Hangin' On (session 3)

I still haven't managed to get a hangboard session in on the correct day. Was supposed to have done this workout yesterday, but just wasn't feelin' it. Worked out just fine: had a really good sesh of it; but i'd'a' like to have seen what she feels like to do the workouts 3 days apart 'stead o' 4. Next time p'r'aps.

Set 1: Warm up jug: -10#  No change here. Easy.

Set 2: F 2,3,4 2-pad pocket: -30#  This was a 5# increase (up from -35#). No fail, still felt easy. Could still go heavier next time.

Set 3: Medium edge (semi-closed): -30#  Again, hard, but didn't fail. Might try -25# next time.

Set 4: Medium pinch: -30#  Added weight this time from -25#. Hard but no fail. Stick with that one more session, then back to -25#.

Set 5: F 3,4 2-pad pocket: -45#  Failed at the very hairy end of the last rep. Very hard. Felt 'bout right.

Set 6: Large open hand edge: -10#  This time i moved outward to 3rd finger on middle dimple top edge. Harder but no fail.

Set 7: Wide pinch: -40#  Failed toward the middle of the last 3 reps. Very painful on the skin at the 4th MCP. Tape better next time. Otherwise 'bout right.

Set 8: Sloper: -15#  Easy 'til the chalk wore off.

Set 9: F 3,4,5 2-pad pocket: -40#  Hardish, but no fail. Taped my pinkies better this time, and it helped.

Overall good workout. Still have some weights to dial, but this was a lot closer. Man, i only thought deadlifts were mental. Talking meself outta putting a toe down on the ground with 2ish seconds left in the rep and i can feel my skin tearing or slipping--- that's mental.

Mulligan (Wk 6ish)

After taking just over a week between my first two hangboard workouts, i'm calling a redo. I've gotten off track and schedule, but i'm gunna go ahead and not care. I was planning to post up about how lazy and low i've sunk in order to inspire me to get back to work; but instead i dragged me out to the barn and worked out.

Got my new hangboard up, and worked out on it tonight. Really good workout, and i'm actually psyched to hit it even harder. Got a timer for my phone that doesn't suck, and i tweaked the pulleys, and that went a long way toward alleviating the irritation factor. Also, i actually wrote on my workout during the rests, which is something i haven't done in years, and it kinda rocked. I'm gunna do that every time, methinks. That's really the reason i set up this blog and the other.

Right then-- the workout:

Set 1: warm up jug: -10#: Just fine

Set 2: F2,3,4 2-pad pocket: -35#: Didn't feel too hard. Coulda gone a li'l heavier.

Set 3: Medium edge (semi-closed): -30#: This was hard, but i got 'em all.

Set 4: Medium pinch: -25#: Very hard. Failed on the last 2 sets.

Set 5: F3,4 2-pad pocket: -35#: Massive fail. Need to take off more weight. Also i think my tape was slipping off.

Set 6: Large open hand edge: -10#: No fail, but hard at the end.

Set 7: Wide pinch: -30# for r1-3, then -35#: Massive fail. Take off 40# next time.

Set 8: Sloper: -15#: Hard. Failed on last rep.

Set 9: F3,4,5 2-pad pocket: -40#: No fail, but hard. Pinkies hurt. Needed tape.

Of note, i didn't count the weight of my hanging pin for the weights. Probably weighs another 5ish #. Going to take a few more sessions to get my weights dialed, but this was a happy workout.

Week 5 (hangboard wk 1)

So far this has not gone well. Was supposed to do my first hangboard workout last saturday, but i didn't get to. Did the first one on Tues, which shoulda been workout #2. Was supposed to do the third (or, in the case of having skipped the first, the second) workout yesterday; but i didn't. No time, minimal energy, and nowhere to warm up. This'll happen, but i might stretch it out an extra week to get all the workouts in. Based on the singular HB workout i've squeezed in so far, i  'spect this'll by far be the game-changing phase for me. Tuesday's workout destroyed my hands. Friggin' nuclear meltdown. Lemme see if i can accurately(ish) recount said for posterity.

