UKBouldering.com
the shizzle => diet, training and injuries => power club => Topic started by: Duma on March 17, 2019, 08:51:03 pm
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Goals: Uninjured, 70kg, 8A in UK, Rocklands in June.
M - TCA am, max hangs 6x10s @ +25kg. Campus 4 x 1-3-5-7, 4 x 1-4-6.5 (1 failure leading lh), 4 x 1-4.5-6.5 (2 failures both leading rh) 40PU, 20SU, 10VSit, 10LR.
T - 40PU, 20SU, 10VSit, 10LR.
W - TCA am, moonboard, Pure Wood RH. Decent session, managed start to not quite holding third move twice, did third move once and continued to hitting (not holding) top. Also did easier version of third move to top twice. Pretty happy with progress considering only second session on this. 40PU, 20SU, 10VSit, 10 LR.
T - TCA lunch, only had an hr as morning jobs overran. Did new blues (5-6A+) to warm up, then one arm hangs: 6 x 7s, LH -11.25kg, RH - 11.75kg. Managed best of LH - 10.5kg, RH - 11.25kg. 20PU, 20SU, 10VSit, 10 LR, 30s Scissor Kicks.
F - TCA eve, moonboard, Pure Wood RH. No new links, but feeling better and more consistent on starting and finishing moves, just need to get 3rd move solid now, keeping rf on is key. 40PU, 20SU, 10VSit, 10LR, 45s SK.
S - easy recovery circuits, 10:10 x 3. 40PU, 20SU, 10VSit, 10LR, 45s SK.
S - Cheddar, only went down for a walk, assumed it would be seeping after all the rain, actually was bone except the pocket to leave the groove and a couple of footholds that were easily worked around. Go 1 dogged up to get clips in, felt good on moves, extended 4th clip to avoid issue from last session. Go 2 through start section fine despite damp pocket but faded quickly and not close to crux. Brief hang then to the top fine, found better foot for the set up to the crux, and extended clip on 4th worked well. Typically it then started to rain. Did from undercut (2 moves in to the non trivial stuff) to top OK after couple mins rest. Annoyingly once I'd stripped it, it stopped raining. Was too late to use another go getting them back in so sacked it. Bit annoying with the rain but mostly pleased to get an unexpected session and to feel better on the route. 30PU, 20SU, 10VSit, 10LR.
Av 70.1kg.
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STG - Climb Fighting Torque.
Weight ~75kg.
MTG - Plan Spring Font trip
LTG - 7C
M - The Cuttings. Session 11. Perhaps predictable, but after night shifts with subsequent disturbed sleep for a few and half a litre blood loss on Friday I felt remarkably worse than a week previous. Top end power that I’d had on Wednesdays board session just not there. Struggled to find some way to make the high foot beta work on the crux in the sun before giving up and waiting for shade. First red point up to the crimp but not touching the pinch. More struggling to make the high foot beta work. Left foot seemed just an inch away each time. Too bunched. Then tried putting left foot high but just smearing on a vague dimple two inches left of the obvious foot hold. Suddenly cracked it and could get my right foot up every time off the rope.
Further red point attempt, used the new high foot and made it to the pinch for the first time from the ground. Just needed to get the left foot up but fell short. Nothing left for the final redpoint of the day, falling going for the pinch again.
New high point and even more better new beta. Shouldn’t make excuses but I’m almost sure if I’d tried this method a week ago I would have done it. Really hope it’s dry at the weekend!
T - Long day. Rest.
W - Short session. 20 mins warm up, about 40 mins on board. Hard moves. Felt a little weak.
T - 20-30 mins warm up. 1 hour on board. Slightly stronger than Wednesday.
F - Rest.
S - Rest. Hip flexibility.
S - Portland. Session 12. Felt good. Stuck the clips in Fighting Torque in the sun. Wind began to pick up. Essentially 4 redpoint goes without much to write home about, unfortunate slips, failure to reach the high point. Can now do crux sequence whilst holding a conversation with someone on the ground off the rope however. Final go, back up to high point felt really good and then foot slipped off and it was game over. Started raining after that. Despite perfect conditions and feeling good no success. Not quite as good as on Monday when I felt shit.
Just waiting for stars to align which I’m sure they will soon with the new new beta. Not going back til 28th. Going to train again this week, back to working hard. The rest over weekend, and another taper and go again.
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Thanks Duma
11.1-3 Average 156.5 down 0.2lbs
M. PM Full of cold. Popped out to Higgar to give Paul a spot on Piss which he despatched. Eve Weighted hangs
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W. PM progressive Weighted hangs till fully recruited. Started heading to Burbage to join Paul and Karl but got a text to say that it was wet. Took dogs for a walk instead. Eve Resumed weighted hangs on Ergo Edge. Increased 2.5kg on Monday and got better hang times
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F Evening. weighted hangs. Upped added weight again by 2.5kg on weds. Faded quicker
S. PM systems board. Good on bench mark moves. Tried 20/10 with 3 secs a move and got move 70 and pump started to go unmanageable
S. PM FB warmup then met Paul, Karl and Keith at Higgar. First session on Piss. Made decent progress falling off turning left hand to a press a few times. Paul got close on Shit and Karl was close on shit.
Had a cold this week so was unmotivated anyway and also wanted to take it easy to get fully over it. Still a bit sniffly even now.
Took the opportunity to focus on doing weighted hangs on my new training gizmo - the Ergo Edge. Some tweaks still required but really happy with it and made decent gains in the sessions.
Still have Friday pencilled in for Malham. Pics on Facebook show Malham drier than expected
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Monday: Anston. Early evening session. Got Beretta done 2 or 3rd proper go. Excellent - really enjoyed it... had to pull hard and stay calm towards the end which I did. Good scenes there - nice to bump into Haydn and others... got some great beta for Alpha from Charlotte (I think) - thanks!
