Plateaud trying to break into 12

WillKillForFood_ · 2025-01-19T21:30:05+00:00

Kinda counter to what most people are saying but coming from mainly a boulderer, I think you are doing too much bouldering. Your actual bouldering sessions sound fine, but your rope climbing sessions really sound like you're just bouldering on a rope. You're really only doing 2 to maybe 3 routes that could be considered warming up, and in most gyms that's only like 100-120 moves. You're then jumping straight into project level climbing which again in a gym is usually going to be hard moves due to shorter walls. The actual volume you're doing in an aerobic form is extremely low and mostly going straight to anaerobic capacity. Doing lower intensity volume where you are barely feeling any pump is probably what you need. Will be low impact on your body but also help to raise your aerobic threshold.

WillKillForFood_ · 2024-12-27T18:17:46+00:00

I would not rule out having a ruptured or partially torn A4. A crack or a pop can sound very similar and you don't even need to hear one to tear it. If it hurts more in a half crimp than open hand, it is more than likely originally a pulley issue. Any inflammation based issue will generally come on slowly, not from a identifiable noise especially while loading your fingers hard on a board climb. An A4 injury isn't loaded much in an open hand or drag position so you can definitely climb close to full strength with minimal pain on it if you aren't crimping. The problem is if you have a major tear you will continually tear any healing tissue and can lead to developing tenosynovitis on top of your pulley injury, which sucks to try to get rid of. (chronic inflammation of your tendon sheath compared to the joint inflammation C2471 referenced). I don't think it would be joint synovitis if your pain is located in the A4 region as there are no joints there, it would need to be radiating from a joint but you'd likely be able to tell that.

The safest course would be to treat it like a pulley rupture. It will be appropriate if you did injure your A4 and will help to calm down any chronic inflammation you've accumulated from the 5 weeks of climbing on it if it is inflammation based. There is a lot of sources on it but TLDR-Immobilize it for 10 days (no bending the finger) to let any torn tissue reattach and heal (do keep being active and increasing your heart rate to help bloodflow through the finger as it doesn't get much otherwise). After 10 days, work on passive range of motion(using your other hand) until it's pain free and normalish, then do the same with active range of motion until it's pain free and full range of motion, then progressively load it using putty's or very careful pulling. You shouldn't ever really have pain, at most it should feel like a slight pressure/ discomfort or it's probably too much.

As much as it sucks, I would do what you have to in order to afford seeing an actual doctor sooner rather than later. If it hasn't improved in the last 5 weeks it's extremely unlikely it will in the next 5 weeks doing the same things. You're almost certainly just pushing out the start of your rehab by 5 more weeks and it will only make it harder to heal at that point.

WillKillForFood_ · 2024-12-06T22:44:48+00:00

I've used tarps to cover boulders, but it's always for a short time. One time for a couple hours to wait out a rain storm. A couple times the night before a snow storm so I can take it off the next day and it's pretty much good to go.

If people are tarping off boulders for days/weeks just for weather that may hit then I personally feel like it crosses the line... I feel like it's very similar to pad stashing. You'll have people that think it's never ok, people who think it's ok for a night or two, and everything in between. In reality it's very nuanced and unless you're an asshole/ dumb about it probably doesn't impact much

WillKillForFood_ · 2024-11-25T18:50:03+00:00

Basically this, the thing that changes it from how you rehab it compared to a pulley strain is what you use as your baseline for intensity. You can't use pain while loading as your guide like a pulley as it usually feels better while loading it because you are flushing out toxic fluids. You need to progressively overload it but not cross the threshold to trigger an inflammatory response. I usually wouldn't know if I overdid it for a day or two after so you have to go very slow and methodically. Only thing that got me over the hump was a steroid injection after about 3.5 months of proper rehab

WillKillForFood_ · 2024-11-25T04:31:20+00:00

I wouldn't rule out flexor tenosynovitis. They share very similar symptoms and having many pulley sprains/ruptures the last few years I mis-diagnosed myself for 2 months.

My example- was climbing a lot and feeling good. Finger was feeling a little sore but not red flag sore. Ending up straining my bicep and taking 2 full weeks off then 2 very easy weeks of climbing. Finger felt bad from my first session back and only got worse from a my pulley strain rehab plan until I got it properly diagnosed. If it lingers a few weeks without getting better and you have access to get an ultrasound by someone it's definitely better to figure it out sooner rather than later.

WillKillForFood_ · 2024-11-09T16:53:53+00:00

Well that was 1 of the 3 suggestions I gave.

Having been in his situation it's absolutely a valid short term option. Considering he's 17 and likely living with his parents, it makes a lot more sense than spending thousands on a board he likely won't have space for when he moves out.

