[i.munro]

I really need at least 2 days rest between training sessions in order to perform at the same level as the last session.

 The other thing is find a younger keen training partner!

Thanks that seems to fit in with my current feeling about bouldering & my earlier experience with weights.
(great thing about weights, progress is quantifiable.

There seem to be more 40+ers on here than I expected. Perhaps we should set up a "hints & tips for the decrepit" thread.

As to finding younger people to climb with . From my point of view they're all younger. I don't have a choice.

[erm, sam]

You could also keep the rest at two days, but increase the benefit of the sessions you do have. This might suit you more as you have allready said you won't be getting to the wall load more than currently.
You could use a different training process parhaps, eg trying CIR as its called in "The Self Coached Climber".
This is when you climb a number of problems at the same gradeish, with a standard rest time (Continuouse Intensity Repertitions). Over time you increase the number of probs you can do in one session. Eg if you can nail 6b first go on a good day, then doing 5c or 6a probs x10 with eg 2 mins rest in between, increasing to x20 over a few weeks. This results in a great increase in fitness without pushing the maximium effort injury zone. I think this can give you great fitness to use either as a base for some more focused top end intensity training, or to use for that elusive red curcuit blitz.

I have used this a couple of times a week and really noticed a difference in what I could do, at a level above the grade of any individual prob I was training on, if that make sense...

[Vitamin K]

How can you improve or can you keep improving after 40? This is the oft repeated question for the older climber. I'm approaching 50 (3 years to go), but still feel I can keep improving and boulder at a reasonable level (7b/7b+ ish). This is really just down to getting out and training (I have woody in the garage). I did L'Aerodynamite when I turned 40 and put up Right Hand Hank @ Brownstones (V8+)a couple of years ago. OK it's not world class, but I'm happy with it.

At the minute my focus seems to be on running (fells), but bouldering is something I've been doing for nearly 30 years and I know I won't be able to leave it alone. The big plus from my point of view is that the increased level of activity has resulted in a loss of nearly 5 kgs and just from going on my board I know that this will have a very positive effect on what I can and will be able to do outside (OK I have bias to mingingly small crimps, but I don't mind that).

It all boils down to motivation I guess - my biggest problem was breaking a bone in my wrist last November and it was this that made me start running; this has resulted in the shift in focus and I'm finding it difficult to include the bouldering in all of this. Unfortunately, I have a very obsessive streak to my personality, but I'll be drawn to the rock again, I know it.

There are other opinions here, because I asked a similar question a while ago: http://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,7436.0.html