16 November
Lifted. Did hangboard, with loads of 5 second hangs on the 21mm board.
Then benched, working up to 3 sets of 5, 50 kgs.
Then deadlifted, 120 kgs for 2 sets of 5.
Finished with facepulls.

17 November
Did some yoga stuff. I took my heart rate afterwards, which was 44 per minute. This is the lowest it's been recently.

Climbed for 75 minutes. A good session, I got 3 new routes.

Swam for 30 minutes.

I also got 14,000 steps in. I think I could eat everything in my fridge and still be in abug deficit.

18 November
Climbed for 2.5 hours. A great session where I got a load of new routes, and actually hit a jumpy dyno move (the one Bobat did in a recent video.)

20 November
Climbed for 90 minutes. I am at a conference, I skipped a session to walk to the gym. It was further than I anticipated, so I got over 28,000 steps as well. It was an OK session - I mainly stuck to 6a and 6a+ (Font). I got all bar one. I got one hand on the final hold of my failure twice, but I cocked up my feet and fell from the top both times.

23 November 2019
3 hours climbing. I hadn't been to this gym (Arch) for a couple of months. It was an OK session, but not great. I may have tried too many harder routes whilst really pumped for the last 90 minutes.

I had a 30 minute recovery swim in the evening.

24 November
Swam just under 1 mile.

Bouldered for 90 minutes. A very good session - I got loads of new routes.

My insurers are unwilling to pay for my PFO closure. I may be able to get it on the NHS
The first step is a GP referral. This isn't automatic, and I don't actually have a GP at the moment. (Mine deregistered me 3 years ago, and I never got around to doing
anything about it.)

25 November
2 hours bouldering. This started poorly. I failed a v1 many, many times. I eventually got it, but it is a nasty climb. You need to match hands on a finger pocket with dodgy footholds at that point.

I then fell off a lot of v3s. However, I then got a long term V3 project when it occurred to me to do a heel hook at the crux. I then got a few more v3s, so it turned out nice again.

29 November 2019
Bouldered for 100 minutes.

This was a great session. I was at a new gym, as I've started a project in Croydon. Croywall is 20 minutes' walk from the client's office. It is pretty big and empty.

I got most routes I tried, and I tried a lot of them. The hardest was probably v4, and I got stacks of v3s and below.

My colleagues thought I was mad when I lobbied to get on this project, as Croydon is a bit of a fump. However, there is method to my madness.

30 November
2.75 hours bouldering (although it may have been longer. I was at the gym for 3.25 hours, but did yoga and stretching towards the end.)

This was a great session. I got loads of v3s, flashing ba few of them. (I got none last week at my previous trip to this gym.) The lass I climbed with got her first V2, so it was good all around.

I walked back to my station, so got 20,000 steps in (ignoring the bouldering. I pick my phone in my locker when I am on the wall.)

1 December 2020
1.75 hours bouldering.

I signed up for some training. One drill was on warm-ups to wait around 5 seconds before putting your hand on the hold. This aims to make good body position intuitive. We spent about half an hour on this drill.

I then got a v2/v3 I'd been struggling with first go. It's quite fun, needing a heel hook on a stretchy move at the crux.

We then worked a thuggy, overhanging v3. It's also a fun route, going out of a cave onto a slab. I fell off the penultimate move, and didn't get this one. I was trying to hold onto a terrible hold - I think the trick is to move quickly on this bit.

I did warm down stuff after this, as I was tired.

2 December
1.75 hours bouldering.

I took it relatively easy on this session, as I was feeling a bit drained.

My logging is poor - I have missed 2 bouldering, 1 yoga and 1 lifting session.

7 December
I swam 1.7 miles. I was supposed to go climbining, but I didn't feel up to it. So I swam instead.

8 December
Bouldering. OK session, not outstanding. I projected two routes. One is a V3 overhang with a fully dynamic start. I actually got the jump, but never managed to stick the knee bar to get over the edge.

The other was slab and probably not too hard, but I always fell at the crux. I was trying to get the reach statically, maybe I shouk have dynoed it. I got my hand on the key hold 3 or 4 times, but fell every time.

I had a slack week for the exercise - only 2 bouldering sessions.

I saw New Model Army on Thursday. I was in the mosh pit for 2 hours, which apparently got me 12,0000 steps, as we as numerous bruises.

14 December
Bouldering for 2 hours. An OK session - it was a Catalyst training one. So there was quite a lot of technique work before trying a few v3s and v4s. I got one, and came close on another.

I seem to have missed some logging, mainly bouldering sessions. I had another Catalyst session on Saturday.

I meant to go diving on Sunday, as I had some new kit to test. I turned up at the quarry without my drysuit. D'oh! So I went bouldering a bit later on instead.

I went bouldering on Monday. This was an average session, starting well. I then worked a cave route v3 which is at the edge of my ability, which left me quite pumped. It starts with a dyno reach, then you swing over the gap to move your feet to the other side. Then it's quite thuggy to get onto the vertical bit of the climb.

I've done each bit individually, but not bought them all together yet. It's been there a while, so it will probably be reset before I can send it.

I went bouldering yesterday. I sent nearly everything. I got a v2, which may not sound impressive, but this gym grades way harder than anywhere else I've been. It's only the second v2 I've got here - this one would probably be v4 at Arch or Vauxwall.

My bulking plan is not really working. I am around 144 pounds at the moment.