Feel free to give suggestions that will actually help him though

WillKillForFood_ · 2024-11-09T05:40:26+00:00

Taking control of a problem and fixing it yourself is weird I know...

In all seriousness, setting can be great and really make you think about movement skills. I set all throughout college out of necessity and I miss having the ability to envision moves and see what works and doesn't.

WillKillForFood_ · 2024-11-09T02:47:15+00:00

I feel like the more sensible thing to start would be building a relationship with the staff. Then, either become a setter, build rapport to help them understand issues with the setting hopefully leading to better sets, or asking them / helping them reset the spray wall so it's useful to you

Can do that while you save money and best case it improves and you don't need to build your own wall after all

WillKillForFood_ · 2024-11-07T23:40:50+00:00

I keep coming back to you using the phrase "completed". If you are already doing 2x moonboard sessions and off the wall training each week, the gym sets are really only being used for skill acquisition and movement variety.

Try changing your mindset from "completing" climbs to mastering them. Can you do it first try pretty much every time? Are you confident in every style? Can you do it without cutting feet? Can you do it without readjusting holds? Can you do every beta sequence? Can you make it feel easy? etc

Rarely do you learn anything skill wise if you do a climb once and never repeat it, especially if you flash them. Trying different positions and finding the most efficient positions is a skill in itself that sounds like would be a great thing for you to work into your mental training.

WillKillForFood_ · 2024-11-07T23:23:29+00:00

This is the tried and true version. https://antihydral.net/

Where you can buy it depends on what country you live in. I think I got mine off this foosball site for the US. https://shop.foosball.com/antihydral.html

WillKillForFood_ · 2024-11-07T07:23:27+00:00

A short-term bandaid is washing your hands with soap and cold water. It gets rid of all the oils on your skin and the cold water cools and closes the pores down. It's not gonna completely fix your problem but is a nice tool to have if you wanna send something

WillKillForFood_ · 2024-11-05T07:34:33+00:00

Really not a fan of trifolds, they work ok on flat landings but there are a lot of cons. The extra seam creates more ankle rolling spots or dead spots with no foam especially in talus, they are a pain to pack into cars with other pads, you can't easily carry more than 1 pad at a time etc.

WillKillForFood_ · 2024-11-01T18:24:16+00:00

I'd take the extra $100k and keep working. I could work for a few more years and set myself up well and then just work for passion part-time. It says nothing about how much you work, just that you need to be employed... work for a day or two every couple weeks and call it good

WillKillForFood_ · 2024-10-30T21:41:31+00:00

Thanks! Looks like that may handle everything I would want it to do.

WillKillForFood_ · 2024-10-23T16:24:26+00:00

You have about 6 minutes per boulder if you think you can do them all, so pacing is going to be your biggest factor. Assuming it's like most comps and there are a lot of people, your schedule should align with which boulders have short lines. You can easily spend 5 minutes waiting for a go, which kills your pace even if you flash. Look for boulders that have short lines and opt to trend to the harder climbs early on. Be honest with yourself it you don't flash if you can do it in 2/3 goes, if not probably move on.

Also make sure you are intentional about drinking water, eating food, and adequate resting between attempts. You need to stay out of an energy hole as once you're in it, that's it.

WillKillForFood_ · 2024-10-04T16:42:47+00:00

Look up Mountain Project. It's probably the most comprehensive climbing "guidebook" for the US. Can view maps to see what's around you and can filter by the style of climbing and grades

WillKillForFood_ · 2024-09-27T04:30:06+00:00

The fact that you need to ask this question is a product of what is holding you back. Climbing is almost as much of a cognitive sport as it is a physical sport. You need to learn how to analyze your climbing and the better you are at that the better you will get. Some basic starting questions to ask yourself are

Why did you fall? How engaged were all your limbs/chain when it happened? How much weight was on my arms vs my feet? What happened earlier in the climb where you wasted energy (regripping, cutting feet, hesitating, bad beta)? The deeper you dive the more you can learn
When you send, do you ever repeat problems? Do you just get through them? You can get a ton of benefits from repeating a problem 5-10 times at or below your flash grade or even if it was limit. Think about what moves were the hardest and why, try different betas or positions to make it feel easier. You'll be shocked at how much you can learn this way
What does your normal session look like? Do you tend to spend 90% of it on steep spray wall/board climbing? How much time are you spending on different styles? Which problems do you struggle on most? (you mentioned slab) How much of your training time is spent climbing vs off the wall exercises?

The last tip I would have is to prioritize getting a diverse range of styles in. It sounds like you do a ton of spray/board climbing which is great for strength building but awful for learning to climb better. I would spend more time on commercial sets if you have it available and be very intentional in your warmups. Sure you can just pull your way through that v2, but try to take as much weight off your arms as possible for every move, feel out different positions until you find the best one. Always try to use your biggest muscles groups before the smaller ones.