We: Wet - ish. Depot. Managed to do a yellow.. and another purple. Was deeply unenthusiasitic but managed to warm into it...
Friday > Away with students on a field course for a week... No climbing opportunities at all..
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Que? I've had a brief google and am no wiser. I would hate to think I'm missing out on the latest snake oil!
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Que? I've had a brief google and am no wiser. I would hate to think I'm missing out on the latest snake oil!
I have been working with Rick Ginns designing an ergonomic edge that allows you to have all your fingers at the same joint angle when hanging and to have your arms in a neutral hanging position.
It’s a really complicated shape that is hard to make. I think it’s a work of art. Props to Rick.
We’re on the second prototype and just down to deciding optimal edge depth/bevel now.
Here’s a CAD model of the first prototype to give you an idea. We’ve since added an angle at the back for a neutral hanging position
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QJeuX5zfhLc&feature=share
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Tomtom- I know the feeling of those indoor sessions. Good work on beretta.
Shark - when were you at higgar yesterday? I sacked off the idea of going out cos it looked too iffy at 1:30. Also...just seen your new post - looks like the solution to the problem I’ve identified below. Quite the coincidence!
Goal - Tsunami
M-1hr stretching and rehab weights. Trying numerous things to activate the lower back, glutes and hamstrings. Includes foam rolling, 90-90 stretches, down dog, lacrosse balls and one where, when lying, you put your foot on your knee then pull your thigh toward your face. That one’s great. Also doing shoulder exercises that I’ve paid good money to be told to do in the past and have never complied with - good mornings and outward rotations.
T- works wasps 6b circuit mainly. Fingerboard max hangs up to +32kgs on both bm medium edges (HC) and small (drag) 1hr stretches.
W- 1hr stretches
T- works wasps 6b circuit. 4 left to do.
F- 1hr stretches
S- is it ironic that my planned session on Tsunami was aborted because Rubicon was flooded?. Had interesting chat about finger strength, how good it needs to be and half crimp - my mate trains it on the smalls and I don’t. I need to train it. This is one of those things I’ve pushed to the right for years. Previous attempts haven’t worked so well but I’ve finally realised why. This is power club so I’m going to explain...I sort of get the hold pinky first and then line up all four fingers against the back edge. This means that the index finger is pretty straight, hardly any training stimulus and is lagging. I’m probably way behind the curve on this but the realisation that I have to stack the first three fingers and leave the pinky to its own devices was a bit of a moment. It explains a thing or two anyway.
Returned home and had my first [bold]ever[/bold] strict HC session. This is how it went:
Medium edge:
16kg, 24kg, 32kg, 40kg
Small edge:
8kg, 16kg, 16kg, 24kg
All hangs for 10s, all properly half crimp. Really pleased with this it’s a solid base to build on.
1hr stretches etc and noticed my shoulders feel markedly stronger and I can touch the floor pretty easily. These are big changes in a week believe me.
S - more works wasps. Ticked another one off (using the alien technique of full crimp on a sloper). Had perhaps half an hour on the motherboard but could not get up anything. Especially not the Tsunami replicas that highrepute had kindly put up for me but it’s early days.
2.5k run. First in two months maybe. Back held up ok.
68.0->67.4kgs lowest this year.
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STG: Manage aches and pains. Build base of strength and long endurance. One session of bouldering a week.
MTG: Colorado bucket list routes in May, a classic E5 this summer.
LTG: 5.13 at 60; a LH&F BHAG.
M - Shoulder strength (Is, Ys and Ts on the rings; side planks; single arm push-ups).
T - Westway. Tweaked shoulder on warm-up so bailed. Brisk 10km walk.
W - Very short fingerboard session. 10km brisk walking
T - Shoulder strength. 10km brisk walking.
F - Westway routes with csl. Good session, nothing hard but money in the bank, took a few falls to keep my head in.
S - Shoulder strength. Pull-ups. Child wrangling.
S - Shoulder strength. 10km brisk walking. More child wrangling.
Quiet week, better weekend starting Friday evening. Had considered having a planned easy week after 4 good ones and this happened spontaneously.
Plan: continue building the base, more strength + long endurance. Start adding some shorter endurance sessions for a mini peak at the end April. I fade rapidly after ~60-90 seconds fairly intense activity. In theory I should be doing boulder 4x4s or quite hard routes but these are both elbow-intensive so need to be handled with care.
Struggled to find some way to make the high foot beta work on the crux ...
Sounds like you're almost there. In your video last week you appeared to be sagging away from the rock a little on the crux. This could be hip flexibility (sounds like you're aware of this). Alternatively the posterior chain could be a little weak/not engaging at the right moment. Have you tried a timely butt squeeze?
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T: Arch. Poor session, still feeling tired from the trip. Lots of beer over last few days hasn't helped. Bit of poor board and campussing. Spent a lot of time ticking mod-hard problems on the new sets I hadn't seen - ended being a fun session
S: Arch. Another weak session, think I may not be rested from trip and elbows feel a bit achey and weak, being hungover probably didn't help. Another session of ticking moderate problems…
Elbows feeling a bit sore and feeling generally weak so maybe still not recovered from trip. Going to rest for a while till I feel much better...
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M - Push day. Steady benching up to 90k followed by high reps at 60k for decline and incline. Finished off with some TRX tension work and a bit of triceps.
Steady lunchtime 5k and stretch.
Evening at the Depot. Plan is Project Session so work and do a couple of the competition problems that go through the roofs. Get close quickly and then get them ticked although have to go for a brew and come back after a bigger rest for one of them.
Spend half an hour pottering about on stuff for fun and finish with a couple of sets of intervals for power on the comp wall. Get the Mick taken out of me for campusing when it gets tough rather than using any footwork or technique.......hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
T - Pull day. Rack pulls for doubles up to 170k. Explosive pull ups, Pendlay rows, T Bar tows and straight arm pull downs. Good session for hitting the other areas of my back than I miss when climbing.
Same lunchtime run.....helps keep the stress levels down.
Evening at the Depot. Warm up with a bit of campusing which is encouraging. Working on Strength Intervals. Start off with the two halves of the Zoo York replica and think I’ve now got all the moves wired bar one which I get more than I don’t. Will be giving this a really good go next week as so close and it feels like a great problem. Then do Austrian joke finish from the second yellow hold. Then onto a Steady Intro which is distinctly scrappy. Finishing ff with a wooden problem on the 30 board. All good fun.
Next exercise is a bit of footless bouldering. Goes pretty well but really do need to find stuff that works for this a bit better.
W - A bit of bench 5x5 for s change. Starr at 60 and keep going to 80. Follow it up with some flat and incline dumbbell presses and finish off chest with incline fly’s dropping from 12k down to zero with 10 reps at each weight. A bit of tension work and some lightweight behind the head shoulder presses just to loosen up a bit.
Run outside forth first time in what seems like ages and despite getting battered by the storm, really enjoy it.
A bit of a disappointing Max Hangs session. Kinda get it but never really feel like I’m pulling to my best or particularly motivated. Mark this one down to experience.
T - Busy day today with lots of work stuff and the like, so get out early for a trot in the wind and the rain. Character building, I think they call it.
Pleasant fun evening bouldering session at the Depot ticking Reds and Purples. Lots of volume and just relaxing.
F - Steady pull day. Get into the groove with a bit of steady deadlifting to warm up and get the CNS firing. Singles for speed up to 140. Good to take it steady. OAP solid on RH with weight and definitely getting better on LH with 2 reps with minus 2.5k. Then into pull ups for volume and some heavy pull downs up to 140k. Finish off with a bit of scapular activation.
Steady 5k trot at lunchtime to reenergise for the afternoon.
S - Out at six for a run in the wind and the rain again. Do enjoy these sort of conditions in a funny sort of a way.
Gym session with Push day again. Bench for doubles up to 92.5, decline up to 102.5 and then three angles of incline wit the steeper the angle, the lower the top weight. Finish with a bit of shoulder pressing and a bit of tension work.
Depot session. Really good stuff, get a yellow and a couple of purples that I hadn’t done before and worked out five good footless problems to work on. Also nip in the back room and do the easy Zoo York replica moves, individually they are all solid and confidence is growing that I will get this done sooner rather than later.......fingers crossed. Finish with some one minute on two off for five reps, which has definitely improved.
S - Pull day. Steady session with Deadlifts for warm up, followed by OAP. RH doing well at the moment and LH is much better if I control the rotation, so tend to think that this confirms link between shoulder injury and LH struggles. Max weight Pull ups up to +50k and some pull ups for volume. Finished by working on a wide range of scapular exercises.
Last exercise of week was a 10k run with Mrs B. Good and hilly and very varied weather with sun, snow, hail, wind and rain along the way.
A solid week with some tiny steps forward and not so many backwards.
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Shark - when were you at higgar yesterday? I sacked off the idea of going out cos it looked too iffy at 1:30. Also...just seen your new post - looks like the solution to the problem I’ve identified below. Quite the coincidence!
Hi Murph
Yes from 2.30pm. Looked a bit iffy and started spitting once but ended up ok. Had a rainbow below at one stage and beautiful low light at the end.
The reason I was prompted to design it was due to how hard and unnatural I found it to strict half crimp on a normal edge. It took a few sessions but worth it so keep persisting I reckon.
You should come round and give the Ergo Edge a test. Be good to get feedback. I still have the hand carved earlier prototype which you could have.
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Struggled to find some way to make the high foot beta work on the crux ...
Sounds like you're almost there. In your video last week you appeared to be sagging away from the rock a little on the crux. This could be hip flexibility (sounds like you're aware of this). Alternatively the posterior chain could be a little weak/not engaging at the right moment. Have you tried a timely butt squeeze?
Yeah I’ve noticed the sagging a bit. With the new way of doing it with higher feet that seems to be slightly less of an issue. To be honest I think not doing it yesterday came down a lot to tactics and a little bad luck if I’m being very generous. I know I can do it now, and I’m just going to make sure I’m as strong and rested as possible for next attempt and stick to the yoga and hip stuff to make those high bunched feet a little easier!
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M: Rest
T: Bouldering at the depot managed 3 more yellows. Campussing, middle rungs 1-3-5, larger rungs 1-4-7 & 1-5-7, slapping 7 each time when left leads and latching each time right lead. Tried 1-4-7 on middle rungs and felt indifferent to larger rungs. Tried hanging 1 armed from BM 2K and managed 5 seconds with right hand, could maybe manage 1 second with the left, both without assistance.
W: Gym. Bench 3x5 @60kg. Shoulder press 3x8 @35kg. Finger curls 3x20 @20kg. Zottaman curls 3x12 @10kg. Reverse wrist curls 3x12 @6kg.
T: Rest
F: Recruitment hangs in the morning. BUK 55/45 board session in the later morning/early afternoon. Repeated 3 more things on the 55, ticked another thing on the 45 and tried a few other new things. Depot in the evening to do some aerocap on the circuit boards and I-Y-Ts on the rings.