The workout is 9 sets (each set being a different grip) of 6 reps. Each rep is a 10 sec hang with 5 secs' rest between--so there's really no time to rechalk or shake much between reps. 3 mins' rest between sets. Supposed to take weight off me with pulleys as needed in order to barely be able to finish each set.  I fully accomplished the barely-completing-each-set bit, but i definitely need to dial the weights i'm using. Fingers 2-4 are used (thumb not included), and i'll number 'em thus when needed for ease.

Set 1: warm up jug ---Got all these, BW

Set 2: F 2,3,4 2-pad pocket ---Think i took 35# off, and these were still sad.

Set 3: Medium edge (semi closed) ---Think i took 10 off for these, and it wain't enough: fail

Set 4: Medium pinch --- BW. Using the SoIll ironpalm for this, and it's not a good pinch. Got em though

Set 5: F 3,4 pocket --- Took off the 35# again. Not enough. Suck-ed

Set 6: Large open-hand edge --- Don't think i took weight off for these. The edge on my board needs sanding, and these took some flesh off

Set 7: Wide pinch --- Again on the IronPalm: Not a good pinch. Got em

Set 8: Sloper --- used the Metolius Similator. I think i thought i could get these without weight off, and i ended up failing before the end.

Set 9: F 3,4,5 pocket --- took off 35# or so. Hating life through these.


Main take-aways here: 1) i've already ordered a Trango RP board. It kinda amazes me that i have maybe 5 hangboards to select from, and i can't really find the appropriate holds for some basic hanging among them.
2) i gotta dial my weights in a bit better. This will be much easier when i can do my whole workout on one board instead of toggling, cuz i won't have to jack with my pulley system as much during rest intervals. 3) i gotta come up with a more efficient way of warming up. Had a huge lag time between the gym and my boards for this session, and that's not so bueno. Hopefully i'll have time to get some usable routes up on the Moon Wall.

And i hafta do this more often. i can see how this is the stuff that strong climbers are made from.

Week 4 and a tri

i managed to fail on Thursday's enduro work. Went in to do my 2 30min sets of ARCing and got sucked into a bouldering session with a friend. Would have rather done the ARCing, but it was a fun break. i'm not gunna beat me up too bad for the sidestep.

So then i get a call on friday to do a sprint triathlon with a friend. 500y swim, 13mi bike, and 5K run. Hadn't been on a bike with any seriousness since last summer (and that was mountain biking), hadn't run even once since last October, and hadn't swam for 2+ years, so my expectations were low. He roped me in cuz he was doing it on a mt bike with only platform pedals; so i figured i wouldn't be alone off the podium.

But i ended up doing very very respectably: Got a 1:23:30ish overall.

Hair over 8mins on the swim, and i was just hoping i could stay in the vicinity of 10mins. So i averaged just over 48 sec 50s.  Very respectable for an elderly fat guy.

The bike truly shocked me, and made me glow. 13 miles, and i got it in 29mins and change. And i got stopped at the beginning waiting on a train, which tacked at least a minute onto my time. So i averaged somewhere around 27mph on the bike, and my rear derailleur was jacked and stuck. i mean, to put it into perspective, i was hoping (without knowing the course) that i could average around 20mph. Thirteen miles is over 20K (i.e. 12.4mi) and a fast time--even for the hardcore--for a 40K is breaking an hour; so i was on pace for a career highlight ride on no training at all. I'm gonna conjecture that the Lord nudged me up some of the hills with a fairly stiff tailwind. And i'm thankful.

The run went pretty much according to expectation. I was figuring on 10min miles, and i got it in just under 30mins. So i did do better than 10min miles, but only just.

At any rate, i was so flippin' ecstatic with how that went that i want to actually maybe train for tri again, and do some more soon. I can't help but feel like i coulda actually grabbed some podium if i'd have trained even a li'l bit within the last two years. Vamos a ver.

Week 4 day 2

Made it through the second of the long back-to-back ARC seshes. And that went just swimmingly. Except that some kid was determined to make me fall off  the wall, and at one point actually put his hand in my chalk bag. i just looked over at his mom, who stared on in abject complacency, and i continued climbing after asking him to please not do that. Freak.

