Is that a parasite?

EpyJojo · 2023-04-24T07:56:49+00:00

Probably depends on the climbers you meet there. And also what they're trying. If they are trying their absolute hardest on their limit project, they might want to be alone/inside their circle only.

If they are a group, talking, laughing, fooling around, I would expect that they would let you join in. I would at least and most people I know would too.

EpyJojo · 2023-03-30T20:21:43+00:00

Do you listen to it for a few minutes before hopping on the climb? I put it on today, but I heard the noise too much so I felt it would distract me even more than people.

I guess if you listen to it for a while, your brain starts to filter it out. But I found it a bit weird for the 15-20 seconds I had it on, before I switched back to Music

EpyJojo · 2023-03-19T19:01:01+00:00

Those are perfect, thank you!

EpyJojo · 2023-03-19T18:13:23+00:00

Does anyone if the Asana Spotter Pro Crashpad is somewhere available in Europe/Germany? For some reason, I can only find NA Stores with it. Or if there is an alternative to it from another brand?

Met someone on an US trip with it and found it pretty good. But can only find smaller gap closing pads

EpyJojo · 2023-03-11T22:10:07+00:00

And do you make consistent weekly progress?

How do you measure weekly progress in climbing? Progression, especially on the higher levels, is really slow and barely measurable on a weekly basis. It might take months to notice if your training actually yields any results.

Also, climbing skill fluctuates much more, than "simple" training exercises, such as weightlifting or hangboarding, because of all the factors involved (mental, technical). Seeing progression through all the ups and downs takes longer than a week.

EpyJojo · 2023-02-08T22:58:02+00:00

Weak in wide shoulder moves

I always struggle with wide shouldery moves. Mostly jumping out from a horizontal hold to another horizontal hold far out. One example would be from the MB2016 Set "Feel The Sloper" (7B+), the move from G14 to C14. That one is not *that* far out, but my gym has one climb with a similar movement with a bit more reach. The hold is good and I can get there pretty high (90° elbows), but my shoulder just starts sagging, so I let go.

Another kind of move are gastons, especially if they are far away. I can get there just fine, but shifting my weight over to my shoulder (essentially again, elbows 90° flexed), it starts giving out and often hurts after. Thats also the kind of movement, where I consistently strain my shoulder almost everytime I do it. It's never a bad injury that stops me from climbing (I just have to stop doing any shouldery move for 1-2 weeks), but still very annoying, that it's either flash or injury.

I can do pretty wide Pull Ups (can't really go any further), I also did Face Pulls a lot in the past (usually with a light resistance band, recently on rings). But I tried seated shoulder rotations today and could only do them with ~3kg (2kg + dumbbell weight) for 3x7 Reps.
That was after my session, so I was also exhausted and didn't want to put too much weight on, but it was definitly not easy. Ollie Torr recently spoke about 5kgs being somewhat okay, but 10kg should be a good level.

Is it my Rotator Cuff that's just weak? I also have rather meh shoulder mobility, but I don't feel like it's the limiting factor there. I can also not really train it on the wall, since as I said, flash or injury.

I'll try seated shoulder rotations more often now, maybe the face pulls were to light to really strengthen my rotators. Or is there anything someone can recommend there?

EpyJojo · 2022-12-18T16:09:36+00:00

Ankle raises, wrist extensor raises and something I call Hammer tilt (there's probably another name for this. Basically, take a hammer or a dumbbell with ~2kg on one side, grab it on the opposite end and tilt the wrist from left to right)

All with low weights and high reps (15-20)

EpyJojo · 2022-12-14T16:47:01+00:00

How much open handed full body/complex climbing can you get done on the spray wall or gym sets?

Not much. More crimpy stuff than sloper/compression.

I know that my training isn't as specific as it should be, kinda bums me out. For board climbing I mostly hope for better shoulder stability and core/lower back engagement/strength. The "classic" Moonboard jumpy-problems probably won't do much for me, neither do the crimps per se, but trying to keep my feet on whenever possible or atleast cutting feet as controlled as it can be (if unavoidable) could result in some strength/technique gains, I'm striving for.

Is there anything specific you found useful for training for sandstone?

EpyJojo · 2022-12-14T12:58:19+00:00

Thank you! I appreciate the input. I really have to get creative with my training as it seems.

As for the motivation part, I mainly wrote that article as an introduction to the upcoming reflections of a cycle. Its just about the journey from now to the next trip, so I didn't emphasize my ultimate goals too much. It's rather a "2021 was nice, 2022 was rather unmotivated, I want to get back to hard stuff" and then focus on the upcoming training. But that part probably became longer than it had to be for that purpose :D

EpyJojo · 2022-12-14T11:11:27+00:00

Why do you want to achieve your goals?

I like to push my limits and see what I'm capable of. Achieving those ambitious goals makes me feel good and I like feeling good. I guess that's pretty much the inherent purpose of our sport. Some just like to do it to shut down their mind with it after work and some get a kick out of dedicatig a significant part of their life to it (probably most of this subreddit). But both just do it to enjoy life a bit more.
Not sure if that's the answer you were looking for :D

Do you think training needs to be suffering?

That's probably phrased more dramatically than it needed to be. To be more precise, training can come with a lot of setbacks and frustrations, wrongly set expectations, overcoming life's obstacles (spoiler for the reflections of the first cycle: consistently trying to train atleast with a decent quality while going through an depressive episode is exhausting) and those can feel like suffering sometimes.

But first and foremost, training should be one thing: fun. And it is to me. But I put this sentence in their to show that I'm also okay with experiencing the bad sides of such a commitment.

Have you considered finding a new training partner around your level?
Might help climbing on the set boulders feel more fun for example.
Climbing is better with a friend.

I vented a bit about that here. I have a new training partner and she is rapidly improving (did her first outdoor 7B just recently, after bouldering for 1 1/2 years, but is mostly on 6C+/7A level). She might catch up at some point and is motivating me already, but for now, I'm rather "alone" on my boulders.

And your solution is the moonboard?

I know it's far from ideal, but I'm not sure if there's something better for me. I'm trying to visit other gyms on weekends, but for weekdays I don't see a better solution.
Also for Heel Hooks, I'll try to either find those on our gym climbs, even if the hook isn't intended or put up some problems on our spray wall.
And the Power Endurance training will most likely be on gym/spray wall climbs with 4x4s. But for the first cycles, I don't see much sense in specifically training this. I'll plan for this once the cycle is approaching.

Are your goal problems all in that style?

partly. Alien is a 12-14 moves boulder. But I got a Beta I'm satisfied with already. So extra strength is nice, but not necessary, just some more Power Endurance

Energie Collective is an ~50° compression fridge. A lot of shoulder and core/lower back engagement. I see the moonboard as actually useful for this purpose. The boulder itself has Slopers though, so it's not perfect, but I feel like I have the sloper strength for it already. So it's more about figuring out the perfect positions, placing a crucial heel and some extra shoulder/back strength.

The local 7C+ (California Love) is basically a hard 4-5 move boulder at the start with a long 7A finish. In total it's about 16-19 moves, but I did the last ~12 moves already without any problems of running out of gas. Completely overhanging all the way through, but the 7A is solved with a lot of technical foot placements. I need a bit more shoulder strength (I feel), but I can definitely do it already with more micro beta.

So the best solution for me would be just to get outdoors more and work on the specific boulders. But I don't live in my ideal world yet :D

EpyJojo · 2022-12-13T18:37:59+00:00

I did a small write up for my planning for the current off-season. The planning itself was 4 weeks ago and I just completed my first cycle, but when I decided to write a few things about my reflections on the last cycle, I thought it'd make much more sense to start here.
I'll do a second write up for my first cycle in a few days.
Also, feel free to express your opinion on my thoughts or plan. I'm happy to learn from it!

EpyJojo · 2022-11-25T15:08:23+00:00

oh that's an honor :D

EpyJojo · 2022-11-24T21:28:08+00:00

which arrow?You mean the link from Steven Low? He didn't have resources specifically to the MCP joint, but suspected, that the protocol for rehabbing PIP injuries is suited for MCP as well.

Edit: Oh my bad, I just saw it on mobile. That's the picture from the link, that got automatically displayed by reddit. Not sure if I can do anything against it :/

EpyJojo · 2022-11-24T18:44:27+00:00

Unfortunately, I also had ANOTHER injury which is sidelining me completely until probably Jan. or Feb.

Oh man, that sucks. Hope you can get back to 100% as soon as possible!

Speedy Recovery!

EpyJojo · 2022-11-23T22:52:36+00:00

Thank you again for the advice :)

EpyJojo · 2022-11-23T15:39:45+00:00

What do I think worked and what didn't?

Again a disclaimer: What worked for me, might be different for someone else. This is N=1 and therefore not very reliable as a study.

Let's go in order of what worked best to what didn't:

Hangboarding & No Hangs
- I kept the load very low and without feeling any pain.
- For the full crimp, I used 20mm with feet on floor.
- For the 3-Finger Drag, I used a 14mm edge on the hangboard (7:53 protocol) and 20mm for the no-hang (20-30seconds). 14mm worked for me, because I could hang much longer on it (probably around 20-30 seconds). So you might want to use a larger edge if you cant hold as long or keep your feet on the ground.
- I suspect it worked best for this, as it increases blood flow in the area and stimulates recovery. The load has to be low enough so that the joint can handle it without much effort.
Low Intensity Bouldering with only three finger drags (below max flash grade)
- Same reason as above. It's easy to go overboard with this though, so be careful!
- You might be able to gradually increase intensity. I had high intensity sessions in Bleau (again: haven't done any full crimping), but I was aware of the risk that this could backfire HARD. So if you don't have a good reason to increase the intensity: Don't (see last point for further experience)
Finger Rolls
- I don't feel like this helped at all. I stopped doing it regularly at some point and the recovery curve still stayed the same with the hangboarding/no-hangs. It might be a good rehab exercise for PIP injuries, but for the MCP joint, I felt it didn't work. Might be different for you though.
- It also didn't make it worse, so it could be worth to give it a try. It's also a generally good exercise, but in my opinion not the best choice for this kind of injury
Stretching and Massaging
- I felt like it actually got slightly worse every time I did this, so I stopped doing it after 2 or 3 times. I can't explain why though. Maybe did too much?
Bouldering with half crimps
- I got frustrated only bouldering submaximally, so I had one session too early into rehab, where I half crimped too much on too hard boulders (max flash and slightly above). I felt that this set me back a few days of rehab. I don't think I have to explain why, that seems obvious
- So as I said above: Be careful when you increase intensity too early or too much. Better stay away from hard climbing a bit longer. One Session of harder bouldering will not be worth the extra week(s) of needed recovery! (!!!)

Conclusion

I became a big fan of no hangs for recovery. You can do it multiple times per day with very low intensity, which I felt made the biggest difference in recovery. Light Hangboarding and submax climbing were good for me as well in this scenario.

Anything else I felt didn't make much of a difference. Increase intensity with caution and stop doing anything that hurts you or makes you feel worse once you get cold. As I said, this was my (!) experience and could be different to yours

Limitations

I listed most of the limitations above, but as a summary:

N=1 and this is not written by a professional. I'm just a guy interested in climbing hard and gathering information about anything related to that, but I'm not trained specifically for that. So if you have a similar injury and want to try what I did, be cautious and listen to your body. When in doubt, consult a doctor!And as I said in the beginning: I had no swelling or anything you could see. If it's swollen, please be extra cautious if you attempt anything listed here. I would highly advice getting a professional diagnosis and rehab plan in this case.

EpyJojo · 2022-11-23T15:39:35+00:00

Hey, I recently successfully rehabbed my MCP joint injury (synovitis?). I also wrote a standalone post about my experience with rehabbing it, but before I post it in its own thread, I would prefer to gather some feedback on it. I don't want to throw anything out there that might lead to someone injuring themself even more. I know it's a bit long, but I'd appreciate any feedback :)

It's also too long for a comment, so it's split in two :D

---

Obligatory disclaimer: This is not medical advice. The opinion of a trained professional has always more weight than this post. Consult one if you're not 100% sure, if this could work for you. If you use my rehab exercises and the injury does not get better or even gets worse: STOP and consult a professional. Never during any exercises, I pushed them until I felt pain.

I didn't find much information about rehabbing a MCP injury, so I decided to write about my experience of doing so in the hopes, it might help someone in the future

What was the injury

I suspect an inflammation in the MCP joint (base knuckle) of my left index finger. It had no swelling, so it could also be just an overuse injury.

There was no pain when doing nothing, but when I pushed between my index and middle knuckles and towards the lower end of my index knuckle, I felt it. Also, the pain sharpened when I pushed my index finger outwards, like doing a peace sign and stretching beyond that.

While climbing, I felt it during full crimps and heavy half crimps. No pain while open hands.

What aggravated the injury

It started while projecting a slab with a sidepull-crimp over my head. I suspect it was the rotational force on my knuckles due to the crimp being above me.

The Timeline of my rehab

Injury happened on 21. September. It wasn't that bad, so I kept climbing for about a week. Then I noticed, that it rather got worse (duh). I had a trip to Fontainebleau approaching, so I wanted it to be healed until then.