S:Rest
S: Recruitment hangs in the morning. Depot in the afternoon. Ticked 3 more yellows and then had a similar campussing session to Tuesday, felt a little weaker pulling through, which is probably from doing too much this week. Finished with I-Y-Ts on the rings and some uneven pull ups on the rings.
Probably did a bit too much this week as the weather wasn't great. Planning to get out Wed, Fri, Sun in North Wales or the Lakes each week over the next 2 weeks and not really train much then though.
Found a random nodule in my hand maybe an inch below my ring/pinky finger. No pain from it, but its just appeared out of no where. Hopefully its just some fatty tissue or something.
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M - Anston - still had a bit of a sniffle so just planned to bask in the sun and do whatever so was quite surprised to manage Alpha pretty quickly. Made me think I should try it from a sitter but that soon passed. Tried the Reservation lip moves again with no success, brief play on Resonate then tried to knock off 24.9 but couldn't repeat the start of Last Stand.
Overexposed vid of Alpha:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctatTak-gF4
T - leg and push day - squats, lunges, hip thrust, DL to 125% BW, 6x10 various pressups, dips & handstands. Planned to do core too but it felt suitably worked already
W - housework AM, stretches PM
Th - Anston. Another flail at Reservation, tried Black Tufa and might have a chance if I could get off the ground. Ended up under Tech Nine again for the usual cursory few attempts but after a few false starts trying daft foot combinations, went totally basic and only went and did the move, then messed up the match. Got it again a few attempts later and thought I'd done it but heel came off just as I was reaching for the finishing hold. Swore a bit.
Fr - planned a bit of conditioning and something more worthwhile but somehow found myself back at Anston.
Had about 20 attempts at Tech Nine, hit the lip 19 times, held the swing once. Failed to make the match. Swore quite a lot
Scap pullups to +18kg (PB)
Core
leg and shoulder stretches
S pulled and pushed around and stripped/reassemabled a ~50kg washine machine. Didn't fix the fault...
2x10mins LI
S - nowt
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Th - Depot. Brief warm up. Circuit board. Then 50 board. Felt fairly weak to start on the board after a few weeks off it but improved slightly after a few goes. Started to feel a bit powered out so went out to do some normal problems. Then circuit board to finish. All a bit of a muddle really.
Su - Slipstones. Windy but glorious. Warmed up briefly and did Simple Sally first go. In decent conditions the crimps feel massive, compared to a couple of months ago when I could barely pull off the ground! Then Layby Arete. Was going well on the first section and getting to the crux with no problems. The body position clicked on the crux and I got the crimp on the arete well. Messed up the bit coming around the corner and fell off. Split to blood on that go. Very annoying, but ultimately felt quite stoic about it. I didn't expect to be able to do it on the day and it was nice to feel like the potential was there. I really need to start using anti-hydral or something. I always get shut down by my skin long before the body is ready to throw in the towel.
We then enjoyed some gorgeous highballs. Killer (6B), Space Plucks (6B+), Sinbad (6B/+), and Thingumy in Thirsk (or is it called Fingering in Thirsk? 6A+).
Have cracked on with the book this week. There's lots to do but it feels like stuff is really happening now. Got some decent action photos at Slipstones as well.
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Mon - PE high (small rungs +2 kg) 15/30 x10 x2. Second go was greasy, so did it static. First go fell on my bad knee on the last second of the last set. Really scary. Weights.
Tue - rest.
Wed - fingers, garage session, quite strong. 14 snatch pulls in between (50 kg). Overhead walk 40 kg 30/30 x10.
Thu - PE on problem 1 x5 1' rests, forearms tired. Weights, dumbbell thruster 25x2.
Fri - rest.
Sat - Moonboard session, still disappointing. Leaving aside the knee issue, I keep finding the problems very morpho. Having to jump between holds on a 6c is neither fun nor useful, for me. Even less fun is watching my friends cruise those problems with feet solidly planted on the footholds. On a side note, some problems showed a serious inability to climb side-on. Not that I care.
Sun - weights. Ab wheel x10, pull ups x5, clean and press x10, x5 x2.
Good week with plenty of forearms and fingers action.
Really scared by the fall on my bad knee, it was really painful for hours, even just walking. I thought I'd done more damage. Luckily a few days of NSAID sorted it out. In any case it's been awful.
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Rehab Diaries Week Thirty
STG- "Retro-redpoint" Consenting Adults by end of March, onsighting HVS/ low 6s by end of September.
M- Rest.
T- Went to Treak Cliff Cavern near Castleton as a “good rainy day activity”- it was so wet in there (the wettest our tour guide had ever seen it) and we got torrentially dripped on and had to wade through ankle-deep water to get into the cavern itself- would have stayed drier if we’d have just gone for a walk!
Repeaters and pushups afterwards.
W- Gym. The cardio hell of the stair-treadmill machine. :( Except it wasn’t that bad! Last time I made myself do this was the 30th December and I quit before the end of the third 10 minute set ‘cos I genuinely thought I was going to puke or shit myself. Five minutes in this time around I was only starting to lose my breath and I realised that I could do two 15 minute sets instead. I’m not going to pretend that I didn’t get tired but it was much easier than ever before- bodes well for mountain and moorland approaches this summer. ;D
T- Rest.
F- Foundry Autos. Thought that getting there when they first opened would mean that it was quiet but didn’t realise that it’s packed with old folks on a weekday morning so actually busier than my usual Friday evening slot!
Still, did two new little benchmarks- warmed up by climbing 6a, 6a+, 6b without rests and did two 6cs which is a new post-accident indoor grade for me. Tried harder stuff too, including good progress on a 7a (green on the left of the Furnace for anyone interested) which would be a cool one to tick as I’ve never climbed any indoor route graded 7a or above in my life!
With no time pressures I had a long warmdown climbing every autobelay route 6a and below and doing technique drills from the Kettle book on the easiest routes. On the drive home it occurred to me that I could do the autobelay routes quicker if I worked them rather than climbing them ground up each time...
S- Rest. Rainpocalypse. Watched football on the telly.
S- Gym AM. Usual weights ‘n’ grunting. Up to 2x 90kg (1.5xBW) on the deadlift.
Walked to Stanage from Redmires in the evening- fastest I’ve done it since relearning to walk. Mad to hear waterfalls running behind the cracks!
Unfortunately my week off work coincided with the wettest windiest week in years. Felt like I trained well this week- totally rested before each session, didn’t rush any of it, really thought about what I was doing etc. So some positives.
The clock’s ticking to re-do Consenting before the 29th though. Still have Friday pencilled in for Malham
Pencil me in for this too Shark. :)
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Nice one Mike. That makes a 4 with Buster and Paul
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I have been working with Rick Ginns designing an ergonomic edge that allows you to have all your fingers at the same joint angle when hanging and to have your arms in a neutral hanging position.
It’s a really complicated shape that is hard to make. I think it’s a work of art. Props to Rick.
We’re on the second prototype and just down to deciding optimal edge depth/bevel now.
Cool, but will surely vary based on hand size and differences in individual finger length. Or is this minimal?
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I think that the differences with a similar device would anyway be less important than on a normal edge.
But what do I know about fingerboarding.
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M - nowt
T - lunch run. 6 km. Found the new underpass under the AWPR has a perfect sloping finger edge traverse! challenge accepted.
W - boulder session. feeling a bit jaded after comp, worked through most of the probs again, some i couldn't do that i did in the comp.
T - lunchtime yoga
F - lunch run. had a go at edge traverse, managed 2 "panels" awkward and pumpy.
S - long training run. Set out in rain and wind, and as i left town and got higher it turned to snow. Gloves soaked at this point, hands frozen so had to strip off gloves and make do with hands in sleeves. After that surprisingly OK, except for a few sections where i had a crosswind and snow in the face, or stopped for a snack. Managed 28km and strangely first long run where legs didn't feel totally burst at the end. Also got race vest for Marathon last week, all got a bit real. Feel free to donate! https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/chrisfryervmlm2019?fbclid=IwAR3ZteyM3LigSV9mIAldfjj29-iAjWp39eEXogW9uF0mid-HnhG5MENDmgk
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I think that the differences with a similar device would anyway be less important than on a normal edge.
But what do I know about fingerboarding.
Anything worth knowing :bow:
My assumption on its usefulness is that if a 90 degree bend in the joint is the best angle to train on (discuss!) then an ergonomically compatible hold will take away factors that might divert from hanging at your hardest.
Your forearm flexors don't know or care what shape the fingers are holding just load,duration and joint angle (probably). If the Ergo Edge helps to squeeze a bit more of load/duration then hopefully the training response will be improved. Also hopefully it will useful for those looking to do something a bit different if getting reduced gains from their current regime.
It is primarily designed for half crimp but also if training drag and full crimp the joint angles are also symmetrical.
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Cool, but will surely vary based on hand size and differences in individual finger length. Or is this minimal?
Seems to work OK for those who have used it so far. Would be good to get an average to base it on rather than my finger dimensions. Perhaps we could make custom versions for outliers like Tommy Caldwell.
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I will be interested to see the results of this. I can see your theory in terms of joint angle etc. but I'm curious about the transferability of having the fingers separated like this, when on a majority of holds on rock climbs your first three fingers (at least) are working together on relatively planar surfaces.
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Cool, but will surely vary based on hand size and differences in individual finger length. Or is this minimal?
Seems to work OK for those who have used it so far. Would be good to get an average to base it on rather than my finger dimensions. Perhaps we could make custom versions for outliers like Tommy Caldwell.
I suppose you could make it adjustable for the most common variation of finger length. I'd imagine pinky - ring being the greatest variation?
Does the Anderson fingerboard not already do the 'ergonomic' thing, by splitting the board and angling each part inwards?
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I will be interested to see the results of this. I can see your theory in terms of joint angle etc. but I'm curious about the transferability of having the fingers separated like this, when on a majority of holds on rock climbs your first three fingers (at least) are working together on relatively planar surfaces.
I agree and needs to be complemented with regular grip types. For my warm up I start with drag, half crimp, strict half crimp and full crimp on a regular edge.
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I suppose you could make it adjustable for the most common variation of finger length. I'd imagine pinky - ring being the greatest variation?
Maybe. The pinky is a weird one. Using it at 45 degrees on teh ergo edge feels very strange at first
Does the Anderson fingerboard not already do the 'ergonomic' thing, by splitting the board and angling each part inwards?
Dunno. Serpico was badgering Crusher to do that years ago. The angling of the holds was an afterthought for me. The main ergonomic advantage is the positioning for each fingertip
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M - Valley, pull ups and repeaters to warm up then Campusing on big and medium rungs mainly reps of 136 and 146 not all successful and all bit random. Ten reps of random max dead hangs to finish on various edges. Core work out to finish.
T - 15km on bike then 5km run
W - Valley, cold down stairs, struggled to warm up without climbing. Pull ups and repeaters to warm up then progressive set up to training load of 25kg then 2 blocks of 4 reps 8-10secs. Struggled but did seem to improve so maybe had not warmed up enough. Then did some random Campus board stuff followed by trying to climb the 55deg Beastmaker with just left foot. Core work out to finish. Tried rock shoe on right foot but too painful.
