Breach A Newfoundland Climbing Film

Just in case you have not been around the gym, Trevor is showing his climbing film at the university this Saturday night. You can get tickets at Wallnuts, Booster Juice and The Outfitters.

Preview!

As a side note, an orthopedic surgeon saw the add in a Booster Juice. He noticed that I was going to be in the film. I took a bit of heat for that one!!!!

Climbing with Paul

I went to the gym last night to climb. I figured I would catch-up with someone. I called Bob just before I left, he was too busy dealing with an H1N1 variant to climb and Kim wasn't home.

When I arrived at the gym, I found Paul was solo and was looking for a catch. I have known Paul for years but have never tied in with him. We travel in different circles and have different climbing goals. I would never expect to see Paul at 5am ready to go to Manuels and I never make it to Flat Rock during normal waking hours.

We worked our respective projects and had a good bit of fun. Each time one of us went up we would take a whipper. Paul's were only slightly more dramatic than mine because he was falling where he was skipping a clip. It was all good.

Paul was a great guy to tie in with for a number of reasons. The obvious was the beta he gave me and the solid catches. Excellent attitude with an absence of climbing spray. We talked about training and developing in our beloved Newfoundland. I think he may have more plans for routes around here than I do.

Thanks for the catch.

An Object

"An object at rest tends to stay at rest. An object in motion tends to stay in motion." That pretty much describes life since Christmas...you know back in 2009.

The climbing blog has been at rest, and when you haven't posted in a while, it is very easy to put it off. The outdoor climbing scene is in hibernation and not likely to wake for several months. I could write about training but hell, a lot of people are training at the gym, doing the same stuff I am doing. When I think about climbing program Leo has us on I just kinda whimper and find my 'happy place'.

The motion part of my life has been all at work. I won't bore you the details of passing gas for a living but that and teaching has kept me very busy. Things should start to settle a bit now.

Look at the bright side...days are getting longer, winter is half over and Trevor's film will be hitting the 'big' screen in a little over a month.

PS...Is 2 drills better than 1 (future developing in mind)?

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.

6 Simple Rules

Once again, it is training time. Leo is about to start up the adult training night (adult as in old people not bumping uglies in harnesses) and the indoor 'season' is to start in earnest. For what ever reason, I end up trying to develop a training schedule to complement what Leo is going to do.

There are some basic rules to follow when taking on such an enterprise. Some are just stupid easy and other are a little more convoluted.

Stupid Rules:

1. Climb More Some people can't figure out why they can't break a plateau. They have been climbing 5.9 for a year and can't get beyond it. The problem is that they climb once or twice per week. That is enough to maintain but not improve. Most of us should be training 3-4 times per week.
2. De-Chub I know it is ugly, not politically correct or whatever, but weight and gravity don't mix. You ever try doing pull-ups with added weight maybe 10 or 20 pounds. It makes a huge difference. You can only get 3 or 4 when you could usually get 10 to 15. It works in the opposite direction! Plus it is a hell of a lot easier to loose weight than gain strength. Not all of you can de-chub because you are already too damn skinny. If you can pinch more than an inch, think about weight loss strategies.
3. Try Harder Obvious?...or not. Most people at the gym go in and warm up on some easy stuff. Jump on their project after chatting awhile. Lay down on the mats while watching some one try to send then maybe another route. Pretty half-assed. Time is precious, use your climbing session as a work out not a social networking opportunity. Go in with a plan and come out sweating and burning.

Convoluted Rules

1. Rest Better What the f....? What is resting better? When you are training hard, you are physically breaking down tissues and using up energy stores. If you don't allow time for repair and replenishment, you begin to push a starved body. That when you get injured or stop seeing training gains. Your body rebuilds itself as you sleep, repairing muscle strains, restoring glycogen and a bunch of other things your body needs. So...rest at least 24 hours between training sessions longer if it was an intense session or you are working power. Get 8 hours of sleep a night (don't burn the candle at both ends). Have protein before going to bed. All that repair and restoration is done much better if the nutrients are readily available.
2. Train Smarter Learn about periodization training. I will not try to explain this now. I have in the past and it is documented in many places. But it does make you have a schedule and a plan to follow. If you have a half-assed approach to training you get half-assed results.
3. Paradigm Shift It is time to change your whole word, or at least the way you think about it. The power of the mind is incredible and frequently under-estimated. The mental game in climbing is huge but it is also big with training. You ever jump on a climb for a possible flash ascent. It is hard and crimpy, stiffer than what you expected but do-able. You might have even fallen once or twice but you come down thinking next time it is mine. Then you check the board...oh shit! You tried the wrong route and the one you almost flashed is 2 grades harder than your usual redpoint. AWESOME. This happened because you thought you should be able to climb this, it is within your range, when it actually is the hardest thing you ever jumped on. Your mind set was that you were going to climb well, so you did. To train harder, we all need to loose the paradigm we have of ourselves and jump on everything. Having a positive attitude is important as well. The Rock Warriors Way is a great read into the mental working of rock climbing.

Wholly Shit! Talk about a tangent. I was going to post what I developed for a training schedule and all I did was go on about some rules. Well that 'OK' the real training starts on Sunday. See ya there!

Wall of Possibilities

Bob is pathetic! Almost as pathetic as me. Last month, he took it upon himself to go bushwacking around the German Face and the Upper Faces. With no leaves on the trees he was able to get a much better look at the rocks. He was like a kid in a candy store telling me about all the possibilities.

Bob actually named this photo as the Wall of Possibilities, but I think the name will stick to the wall.

This is the left side of the upper faces. The notch in the trees at the right of the picture unveils the 'roof' I can't wait to get to (see prev posts). That dead vertical face continues for about another 100 meters (roughly). The lines will vary in height from 40 to 80 feet and they look pretty clean. One nice thing about shorter faces is that they are quicker to bolt.

Great Response

This picture was taken in late August. Bob and I were pretty amazed by this. Most climbers looking at this would think that it looks just like any other belay area at the base of a wall. And I guess it is. The reason that it kinda freaks me out is that 3 months prior to this picture, no one had climbed on this face. We cleaned up the base, trimmed the trees and such, but without a lot of travel, it starts getting overgrown fairly quick. Having such a well developed base testifies to how much this wall is getting used...awesome!

Bob and I are kinda conflicted about next summer. There are 2 area's that we want to look at next (German Face is played out). Noobie Squeeze is a trad area about 300 meters before German Face. You pass under it on the way. There are a couple of routes we want to solidify with some bolts and a lot of potential. One is a small but severely overhanging face which I have been staring for a couple of years. The other is a section of rock that starts vertical and slowly becomes overhung, it kinda looks like a wave.

The other area is starting the upper faces. There is the roof that I am somewhat obsessed with and numerous vertical faces just waiting. Bob is looking to get a drill so we should be able to double our productivity. (7 routes this year...14 plus next?). As well, Matt, Trevor and Paul have a new drill. They might be able to tear themselves away from Flat Rock to set a route or two inland. We will see?!?