Then he came up later and let me know that it was probably about time to clip my toenails.

Nevertheless, i did 3 sets of 30 mins on the Olde Wall with 10 mins rest or less between. Tomorrow's just two sets. There's a light at the end of the tunnel.

Week 3 and 1/3 of week 4

Didn't get to post last week. Just no time, or motivation or such.

Got in 3 days (Tues, Wed, and Thurs) of ARCing last week (wk 3) with 3 sets of 25mins on Tues and Wed, and 2 sets of 25 mins on Thurs. Also got in a short mountain bike ride before climbing on Thurs.

Did end up somehow hurting my thumb, but i don't know how. Still kinda feeling that, but it seems to be healing.

Once again, i didn't manage to get in any outdoor routes over the weekend. But i can live with that-- my hands still feel like ground sausage.

Today i got in the first ARCing of week 4: three sets of 30 mins with about 10 mins rest between. And now i'm hurting. But i made it through, and i feel good about that.

Got the same coming up tomorrow, and 2 sets of 30 mins on Thurs. If i make it through this week, i shall feel i've built some real character. And i believe i have my first proper hangboard workout coming up at the end of the week. Kinda looking forward to that.

Aaaand week 2

Did get in 2 sets of 30 mins' ARCing yesterday, with about 10 mins rest between. That was encouraging. Actually felt good; and that was surprising after how dull and detached and wasted i felt on Tues. Gives me hope that this thang could look up. Actually felt way stronger than usual. Even got done and went and did some quick pullups, dips, and tire flippin'.

Haven't got in any outdoor mileage this week, and that's not looking to improve o'er the weekend. But these next two weeks are looking to be brutal, workout-wise. And my work schedule should reduce to normal again. So i'm not too bent outta shape. Making progress. Making progress. Making progress.

Into week 2

Yeah, this week is < fun. No time. Did manage to get in the ARC workout yesterday. 2 sets of 30mins with about 10mins o' rest between. Did not feel particularly strong. Didn't climb at all over the weekend, so i was hoping to at least be very well rested, but i really felt like dropping off the wall after about 5 mins of the first set. But i made it through. Got another of the same (2 x 30mins) tomorrow.

Tired of this week. But i do like the ARC seshes. Pretty relaxing, as far as sucking wind and sweating like a beaten race horse goes. And i am grabbing stuff and yarding on it--even tired--that i wouldn't have given any serious thought to a few weeks ago.

Week one

ARCin' today: Plan called for 2 sets of 25mins, and i did 2 sets of 30 mins with maybe 5 or so mins between. Went in a li'l early to get it all in, and was hoping for an iron workout, but i still was racing to work. No iron. Just climbing. But it sho did feel better than last week. i can believe i might just see some big gains from this enduro work.

Rest

Went in to the klettergym yesterday afternoon for some routes. Did a nice long traverse warmup, found a friend and threw down a 5.9ish warmup, then started workin' a proj. Got another friend in on the action, and we started working 'er properly. I finally got the send on about the fourth burn, which felt very very terribly awfully good.

I'm not good at rating that sort of climb. Short (25-30'), very thin balancy start to a very good shake out, to a v4/5 boulder crux. I'd guess it's conservatively 11c/d, but i ain't sure.

At any rate, i hauled a lofty percentage of my lard up on a slopey, half-pad right hand pinch more times than i can remember whilst unlocking the sequence, and that made for a pretty fine day o' climbing--2 routes in total notwithstanding.

Tomorrow it's s'posed to be another ARCing day. And maybe some weights.

Start Day

Friday got to go climbing with a friend in Durango. Did four routes, but they were ferlippin' pumpy suckas, and while i hung on every single route at least once, i still felt pretty good about the day. Veeeeery nice to get on some real rock again and take some decent falls. Can already tell it's been helping me in the gym--especially with my footwork.