Th - Ran 5km in about 26mins
F - Gym, Bench press 65kg rep of 5. Seated Leg press worked up to 120kg. Pistol squats 5 sets of 3 reps.
Sat - Ran 5km and bike 5km. just not psyched.
Sun - Mountain biking with girlfriend and her mates. Legs were tired from Friday so up hills felt hard but did few more jumps which was cool.
A difficult week for more reasons than just the injury and lack of climbing. Work is just super depressing at the moment with redundancies and uncertainty about the future.
Anyway, it has been a tough week and I’m missing my happy place. Hope to cut down on the biscuits and wear rock boots again next week.
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I will be interested to see the results of this. I can see your theory in terms of joint angle etc. but I'm curious about the transferability of having the fingers separated like this, when on a majority of holds on rock climbs your first three fingers (at least) are working together on relatively planar surfaces.
I agree and needs to be complemented with regular grip types. For my warm up I start with drag, half crimp, strict half crimp and full crimp on a regular edge.
I find it a great idea, not only because I've been thinking about it for ages.
As for the above question, in my opinion it's a matter, as usual, of potential. That is, stronger fingers will perform better on different holds, than weaker fingers, ceteris paribus.
If normal fingerboarding leaves behind the ring and pinky, unfulfilling their strength potential, something gets lost.
With this device one can fully exploit each finger's potential, and that is a good thing, regardless of the application.
It's the very same thing about one armers and the famous "You'll never use a pure one armer on rock" argument.
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Yetix- maybe Dupetrens contracture? (Spelling prob wrong)
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As for the above question, in my opinion it's a matter, as usual, of potential. That is, stronger fingers will perform better on different holds, than weaker fingers, ceteris paribus.
How about “digitos paribus” as a catchy slogan.
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Yetix- maybe Dupetrens contracture? (Spelling prob wrong)
I wondered that, but I'm quite young to have it (turned 27 today) and most suggest it happens in the later 30s onwards?
If it is that, does it tend to impact climbing too much?
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Grip bantz aside, pretty crap / standard week for me.
Goal - 3 x Font 7as by end of year (current score = bit fat zero)
Better week for my pocket than my fingers / ticklist.
M: Worked from home, no time for lunchtime fingerboard session, then got the call from nursery that little boy had a bad stomach so had to go get him.
T: Binned off work and stayed home with Clem. On the plus side discovered that a) he liked watching Cheltenham on the TV ( "more horsey"!) and b) I landed £110 profit on the day at little or no risk thanks to various offers from the bookies. Had to work in the evening to make up for daytime absence. No training.
W: In office, but very much catching up after lost day so no lunchtime gym session. Bagged £180 profit, this time with a complete no-risk bet.
T: Off work again with Clem. No joy from horses, but only lost a fiver.
F: Packed Clem off to nursery but worked from home to be on safe side. No lunchtime fingerboard session as still chasing my tail. No winners at the races.
S: Nowt. Rained all day so stuck indoors for most of it.
S: Took advantage of daughter (aged 5)'s enthusiasm for a return to The Depot. Turns out this was short-lived. Got to see some actual UKB #strongdads there though. Did a bit myself, but hamstring / glute thing worse than ever.
One of those curveball "work around a problem" weeks where everything else has to go to the back of the queue. Have regrettably had to concede that my leg issues aren't just a "rest and it'll calm down" thing so trying to get in with physio to get it looked at.
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Yetix- maybe Dupetrens contracture? (Spelling prob wrong)
I wondered that, but I'm quite young to have it (turned 27 today) and most suggest it happens in the later 30s onwards?
I developed a similar lump in my left hand in my early twenties, a junior doctor friend suggested Dupytrens. So I went to the GP, who dismissed it as a skin callous and recommended sanding it off with a nail file :o . I recently started training hard again after a 10 year break and have developed an identical nodule in the palm of my right hand. It hasn't had any negative consequences so far, apart from a little discomfort when hanging off fat slopers.
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Yetix- maybe Dupetrens contracture? (Spelling prob wrong)
I wondered that, but I'm quite young to have it (turned 27 today) and most suggest it happens in the later 30s onwards?
If it is that, does it tend to impact climbing too much?
Happy Birthday Dan!
I have had tethering on my right hand since my early twenties (my dad had pretty bad dupuytren's). Never given me any real problems.
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Yetix- maybe Dupetrens contracture? (Spelling prob wrong)
I wondered that, but I'm quite young to have it (turned 27 today) and most suggest it happens in the later 30s onwards?
If it is that, does it tend to impact climbing too much?
About the age mine first appeared, but it took about 10 years of climbing with it before i realised it actually had a name (conversation on here about it made me aware of it!). Which I guess in part answers your question. I've just had a second one appear age 49, and they only really bother me if I am climbing steep ground on hand jugs, especially if the moves involve swinging to one side or the other, then it just causes discomfort on the skin.
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Work is just super depressing at the moment with redundancies and uncertainty about the future.
Snap. Told I'm "at risk" on Monday. Might be climbing full time come summer.
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If normal fingerboarding leaves behind the ring and pinky, unfulfilling their strength potential, something gets lost.
If you’re concerned about your little finger and ring finger not getting the required workout why not isolate them as recommended by the beastmaker chaps about a decade ago?
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Thanks Nick and thanks others for responses.
Nice to know it doesn't impact most people's climbing on here (if that's what it is)
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Perfect weather for indoors this week. I have been continuing my attempt to improve my power endurance, with some encouraging progression
M - Got on my 'mid term' endurance project and managed to take it down first go whilst fluffing the sequence at the start a bit. Equal parts surprised and enthusiastic, but with that characteristic bitter sweet tang of it not being quite as hard as I thought since it went down in only a few sessions and I didn't climb it efficiently. Found a version of it with a much harder exit into a 7A+ burly boulder where the crux is the last move, that will be very hard for me.
