3/24

Bouldering 2:00

bw: 168.25
climbing bw: 170.0

Goal: 9-12 more pounds (+ some arm and trap muscle gain)

Took an extra day off for right upper back and front delt/shoulder. Redid some V1-2. Going to increase volume of these for my warmup. Fell on a sloper V3 I've done before and got it the 2nd time but need to work beta to make this easier. Repeated a crimp V3 starting in mini cave that was easy with reachy beta. Tried a fun new V5 with a variety of hold types and took a few attempts to hit a move, then made it to the final couple holds and messed up beta and fell. This will be a fun one to work another time. Tried a new crimp V6 on slight overhang and made it near crux.

Moved to my sloper V7 problem. Struggled a ton with first and 2nd move. I can either hit first move and its not too bad but then can't quite get 2nd, or can try to hit first move from a higher starting position which makes it much harder but makes 2nd move way easier.

Worked beta near the top and was consistently hitting the big back step drop knee and getting stuck. Eventually went for it and tried to dyno right hand to the top. Hit it the first time but had to let go when body twisted + got a nasty tear. Taped up and tried it one last time and sent from the 2nd move on! Think I can consistently hit this backstep and dyno move now. Just gotta make the start sequence work. Not sure how much the start is going to take to work at this point but I have at least a couple weeks on this problem and I feel confident. Got some celebrations when I hit the dyno move LOL. Sticking that was a great feeling.

Projects leftover:

-Sloper V7
-Pinch V5 with aerie
-New V5
-Crimp V6
-mini cave crimp V6
-V6 sloper problem
-pink V6
-45 degree V3's

pretty much in that order

Stuff to start repeating (tried carefully selecting these):

-Crimp minicave V3
-Sloper V3
-Cave V2's
-sloper crimp V4
-Crimp V5
-Crimp volume V6

Would like to add some cave and 45 degree wall V3's to this but gotta work them first. Will go easy until I can get this 7.

For my benefit since describing this stuff without video is kind of silly. But moves on the 7:

Problem is set on a flat wall with a wall to the right and the top 3 slopers on a significant overhang. Becomes a compression problem once you use the backstep

low start w left foot on, both hands on slopers, left hand to sloper pinch, stand and right hand to sloper pinch. Right foot up to starting right hand sloper, stand and left foot on starting left hand sloper, lockoff both sloper pinches by hips and left hand gaston to side pull sloper in front of face, right hand fall onto pressing against higher sloper on right. release left hand and rest 10+ seconds. left hand back to pinching sloper, right foot to side of chip, carefully sink right hand into gaston, left foot on a higher chip, work hands up to 2nd sloper on right (still deep gaston), left hand to terrible higher left sloper, right foot to sloper, left foot to highest left chip, right foot big backstep to chip below right hand sloper, sink into drop knee, right hand gaston on top right sloper, reverse drop knee slightly, and left hand to top left sloper crimp, dip down and dyno off right leg with right hand to the top, match and done

all those moves and I only need to do 1 more to send lol

The thing I like most about this beta is its totally different the entire way through from everyone else I've seen work this problem. It's also way less straightforward than the crimp 7 from January

3/29

Got a cold for several days. Was gonna climb Weds but exhaustion hit me

PT

NG Chin 1x5 1x10
one arm chin w hand on bicep 4x1 /arm
One arm lockoff (at top) other hand on bicep and hold 2x6-10 seconds/arm (too easy now)

Floor press 1x20 2x10 I don’t think right shoulder is ready for much here
Trap bar deadlift 195x5 245x5 265x3 easy

Med ball taps 8lb 3x40
Prone arm raises 3x20
cable row 3x20

TRX Dec body row 3x8
cable OHP 1x5 stopped due to right shoulder
shoulder external rotation 3x15







Don't think I'll be keeping the trap bars

Right shoulder stuff didn’t feel great. Only had pain with the cable press which I stopped… basically hurting the right shoulder a bit before is related to overhead mobility and work. Gotta keep doing the arm moves daily

Way more rowing next session and no OHP

Undecided about barbell RDL

Started doing some curls and reverse wrist curls at home

have not been able to climb as of today due to swollen little toe. Think the boots I've been wearing this spring are a little too tight. Buying new climbing shoes to see if I can get in a session asap

bw (morning): 166.0

Based on body fat measurements I should lose at least 8 more pounds. Ideally I could do this plus losing a little more leg weight and maybe gaining some arm/upper back size

