Well went out to Stathams Quarry today, only did a few climbs,
Blah Blah Blah (16)
Kid Rock (17)
Hipster Crack (15)
I also did Mount Everest on top rope, but really my lead head wasn't there and I felt like an easy day as my wrist is still not comfortable under weight. Writing it down it looks like a mediocre session given I was there for 5hrs or so, but we did have some beginners and lots of socialising. Time to pull my finger out...
Jan 24, 2010
Jan 23, 2010
Fingerboarding
Well I finally went and bought a fingerboard. After looking around I decided to buy something other than the Metolious range, mostly because these have huge jugs that I know I can hang off and would not be inclined to try the smaller holds. Instead I decided on a Moon hangboard, these are marketed at intermediate/advanced climbers and honestly they re not wrong.
The board itself is great and after an hour putting it up (stupid wood is freaking hard) I managed to get onto it for the first time. First impressions are it's hard! All holds are 1-1.5 finger bads deep, I can hang off the 2 largest holds but need support on the smaller more crimpy holds. I'm thinking my contact strength is way below what it should be given, this will not make my wife happy as she thinks I have a strong enough grip already. Unfortunately I had to mount the board lower than I would of liked, but it is still very useable.
My goal was to be able to do the sample workout as listed on moonclimbing.com which is reproduced below.
1. Double armed dead hang on front three fingers open handed. (hold 5)
Hang for 6 seconds, repeat three hangs resting 2 minutes between each.
2. Double armed dead hang on middle two fingers open handed. (hold 5)
Hang for 6 seconds, repeat 2 times resting 1.5 minutes between each.
3. Hang open handed on three fingers on one arm, decrease resistance as required until hang can be completed. (hold 2 or 5)
Hang for 6 seconds, repeat 3 sets for each arm, resting one minute between hangs on alternative arms.
Rest 5 minutes.
4. Double armed hang on full crimp position, on a first joint edge. (hold 1 or 5)
Hang for 6 seconds, repeat three hangs resting 1.5 minutes between each.
5. Double armed hang on full crimp, this time slightly smaller than the last set, i.e., _ of the the finger tip. (hold 3 or 4)
Hang for 6 seconds, repeat three hangs resting 1.5 minutes between each.
6. Single arm hang on 1st joint edge, decrease resistance if required until hang can be completed. ( hold 1, 5, or 4 depending on level)
Hang for 6 seconds, repeat 3 sets for each arm, resting one minute between hangs on alternative arms.
Rest 5-8 minutes (and prepare for some arm and body work!)
A. Single arm lock off at 90 degrees see pics. If required use the assistance of a bungee cord or pulley system. Try to stay as open as possible rather than twisting your body in to lock off. (hold 1 or 5)
Lock off for between 8 and 10 seconds. 3 reps for each arm, resting 2 minutes between each rep.
B. One armed pull ups, again assistance may be required using a bungee cord or a pulley system.(see video here). (hold 1)
Keeping your body as open as possible Try to complete 2 one armed pull ups for each set and complete 2 sets for each arm.
C. Leg lifts/ Front levers. Depending on your ability either do front levers or leg lifts. (hold 1)
If doing front levers, complete three sets of front levers holding each set for 5 to 8 seconds. If doing leg lifts complete three sets of leg lifts. For each set lift legs up to chest level 6 times.
It is going to take me awhile to get to that level so instead I'm going to aim for repeaters. Essentially it involves hanging off a hold for a period of time then reducing the hold size and period so for example 5 seconds on a #1, 3 seconds on #2 etc etc. Unfortunately until I get some more strength its going to limit holds I can use but that is what it's all about, improvement.
Tomorrow I'm off to Stathams Quarry for the afternoon, hopefully I'll be climbing well.
The board itself is great and after an hour putting it up (stupid wood is freaking hard) I managed to get onto it for the first time. First impressions are it's hard! All holds are 1-1.5 finger bads deep, I can hang off the 2 largest holds but need support on the smaller more crimpy holds. I'm thinking my contact strength is way below what it should be given, this will not make my wife happy as she thinks I have a strong enough grip already. Unfortunately I had to mount the board lower than I would of liked, but it is still very useable.
My goal was to be able to do the sample workout as listed on moonclimbing.com which is reproduced below.
1. Double armed dead hang on front three fingers open handed. (hold 5)
Hang for 6 seconds, repeat three hangs resting 2 minutes between each.
2. Double armed dead hang on middle two fingers open handed. (hold 5)
Hang for 6 seconds, repeat 2 times resting 1.5 minutes between each.