T - Rest. Light core & Elbow rehab exercises (which have become a point of fascination for my housemates as they want to try the ab roller and the elbow exercise).
W - Weak day indeed. Elbow felt pretty poor so I went light and just repeated a few things. Decided I needed a couple of days rest before the Indy comp.
T - Rest. Elbow rehab.
F - Rest. Elbow rehab. Initial pain from aggravation caused by the exercise starting to leave me now. I think it might actually be doing something.
S - Perfect weather for the Indy comp which meant that half of north wales seemed to turn out, fleeing the sideways drizzle. Absolutely fantastic day and I really found my psyche for climbing again. My elbow felt fine, and the setting made me realise how limited the style at my local wall is, with hard stuff being desperate short problems on tiny edges (partially my fault, as one of the setters, but also it's a tiny wall). Won a DMM hoodie in the raffle, get in.
S - Rest and elbow rehab. I am not used to huge moves between volumes, so I was brutally sore (though the hangover didn't help).
All in all, this was the week I wanted. Psyche is on an upwards trend, as is my elbow. I don't want to tempt fate, but I am hoping the next month or so will bring me back to full strength.
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As for the above question, in my opinion it's a matter, as usual, of potential. That is, stronger fingers will perform better on different holds, than weaker fingers, ceteris paribus.
How about “digitos paribus” as a catchy slogan.
It's "DIGITIS PARIBUS". Ablative. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
https://youtu.be/KAfKFKBlZbM (https://youtu.be/KAfKFKBlZbM)
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T - Rest. Elbow rehab.
Hi A, what elbow rehab do you do? I've recently got sore elbows again so would be interested to hear of your tips?
Thanks, Coops
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Thanks Nick and thanks others for responses.
Nice to know it doesn't impact most people's climbing on here (if that's what it is)
The Dupuytren's thread (https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,4609.0.html). A compilation of useful information and advice with some entertaining digressions as you'd expect here.
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If normal fingerboarding leaves behind the ring and pinky, unfulfilling their strength potential, something gets lost.
If you’re concerned about your little finger and ring finger not getting the required workout why not isolate them as recommended by the beastmaker chaps about a decade ago?
Easy, tiger. ;D
The main problem for me is the pinky.
I can train ring fingers well with front3 and back3 hangs. For the pinky, the real problem is not just the relative length of the fingers, but mainly the subsequent relative position of the joints.
For instance, my right pinky is one phalanx shorter than my right ring, and its DIP joint sits short of the ring's medial one.
So, when my ring is half crimped (MIP joint bent on the edge of the hold) my pinky is almost dragged (DIP joint on the edge of the hold). If you add some stretch my pinky ends up fully dragged.
In my left hand it's even worse because my pinky is even shorter.
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I can literally never think of a time when I have found isolated pinky strength was an issue. Obviously I have found my fingers have been too weak, but I thìnk this is best addressed by training hand positions you might actually find on rock. I can't see the advantage of training with such a contrived hand position to real rock
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T - Rest. Elbow rehab.
Hi A, what elbow rehab do you do? I've recently got sore elbows again so would be interested to hear of your tips?
Thanks, Coops
What kind of elbow pain? I would say the most common in climbers is some kind of tendonitis or tendonosis of the medial epicondyle (unfortunately I have the latter). There are a few other types, each which require a different set of exercises, but the philosophy is the same.
For medial epicondylitis/osis (golfers elbow) I put a small amount of weight on one end of a dumbbell and hold by the other end upright with my elbow resting on my knee with a 90 degree bend, rotate my wrist outwards till the dumbbell is parallel to the floor and back up. This will aggravate the injury, but that is essentially what you want in order to strengthen the pronator teres, which is the culprit for me. Weight should be low enough to get to 10 reps without feeling total limit but still being hard.
Like I say, it really depends what brand of elbow misery you have as to how to tackle it, so the first thing to do is work out where the issue lies and what is damaged. Julian Saunders is pretty good with this stuff, being a climbing physio, so he knows our pain. He is also entertaining in the no bullshit way he writes:
http://drjuliansaunders.com/dodgy-elbows/
Hope this helps!
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Thanks Nick and thanks others for responses.
Nice to know it doesn't impact most people's climbing on here (if that's what it is)
Bear in mid it can get worse though, Bonjoy had surgery, as has PoD. Apparently Glucosamine Sulphate can make it worse.
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Thanks Nick and thanks others for responses.
Nice to know it doesn't impact most people's climbing on here (if that's what it is)
Bear in mid it can get worse though, Bonjoy had surgery, as has PoD. Apparently Glucosamine Sulphate can make it worse.
Dad's hands were properly screwed with multiple operations, it was worse in his bowling hand and he always put it down to that! So my advise is, don't play cricket.
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Seems like it doesn't matter what you, it will still happen, it's just that in some activities it is more noticeable. There are improved surgical options these days
https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/dupuytrens_contracture_-_a_climbers_condition-1312
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T - Rest. Elbow rehab.
Hi A, what elbow rehab do you do? I've recently got sore elbows again so would be interested to hear of your tips?
Thanks, Coops
What kind of elbow pain? I would say the most common in climbers is some kind of tendonitis or tendonosis of the medial epicondyle (unfortunately I have the latter). There are a few other types, each which require a different set of exercises, but the philosophy is the same.
Ah cheers, yeah think it's tennis side. Will look at those!
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M - Mtb at Grenoside and Parkwood in Sheff
T- Depot eve, good session of the 50. Usual suspects and usual Palmer based problems, made up a few more problems to try.
