Thanks, just thinking about it driving home yesterday and I was down on myself for not finishing those two problems and then I realized they’d rate as 2 of the 3 toughest I’d ever have done. There are holds/moves I couldn’t have fathomed doing at the start of the year that I’m getting done with regularity.

Resistance work certianly has an acute negative effect but long term I hope just being fitter/stronger overall helps.

Physique wise until I start gaining weight Im not seeing any changes. But I also haven’t gotten to the volume/intensity and calories that should take me from 142 to high 150’s by early 2019. Every month that I break even extends the “bulk” which I’m fine with lol.

I’m going to cut out a lot of the lower rep work though. The injury/recovery risks are just too high so from now on my compound lifts need to be in the 6-10 rep range.

8/5 - 158p/342c/58f/24fiber = 2,522 Calories

Frustrating(ish) day. Slept like a log last night, 9 hours. Woke up feeling great, was excited to get to the gym for a back volume day.

Warm-ups went normal, bunch of shoulder mobility and some scapular pull-ups. Went over to DB rack for light shoulder presses and on first rep I couldn't get my right hand over my head. Felt like my right lat seized up completely.

Took about 15min of rolling/stretching/resting for it to calm down. Was able to do the workout in discomfort, but a bit worried. That's two straight sessions I've hurt the primary muscle just warming up.

Pull Day

Weighted (underhand) chins - 3x8xBW+25, 7xBW+25
T-Bar Rows 4x10
Seated Cable Rows 4x10
Rear Delts 4x15
Side delts 8x16

Superset
Snatch grip BB shrugs 4x10
EZ bar curls 4 sets

Scrapped heavy rack pulls but that's a couple times lately, need to keep these in the program.

8/6 - 151p/349c/56f/29fiber = 2,504 calories

Climbing Gym ~2 hours - Endurance Day

30min large hold bouldering w/ short rests
6x14-move tension hold circuit w/60s rest
3x3min jug circuits with 3/min rest

Forearm curls
Band reverse forearm curls
Forearm roller
Fat grip DB Holds

Didn't really have the energy today (only had 1,100 calories up until 8pm) so good day to just put in endurance volume and call it. Lat still a bit bothersome but much better, although wondering if it has to do with my pec which gave me minor fits today.

8/7 - 154p/343c/60f/29fiber = 2,528 calories

Been a little higher on the peanut butter lately, I'd consider this a solid diet day with just a light(er) lifting session, could always use more carbs.

Push Day

Press
8x95
3x8x85

Standing DB Press 4 sets
Flat DB Bench 4 sets
Cable flys 4 sets
Y-band raises 4 sets
Pec Dec 4 sets
Side Raises 4 sets
Cable crunch 4 sets
Scarecrows 3 sets

Rough go at getting this workout in, tried to go slightly later to gym and it was still packed.

8/8 - 169p/369c/45f/29fiber = 2,557 calories

Tried to lift legs at sister climbing gym then do a power endurance session, all after a long day's work...bad idea lol.

HBBS
4x8x135

Step Ups 2x16
Walking DB Lunges 4x16x20s

Climbing - 2 hours

Tried to set some 6-8 move boulders on the 40deg system wall but just didn't have the energy. Called it after about 30min, took a little break and went to work on a couple V5 projects of mine...and somehow sent both! Thought I had video of the 1st but even though my camera was leaning against my bag some jackass landing near it moved the video mid-send.



Also found a great V6 project, I can do every move on the route but match the finish, and I've linked the middle ~5 moves so just need to link the start and match the finish and it's probably gonna be the toughest rated boulder I've done.

I've tried to lift a few times before a climbing session and it was always a flail fest, especially on overhanging terrain. I feel fine but have zero body tension after lifting. My climbing suffers to the point that the only way I can fit lifting in is after a climbing session or non-climbing days altogether.

Yep definitely need to do it after, not before. Problem there is I have a hard time stopping climbing and heading to weight room.

I've considered doing some PT after my climbing sessions but in practice I just can't pull myself away from repeating the low level climbs to exhaustion, lol

I have the same problem as y'all. I'd much rather climb than lift. Putting lifting on my rest days from climbing has worked best for me. I do a minimal amount of lifting at 2x a week during the off-season and probably 1x a week during. I am not doing a ton of volume either.

I don't know how well lifting on off days would work with a more lifting focused program though. It would certainly get more difficult to squeeze everything in.

8/9 - 2,505 calories (guesstimate)

16 pieces of sushi for dinner, had to guess the calories at about 1,050. Mainly Sashimi with a handful of "extravagant" type rolls.