What is the plan calorie consumption wise?

The plan is 2,700 a day, and additionally eat back exercise calories. MFP claims 2,700 as the level I need to gain 0.5 pounds a week.

I manage the 2700 OK; I struggle to eat back the exercise calories. If I go bouldering after work, I may get to the gym at 7; leave at,9; and back to mine for 10. I then need something like 2,000 calories for my supper, and I find that hard to do.

I'm not particularly fussed about it, though - I am at a healthy weight, and my current rate of loss is quite low - around 1 pound a month over the last 5 months.

I got 100 minutes climbing in.This was quite an average session, although I got one harder one towards the end. (I used my head against an overhang as third point of contact. So I get zero marks for style, some marks for pragmatism.)

What was the reason behind the bulk? Performance/muscle/recovery/hunger?

One thing I’ll say is it’s likely better to be ever so slightly in a surplus than a deficit for all of those goals listed above. You’ve walked around the last five months in a small deficit when 4/5 of those months could have been a small surplus and 1 month in a more aggressive deficit and ended up at the same weight but possibly with better overall progress. It’s something I’ve had to convince myself of recently and I’m finally bought into this idea. For active, naturally smaller folks it’s not difficult to drop weight and this method allows you to be in a surplus 80%+ time of the year.

I know you’re not worried about it just some food for thought.

That may be a good idea. Given my medical history, I'm slightly scared of calorific surpluses, and if it could cause non-alcoholic fatty liver disease I guess if the surplus is small, it',s unlikely.

24 December
80 minutes bouldering. A good session, I got a couple of routes I failed on the previous go. This gym grades quite hard - I didn't get any v3s. It felt like some were gettable, but all would require a bit of projecting

Ah fair point about the medical history, remember reading essentially any fat gain can be a major detriment. Probably not worth messing with then.

I went bouldering, I think on the 27th December. It was mediocre - I struggled on pretty much everything.

29 December
I didn't feel like climbing, so I had a day of cardiotarding. I did a 10 mile hike in the morning, which was brilliant. It was cold and muddy, but very clear.

I then walked to the pool and got a 1 mile swim in.

I have been climbing a lot recently. I think I went on the 31st; 1st; 3rd and 4th (today).

In general, the sessions have been good - I have got done v4-ish level climbdms (depending on the gym's degrading approach.)

My boiler has broken, do I am going for a swim later today to get a warm shower in. Scuba tomorrow, and I may get a climb in on Monday, but it's when the plumber is due, so my plans are a bit fluid

5 January 2020

I did a quick scuba dive, off a hard boat out of Brighton. I did 45 minutes at 12 metres. The water was a bracing 8 Celsius, and visibility was poor (occasionally 1 metre, occasionally a lot less.) There were lots of blennies, shrimps and crabs on the dive.

It was good.

I got a short swim in afterwards, mainly to get a warm shower. I didn't do steam room or sauna, as they are risky after a dive.

6 January
A quick bouldering session, mainly to get warm (my central heating was broken). Around 1 hour, and I took it easy.

9 January 2020
90 minutes bouldering.

I was hopeless for the first 50 minutes. Then it clicked, and I sent everything for the last 50 minutes. I got a load of new routes, done (by my standards,) were hard.

17 January
75 minutes bouldering. This was OK but not exceptional. I got a couple of harder routes, and failed on a few.

18 January
Scuba diving in Portland, Dorset. The dive was only 20 minutes at 20m, as the current was ripping and visibility was less than 20,cm. We reeled off at the bottom of the shot line to keep in contact - without that, it would have been shorter. The water temperature was OK (10 centigrade), the air temperature was around 2. I got quite chilly on the boat

19 January
Another dive. This was a lot more relaxed than yesterday's. Visibility was around 1 metre. We spent around 10 minutes on the wreck, but the reef around it is nice. So we drifted off for the last part of the dive. The ritual dive time was 41 minutes at 15 metres.

Us on the boat earlier today:

20 January
2 hours bouldering. This was my best session to date - I got around 6 V3/v4s. I suspect that Croywall grades a bit easier than other gyms.

My right ring finger hurt under load at the end. I am scared it will develop into a pulley injury, so I will take some time off climbing

21 January
Lifted - I am weak.Bench 50 kgs (3 sets of 3,) squat 60 (3 sets of 5). I went light as it was my first session in a while.

22 January
Lifted - bench 50 kgs (3 sets of 5,), deadlift 110 kgs (1 set of 5).

25 January
Lifted - bench 55 kgs(3 sets of 3), squat 70 kgs (3:sets if 5).

I bought some Olympic rings I've been playing with a bit. I can now go dips - I couldn't at first. I have a vague idea of trying to build up to a muscle up, which may be far too ambitious.

26 January
I did a 14 mile hike in utterly miserable weather. It drizzled the whole way. After this, I did a slow 1km swim. (I needed to do my tax return today, and this was a way of delaying the process rather than a genuinely good idea.)

27 January
Lifted. It was good. I have quite a few unlogged lifting sessions. Benched 55; squatted 80 this one.

I bought some Olympic rings, I can now do dips on them. It seems way harder than to iced dips. I needed to use bands to work up to these.

28 January
Climbed. It was good. My finger felt solid. I got quite a few harder routes

In other news, I bought a Fitbit. Does c anyone know how accurate their calorie tracking is?