W. Another trip to the Works for a motherboard session. Did a few more of the 7b+'s, cant remember the names. Then managed to do one of the 8a's (Fairy something?) without banging on about grades seemed like it was fairly soft but who knows.
F. Quick ride at the local trail at Adel
That's about it for this week, struggled with getting psyched not really sure why just not feeling it. ankle seems like it's starting to play up again which is just starting to frustrate me now more than 3 months on.
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Tue Mar 13
Climbing outdoors, Super Manjoc
6c
8b+ bolt to bolt
8b+ attempt, fell on last hard move, touching the jug
8b+ attempt, fell on last hard move, touching the jug. Should have done it. Flopped of with rh on intermediate.
8b+ attempt, fell on last hard move, barely touching the jug. Worst attempt of the three
Wed Mar 14
Hangboard
Due to flappers, only training front 3 in half crimp
-17kg 10s lh -17kg 10s rh
-13kg 10s (2-3s) lh -14kg 10s (0s) rh Much harder on right, even with lower load.
-13kg 10s (2s) lh -15kg 10s (0s) rh Still harder on right, might have blown it with previous set
-13kg 10s (2s) lh -17kg 10s (2s) rh
Thur Mar 15
Bouldering gym
Struggling to do anything for 2 hours. Did one the hard end of the white circuit. Was planning to do repeats on longer problems, but couldn’t find anything interesting and steep on the new set
Sat Mar 17
Climbing outdoors, Super Manjoc
6c
8b+ bolt to bolt
8b+ attempt, held the glory jug with the middle finger for a glorious second before falling off. Impossible to get closer without actually doing the route
8b+ attempt, fell two moves from top.
8b+ attempt. Barely got through the first half up to the midway rest. Ridiculously tired.
Should have done the route on the first go, then I rapidly lost all fitness. It’s been a long time since I haven’t been able to have more than one good go in a day.
Blaming high levels of pollen. I haven’t been this skinny in 15 years.
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Ah cheers, yeah think it's tennis side. Will look at those!
First thing I would recommend is to get a good sports massage to loosen up specifically forearms, but rest of arms plus shoulders. I think this was pivotal in my recovery. Then stretch forearms religiously, do the brachioradialis stretch in that Dr Saunders article. and regularly work the trigger points and rest of forearm with a foam roller.
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Ah cheers, yeah think it's tennis side. Will look at those!
First thing I would recommend is to get a good sports massage to loosen up specifically forearms, but rest of arms plus shoulders. I think this was pivotal in my recovery. Then stretch forearms religiously, do the brachioradialis stretch in that Dr Saunders article. and regularly work the trigger points and rest of forearm with a foam roller.
I’ve got this coops. Also have a look at fiends forearm thread (he’s got the same) happy to share more on how I’m managing mine when I’m back in the UK (and have some time)
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Ah cheers, yeah think it's tennis side. Will look at those!
First thing I would recommend is to get a good sports massage to loosen up specifically forearms, but rest of arms plus shoulders. I think this was pivotal in my recovery. Then stretch forearms religiously, do the brachioradialis stretch in that Dr Saunders article. and regularly work the trigger points and rest of forearm with a foam roller.
I’ve got this coops. Also have a look at fiends forearm thread (he’s got the same) happy to share more on how I’m managing mine when I’m back in the UK (and have some time)
I've had a nasty bout of tennis elbow, did all the things mentioned already but also bought an ergonomic mouse: https://amzn.to/2HHEw8s
A normal mouse leaves the hand slightly cocked upwards and seemed to irritate the elbow with constant slight strain. The new one is a considerable improvement. On the recommendation of my physio I got a tiny foam roller that is perfect for forearms:
https://amzn.to/2TOcFuO
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Cheers all, yeah just bought the foam roller and will look at the other points. Think (and hope) mine isn't chronic so a bit of this regular work should be enough.
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Ah cheers, yeah think it's tennis side. Will look at those!
First thing I would recommend is to get a good sports massage to loosen up specifically forearms, but rest of arms plus shoulders. I think this was pivotal in my recovery. Then stretch forearms religiously, do the brachioradialis stretch in that Dr Saunders article. and regularly work the trigger points and rest of forearm with a foam roller.
I’ve got this coops. Also have a look at fiends forearm thread (he’s got the same) happy to share more on how I’m managing mine when I’m back in the UK (and have some time)
Yeah I found this too. A really deep tissue massage (self administered and brutal) at the muscle bulb of the ME and down into the muscle belly of the forearm did a huge amount to reduce tension and relieve some soreness.
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Yeah I found this too. A really deep tissue massage (self administered and brutal) at the muscle bulb of the ME and down into the muscle belly of the forearm did a huge amount to reduce tension and relieve some soreness.
Completely anecdotal and non scientific but my elbows have been the best they've been in years (decades actually!) and the main change has been regular self administered massage round the elbow area and forearm. This has included a period where time off allowed me to significantly increase the amount of climbing I did.
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I would say the most common in climbers is some kind of tendonitis or tendonosis of the medial epicondyle (unfortunately I have the latter).
Apparently it's rarely one or the other, so tendinopathy describes a combination. So I've been told.
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I would say the most common in climbers is some kind of tendonitis or tendonosis of the medial epicondyle (unfortunately I have the latter).
Apparently it's rarely one or the other, so tendinopathy describes a combination. So I've been told.
I partially agree. Tendonosis tends to follow prolonged tendonitis, and people don't usually pack the activity in altogether when they develop it, so they end up with both acute inflammation and chronic degeneration.
However, tendonitis commonly presents without tendonosis, but it's transient enough that people don't complain about it or seek specialist opinion unless it develops into tendonosis.