4/4

Bouldering 2:15

Sent my 7! Figured out how to hit the first move in the flat wall section with the right grip to do my beta the next few moves and sent shortly after. 6 week project complete. This one was harder than the other 7 in a totally different way. I was really out of my comfort zone with the backstep drop knee and the overhanging slopers plus dyno to finish so this meant so much to finally get



After this I worked a 5 with a start running across volumes and hit the start and sent on my 4th attempt. Worked an ungraded route after this with a start in the mini cave and a gnarly crossunder and unwind move on two pockets that was unlike anything I’ve done before. This one will be a 5 or 6 for sure. Sent from the 4th move on. Would love to hit moves 2-3 in the cave and send this next session

Here’s a very sloppy attempt where I messed up my beta after the unwind. Friday’s video will be much prettier



Probably my best session ever

Nice work on the V7!!! You have very good hip mobility.

In the second video it looks like you primarily initiating movement from your upper body and not getting enough weight on your feet. I definitely think you could move your COG around to more advantageous positions before going trying to move to the next hold.

0:02 I think you could use your foot to pull your hips up and over the foot before firing with the left hand. I think you will find initiating from that position to be a lot easier due to you being closer to the hold and your left leg taking a lot more weight. The next move it looks like you just need to flag your right leg underneath to fight the barndoor.

Here is an example of what I am talking about: https://youtu.be/pjzlyPIQ-1Y?t=18

Once I place my left foot I have to move my hips up and left to initiate the left hand throw to the ear. This puts more weight on my left foot, puts me closer to the hold and reduces the distance my COG has to travel. Without putting myself into that position before moving it is almost impossible to keep tension through the left foot.

That's a little trick one of the local hardmen showed me awhile back that really helped my climbing! He was telling me that one of the keys to having good body tension is having your hips in the best possible positions.

We just missed each other (I sent the green V6 volume problem to the left last weekend).
I was messing with that 7 but didn't figure out the start in the short time I spent on it.
Nice send!

Thanks!

Most of the climbers better than me seemed to nail the start with a low start and a dynamic right hand move to the next sloper, but I couldn't do that and even if I could you can't mount the start holds without a pinch on both slopers. The sequences I saw to get to the top without the backstep looked really hard too.

I did that green problem too, really liked it. I've been using that one for repeats, sad they will reset it this Monday.

Do you climb in Warwick often?

7/7

Climb 1:30

Bad session. Was weak and didn’t climb well. Didn’t warm up enough before moving to the mini cave 5 and my fingers went numb working the first move to a big pocket. Could not repeat moved higher in the route either. Right rear set and upper back were already a bit sore at the start of the session and this route made it worse. Repeated a V5 with two dynos that was clearly easier than V5 for me. Tried a new 4 a few times but was struggling with a crossunder. Tried a new crimp V5 which is by far the hardest V5 I’ve tried. Lots of bad to terrible crimps, awful feet, and technical moves. Could be a good one to project and actually get better at climbing from it.

Thanks. I worked on this move today and really struggled. I’m going to try again next session and see if I can apply your advice

Hopefully, it will help. I used to really struggle on steeper terrain until my friend pointed out that I was too passive with my feet. It is a bit hard to explain via text so perhaps the video was useful.

RE: bad session. I had to back off of my planned session this morning. I was way too powered down from sport climbing this weekend to hit the intensity levels I had planned. It is definitely going to happen from time to time.

I try to just sub in an easy day if I am feeling powered down at the start of my session. I don't always have the discipline to back off. If I push through, the session will typically end with me feeling frustrated or tweeking something it seems.

Yeah this is basically what happened. I got a bunch of cuts and tears cuz I was powered down and sloppy and tried to work hard stuff anyway. Next time this happens I will either rest or go super easy and work V2-3 or routes. Unfortunately my forearms are still beat up and I think I'll be putting off this Wednesday and resting for Friday so I can go hard again. In general though I really really need to add in more lower intensity climbing to increase volume as well as experience/skill

4/2

climb 3:00

Put in burns on a bunch of new stuff with some beta help from my visiting friend. Sent a new 4 and a 5. Repeated a bunch of stuff V4-6 too. Battled some cave climbs. Tried a couple new 7's.

Decided I'm just gonna get the rest of the 4's in this gym before projecting harder stuff. This should coincide with the rest of the weight loss I'm aiming for the next couple months.

