Get a Book!

Well I've decided in order to get my arse in gear for the summer, that, rather than building a massive training plan to concentrate soley on training 3 things. Everything comes in 3s. Weaknesses it is. Body tension, antagonists & open handed left hand. Everything else can sort itself out, and by its self.

After watching this vid http://youtu.be/enMb85tE67M of Chris Webb Parsons at the depot comp, go to 58 secs, as the flicks across the roof, he goes from kicking his foot above his head to counter the swing to perfectly stopped on the returning swing... and he doesn't even look like he's trying... it just made me think again, for all the arm umpff in the world it means bugger all if you cant keep a grip of the lower bit.

So fortunately having a 60deg board in my cellar, that's a bit of system board, coming up with some tension exercises has been easy. Small footholds big moves! ...a one foot climbing 6 move exercise that is mirrored and a desperate bachar ladder style slap and control the swing as another. Pretty simple stuff but quick and easy to stick in a session.

Antagonists... well i've been doing these for a bit.. mainly as an ongoing treatment for the back.. so press ups, working up to maybe a couple hundred at the end of a session and kneeling plank superman things for middle and lower back strength. 6 sets of 20 second holds each side.

Open left hand.. a combination of a ten minute routine on the Matrix and another simple idea of sticking a slopey first digit 3 finger hold as a finish hold rather than a jug on the board. The idea being to always finish on this hold, cut loose and hang for 5 or 6... im working upto this!


Im definately coming round to the way of thinking again with having such a little amount of time to train, that to get the most out of my time on a board, its got to be simple, pretty specific, and easily quantifiable. The sort of thing after a day in the office when psych is low, you just get a brew on roll a tab, get in the cellar and do the routine, no planning, no major head ache, and simple to gauge the gains... and being creatures of habit and all that, make it a habit! So these should take up a good portion of a session leaving a bit of messing about on projects and doing some general system board problems.

..Funny.. I found my training note book the other day from around 2001... I look back now and realise I actually really pulled my finger out... for six months ... I used to campus 3 times a week in between normal climbing and the sessions were super simple...  8 sets of 1 4 7 10 up and down, followed by usually 4 or 5 sets of  2 3 4 5 6 fall off .. on the 10mm rungs. Then maybe an hour of easish problems. With it being logged, it was easy to turn up psyched to better the last session or quickly realise you were tired, not on it, and back off. Make the most of a session and go home happy. Maybe the simplicity suited me, no faffing, just get on and do it.

Anyway it sort of worked... I went from just managing a single one armer to doing 8, and from being pretty useless of the rungs to clipping the 9 on a 1 5 9 a few times...   nothing to shout about these days but I managed the improvement pretty quick. Of course they were my weaknesses at the time but I really targetted them and didn't get distracted.. and it was written down...  hmmm...

So... I'm thinking go simple and go specific... and I've bought a book!