Climbing gym - Max Power Day

10min large hold bouldering
3-6 boulders w/3min rest 3 levels under grade - Did 5, sent all 5 first go
3-4 boulders w/3min rest between attempts at limit - Did 3, failed all 3
20min bouldering w/ 12lb weight vest - sent ~15 V2-V4 problems

3x7s 15mm edge hangboard
3x7s 10mm edge hangboard

Cannot half-crimp these which apparently I should be doing, this is all open hand.

Campus board, managed to do the 1-4 on the campus "balls" video below.



Bonus vid of a V5-V7 graded problem, it's like a V4+ there's a crucial knee bar you can't see me set b/c of angle. Good problem forgot the foot beta so just cut loose in the middle.

Looks good but,

What does this mean? Fear, pain, stubby fingers?

Either I don’t understand how or I’m not strong enough.

I need to vid to make sure I’m not just plain wrong but it definitely feels open handed or between the two.

I think it is common for most people's open hand to be around 20% stronger than their half crimp.

My open hand is definitely stronger than my half crimp. I am not sure by how much though, as I only do hangs with a half crimp grip.

Oh, "half" crimp. Herp, derp, please excuse my old illiterate ass.

I’ll film next time I do them. I’m terrible on crimps so this could be good as maximal finger strength along with technique are what’s limiting me to getting to another level.

7/27 - 3,500 calories (guesstimate)

Pull Day B

Lat Pulldowns 1-2-4 tempo 4x8
T-bar Rows 4x10
Meadows rows 4x10
Reverse Pec Dec 4x15
EZ bar curls 4 sets
DB curls 3 sets
Rope pulldowns 4 sets

4 rounds
Sumo grip BB shrugs
Incline BB curls

7/28 - Went out last night, didn't wake up until 11:30, not sure if I'll go climbing today.

Leg Day B

HBBS
6x175
6x175
10x175

Goblet Squats 4x10x70
KB Swings 4x10
Below the Knee Rack Pulls up to 6x285
Walking DB lunges 3x16x17.5s

7/28 - 167p/291c/41f/17fiber = 2,201 calories

Climbing Gym - 3 hours

Felt lethargic and heavy today, plus my skin sucks right now.

Don't have anything I really want to project in my home gym right now, at least not where I was today mentally/physically. Warmed up and tried to make some big moves on easier problems but just didn't have it.

Basically just free climbed without any rhyme/reason for 2+ hours then called it after not sending anything tougher than V4.

Tomorrow supposed to be endurance/technique day but I'll play it by ear if my skin and energy doesn't improve.

I'm starting to think these are some of the most productive days. I keep reading how projecting can make you weaker. Just going in and crushing boulders at my flash level feels so fun and is such a good workout

Link me anything you’re reading on that, curious if the theory is if all you do is project you’ll get weaker, or the maximal effort has a negative carryover to future workouts.

Seems like there is no reason not to have a good mix of both volume and limit bouldering. On gym days where I have limit bouldering scheduled between warm-ups, repeats, technique work and such I climb around 20ish problems.

During the season when I am climbing almost entirely outside it is easier to fall into the trap of not getting enough climbing volume. Last season I adopted the approach described in this reddit post and it was quite productive.

https://www.reddit.com/r/climbharder...term_redpoint/

There are so many nuances to climbing outside that I think there is a lot of value of getting up and down a lot of hard, but not mega projects. When I climb with people who have climbed for years outside it is amazing how quickly they pick up all the subtleties.