Today i ARCd. Was gunna do 2 sets of 30 mins, but i was running late for work and did 1 x 30 and 1 x 20 with about 5mins rest between. And i was torched. And to be fair, the workout i'm doing only called for 2 sets of 20mins. But my fingers and forearms didn't feel damaged, and that's been a big fear. Right ring finger flexor's been feeling on the edge of rupture, and sat and sun i was feeling some righteous golfer's elbow on the left. Seems to have subsided with glucosamine, tons of fish oil, Tiger Balm and generous taping. On looking at the calendar, i guess i wasn't supposed to do this workout 'til tomorrow, but that wouldn't work terribly well. Should have a rest day tomorrow.

ketchup

Haven't posted in a bit, but i haven't done much. Haven't lifted in a coupla weeks, but i'm planning to--hopefully tomorrow. Did go climbing on real rock after church on sunday, and that was a good time. Gotta get my head back into clipping up the real stuff. i'm used to having my holds conveniently pointed out in high-contrast relief to the ambient wall. This feeling-around-for-a-hold stuff... i dunno. But i am gunna say i'm a li'l stronger than the last time i was on real rock. Got about three routes up.

Went in on monday to ARC, but got taken by a bunch of new routes at the gym, and ended up doing those instead. Still made for a good climbing day.

Pretty much haven't done anything else. Am making some good headway on the Moonboard.

Arcin'

Did 2 sets of 30mins ARCing with a ten minute rest in between. Felt pretty good. They're getting easier.

Destruyado

Coupla workouts to log:

Friday ( 2 days ago) did some ARCing. Two sessions of 30mins each. That was hard and i sweated a lot. But i made it through. Toward the end of the Base Fitness phase you end up doing three days in a row of it, and the last session (if i 'member c'rectly) is 3 sets of 30 mins. That sounds hard right now, but i made it through 2 30min seshes; so i have pretty good confidence i can make it through.

Saturday (yesterday) went in to the gym for some back work. Was (again) s'posed to do 5/5/5 day on deads, but i was tired and not really feeling it. So i did the full workup from a deficit, and then decided to try 495 from a deficit. I failed twice, but they were valiant efforts. Little disappointed 'cuz i've locked 495 from a deficit before; but i think i woulda had it yesterday if i'd had my belt on. Did get it to my shins before i stalled.

Then did Good Mornings, which i'd not done for about 3 weeks. 4 sets of 12 with 135, 155, and 175 x 2. Those destroyed me, and i'm still suffering. i really like those things.

Then P'lups: 20 x bw, 10 x +25, and 2 x 5 x +45. (Last set i eked out a sixth rep). Then as i was racking my plate this older feller came up and asked if i was a Marine-- said i worked out like a Marine. I took that as a compliment. :)

Then one arm DB rows: 2 x 8ish x 90#. These felt hard, and my elbow flexors still feel kin'a cooked. Today and yesterday i've struggled with picking my kids up to hug 'em.

And i've finally bought all the materials for a Moon wall. Pictures forthcoming on that other blog.

Revvin up

Did a second session of ARCing today. Two sets of 25mins of traversing with about 15mins between ('cuz i was talking). Felt pretty good, and i felt like i kept the intensity up fairly well. Highlights for me how outta shape i am, but also how easy it could be to see some really exponential gains.

If i could turn some v5 power into cruising speed, i could onsight 'bout any 5.11 out there. And that'd be just fine.

Back

S'posed to be 5/5/5 day on deads.

But i didn't do 'em.

Did do the warmup: 20 floor touches, 20 SLs with the bar, 12 SLs with 145, 8 SLs with 245, 5 deads with 345 and 1 with 445, all with 25# plates.

Then i did P'lups: 20 with BW (could've done more), 10 with +25#, 5 with +45. Can't honestly say i fully locked the last rep.

Then i did 1 arm pulldowns: 10 with 100, 8 with 130, 2 with 160 (cheated down the last rep on both arms). Little stale on these after the pullups. i'm ok with that.

Felt pretty durn good through this--no tendonitis-- only i wish i'd had a li'l more time.