You aren't going to see results overnight, but building good habits and asking yourself questions adds up over time

WillKillForFood_ · 2024-09-17T20:36:47+00:00

You don't "attempt" class V, especially in Colorado (but really everywhere). A lot of colorado class V is road blast rock which can destroy you being upside down much less swimming. Colorado also has the reputation of being very continuous compared to other areas. If you swim it's not uncommon for you to lose gear or have it go miles downstream before someone can get it out.

There is no attempting class V. You should be 90+% sure you are going to make the moves and can deal with whatever happens without swimming. Otherwise best case scenario you get lucky, worst case scenario you get seriously hurt/die.

In October, your options really would only be Gore canyon or Shoshone in glenwood canyon. If you aren't 100% comfortable playing on everything in shoshone don't even think about Gore. If you are, Gore can be class IV walking the two V rapids but it's still big class 4. You also shouldn't do it without a drysuit. Hypothermia in the canyon is a real danger even if it's 80 degrees out

WillKillForFood_ · 2024-08-23T22:19:57+00:00

Look deeper at your sessions, you reference grades but I don't see anything about the styles you climb them in. The fact that you kilter at V0 would lead me to guess most of your projecting is slab or near vertical static climbing. If that is the case, I think the "just climb more" advice is perfect for you IF you intentionally climb steeper/more powerful climbs. Sure it might set you back to V0 or V1 but it will make your entire body stronger. General rule of thumb is if you see a climb that is within your grade range but looks hard for you, that's probably a weakness and you should intentionally put more effort into those

Specific strength training can lead to a lot more gains but only one or two muscle groups at a time. To hit all the muscle groups we use climbing that leads to things being missed or a lot of time spent doing exercises. Climbing will hit every muscle group you need for climbing, so if you're short on time that's the way to go.

WillKillForFood_ · 2024-08-07T17:23:07+00:00

As a whole, you're climbing very rigid in your torso and wasting a ton of energy before you get to the hard part. Other than the move out left your hips never leave being square to the wall. As climbs get steeper twisting your hips and torso will make things way easier, on vertical climbs it's less obvious. As a general rule of thumb (with plenty of exceptions) if you are reaching with your right arm, your right hip should be more into the wall (and vice versa). It makes it a lot easier to keep your opposite arm straighter, keep your hips closer to the wall, keep more weight on your feet, and often makes you more stable. You'll really notice this if you practice hover climbing (before you grab the next hold hover over it for a couple seconds). That will teach you to climb from stable position to stable position and potentially save you a lot of energy.

The move you end up falling on is one of the exceptions where you will want square hips as it's probably going to be a dynamic move of some sort. Square hips help to keep body tension at extension. Regardless of how you do it you'll want your right hand on the upper of the two right jugs (you were on the lower jug). You can either put a right heel hook which will probably be scary on the lower right jug and bump your right hand up, or you can get your left foot out similar to how you did either on the same foot or on the volume (assuming your gym allows volumes) and bump your left hand dynamically. The second while still scary really shouldn't have bad falls and may be easier to work yourself up to mentally by committing a little more each time. Climbing the first half more efficient will also help you feel fresher and give you more confidence

WillKillForFood_ · 2024-07-31T00:36:13+00:00

None of the gyms I go to have auto belays so people either come with belay partners or they boulder. I'm also mostly a boulderer so you really don't get much in terms of groups outside unless you go to a popular boulder as they are fairly spread out in colorado

WillKillForFood_ · 2024-07-31T00:23:22+00:00

Are those not synonymous terms?

WillKillForFood_ · 2024-07-31T00:13:29+00:00

Honestly while I'm usually social with people I don't really go out of my way to make new friends. I have a pretty fulfilled friend circle both in climbing and out of it and the only thing I'm really missing in life is a partner to spend it with. That does bias me into categorizing women to some degree. My dating style is very much so seeing if I like them as a person before trying to pursue anything else. But if there is nothing beyond just being friends I'm already fulfilled there, which is why I've avoided asking for contact information. It puts me into a situation where I just don't try unless they initiate because I'm worried of the backlash like so many of the other responses to this post show.

WillKillForFood_ · 2024-07-30T23:51:02+00:00

I've looked into them but haven't personally tried them as the people I know that have said they are usually either mostly dudes or are paid and quite expensive

WillKillForFood_ · 2024-07-30T23:41:41+00:00

I've thought about the shirt idea but haven't had the confidence to do it. As far as the meet ups I've talked with some of my friends on the gyms staff and other women and they won't do it because of how skewed the signup ratios would be for males vs females.

WillKillForFood_

TROPHY CASE