My friend and I were basically in agreement that the 4's in the gym are really hard but a few of the 5's are soft as well as at least one of the 6's. Pretty weird. Once I get the 4's there's a crimp 6 in the mini cave that seems worthwhile and possible but very tough

4/12 for last session not 4/2

4/16

Climb 1:10

Flashed a new 4 I had beta on. Sent a project where I remove most of the holds from a 2 and make it way harder (can video this, it's a lot of fun). Basically the first few moves could be on a 2 or 3 but then you dyno to a jug side pull locking off hard and deep on left hand, match left hand and left foot and finish.

Struggled on the first couple moves of a 5 but sent the rest of it. Got to the finish of another new 5 but had trouble with the last two moves. Tried a softer 4 but pumped out near the finish. Tried repeating a 5 with pockets and got a terrible tear and quit the session.

Making a mini goal of not getting these tears as much. Gotta be a bit more careful.

This session didn't feel great but one thing was still in my head from the previous session: I have made significant progress closing the gap with the friend who taught me to climb. He's still stronger and way more skilled than me but my strength has caught up a lot and I was able to give beta he didn't see immediately on a lot of problems. Felt really good to see my progress like this.

Next session will be in CT and might involve a couple routes, then the session after that I intend on climbing all the 3's to warm up (Including the 3 in cave/long 45 degree wall) and then starting to work on knocking out the rest of the 10 V4 in the gym. Slab got reset and I've only sent 2 of the current set. Once I make it through all that I'll start looking at 5's and harder again. One of the things my friend has been doing is marathoning all the V4 in his gym at the start of his session. It could be good for me to do the same thing with V2 and V3 in my gym. I could definitely use the endurance

One higher level boulder yet to be graded did catch my eye. Starts off with a sloper and a crimp and a far left foot, then you go left hand arete, switch the feet and dyno to a jug. After the dyno you campus to a very bad left hand sloper at an angle (like a side pull) and then have to match the right hand on the jug with a foot, which didn't feel close to possible but must be. The rest of the route looks horribly hard but just being able to do that hand foot match would feel like an accomplishment

For better or worse I've taken a 2 week diet break. Waking weight is now 166.0. Climbed at 168. Goal will be to solidify my control over some habits and starting logging 2000-2100 average weeks again consistently. 160 or less seems easily doable without muscle loss

You’re gonna be pretty damn lean at sub-160!

Hope so! I think I'll be breaking 10% in another 5 pounds of fat loss, but I don't really know. I'd be pretty happy climbing at 160 right now and not thinking about weight much. Maybe a minor recomp at that point

4/19

climbing 2:30

Went to CT. Watched my friend sent 18 V4 in 22 minutes. Downgraded a bunch of stuff TXClimber style. Flashed 4 V3 and sent another 2nd try. Flashed 1 V4 and sent 3 others. Fell on a couple other V4. Flashed a "problem of the week" which was all jugs and a volume at the top and involved some lateral campusing moves. Sent it again removing several of the holds. Possibly the hardest send grade wise of the session. Sent a crimp slab V5 in several attempts with a nasty dynamic crux. Did 1-4 on the campus slopers a few times but didn't feel like I could pull from that position safely (or possibly at all). Hit the crux on a cave V6 but was out of skin and power and had trouble with a bump below that which prevented me from sending. Tried a roof V5 and did some cool kneebars and toe hooks and stuff, bro, but still wasn't close.

My best session in terms of number of sends of new problems

I destroyed my skin at the end of this session knowing I wasn't climbing again until Weds. I probably should have stopped sooner, although i did accomplish a little at the end.

Was told today I need to put on a few pounds of muscle in my arms/upper body. Seems true tbh. I'm losing weight so easily when my diet is even semi reasonable that it seems like a really low BF% is in immediate reach. But I don't want to be a rail either. Maybe more pull-ups and actually doing the antagonist training is the way to go

4/25

climbing 1:10

shoulder was still a little sore from a slight tweak last session. this session didn't improve it but was definitely worth it

Slab and an area of the flat wall was reset so I tried some new routes for kicks. Flashed a few new V3. Repeated a couple others. Flashed a new V4 crimp problem. Sent a new V5 sloper problem in 3 tries. Repeated it more efficiently. Fell a few times on a slab V5. Flashed a different V5 slab problem that was pretty creative. Repeated this problem with different beta. Tried a new V7 sloper problem 4 times and made it through the traverse but was getting stuck on a pretty challenging move.

