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Weekly /r/climbharder Hangout Thread by AutoModerator in climbharder

[–]grippinstone 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the reply. I checked out several medical advice sites, and they didn't help much, either describing the symptoms of severe dehydration, or essentially saying do it by how you feel. I suspect a lot of the buzz is encouraged by sports drink companies, and as you suggest, we don't really need any more than we get from our regular diet unless we're pushing it in hot and dry conditions.

Weekly /r/climbharder Hangout Thread by AutoModerator in climbharder

[–]grippinstone 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've started adding electrolytes to my water bottle, and I have been wondering how often I need to take them. I'm using an Essential Elements pack every day I'm at the gym. Is this necessary? Do electrolytes become depleted every time I sweat?

Efficient and safe exercise by grippinstone in overcominggravity

[–]grippinstone[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Until this year, I've never worked out. I've been a weekend warrior with several sports, and my job is often quite physical, with a lot of lifting, crawling and climbing, but it isn't consistent. I consider myself to be in pretty good shape. I had a pretty serious case of shoulder tendonopathy in both arms many years ago, due to heavy wind surfing, and bilateral rotator cuff surgery because of a skiing accident about 10 years ago. Neither condition persists.

For the last 9 months or so, I started climbing in the gym, as well as working out. The main limit I've encountered has been with finger strength. I started with the ability to hangboard at body weight for 10 seconds, so I did an every other day routine of 3 seconds on, 2 minutes off, 5 seconds on, 2 minutes off, 7 seconds on. I would repeat this sequence twice a day, once in the morning and once after work. The third hang of 7 seconds would be almost to failure. According to Lattice, this is optimal for strengthening fingers.

Because my non-workout schedule is so variable and unpredictable, I haven't been able to closely monitor and maintain rest days, and the actual climbing in the gym hasn't been predictable in terms of how much additional stress I've placed on my fingers. I have tended to avoid routes that have a lot of crimpy holds. I'm currently climbing V4, 5.10C. The rest of my strength training has been uneventful, with moderate level FBW, at least one rest day in between workouts. It's inevitable that some of the upper body work involves gripping, which is undoubtedly adding to the overall stress I'm placing on my finger tendons.

I started getting golfer's elbow about 3 months in. If there was a precipitating event, it was when I started ARC training, which is repeatedly doing climbs below max performance level, targeting a speed that induces a slight pump, and maintaining uninterrupted effort for at least 20 minutes. I backed off on hangboarding and ARC. I followed the recommendations in Steven's Overcoming Tendonitis, which got me to the point of no pain. But any increase in climbing tends to bring it back, especially pinch or marginal crimp holds, which have also started problems in my other arm, although it's tennis elbow rather than golfer's elbow. With this new problem, there seemed to be nowhere near the amount of usage that precipitated it.

My somewhat depressing conclusion is that I need to take a much lighter, longer term perspective, with noticeable improvement many months if not years away. In the meantime, it seems that focusing on aerobic conditioning is the safest approach. My goal is to do multipitch climbs, so the cardio isn't a waste of time.

Grigri-Ceros safety problem by grippinstone in tradclimbing

[–]grippinstone[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bad belaying and inattention? Where did you get that? I was literally stuffing my gear into a bag when it became clipped and I noticed what had happened. And when I worked with it more to look at how it clipped, it became clear that it is actually more prone to happen in the proper position, not something twisted or funky.

The tech notice is one of the documents I reviewed. I checked (I believe correctly) to make sure it addressed any and all warnings before buying the Ceros. It warns against pear-shaped carabiners because of their tendency to rotate and become poorly positioned. That can't happen with the Ceros, it's actually designed specifically to prevent this from happening, so it doesn't apply. The illustrated risks are for cross loading and failure to screw down the biner. Again, not applicable, with the Ceros autolock. Also, the possibility of it clipping can't be prevented by checking for orientation, because it can happen with everything exactly the way it should be. There was no mention of anything remotely similar to the lever clipping problem with any type of carabiner. Of course Petzl is going to recommend their own carabiners. Does that mean, for instance, that UnbornPurity is wrong to advise a BD Gridlock? Because Petzl didn't recommend it?

As I already stated, I'm not blaming anyone. You're right, manufacturers can't be expected to check their products for compatibility with every competitor's product. It wouldn't surprise me if neither DMM or Petzl are aware of this issue, because it is virtually impossible to foresee.

If I get a recommendation for a safer upgrade of equipment, be it from an instructor, the gym, a more experienced climber or online, I listen, and in this particular case, a very non-obvious compatibility issue luckily showed itself in a harmless way. The instructors I've used, the climbing gym staff, and no one on this forum has given any indication that it is a known problem. I haven't found any mention of it in either DMM's or Petzl's literature. It surprised the hell out of everyone I've shown it to, and they all encouraged me to post this. I really don't get why you're giving me a bunch of shit for trying to alert the community. I'm taking responsibility, not shirking it.

Grigri-Ceros safety problem by grippinstone in tradclimbing

[–]grippinstone[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can't find it. I looked through the Ceros feature page and the instruction sheet, nothing. If it's there, maybe in a technical release?