Day 4

Climbed a 4th day in a row. S'posed to be 5/5/5 day on deads, but i wasn't feeling it. Instead i decided to do some "aerobic restoration & capillarity" (ARC) training. Basically amounts to climbing just below yer lactate threshold for a long time without stopping-- so moderate endurance climbing. I've been dreading these cuz i know i have not much endurance, but it went ok. Two sets of 20 minutes each to begin, with 5 or so mins' rest in between. I was sucking wind, and i fell a couple o times, but i made it. Definitely can see how this will make me a better climber. Haven't officially started a training cycle, but i gather the more (i.e. longer) i'm able to do these, the better it ends up in the performance phase. So if i can start out ahead of the curve, it won't hurt me down the road. Am planning to take the weekend off from climbing. Hopefully deads tomorrow.

midweek

I've clumb now 3 days in a row. 'Ve tried to keep her light--doing lots of routes and traversing, etc. But mostly i've been short on time, and've ended up bouldering. Notwithstanding, that ends up being a bunch of fairly light climbing cuz they tend not to put up any hard routes at the wall. Today was the most disciplined day this week. Actually did a warmup, and then threw on the harness and got 6 routes (all on toprope) in about 20 mins. Nice warm pump; no injuries. Am gunna hafta take a few days off though. Tendons are getting a smidge ragged. But i can feel my endurance improving.

shoveling me back on the wagon

Went in for de-load deads. Warmed up with deficits: 20 floor touches, 20x the bar, 12 x 145, 8 x 245, 5 x 345. Working sets were 6 sets of 3 for speed. Did a set with 350, but didn't like the speed. Dropped to 15 to 335 but didn't like the speed. Dropped to 315 for 4 more sets, and those were just about right. Didn't get enough sleep last night, and felt a li'l sluggish.

Then i engaged in an exercise called "dips" which conscript motor units from the "triceps" muscles (among some even more obscure bits of soft tissue). Now, these muscles apparently repose on the backs of the arms; and mine, when called upon, decided they disliked me, and made me nearly nauseous.

2 x 15 BW (all were BW btw), 1 x 12, 1 x 10, cooked. Made a conscientious point of really stabilizing my shoulders before i started, and i came out without a shoulder injury. Gunna hafta work back into these, though.

Called it without doing more back cuz my biceps are not healed, and we're not yet on speaking terms.

Planning on heading back for some climbling later today.

I may even do some "abs" work. I'm presently just over a week in without cheese of any sort. Man, i freakin' love cheese. Food is just nearly pointless without it. Might end up being the healthiest thing i've ever done. Bleh.

Year's worth

It has been over a year since i last posted. That's a li'l wild. I think i've posted most of my serious workouts up in texts, but it'd be nice to have a handier reference.

I'm gunna start this back up as a place to put my workouts--mostly the numbers--without the meandering and meta-story. Starting another locale for ranting and talking, etc. Gunna try to keep this fairly skeletal for the sake of Future Reference.

Just had a decent one. Went to the gym feeling like puking, so i decided to climb a bit instead of doing 5/3/1 on deads. Did some bouldering and 4 or 5 moderate routes, until i was falling off of jugs (i also climbed yesterday), and then decided i'd try some deads anyhow. Working off a 520 max from the floor.

 Truncated my normal warmup (which has been 20 toe touches, 20 SLDs with the bar, 12 SLDs with 145, 8 with 245, 5 with 345, and 1 or 2 with 445 all from a deficit with 25# plates) cuz i was having trouble holding the bar. Went to my working sets after the 245 mark, but screwed that up with too heavy a percent. Sorted that out anyhow and did 3 with 445 and then locked out a single with 495. Missed a new PR with 510. PR is still 505.

Did a couple sets of Good Mornings, then went to do pullups. (Been working those for the last couple of weeks). Some d00d was using my space, so i opted for one arm pulldowns instead. Very interesting. Think i did 10 (each arm) with 100ish, then 8 with 145, then 3 with 160, then i cheated a single with 175 with a nicely controlled negative. I think i could work more on those: kinda a fun motion.