A Couple of Classic Flat Rock Routes

I was asked if I had any pics of classic routes at Flack Rock. I spent the better part of the climbing season bushwacking and drilling holes. I didn't get to Flat Rock too often.

One is of Jay climbing Jacob's Ladder (5.10b) which is right beside Drop the Mental (p1 5.9). The other is of Sue climbing Candy (5.7) with Hakuna Matata in the background.

If you have a good photo of a classic at Flat Rock, send it to me and I can post it.

Bonus Points

Well Kaleb...what route

How COULD you!

One of those random movies someone was watching on the home page of YouTube. Jayce asked me why I was laughing so much. I couldn't let him watch.

Under-estimation

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Okay B!tch

This is a very distinctive route. There is no bloody way Kaleb should be able to get it!

Kaleb...You Rock

This is Jay at the beginning of the route. He is well in on the ledge of UV Ray. It is bolted and I don't Jay would be straining that hard than on anything less than a hard 5.10.

Moving on up 5.11a.

Challenge 2

Okay, Devil's Bay was too easy. This one is closer to home. What route is Jay climbing on?

Too Obvious

A little too obvious I guess. This is Devil's Bay, a well known big wall on the south coast.

I will have to get more inventive!

Guess Where

I thought this photo was really cool. In the foreground is a climber, but above him are two other climbers. When you realize the distance between them, roughly a pitch each, the wall must be huge...and overhung!

Any idea's where this is? Post to the comments.

Wrecked!

Did the climbing session with Leo last night. Nasty!
Started with a 30 min warmup and then into 20 min of near continuous climbing. This was followed by a 'posture' circuit for 30 min. This was 10 min of Hangboard, 10 min of core and 10 min of pull-ups. THEN we did 30 minutes of continuous climbing. I had a hard time opening a carton of milk this morning.

Week 1 Training with Leo

Leo has allowed me to record some of the material he provides during his "Adult Training Sessions" at Wallnuts Climbing Center. We just started this last Sunday night. It runs from 8 to 11pm. The video is his introduction to the course and what to expect. Each week we are given a workout to follow for training. He says to repeat this workout for each climbing session this week (3-4 total).

The work out was:

Warm-up

30 mins of easy climbing, 'perfect climbing' or 'tap tap'.

Endurance

10 to 20 mins of continuous climbing (ie up and down climbing with no rest).

Postural Training (Antagonist)

3 Circuits of

1. Rings- push-up positon and stablize.
2. Abs- Core posture progression.
3. Forearms- Reverse wrist curls.
4. Rotator Cuff- External Rotations

Stretch

High Sea's at Main Facce

This is a picture of Main Face with high sea's. It is taken roughly from UV Ray area. You can see the rock shelf causing the waves to break. The splash from the wave easily reaches the 80 foot mark. That is about the height of Yellow Fever. In fact I think you can see spray at the level of the belay ledge of Yellow Fever (at the corner). No wonder the boulders at the base of the climbs are moved every spring!

Time to Get Ripped

The sessions begin tonight. We all got the email from Leo concerning the Adult Training. The time to get serious is now!

Judging from previous years, Leo is going to lay out a general training schedule. It will include 3 or 4 climbing sessions per week. It will be periodized through the 16 weeks. The Sunday night sessions should be challenging...Awesome.

I have done a lot of reading around training for climbing and I sort of incorporate what Leo does into my own schedule. I have been waiting for this Sunday to begin a new training cycle. SO here it is, my proposed training schedule (in an ideal world).

Basic concepts

1. Climb 3-4 times per week.
2. Sport specific training 2 times per week.
3. Antagonistic training 2 times per week.
4. Aerobic training 2-4 times per week.

Basic Week.

Sunday: Adult Training Session at Wallnuts.

Monday: Aerobic Training and Antagonist Workout

• Running for 20 minutes on Treadmill (Interval Training)
• ChestPress: 4 sets of 6-8 reps with 1 minute rest between sets
• Incline Press: 3 sets of 8-10 reps with 1 min rest
• Chest Circuit: 2 Circuits with a 1 min rest between.
• 1 Circuit= 12-15 Flat Flyes - Max Decline Push-up - Max of regular Push-up.
• Shoulder Press: 3 sets of 6-8 reps with 1 min rest between.
• Upright Row: 3 sets of 8-10 reps with 1 min rest.
• Laying Tricept Extension: 3 sets of 8-10 with one min rest.

Tuesday: Climbing Session and Core

Wednesday AM (5:30): Aerobic and Antagonist (same as mon)

Wednesday PM (8:00): Climbing and Sport Specific Training (Hangboard)

Thursday: Heavy Aerobic (40 min) and Sport Specific (Back, Bicepts and Core).

• Lat Pull-down or Weighted Pull-ups: 4 sets 6-8 reps with 1 min rest
• Seated Row or Bent-over Row: 4 sets 8-10 reps with 1 min rest
• Barbell Curls: 4 sets of 8-10 reps with 1 min rest.
• Core

Friday: Climbing and Hangboard.

Saturday: Off

I come across good workouts now and again and I will post them. I will list them as a climbing workout, sport specific workout, antagonist workout or an aerobic work out. Your week may look entirely different than mine. I usually use an aerobic workout to warmup for a weight workout. Never run or do sport specific training before climbing, you waste your energy.

Comment: 6 Rules

Trevor posted a comment to the "Rules" that I would like to share.

Apart from your protein shake. Do NOT... I repeat, do NOT snack before bedtime. That's a hard one to do but it's quite important.

Question: Does running during rest days not make it a rest day anymore? i mean, you're essentially working different muscles (apart from your heart)

Any suggestions for someone who works sporadically from 4~12 when the gym is open? That works great in the summer so I can get the hell outside, but not so much in the winter. Perhaps I should beg for keys to go along with my membership, lol.

A rest day is a day that you are not doing climbing related training. I train for climbing 4 times per week; Sunday night, Tuesday morning, Wednesday night and Friday morning. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings I train my antagonists, core and aerobic capacity (ie-weight loss). The only day I really take off is Saturday but I still consider Monday and Thursday rest days from climbing.

You are looking for suggestions for training without a gym. The smart ass in me wants to say "Build your own...I did!". I had the same problem, busy at home and work and I new I needed more climbing than 2 times per week. Climbing at home fixed that problem. I built a woody in the garage and I can train there twice per week. I know what you are going to say..."Well, you have a really BIG woody. I couldn't possibly hope to have a woody as big as yours." Putting your insecurities aside, you don't need a huge climbing surface. You can make a climbing panel, 4'x8' or 4'x10', very easily for about 200$. Then get a 'wall in a box' from Metolius via MEC and you can fill the surface with holds. Create a system wall which can provide a killer work out.

You can build a frame for the panel so it is free standing and portable. When I made my first one, I used 3/8 eye screws, placed them at the 7 foot point of the 8 foot panel on the back in the studs. At the same height, I placed eye screws into the wall studs of the garage and fed a static line back and forth the eye screws to make it adjustable. You could set a problem and make it harder just by making it steeper.

The other options are hangboards and rock rings but make sure you warm-up well.