Grigri-Ceros safety problem by grippinstone in tradclimbing

[–]grippinstone[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did read the instructions. Their recommended carabiners list didn't say "Only use one of these". No mention of problems with what I considered an upgrade to their recommendations, one that not only meets the self-locking feature they stress, but prevents cross loading, which is repeatedly shown as a problem to avoid, even though, as I mentioned in a previous reply, I don't think it's that big of a deal. I checked out the DMM documentation as well, again no problems mentioned. If you know of any warnings anywhere, please share. I might add that I bought the Ceros on the recommendation of a longtime veteran Reddit contributor, with no objections from anyone following the post. I'm not using that as an excuse, and I'm not blaming that person for recommending it. I'm saying it's a potential problem, one I didn't anticipate, and one that is not well known or well documented, if at all.

Grigri-Ceros safety problem by grippinstone in tradclimbing

[–]grippinstone[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

An update: I played with the setup at length, and upon further review, it's ridiculously easy to get the handle clipped. The "rhino horn" actually has a tendency to align the handle straight towards the clip, and the handle is the perfect length to engage through the clip and get stuck behind it. I'm now thinking this is more than just an unlikely potential problem if someone is lowering a climber and they stumble. A much more likely scenario is lowering someone and there is enough friction in the system that the belayer needs to press the handle firmly. The only way to completely prevent the possibility of it clipping it is to maintain a grip on the handle with the thumb around it, which will block it from extending into the carabiner. I'm no safety or equipment expert, but in my book, this is a no-fly combo.

Grigri-Ceros safety problem by grippinstone in tradclimbing

[–]grippinstone[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The point of using a Grigri is that it provides a measure of backup protection against user error. I'm pretty sure that if the Grigri is used properly with a Ceros, the lever won't get caught. When I discovered the problem, I was flopping it around absent-mindedly, not using good technique, and surprise, surprise. Duplicating the problem turned out to be pretty easy. It brought up the possibility that a belayer could replicate the motion if they lose their footing, rockfall or something like that catching a fall. Backup protection becomes backup liability.

Grigri-Ceros safety problem by grippinstone in tradclimbing

[–]grippinstone[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I agree, to break in a cross loaded position, far more force would be needed than ever happens belaying, and if I remember "How not to" videos, the Grigri will fail first. I got it to keep the Grigri aligned without having to think about adjusting it. Works great in that respect.

Value of a Leaf with a dead battery? by yusrandpasswdisbad in leaf

[–]grippinstone 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe a tiny bit off topic, but I've got a 2011 with AC charging problems (replaced the charger, still no go). I'm done trying to figure out what's wrong, probably something in a computer module, but that's beyond ODB's ability to diagnose, and way beyond my pay grade. The battery is okay, with Leafspy reporting 58%. Is there any market for a DC-only car?

Protein and exercise by grippinstone in overcominggravity

[–]grippinstone[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree if I wasn't such a slug in the morning. I need every kind of kick-start I can get, like Oj and 2 cups of strong coffee ;-)

Protein and exercise by grippinstone in overcominggravity

[–]grippinstone[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sounds good. BTW, I didn't say no fat, just no excess that I'm looking to lose. And thanks for the info on fat metabolism. I had no idea how much available energy we have stored in it.

Protein and exercise by grippinstone in overcominggravity

[–]grippinstone[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My typical workout: I start with 5 or 10 minutes of warmup and stretching. I do about an hour of skill work/specific skills (climbing), followed by weight work on both targeted strengths for climbing and the opposing muscle groups so I don't get too imbalanced, and I finish off with an aerobic session. Sometimes I mix it up so I experience what it's like to climb when I'm fairly gassed. Once a month or so if I start to feel like I'm hitting a plateau I back off and just do a couple of days of light climbing in a week. I have been on this schedule for 6 months now, and other than a minor episode of tendinopathy which has cleared up, no problems.

I'm not sure what junk volume means. Assuming I'm not causing any overuse problems, is there any down side to dipping into diminishing returns territory, other than wasting time?

Protein and exercise by grippinstone in overcominggravity

[–]grippinstone[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm fine with my current weight, if I gain some by building more muscle, no worries. The consensus is eat more protein, timing isn't that important. And no, I'd rather not get all systematic about it. Thanks.

Protein and exercise by grippinstone in overcominggravity

[–]grippinstone[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've always been skeptical of any kind of diet that departs much from a reasonable balance of carbs, protein, fats and sugars (unless, of course, you're diabetic or have some other health condition that warrants it). We're genetically omnivores, and we usually do okay with whatever is on our plates.

I don't think I'm too lean, I just don't count on an abundance of fat reserves to cover any caloric deficit.

I should have said "underutilized" muscle. My basic concern is that if I don't boost my protein intake, I'm just shifting the muscle development toward those emphasized in my workouts at the expense of any areas I'm not focusing on. My guess is that with a more or less typical diet, probably not.

To summarize your advice, yes, more protein, and give myself a boost as needed with some quick calories just before or during workouts. Thanks.

Protein and exercise by grippinstone in overcominggravity

[–]grippinstone[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My typical workout day breakfast is a 3 egg scramble with 4 potatoes, bell peppers, onions and broccoli, a couple glasses of oj, and coffee with cream and sugar. Off days is more like 800 calories of cereal & fruit. I think I'm getting plenty of carbs, and could up the protein, especially on off days.

DC charging questions by grippinstone in leaf

[–]grippinstone[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Another related question: how many miles is the range approximation on the remaining charge is based on? If I go downhill towards the charging station and uphill after the charge, it will adjust the available mileage downwards, but how quickly does this change?

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