Also, here is Jimmy Webb's 8a. It is amazing the amount of second and third tier boulders he has on his pyramid. Granted there aren't that many V15 boulders lying around, but he clearly sees a lot of value in getting up a large number of blocs.

https://www.8a.nu/scorecard/james-we...ed6e92addbbcae

I mistakenly said "reading": I meant listening. I can't pinpoint a specific episode but I've been listening to the Power Company Podcast as well as Training Beta and Eric Horst's podcast and have heard the sentiment expressed 2-3 times in recent weeks that it's hard to maintain fitness and finger strength when projecting. It's the opposite of what I was told when I started

it does seem like a generalization, like if you're projecting a sequence of a few heinous crimp moves in a row over and over, surely its possible finger strength will increase from the intensity... then again you could experience the same intensity fingerboarding or campusing so idk. Sorry I can't be more specific.

I tend to view projecting as more valuable from the skill training perspective than strength training

7/29 - 138p/343c/42f/31fiber = 2,302 calories

Climbing Gym - 2.5 hours - Endurance Day

Tweaked something in my lower back yesterday, most likely from rack pulls. Didn't really impact much today but I could see it giving me grief in 2 days for squats.

Here's what I did at the gym today

6x8xBW+15 Chins
Bouldering - large holds 30min (nothing tougher than V3)
3x3min circuit board w/ 5min rest
System board circuits (12 moves was as far as I got)
Fat chin-up bar holds 3x20s w/20s rest
Fat grip DB holds 3x20sx30, 3x15sx40 alternating for rest
Reverse DB curls
Forearm DB curls

I agree with the overall sentiment here, projecting one specific problem/crux would make the rest of your climbing drop-off.

Projecting is definitely a skill and what I've been trying to do is dissect a problem in 20min and work the necessary components to give myself one final redpoint attempt. On Saturday's when my gym opens early to members I like to try to do 6 different problems, spending 20min on each. During that time I can typically determine the crux move and work in 3-4 times in isolation before giving it one last burn.

I don't think I've ever spent more than 30min in a single session on the same problem, and I'd highly doubt more than an hour in total over its lifespan on the wall. With outside bouldering that problem isn't going anywhere so I could see a scenario where you work the same problem/move a lot and it ultimately hurts the rest of your climbing.

Crafting a long-winded post about where I need to take my training/diet after listening to a ton of Israetel lately, think I have a good handle on how to gain more flexibility in both but still achieve greater results than I currently have.

7/30 - 171p/300c/48f/21fiber = 2,316 calories

Push Day A

Bench
8x145
8x135
8x135
6x135

Messed around with grip widths, I've been training at a narrower grip which feels better on the shoulders.

Incline DB Bench
8x50s
4x8x45s

Pec Dec 4x10

Seated DB Press
10x35s
8x35s
7x35s
7x35s

Side raises 4 sets
Scarecrows 4 sets
Push-ups to failure (19)

Lower back felt about 90%, decided to squat but slowed my descent a touch to stay more in control. Also didn't do any hamstring work to give it another 3-4 days to rest.

Leg Day A

HBBS
6x180
6x180
8x180

Didn't sleep great last night, this seems to have the biggest effect on my leg training, moreso than diet.

Goblet Squats 4x10x75
Leg Press 3x10 (going to add these in 1x/week in August)
Cable crunch 4x10
Back Extensions 2 sets (slow/controlled, to see how they felt).

7/31 - 169p/319c/47f/25fiber = 2,375 calories

Climbing Gym - 3 hours

Went to sister gym to work on 45er but it was overrun by the youth team, gotta check their schedule out before I head up there.

About 1/4th of the gym was re-set so worked on some new problems. Sent a V5- after about 8-10 attempts, I'll try to video it along with this V3 dyno that was cool next time I go.

Fell on a V5+ project of mine and worked the top half of a V6. It's got a suicide one arm catch dyno that I'm 50/50 to ever hit but if I do I want to be able to walk up the rest of it.

8/1 - 217p/399c/56f/33fiber = 2,968 calories

Started a new job today, might make a longer post at some point but chose this offer over other (better?) ones due to life balance it should provide.

I stepped on the scale at 142.2 this morning, minus the morning after a night eating/drinking, the last 8 days have all been between 141.9 and 142.7. I averaged 2,500 calories/day in July and am putting an initial goal of 2,800/day for the first couple weeks of August, with 3,000/day the goal by month's end.

