[mctrials23]

Right, a few things to get sorted first that might help direct peoples advice:

• I have been climbing for a little over 2 years
• I am 20
• I climb at the Norwich sportspark wall 4 times a week on average
• Im in good physical condition

Now thats over we can get onto more important matters. The wall I climb at isnt very good, there is no two ways about it. The choice of walls to climb on is limited to two. A vertical one and a bouldering cave that goes from vertical for about 4 foot, then about 2 foot of 30 degree overhanging, 2 foot vertical and then about 5 foot of 70-80 degree and finally a foot or so of vertical again. The whole wall is featured and all routes are set with them in mind for feet.

The problem im having is that im stuck around the font 7a grade. It seems to be my stamina on boulder problems that let me down. I can do most of the moves but after I have linked a few I tend to get  pumped and fall. I have been to a few walls in london, namely mile end and the castle and find that I dont last long on the hard problems due to lack of stamina and getting pumped too quickly.

I find it hard to train stamina on the wall because the cave is either vertical or really overhung. There is no constant 45 degree angle or anything. The moves we tend to do are on shit holds and are big moves. The climbs tend to be a crux surrounded by easier climbing.

I have a moon fingerboard at home to train on which I use when I can but its obviously not the best idea to use it too much. I can hang the smallest crimpers for about 6-7 sec, the 3 finger pockets I can hang for about 25 sec  and the slopers for about 10 sec.

Im finding it hard to motivate myself at the moment because the wall rarely changes and because it is small it has a lot of routes catering to the beginner and the people who are a little better are left to make thier problems on the features of the wall which tend to be quite sharp and bruise the tips after a while.

Basically I want to know what I can do to get past this plateau. I know if I feel like im improving then I will have the motivation to train. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Im willing to try most things and am going to try and get a campus board up sometime soon.

I have read a lot of training tips and articles on the net but find that most of them are dependant on having a decent wall to train on. I know im stuck with the norwich one but there must be some things that are not wall limited that I can do or maybe principles that I can apply to any wall.

Please help. Id like to get a bit better before BUSA this year so I dont have a budget comp like I did last year.

cheers

[webbo]

i've done some power endurance stuff on the featured cave at my local wall.do that thing of 10 to 15 moves on good holds on steep ground then link into a problem.you could also go up and down on jugs then into a problem.i usually have 5 mins rest between circuits.

[a dense loner]

not the best idea to use the moon board too much

where has that come from? when i'm into deadhanging i normally do it twice a day. crimps in the morning and pockets at night. four or five days on, one or two off. when you get used to the board start dropping fingers off. bear in mind i have no friends to speak of

[slackline]

You don't mention whether you do or not, and obviously geography is conspiring against you, but how about getting out on some proper rock and finding some inspiring natural lines/problems that challenge you that you'd like to get done as a source of motivation as opposed to pulling on plastic and focusing on grade x/y/z?

[Dr T]

I'd agree with slack...
I'm surrey based and there's sod all rock here but the odd trip to portland or the peak every five weeks or so really helps with motivation.
Just don't go overboard when you're outside trashing yourself too much will leave you falling off stuff you know you can do and toys being throw out of metaphorical prams (or is that just me??)

[mctrials23]

Its just that everything I have read about fingerboards says not to use them too much. Doesnt it increase the risk of finger injury?

I have trouble getting away at the weekends due to playing hockey every weekend but im going to try after xmas to get to the peaks more. I love going there and it does rekindle the motivation. My skin never thanks me afterwards but its worth it.

Im not too worried about the grade that I climb at but its nice to have some sort of indication of where you are so that you know when you are improving. Im going to start doing more fingerboard workout then and ill try and get onto doing some circuits down le wall.

Cheers for the replies guys, any more insights are always welcome.

[fatdoc]

not the best idea to use the moon board too much

where has that come from? when i'm into deadhanging i normally do it twice a day. crimps in the morning and pockets at night. four or five days on, one or two off. when you get used to the board start dropping fingers off. bear in mind i have no friends to speak of

yep. but your deadhang regiemes are a legend in your own life time..

 in essence dense is right, if it's not hurting, you have youth in your side, are well motivated - then if all you've got is a moon board (i like them BTW) then use it... a lot.

I would also suggest seriously considering leaving where you live and move to sheff (biased), manc or leeds.... or bristol... (but i dont like cider)

[mctrials23]

After this year im going to be seriously tempted. Currently the thing that I enjoy most is my cimbing. I would be perfectly happy to move to sheffield and get a shitty job just to pay the rent etc and climb as much as possible. In the mean time Ill start hitting the fingerboard hard and try and get away as much as possible.

I had a session yesterday that felt really good. Did some good, long and hard boulder problems and I didn't fatigue as quickly as usual. I did a few routes the other week just trying to get as pumped as possible and it seems to have payed off. My forearms hurt a bit the next day but it seems to have increased my stamina.

If I can't move to somewhere good for climbing then I think im going to have to try and get a woodie setup at home.

[Ena]

Is there still a woodie at Wymondham? From what I remember it's pretty home made (not in a great way) but will give some variety.

The other thing is, do you ever have rest breaks for a few days or even longer? I know you're half my age and must recover quickly, but I've always peaked after a good rest even when I was in your position. More of a power thing I suppose, but worth a go.

