Slopers

Well,  last night I went into the gym and climbed around.  It went petty well,  but I figured out something about myself.  I am terrible at slopers.  People always joked that I would be more likely to crimp a sloper than to hold it properly but I never realized to what extent. 

If the sloper has a thumb-catch, I am typically okay, but big, exposed slopers with nothing but sloping surface really get me.  Even slopers that you can kind of "meat-hook" aren't too bad, but something about them is really hard for me.  It also doesn't help that I spent the last 3 years climbing at Hueco Tanks where slopers are not as common.

Here is the problem I was having trouble with.  It's probably about a V8 and I kept getting to the last move and not being able to get to the finish.

One thing that was nice, however, was that I was working on a problem that one of the guys there made up which involved two of what I previously thought were my weaknesses, and did very well.  The first was a very dynamic move to a small crimp, which was much harder than I expected it to be.  Then I pulled up from there with just one hand on the small crimp past my shoulder rotation reach, relying solely on my left bicep.

It is really great to be seeing results from my workouts.  I hope they keep coming.

Staying With It.

Well, I am still training regularly and I have taken my Metolius Rock Rings to work now.  This should help with the plan I have in place since I can't mount my hangboard right now in the new apartment I am moving into next week.  Hopefully I can fashion something out of my "perfect pull-up" bar.  I am sure I'll put up pics when I do.

Setting at Metro Rock

Well, I am going to start setting as a volunteer at Metro Rock. To complete this task, I bought my first grigri. I have always been old fashioned about belaying and the most advanced thing I bought was an ATC Guide when I though I might do some multipitch stuff. It is nice to get one though. I feel like I can get back on rope legitimately now. Speaking of getting on rope, I did get on yesterday and almost flashed a 5.12d. That was pretty nice for my confidence considering I haven't been on rope for 4 years. Also, here is a video Alex took of me on a V6 last week at the gym.

More training and Alex visits the gym.

On Friday, Alex and I went to Metro Rock.  I feel safe saying that she thoroughly enjoyed it. We both bouldered the whole time and ended up climbing for about three hours.  It was a lot of fun and Alex was pretty fearless.   If we can get into the gym more often it would be really great to see how she likes getting on rope too. 

Also,  I have been continuing my workout regiment at work during lunch and is going pretty well.  I don't know what the total gains are but I can pull down 120 pounds with one arm,  which means I am only 25 pounds from doing a one arm pull-up.  Tonight on my computer I will add some content.   Thanks for reading!

 

 

Serious this time.

Training has always been a big obstacle for me.  I get really motivated, start climbing all the time, get to training, and then some major shift happens in my life and I stop.  I have realized though, that I am only getting older and will eventually see decreased gains in performance and so now is the time to act.  I want to send a V14 before I am maxed out and that is going to take some serious work.  Right now, since my break from June 2013 to about March 2014, I have dropped down to about V9-10 and I need to build it back up.  I can get the moves in V11s, but I don't have the endurance to complete a V11 if my life depended on it.  I get through most 8s and am completely spent.

Therefore, I have dedicated a good bit of my lunch break to training, as well as getting into the gym more often and training at home.

I now keep my powerballs at work and use them on the lat-pull-down machine.  It works really well to focus on specific muscle groups and gets me a pretty good sloper workout at the same time.  It's not too bad.  I am measuring my progress on a one-arm pullup as well from these workouts and I am getting closer. 

I intend to keep this up and update you all as I go.  Maybe I'll discover something wonderful.