#221

Yo!

Due to moving into our house and all that ties in with that, I have not been climbing since Dec 28th :no_mouth: when I had a hugely unsuccessful, but fun, day at Almscliff. It ended when I looked down and saw I’d ripped a pretty big chunk of flesh out of my ring finger without realising it, which has just about fully healed now.

I have, though, been training hard with my new basement setup on the Beastmaker 2000. I’ve been using the app they produced and it’s actually been good to be more focused with my training. It’s highlighted how relatively weak my pinky is (obvs it’s always gonna be the weakest finger, but I definitely previously focused my training on middle two and occasionally front two). It’s also making me do more reps for longer on slightly better holds, rather than focusing on fewer reps of maximum power. So I’m training to a more pumped state of failure. Hoping it’s going to have made a difference when I finally get back on a climbing wall (maybe tomorrow?) although it’s only two weeks of training so I doubt it will be that noticeable.

Oh, and @zorb I may hit up The Arch Thurs or Friday morning this week.

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#222

@sadpunk
Good work, I’m keeping at it, seem to be a bit worse than before Christmas but I got through to the wall three times last week and I’m sure I’ll continue to improve if I can keep up that frequency.

@Twinkletoes
Nice, have you seen the changes they made to Building One over Christmas? I’ll definitely be there Thursday and probably Friday so let me know what times you’re thinking and I can send you a picture of my face. The finger thing sounds disgusting. How long were you climbing before you began training your fingers?

#223

Nope, not been there since November. Good or bad changes in terms of increasing safe climbing space?

Yep, pretty bleak. Combination of dry skin having not climbed for 5 days beforehand, extremely cold rock, and a sharp crimp.

Not long enough! Started after maybe 6 months and got loads of little tweaks to pulleys. Started training properly around V5 (maybe 2 years of climbing?). And started getting a bit more structured around V7.

Will let you know about this week.

#224

They’ve painted everything white and replaced the ‘barrel’ section at the back with a massive slab wall and rearranged the amount of overhang at another section at the back. I generally go in the mornings when Building One is the only wall open so if i’m visiting in the evening or weekend I’ll normally go to The Biscuit Factory so couldn’t tell you how it’s improved the crowds.

Might have to wait a little while just yet then, still bordering V2/V3.

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#225

Hello Climbing crumpets!!

Random question about climbing books. Can any of you guys recommend any spectacular reads!? I was having a look at Touching the Void, The Mountains of My Life by Walter Bonatti etc etc etc. That kind of thing, maybe, also climbing docs! The bf’s birthday is coming up and he’s getting well into his hillwalking and has an enthusiasm and interest in climbing tooo so I thought he might enjoy such a thing, maybe. We’ll see. This is the first time In a while I haven’t just said “What do you fuckin’ want!?” thought I’d surprise him with thoughtful things… for once :smiley:

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#226

I’ll have a think!

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#227

Thank yoooou :smiley:

#228

Welcome @anon3515918

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#229

Hello! I have the puny hands of a weakling and can’t grip anything

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#230

Yep - that’s how it starts. :slight_smile: Are you enjoying getting sore muscles where you didn’t know you had muscles?

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#231

Even after well over a decade of drumming in fast loud bands I’ve never had my forearms ache like this before

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#232

Anything that inverts: no fuck off this is terrifying I’m not even more than a few feet off the floor why am I so scared?

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#233

Omg welcome to the coolest club in town! Whereabouts you climbing?

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#234

You’ll very quickly get more comfortable holding onto the wall and will need much less grip. You’ll find yourself being way more brave and bold! :slight_smile:

#235

There’s a relatively new (march 17) bouldering centre in Tottenham called Stronghold. I really like it!

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#236

Are the colour grades the same throughout the UK? Eg at the centre I’m at it starts at orange for VB, then pink, then blue and so on…

#237

Nope, they differ for each centre. But multi-site centres like The Depot (centres in Leeds, Manchester, Notts and Birmingham) often stick to the same colour-coding.

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#238

Aahh, good to know! Thanks

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#239

Literally the only things I climb!

Given several intro tips in this thread but let us know any questions.

Love it when people discover climbing :grinning:

#240

Went actual climbing for the first time in a month yday. Had done 3 weeks of fingerboarding followed by a week off on holiday. Training is paying off, I think, as I felt pretty strong, but EVERYTHING hurts today. Got a full week away with work coming up so was planning on training hard this week but not sure my recovery times are gonna be up to it :persevere: