Treading

10 min treadwall, vertical (setting 6)
4x [1m on, 1m off] treadwall, overhanging (setting 6)

3x5 bench press (5x45, 5x75, 3x95, 1x115 then 3x5x135)

Since I didn't make it to BKB this week, tried to get a little climbing movement in at Coles. Reasonable pump, might help the forearm endurance to do it a little more regularly. Stepped the bench weight down a bit for a sore wrist, but felt good at the weight.

One is the loneliest number...

Like every Friday (in theory), its Carpet Bomber Friday. But today I thought that either, I would have an excuse not to go, or I would have a partner: neither happened. First, Misss Pssst thought she might stop buy, but then she changed plans. Then, I thought Kenway would join me, but he was busy. Finally, Alistair said he would join me, but he backed out at the last minute.

So there I was, alone, with the treadwall... I did a 3x Carpet bomber followed by an attempt at the yellow-star traverse at Coles.

Warm-up:
10 minutes treadwall, vertical (5 for me because I was late)

5 rounds of:
20 burpees
1 min treadwall (max overhang)
max reps steep wall lock-offs

Added another exercise to Guillaume's bastard invention to even out the balance between cardio and climbing endurance. The lock-offs are done on a steep wall, pulling in tight and locking off one arm to reach high with the other hand and hold for 2 secs; immediately drop and repeat with the other arm, etc. Good explanation from Eric Horst on the Nicros training site. Pretty tough, we were only holding 4-6 reps by the end.

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!

The saying better be true, because the workout with Kenway yesterday nearly did me in. This was the first session of what we hope will be a weekly (and at some point twice a week) thing. The goal was:

- 10 minutes on treadwall in vertical position (5 minutes on each wall to be more precise) at low speed.
- 5 sets of:

1. 20 burpees.
2. 1 minute treadwall in the steepest position at low speed.

The rules were any break (if any) during the burpees should be taken in a plank position. We alternated which treadwall to use on every set.

We have managed to do the first 10 minutes + 4 full sets of the second part and I did the 20 burpees of the 5th set but not the last 1 minute.

This was really exhausting. We need to first finish the 5 sets, but also find the adjustments on the treadwall so that our speeds our about the same (given our weight differential). Once we can do all 5 sets, we should try to do it faster, and then add another 10 minutes of something else. But let's first see if we can finish it!

Treadwall

Swung downtown to hang out with Kenway at Coles. No employees at the bouldering station, so we spent a little time on the treadwalls. They have two there, and we alternated between them set at the maximally negative incline.

7x2 min treadwall (setting ~6, ~1:1 work:rest)

Hard to quantify the difficulty, but each two minute round was pumpy, and fatigue accumulated a lot across rounds. We were shooting for 10 rounds, but (thankfully) ran out of time. Probably just the right volume actually, since we were starting to pop off before the full two minutes. Worth noting that since Kenway weighs a bit more, he had to work harder (faster).

The treadwall doesn't replicate much of the feel of climbing, cause you just can't rest, but it seems perfect for working forearm endurance and footwork. Too bad you can't get a more negative incline on it, otherwise it would be really great for body tension as well.

My Miuras developed a hole in the toe, so I took advantage of the EMS sale to pick up another pair.

Visions of Elvis and Friday at the gym...

I was hoping Kenway was going to make an Halloween post, but I give up. Here's a quick roundup. Kenway was definitely the star wining 2 climbing books and a t-shirt for his spectacular Elvis costume (sideburns holding with climbing tape). Eric was looking good as a mad scientist wearing tights! Leading was out of the question in the absence of light and with the kids running everywhere so we top-roped instead. We struggled on almost everything: 9 warm-up under the arch, 10 (orange), 11 (blue), 11 (green on the arete) in the front.

Then miss Psst McDonald showed us she can do anything we try better than we can by walking the length of a slackline (Kenway and I could barely do one step). This was followed by some more nonsense on rock rings (which left me sore). After a futile attempt at bouldering, we all ended up eating hotdogs and drinking beer. This is the point at which Miss Deejay (aka Miss Too-cool-to-climb) made a video of Eric Dancing! Watch out, this seems like it could take the web by storm. The drive home was unusually calm in the absence of J and B...

After eating twice at the restaurant yesterday (one of which included churros with a chocolate dipping sauce at Mercat), I decide to make my way to the gym today. Here's the report:

1. 7 minutes on the treadwall (slightly overhanging at slow speed).


2. deadlifts (weight too low to be posted without shame, but better than last time).


3. 27 burpees (2nd set of the day).


4. 10 towel pullups (both sides of the towel wrapped in the hands to improve the open grip).