and 3 x pull-ups at each grip type. Foot-on one arm undercut locks on edge. Leg presses on counterweight pulley Foot off one arm undercut locks on bar. Front lever attempts. Assisted one arm undercut locks on edge with pulley. Ergo edge +15kg FC, HC and Drag 10,10 and 10 secs +20kg 8,7 and 10secs

S Snuck in a couple of solos at Birchen’s when on a walk with Sonia and the dogs

S

[Nibile]

Power Club

Mon - high pulls, Lattice edge mixed grips. Pull ups, no good. Shoulder static holds.
Tue - tried to climb, no way. Farmer's, 4x AM session, back work.
Wed - tired from previous session. GM with pause, bentover rows.
Thu - boxing bag.
Fri - 2x AM session; shoulder static holds.
Sat - weights, Lattice edge mixed grips. Right shoulder recovering.
Sun - boxing bag.

[duncan]

M - 60 mins of brisk walk 7km
T - Fingerboard pickups: easy (10mm, varied grips, 23kg). Hip/knee conditioning and flexibility: frog squats, single leg squats, box-steps. Shoulder/elbow conditioning: lock-offs, hand stands, side planks.
W - Shoulder/elbow conditioning.
T - Easy fingerboard pickups as before. 60 mins of brisk walk 7km
F - Shoulder/elbow conditioning.
S - Westway, bouldering to V2/3. Shoulder still iffy so mostly vertical; an easy session.
S - Hip/knee conditioning and flexibility: frog squats, single leg squats, box-steps. 60 mins of brisk walk 8km

Left shoulder a bit crunchy so taking it gently.

[Aussiegav]

Happy 2024

Monday -
New Year’s Day.

18mm edge.
5 sets of 3 body weight repeaters. 1 minute rests. Half crimp

20mm edge

4 sets of 3 body weight repeaters. 1 minute rests. 3 finger open.

Tuesday

rest

Wednesday

Strength training at Virgin Active

Rings
Rows 3x8
IYT’s. 3x9
Pull ups 3x4
Chest flyes 12kg 3x8
Curls 3x8

Box jumps
Pistol squats 4x4

Thursday

18mm edge.
5 sets of 3 body weight repeaters. 1 minute rests. Half crimp

12mm edge
6x 10sec hangs with 10kg assistance

20mm edge
4 sets of 3 body weight repeaters. 1 minute rests. 3 finger open.

Friday
Rest

Saturday
Project session on the hardwood board at the depot.


Sunday
Strength training at Virgin Active

Rings
Rows 3x8
IYT’s. 3x9
Pull ups 3x4
Chest flyes 12kg 3x8
Curls 3x8

Box jumps
Pistol squats 4x4

40min peloton Tabata ride