Pull Day

Dr Deadlift Rows 4x6x155
1-2-4 tempo Lat Pulldowns 4x8
Above the knee rack pulls up to 8x365
Seated cable rows 4x10

Superset 3 sets
Rope face pulls
Reverse pec dec

EZ Bar curls 4 sets

Volume looks good, need to up intensity/weight.

I think the balance for me is no heavy lifting and keeping the assistance work light. Deadlifts and squats are the last thing I need right now. I lifted and climbed last year and it definitely impacted my recovery. I find I can do light cable rows for reps, TRX rows, abs, and lots of cable assistance work + mobility/activation without impacting my climbs. Out of all of those only the TRX body rows are fatiguing but they seem beneficial enough to justify as they are a weak point, and they're still way less tiring than pull-ups.

I heard even Ondra doesn't do BW pull-ups, he actually uses a band to reduce the load and does them for sets of 30 as injury prevention training. At this point I feel like the best thing to get stronger at climbing is just to climb and maybe a little hanging. Everything else is mobility/activation and injury prevention. Getting more stable with my arms over my head, being able to lift my knee higher for mantle moves or a very high foot, stabilizing my shoulders and improving ROM, all seems way more relevant than anything heavy barbell lifts could do for me.

That all being said if I was at my ideal weight (or if I was Spenda) I could certainly see the benefit in some heavy rows, db bench, stuff like that to maximize power and condition the antagonists better. I'd probably just climb instead anyway though, lol

I think your thought process is solid, especially given you have a background in strength training right and mostly just climbing specific goals?

I finished last season with some sort of issue in my left shoulder. I was climbing a lot of roofs at the time and did something to tweak it. This off-season I have been doing a lot of KB armbars, Turkish Getups, landmine presses and mobility work. Those things have done wonders for me. I feel like I have way more stability and control overhead now than I did 2-3 months ago. I also feel much stronger on gastons than I have in the past YMMV

8/10 - 159p/411c/64f/39fiber = 2,856 calories

Stepped on the scale this morning and was the lightest I've been since I've tracked my weight on my new scale (~2.5weeks).

Obviously averaging 2,550 calories isn't cutting it, so new plan is no days below 2,700 and to average somewhere in the 2800-2900 range for 2 weeks and re-evaluate.

Push D

Bench
8,8,6,6x135 - Lol
Pec Dec 4 Sets
Seated DB Press 4 sets
Cable crunch 4 sets
Lateral Raises 4 sets

Superset
Band Y-raises
Leg raises

Weak as ****, combo of heavy back day yesterday and not enough calories taking their toll here.

Cannot disagree with either of your thoughts around training. Being a specialist vs. a generalist is the best way to get better at that one thing. I know I'm hurting both my climbing and aesthetics by not focusing on one.

Long term climbing will be the #1 priority but for now it's appearance, which is why it's laughable how poorly I'm doing at getting in enough calories since I started my "bulk" in early July. Gonna shoot for 3,200+ tomorrow and another 3,000 on Sunday to get this weight moving in the right direction.

How many calories do you think you are burning with climbing workouts? We are roughly the same height and weight and I am not sure I'd gain much weight at 2500, assuming I was climbing for 2hrs 4x a week and lifting.

I bet when you get around 2800-3k, as you have planed, the weight starts increase. Red meat ftw!

Earlier this year I’d have guessed my daily expenditure around 3,000/day but I’m a little less active now. I’ve also scaled back my sessions to the 2-3 hour range with a little less volume.

Funny you said red meat, picked some up yesterday! Although I feel I need more carbs not fat/protein. But more fats should help a few body issues which would be nice.

Climbing gym - 3 hours

Man was excited about this session yesterday. Had an extra day off and thought I’d crush a bunch of the new set at my gym. They reset 5 walls overnight. Idk what happened but it felt like I hadn’t climbed in a month. My body awareness and foot placement was awful. Didn’t send anything tougher than a V3, maybe V4-. Nearly fell on a few of my V3 warm ups.

Here’s a new project, I’ll have to figure out the top section. I imagine it’s a gaston left hand then bring my right to where I had my left before I went for the top. Super good problem for me, gotta pull hard on some crimps.

8/11 - 189p/391c/65f/43fiber = 2,905 calories

Thought I bumped my knee climbing but might have actually tweaked it, not sure yet. Decided to try a different order to my leg day to see if I couldn't get the knees and quads warmed up a bit before squats.

Leg Day

Leg Extensions 4x10
Leg Curls 4x10
HBBS 4x8x135
Leg Press 4x10
Pull Throughs 4x10

Discomfort in the knee but didn't prevent me from doing anything. Again volume looks good, just have to up intensity (weight) throughout this mesocycle and combine that with more calories for GAINZ.

