[i.munro]

Appealing for help here. Where I work there's a wall that hardly anyone uses & it's free (see my post in the board share thread)
Sounds good but it's just under 4m high & about the same wide, only 15deg or so overhanging & it's old skool bendcrete style, so the holds are fixed.

I'm a bit stuck with this thing as I often haven't got the time/money to  always go to other walls.
I've worked out a range of problems that I think are pretty good & that I find desperate
(range from 'can just do 3 times on the trot' up to 'done it once, working on the 2nd ascent')

So finally questions

how do I avoid working my strengths when they're my own problems?
What's the best way to use this 'circuit' to improve?
Basically any thoughts on how I get the best use out of this thing?

[Kingy]

You could try varying the style of problems as much as possible e.g tiny crimpers or massive throws between large holds. In fact dynos will make you recruit to the max whereas there is nothing worse than cruising round the same old circuit that you've done a million times before. I think being strict and keeping the problems that you train on new (e.g change them once a month) will help a lot. You won't improve as fast if you train on the same old routine all the time. Maybe try some footless numbers? Good luck!

[GCW]

Imagination is the key.  A shit wall can still be useful.
Do you go with other people at all?  You can play silly games like nominations etc  Makes things more fun.

Expand your mind, the muscles will follow.

[Kingy]

You could try keeping the footholds poor at all times, I mean laughably bad to the point of not really being a foothold in the conventional sense. This will massively improve your contact strength.

[Serpico]

Appealing for help here. Where I work there's a wall that hardly anyone uses & it's free (see my post in the board share thread)
Sounds good but it's just under 4m high & about the same wide, only 15deg or so overhanging & it's old skool bendcrete style, so the holds are fixed.

Old school Bendcrete, 15 deg OH, and free... sounds like my ideal wall

The weapon of choice for many of us in Manchester is Broughton rec's bendcrete wall; it's so specific to what we want to improve: ie: climbing outside.
The holds are small and crimpy - none of this modern blobby rubbish that you end up pinching, there's plenty of smears to build skills and body tension, the angle's specific to the majority of climbing I aspire to outdoors, every hold's been numbered and there's a database of over a thousand problems.
It's your 'opposite of a campus board'.

[i.munro]

Old school Bendcrete, 15 deg OH, and free... sounds like my ideal wall

Oh & it stays bearably cool during the summer

I think it is pretty good, considering it's size for exactly the reasons you give.
But ... as I can't persuade anyone else to come & play & there hasn't been much progress for a long time I wonder if I can use it better.

As for massive throws 'nice idea' I tend to chicken out cos no spotters & bare concrete floor.
I'll take a pad & see what I can come up with.

Poor footholds, there are lots but I haven't been able to manage much as with a few exceptions the handholds are very small & crimpy. Poor hands & feet & ohanging is where I'd like to get to but not, sadly, where I currently am.

[Serpico]

Where is it? Is it in a leisure centre or school that might have some gym pads stashed away somewhere?
Marking the holds and starting a problem book would be my first move.
Having holds that don't get changed can be a good thing; you can set endurance circuits that don't get changed halfway through a training cycle, and boulder problems that can be used as benchmarks year in, year out.

[Serpico]

I've just seen your post on the board share dir. Vertical and crimpy - that's brilliant for ARCing, I used to use the old Bendcrete wall at Blackburn YMCA for that until it was demolished a couple of years ago - I was gutted.
It's a shame your's is so far away I'd definitely use it. Modern walls are rubbish...

[i.munro]

Where is it? Is it in a leisure centre or school that might have some gym pads stashed away somewhere?

Thanks for all the thoughts.

It's in a university, no access to gym mats AFAIK but I can take a pad.
I have written a topo-y thing (sad I know but I went a bit strange while writing up my Phd last year)
in the hope of  getting input from someone else but only one route so far.

It's the benchmark thing that's worrying me. Stuff I did a decade ago still feels f&&*ing desperate.
I guess at least I know I'm not going backwards.

It is a shame. Bet you'd come up with some moves for me to work on (probably for the next decade)

My current plan is to try & do 3 or 4 of the existing problems as a set with one min rests
what do you reckon?

[Kingy]

Sounds good, I think as long as you are having regular sessions and avoid injury whatever you do will get you stronger. I am not the greatest fan of timed interval rests to be honest  - just climb when you feel like climbing and you will improve, as long as you are pushing yourself with the hardest stuff you can do.

[i.munro]

- just climb when you feel like climbing and you will improve, as long as you are pushing yourself with the hardest stuff you can do.

I'm sure that's true at some stage of your climbing career but I started in 1976 & having been stuck at the same grade as far as I can tell for over a decade I think I need something more.
I's possible of course that I don't push myself but I feel like I do.

[Kingy]

By climbing when you feel like it I meant this to mean within an actual session. If you are climbing 4 times a week you can't fail to improve. I'm not the person to speak to for more structured regimes cos I don't do em!

[Serpico]

My current plan is to try & do 3 or 4 of the existing problems as a set with one min rests
what do you reckon?

I'm not sure what that would work, maybe power endurance? What's the 1 min rest between - problems or sets?

Two exercises to try are:
4x4s, 4 problems done back to back, rest for as long as it took to climb them, and repeat 4 times. Pick the grades to mimic crux sections of routes. Make it progressive by upping the grade of one problem in one or more the sets every 1 - 4 sessions. Good for power endurance.

Bouldering pyramids. 8 - 12 problems around your onsight grade, OS -1, and OS -2. So a starting pyramid might look like 3xOS grade -2, 2xOSG -1, 2x OSG, 2xOSG-1, 3x OSG-2. You get 3 attempts at each problem, if you don't get it within 3 attempts you mark it down as a failure and move onto the next problem. You're allowed 3 complete failures per session, any more than that and it's a sign you've pitched the session too hard. you should be flashing at least 8 of the problems. Progress by replacing one of the  -2s with a -1 whenever the amount of flashes in a session reaches 10. When it's all  -1s and 0s try a new Onsight grade. Good for strength and power.

Does that make sense?

[i.munro]

Thanks again. That's perfectly clear. Bouldering pyramids look like the way to go. I better come up with
some easier problems that I think I might be able to have omsighted (that's going to tax my grading skills).