3. Hang open handed on three fingers on one arm, decrease resistance as required until hang can be completed. (hold 2 or 5)
Hang for 6 seconds, repeat 3 sets for each arm, resting one minute between hangs on alternative arms.
Rest 5 minutes.
4. Double armed hang on full crimp position, on a first joint edge. (hold 1 or 5)
Hang for 6 seconds, repeat three hangs resting 1.5 minutes between each.
5. Double armed hang on full crimp, this time slightly smaller than the last set, i.e., _ of the the finger tip. (hold 3 or 4)
Hang for 6 seconds, repeat three hangs resting 1.5 minutes between each.
6. Single arm hang on 1st joint edge, decrease resistance if required until hang can be completed. ( hold 1, 5, or 4 depending on level)
Hang for 6 seconds, repeat 3 sets for each arm, resting one minute between hangs on alternative arms.
Rest 5-8 minutes (and prepare for some arm and body work!)
A. Single arm lock off at 90 degrees see pics. If required use the assistance of a bungee cord or pulley system. Try to stay as open as possible rather than twisting your body in to lock off. (hold 1 or 5)
Lock off for between 8 and 10 seconds. 3 reps for each arm, resting 2 minutes between each rep.
B. One armed pull ups, again assistance may be required using a bungee cord or a pulley system.(see video here). (hold 1)
Keeping your body as open as possible Try to complete 2 one armed pull ups for each set and complete 2 sets for each arm.
C. Leg lifts/ Front levers. Depending on your ability either do front levers or leg lifts. (hold 1)
If doing front levers, complete three sets of front levers holding each set for 5 to 8 seconds. If doing leg lifts complete three sets of leg lifts. For each set lift legs up to chest level 6 times.
It is going to take me awhile to get to that level so instead I'm going to aim for repeaters. Essentially it involves hanging off a hold for a period of time then reducing the hold size and period so for example 5 seconds on a #1, 3 seconds on #2 etc etc. Unfortunately until I get some more strength its going to limit holds I can use but that is what it's all about, improvement.
Tomorrow I'm off to Stathams Quarry for the afternoon, hopefully I'll be climbing well.
Jan 21, 2010
Nutrition
Nutrition is always talked about and for the most part is ignored by most people as it is hard to stick with, not to mention figure out. The issue with nutrition is that information varies and quiet often conflicts depending on the source. sport nutrition can be even more vague particularly when looking at the breakdown of intake. Although not strictly related to climbing I'm looking at it due to wanting to improve my climbing ability.
I'm about to embark on a journey into nutrition for climbing to see if it helps my climbing and if I can loose the belly fat that seems to be hanging around. After much research I've balanced out the intake requirements that I'll be aiming for;
- 15% Fat
- 65% Carbs
- 20% Protein
Depending on the sources the above figures vary up to 10%. Along with this I'm aiming to cut down on some other things for example caffinated drinks (I've been addicted to the stuff for as long as I can remember. I also plan to reduce my Sodium intake to less than 2000mg, apparently the ideal is approximately 1600mg but given processed food is still on the menu this will be hard. Water intake will also be improved, I normally aim for 1.5L of water a day, this gives me a little more than the recommended 8 cups of water, the issue is I am at present riding about 10km+ on weekdays, kendo once or twice a week (1.5hrs a session) and climbing 2-3 times a week (1-2hr sessions). I really should be drinking 2-3L a day.
This is really just a target for me to attain, the hard parts will be removing the caffiene and reducing the amount of crap I eat on a daily basis. I'm also curious to see the effect this will have on my climbing. I'll adjust the targets in a few months after trying to get everything in line.
Jan 18, 2010
It occurred to me...
It occurred to me that in todays modern age we all want results fast, this makes things interesting particularly when we are trying to achieve things out of the ordinary. It also means that we often give up even though progress is being made toward the end goal.
Last year I decided to start taking climbing seriously, get down to the gym atleast twice a week and out on real rock atleast once a week. For the most part this went well not counting the fall and recovery period. Toward the end of December up until now I have simply been lazy climbing sporadically and not really acheiving much. My goal this year is to start tracking what I'm doing to improve and to track the improvement.
As part of this I need to set some goals, this year I am being fairly optemistic with my goal setting;
- Do a trad course and improve so I can confidently lead trad routes.
- Climb my first grade 21, this will most likely be Real Life Ambition.
- By the end of the year climb my first 22.
- Climb in at least 2 places I have not climbed before.
number's 1 and 2 are fairly straightforward goals and should be attainable before winter so these are the short/mid term goals. Numbers 3 and 4 are more of long term goals. Well enough dribble lets see how things progress.
Climb On.
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