Scale read 141.4 this morning, my lowest since I got it ~3 weeks ago. My last 7 day average is also lower than the previous 7 day average, another bad indicator. Averaging 2,800 calories these next two weeks is key, the I'll bump that another 200-300 if I level out.

I have a weird relationship with food right now. As soon as I eat a meal I begin thinking about the next one and when I can eat it. I'm not "hungry" but there's too much thought/planning going on in my mind. I would think a bulk could be a diet "break" in more ways than one, including the constant thinking/planning/etc... of food. I'm not having to force feed myself to hit these #'s either, it's not like I'm at 5,000 calories a day.

Just needed to write those out, hopefully I can begin to relax a little with regards to food choices/timing, religiously tracking calories and other little things I got in a rhythm doing during my past 2 years of going from 170 to 142.

Not a fan of leg extensions before HBBS but am a big fan of leg curls before HBBS.

Have you tried knee sleeves?

Yea I’ve seen the curls mentioned here a few times. I don’t understand the reasoning but I tried it anyways lol.

Have not, my knees are generally find I just either tweaked something or bumped it on a hold. I know I bumped it but whether or not that’s why it was giving me issues yesterday I’m not sure.

Felt really good today, higher calories ftw (even though scale didn't cooperate).

8/12 - 164p/383c/57f/17fiber = 2,701 calories

Decided to change my programming, instead of push/pull/legs splits I'm going to go for the following:

Tues - Legs A (lower volume)
Wed - Upper A (high volume back, low volume push)
Fri - Upper B (high volume push, low volume back)
Sat - Legs B (higher volume)
Sun - Upper C (high volume back, low volume push)

This should help me hit my MAV/MRVs while prioritizing legs/back. Upper A/C will differ in that one will more prioritize horizontal pulling while the other prioritizes vertical pulling.

Upper Day C

Weighted Underhand Chins
6xBW+45
6xBW+35
7xBW+25
7xBW+25

Seated Cable Row 4x12

SS1
DB Bench 4 sets
Lat Pulldowns 4 sets

SS2
High face pulls 4 sets
Reverse pec dec 4 sets

SS3
Seated DB Press 4 sets
EZ Bar Curls 4 sets

SS4
Snatch Grip BB shrugs 4 sets
Side raises 4 sets

My best volume/intensity day to date. Something about only giving myself one bench and one shoulder exercise made me really focus on those sets and maximize my effort/intensity/reps in them. The more I watch/listen to Israetel to more I realize I still have tons to learn around both training and nutrition, but I feel like I'm picking up so much that just flies in the face of broscience that I took as gospel in the past.

8/13 - 181p/387c/48f/31fiber = 2,704 calories

Climbing gym - 2.5 hours - Power Endurance Day

Did not take this session seriously at all, started with some 15-move circuit work, then basically just picked climbing in the V4-V5 grade and did/tried them with little rest between for a while. So basically a junk volume day of climbing, meh.

Going to do an actual Power Endurance day tomorrow, max power Thursday then send some projects Saturday.

Got 1,600 calories in before I climbed tonight, usually am more like ~900 then have to force feed myself once I get home which also forces me to get home earlier. Instead I just had to crush a shake, a meal-prepped dinner and my pimped out rice cakes in a couple hours, ezpz.

8/14 - 176p/409c/52f/33fiber = 2,808 calories

Climb + Leg (light volume) day - 3 hours

Decent session, main exercise was 8x20 move easy circuit w/90sec rest then 8x10 move medium circuit with 90sec rest. Messed around on some tough 4-5 move sequences as well. Took video of a fun route w/ a dyno and some optional campusing.



Leg Day B
HBBS 6x8x135
KB Swings 4x12
Single leg bridges 4x10

Solid day overall, good diet and training, just need to keep stacking these on top of one another.

Nice campusing. Can't wait till I can do that.

I tried campusing part of a 4 I sent the other day and fell on my ass on the last bump, lol. Tried to move laterally from two crimps to two juggy holds that weren't quite good enough for me to hang from with one arm

How do you think you built the endurance to do these circuits? If I do 2 moderately long cave climbs in a row I get massively pumped even if they're in the V2 range

Dyno looks tough for a V3, nice

Yea it’s probably a low 4 (blues are V3-V4) but I don’t give my gym much credit because every single place I’ve visited has graded tougher.

Endurance built from doing a lot of V1-V2 routes and the 20 move circuits. When I first started on them I’d be super pumped after 15-20 moves and would need a ton of rest. Now I can stay on the juggy circuits for 3+ minutes if I can find some shakeout spots. But I do the 20move circuits super fast. I think you can tell I climb quickly and decisively, same way on the circuits.

Here’s a 15 move circuit from last week on the easiest of the three grades. I did the 4x with 60s rest. Board is at 20-25 degrees I believe.