Never had a short session that was this good before. Hope my shoulder heals and I can climb again soon and go longer + work the cave and overhanging sections and try to knock out all the V3-4.

I've been having the issue of fingers still being cold by the time I do a crimp climb and basically going numb, often for 15+ minutes. I'm thinking some light hanging might help with this.

possible: warmup

PT stuff

finger board: 4? sets on crimps (1 open handed), 1 on pinch, 1 on slopers

V1
V2 cave or 45 wall
V2?
V3 boulder: cave or overhang
V3 boulder: crimp
V3 boulder: repeat something
V4: repeat something

For at least one of the sets on crimps I would use the 12mm textured edge but instead of doing a hang put both feet on the wall and crimp on it one handed, switching every 5 seconds or so. I'm not really strong enough on the 12's to use them as an efficient warmup but this exercise is much more doable and allows for more overall time half crimping on the small edge, plus mimics crimp climbing to a degree

4/29

Got sick

Climb 1:40

Discovered one of the hangboard moves I wanted to try was not doable and significantly harder than hanging

Climbed some repeat routes V3-5. Struggled on the last slab 5 I haven’t done. Tried the hardest slab problem in the current set and destroyed my skin swinging from slopers. Tried some tall guy beta in the video below and it seemed possible. I think I can skip matching on the first sloper and go right hand directly up, an possibly get a little more of a meathook on right hand. The move looks simple when I watch the video but didn’t feel close



Needed to stop this sooner. Got a pinky tear that didn’t seem bad and taped and climbed a bit more and then put it under water in the bathroom and lolllll

5/2

climbing 1:30

hang board warmup

sloper pull-ups 1x6
crimp hang jug
crimp pull 12mm one hand at a time alternating
sloper hangs 1 hand
pinch pull-ups 1x5

Experimenting, this wasn't too hard

Repeated routes V2-5. Sent the balancey slab 5. Sent the crux of another 5 but had trouble with the traverse at the beginning. Sent a cave 2 that didn't feel easy. Tried some harder ungraded cave routes, one with all crimps that didn't feel close to possible. Sent a cave V2/3. Tried two overhanging 4's that both felt very hard and didn't have much success. Sent a long V3 on the 45 degree wall. There was something psychological going on here because I messed up simple beta and fell twice, then the 3rd try thought I would fall or pump out the entire climb but when I finished it I had plenty in the tank. Pinky tear wasn't having it at this point and I quit

5/7

climbing 1:50

sickness seemed to be over but I was tired by the time I got to the gym and felt weak doing basic pull-ups

Day flashed a 4 with an overhang I worked previously and it didn't feel too hard. Was pretty hopeless other than this. Tried a moon board problem of unknown grade that seemed impossible. Basically was just impatient, climbed slowly with frequent hesitating and not trusting my feet, and had trouble relaxing enough to rest adequately between climbs. Ultimately a session I got little enjoyment out of. Felt pretty embarrassed with my climbing today. I'm sure next session will be much, much better. Trying to increase frequency now

Had a rough week recently but seem to be turning a corner. Diet going well without being overly restrictive.

Watching tons of Magnus Mitbo videos. I shouldn't be surprised but it's remarkable how hard some of these V6-8 are. Apart from my hardest 7 none of my climbs above V5 would be graded as such in this gym.

Really committed to increase climbing volume and start hanging. I'm also going to prioritize crimps and overhanging climbing. There's zero flat wall or slab climbs in my gym I need to work on right now. I should also get some coaching in the intermediate future, but I've been waiting to make my diet goals and get back to higher volume in the gym.

At this point I'm weighing 163-64 waking up, but could easily get down to 155. Weight continues to come off eating 2300 calorie average, and the 3-4 week diet break resulted in no weight gain at all.

I'm tired of being weak and sucking at climbing. I've never cared about anything this much while simultaneously being this bad at it.

All the feels!

But being mediocre at it is still fun and good for overall fitness.

Haha I can be pretty emo, me moaning about things in my logs shouldn't be surprising at this point. When I'm having great sessions I feel awesome.

I don't care very much about fitness right now. I just want to be good enough at climbing that I can go into the gym and crush hard boulders/routes a few times a week. That would be a lot more fun than falling on V4.

I think I can get there, I'm just a long way away.