[Doylo]

that Norwich wall ain't great , went there once or twice whilst working in Swaffham. Seem to remember some potential for decent eliminates though on the resin crimps. If your really serious about improving you wanna be looking to move at some point.

[Nigel]

that Norwich wall ain't great...

I'd go further - its the shittest wall in the world. Getting blinded off the wall by the LEDS filling the all too many empty bolt holes while sweating in 40 degrees C with your top on cos you get chucked out for showing flesh is not my idea of a good time.

[Ena]

Sadly Norwich wall hasn't quite developed like the Pokketz cartoon: http://www.rockfax.com/publications/pdfs/kylie-moon.pdf

[Doylo]

that Norwich wall ain't great...

I'd go further - its the shittest wall in the world. Getting blinded off the wall by the LEDS filling the all too many empty bolt holes while sweating in 40 degrees C with your top on cos you get chucked out for showing flesh is not my idea of a good time.

an i always thought you'd got thrown out for flashing at them schoolgirls.

[mctrials23]

Dont get me started on the UEA wall. First of all lets ignore its size and design and move strait onto the really crap part. The people who run it are c****, as mentioned you have to wear tops at all times and arnt allowed to change at all at the wall. Its open to the cafe so they can watch you climb. In the summer its too hot and they wont put on the air conditioning because it would blow the chalk into the cafe. In the winter its too warm because they have the heating on so that the cafe users can sit in a t-shirt and be warm. They re-reoute every 4-5 months on average and when they did let us re-route it they wouldnt close it for the whole day, they would only close it till the peak hours of 6-10pm. The icing on the cake is that they wont even pay to get it re-routed. We did it for free and even cleaned some of the wall for them.

Bastards!!!

Most of the routes me and my mates do are on the features but due to the small size of the cave we usually end up making hard problems that snake through the cave. This limits the vertical milage though and thats one of the things that I think I need to work on.

[fatdoc]

build yr own board, if there a re group of you then i'd think about it

 

[r-man]

I have a soft spot in my heart for the Norwich cave. I spent a lot of time there when I was at uni. If you've been to Lowestoft, Cambridge, Wyndham etc. you'll know that the Norwich wall is nowhere near being the worst wall in the world. Yes, it has its bad points, but for just over a quid a session, it aint all bad.

Anyway, it's possible to use the wall to improve well past your current level if you really want to. But you're going to have to learn to love the cave. Eliminates on the features are where it's at. Give up on the routes, except to measure progress - features up the main overhang go at 7b (no arete), 7a and 7c ish (no arete, this trends left near the top via a beautiful technical sequence - I kid you not). It's perfectly possible to work stamina, but this is best done in the cave.

Stamina workouts -
1. Climb all the set problems in ascending of difficulty, without resting. (or as little rest as possible) Downclimb where possible. It takes a while to build up this fitness, but once you it wired, it will become a warm up. (And you won't have any more problems linking moves!)

2. Either use the features or set a traverse across the bottom of the cave (I had a good V5 one for this, which finished pulling up to the ledge just right of the pillar). Traverse from left, shake out at the ledge, then reverse. Once you reach the left hand side (but not the easy section), climb a steep problem, shake out on the ledge (your feet should still be on overhanging terrain), then reverse and repeat. Link into different problems for variety. Boring but effective. More for routes fitness than bouldering though.

Power -
1.Assuming you are allowed to set problems, set all the problems to be climbed with features for feet. Once you can do them you can then attempt with hands follow feet. Try and set problems with hard moves between holds you can only just use, not wandering lines on big jugs. Use the roof for body tension stuff and big throws, the left hand side for tough pulls, and the backside of the pillar for desperate snatches.

2.Get footless. Try and footless everthing you can. Features through the roof goes at about ft7a+ footless.

3.Once you get into eliminates on the features, the potential grows. I had problems in there up to about ft7b+, and there was easily potential for harder stuff. The cave will get your fingers strong, as it lends itself to an open hand style, plus lots of body tension and obligatory powerful finishes. If you are struggling, try incorporating bolt ons into your eliminates - once you get strong enough you should be able to do all sorts of moves on just the features.

In general, I used to warm up by doing all the bolt-on problems, do a couple of features problems to warm up the fingers (features through the roof is ft6bish, then you can start doing basic eliminates). Then I'd try some projects, do some hard moves/footless stuff, or do some stamina stuff (though only if I wanted to go routing, stamina builds up quickly, strength is the hardest to gain). Then warm down.

Anyway, I hope this helps. It's a limited facility, but use it well and you'll soon improve. Good luck!

...Oh yes, and don't climb for hours and hours. If you are knackered and still attempting problems, you aren't doing yourself any good. You have the luxury of climbing often and for cheap, so use it wisely. (I didn't and had to take a year off with tendon problems). Stop when you are feeling strong and you'll improve faster.

[SA Chris]

that Norwich wall ain't great...

I'd go further - its the shittest wall in the world. Getting blinded off the wall by the LEDS filling the all too many empty bolt holes while sweating in 40 degrees C with your top on cos you get chucked out for showing flesh is not my idea of a good time.

Try RGU. It's worse.