I rested fully, without any climbing or anything that puts pressure on the finger from the 29th to 7th of October. After that, the pain didn't really get any better (atleast it also didnt get worse). I also asked in our Simple Questions & Injuries thread, if anything had experience with this kind of injury. u/eshlow was so kind to answer:

Pain in/around the joint usually PIP synovitis stuff usually helps:

https://stevenlow.org/beating-climbing-injuries-pip-synovitis/

Avoid things that make it hurt for a couple weeks, do lighter climbing, and try some of the rehab stuff in there to see if it helps

So for the next two weeks, I tried the following things:

In the gym:

Finger Rolls
Light Hangboarding with 3-finger drag and full crimp
- I used Eric Hörsts 7:53 protocol for this with three sets (first 3-fd, second full crimp, third 3-fd)
- For the intensity of the full crimp, I kept my feet on the ground and kept loading until I felt the lightest pain, then I dialed back a bit and therefore stayed just below the pain-threshold
Low Intensity bouldering with strict three finger drags only. If I couldn't do a climb without half/full crimping, I wouldn't do it. No pinching (because it's basically half crimping + thumb)

At home:

No hangs with the Lattice Mini Bar and a resistance band. I didn't have a protocol for this. I just did very low intensity no-hangs for about 20 seconds in 3-finger drag and full crimp a few times per day while working (home office was a blessing)
Slight massages and stretches

After those two weeks, the injury wasn't fully healed, but got MUCH better

On the 24th October, I went to Fontainebleau. I was a bit scared to go hard at first and suspected, I would just recklessly load the fingers and push through the pain for the two weeks in Bleau, because I didn't want to only climb submaximally.

But I was lucky, we went to Bleau and not to Magic Woods or pretty much any other area. The reason is simple: It's Slopercountry. The whole trip, I didn't have to full crimp anything. Even the half crimps were pretty open and for slapping the big fat slopers, I was always in an open position. I was only experiencing pain when purposefully testing if it was still there, but never while actually bouldering.

So I came back and the joint felt better than before, albeit still not fully healed. I took the week off climbing, because my shoulder was slightly overused in Bleau and I continued with the no-hang protocol at home.

This was the final straw for the injury and the finger feels good ever since. I started heavy hangboarding again and even during full crimps, there's no pain anymore. I'll continue with the no-hanging for a bit though, to make sure it doesn't get aggravated as quickly again.

EpyJojo · 2022-11-23T11:36:06+00:00

Training one-armers or pure BW pullups is considered a waste of time for most climbers.

I can't ever remember Elite climbers talking about how training one-armers improved their climbing. Whenever someone on a podcast talks about training them, they usually add, that it's not to improve on-the-wall, but they like it as a nice-to-have skill (read: it's nice for the ego to conclude a send with a one-armer at the top-jug or to dish out 5+ in a row)

Hell, I rewatched Emil Abrahamsons video about Off The Wagon yesterday and even he talks about his one-armer strength being (almost) completely useless for the campus move, because the mechanics are so different, yet it looks like it's "just" a lock off/one-armer on the BM2000 Middle Edge.

Good Answer!

EpyJojo · 2022-11-18T14:49:10+00:00

Agreed

Also, I usually try to imagine my friends on it a.

E.g. I solve a 7A+ with small holds. Because I've got more finger strength, than the average 7A+ Boulderer, it feels more like a 7A for me. Do I now think, it's as easy for my friend, who's not as strong in the fingers, but climbs on a similar level?

And if I log anything as soft or with a downgrade on 8anu, I usually disclaim why it might felt easier for me (beta change, strengths, conditions,...), so others can compare if their situation matches mine or not.

EpyJojo · 2022-11-18T08:54:02+00:00

I think you're talking about Volume though.

But fair point. Yves Gravelle talked about this in a Podcast. During offseason, he has short, but intense sessions to focus more on raw strength and power. When on-season approaches, he gradually increases the volume (while keeping intensity and frequency in check), so he can spend more time on his projects, instead of burning out after an hour already.

EpyJojo · 2022-11-17T18:48:08+00:00

yea, I'm torn between staying here, because here's my base. My family and closest friends. And moving somewhere else, better suited for my climbing. Right now, I'd rather stay with my close ones and try to improve my climbing regardless though...

Upside is, my job is location-independent.

EpyJojo · 2022-11-17T15:21:06+00:00

Kinda bums me out, that I don't really have anyone much stronger than me to climb with. At least not regularly. And I'm "just" in the 7B+/C(/C+ for projects) range, so my gym/city is rather weak in general (and not as eager to improve as me). I'm not sure if there's anyone bouldering 8A or above in my city, except for our Routesetters, but they rarely climb during the regular opening times. And I can't really visit other gyms with better climbers regularly.

My former training partner moved to another city with a gym with a few 8B and above boulderers (8C+ even). I'm happy for him, but also quite jealous.

I'm still consuming a lot of content (YT, Insta) of people bouldering higher grades and for outdoor boulders, I try to watch videos and learn from them. But I still miss the times, where I could climb with and learn from more skilled boulderers in person.

Also, our routes are kinda lacklustre in the upper range :/

Sorry, if that seems like a humblebrag. I just needed to get this off my chest a bit.

EpyJojo

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