In trying to simplify my neurosis and training/diet, I just have two things I want to focus on this month, total calories and training volume. Essentially I'll be tracking my work sets and see what I think my MRV might be, probably much higher than I imagine. I have an idea for what my MED/MEV is but have never pushed myself/intensity hard enough to figure out MRV.

Pull Day A

Weighted Chins
5xBW+50
5xBW+50
4xBW+50

Band supported wide grip chins (wanted to give em a shot, hated it)
3x12xBW-various bands

Seated Cable Row 4 sets

3 rounds
Face pulls
Rear delt flys

Rope pulldowns 4 sets various angles

4 rounds
EZ bar curls
Side raises

8/2 - 163p/356c/47f/31fiber = 2,499 Calories (2,500 is bare minimum I want to hit during August)

Climbing gym - 2 hours - Max Power Workout

Large-hold bouldering - 15 minutes

Climb 4-6 problems 2-3 grades below limit w/3min rest
--Did 5 or 6, actually fell on the crux of a V3 due to not leaving enough room for a match, sent it next go.

Climb 3-4 problems at or 1 grade below limit w/3 min rest between attempt
--Sent a mini-project of mine, a 4 move legit V5 boulder problem with a super tough start and finish hold. The middle two moves are like V2 but the start and finish are at least V5. Fell on the crux of everything else lol.

Hangs
3x10s with 50sec rest 15mm edge
3x6s with 3min rest 10mm edge

Got into a nice convo about hangboarding w/ an experienced climber. I'm closer to half-crimping these than I think, in fact I think my middle/ring/pinkie are half-crimped and my index is open, so that's ok for now.

3 sets one arm lock-off (rope supported)

Various forearm curls.

Quick session, didn't feel like beating myself silly by doing system board work after. Gonna project at my sister gym Saturday morning, should be fresh for it.

8/3 - 195p/369c/48f/28fiber = 2,688 calories

Decided to try my hand at an upper day vs. my push/pull/leg split. On weeks where I need to squeeze in more training sets this might work. Although the quality of my reps/sets suffered.

SS1 4 rounds
Press 8x85
Wide grip chins 8xbw

SS2 4 rounds
Seated DB Press
Underhand BB Rows

Side raises 4 sets

SS3 4 rounds
Flat DB Bench
Rope pulldowns

SS4 4 rounds
Pec Dec
Cable Crunch

Climbing + Legs tomorrow, need to hit 3k+ calories for sure.

Leg Day

HBBS 4x6x185
Seated hamstring curls 4 sets
Seated leg extensions 4 sets
Glute-ham raise 4 sets

Had to go to gym in the morning, was packed. My gym is great when it's near closing and no one is there, but during busy times it sucks.

Had groin discomfort throughout squats after 1st warm-up set. Didn't hinder the movement but would be super tight after each set.

Off to climb!

8/4 - 176p/387c/92f/33fiber = 3,088 calories

Highest fat content in some time today, grilled burgers + chips helped. Interesting to see how I feel tomorrow.

Climbing gym - 3.5 hours

Came to the realization today that I am getting better at climbing. Sometimes progress is so slow, but over an extended consistent period, you do make up a lot of ground.

I was able to send some solid boulders today, 1-2 I'd put as a low V5. However I'm matching the finish away from sending 1, if not 2 different V6's in this gym. Both are on super bad pinches after powerful routes but I should be able to get them done.

your progress is great man, I'm jealous. Those 10mm crimps are no joke. Neither is sending 4's through 6's regularly. Your campusing is very powerful too

I am equally jealous of you being able to eat 3k calories and weigh in the 140's, lol

How do you feel all the lifting/resistance work you do is impacting your climbing and overall physique? I'm trying to get back into some PT stuff for the sake of injury prevention and maybe some minor strength gains