Weeks 12 & 13: deload and birthday challenge

What I did:

I finished the PCC kettlebells workout and decided to do a slight deload these last 2 weeks. Lower volume and intensity (no max effort bouldering or climbing). I also did the birthday challenge: 36 boulders in a single session. This probably had no training value but it was fun not to think about my goal for a day and focus on enjoying the session.

I also experimented with different strategies: resting vs skipping rests, shaking while climbing vs climbing fast, shaking lightly to focus on relaxing my muscles vs shaking hard to focs on blood flow. This way I'm learning what works best in what kind of terrain!

Oh and of course I'm doing a pretty hard workout twice a week to get all the muscles around the hips as strong as possible as prehab to prepare my hips for surgery.

  

Reflecting:

I'm feeling much better, so once again the value of a deload has been proven. I think I should consider changing to a 4 week cycle where I train hard for 3 weeks and then deload for 1 week. I'll do that when the training becomes more physical, because right now I'm still focussing on tactics and strategy. 

Also, bouldering is getting harder (I've fallen off 6B's for the first time in years) but sport climbing is getting easier (I can do 6c endurance routes for the first time in my life). Technical climbs are also getting easier. Just goes to show I'm slowly getting into sport climbing shape!  

 

  

What will I do next time:

The weather looks good so I will have 1 weekend at Berdorf where I will try and send my first 7c (5.12d). I will focus on tactics and strategy, because I'm 100% sure I can do this if I play it smart. I will also do some hard bouldering again because I need the impulse (I've mostly done easy volume stuff so far for endurance).

So: Tuesday (sub)max session bouldering, and on Friday, Saturday and Sunday either climb outdoors or have 3 sessions: 1 easy sport climbing session, 1 volume bouldering session, and 1 hard projecting sport climbing session.

Statistics:

Pulling power	Average	2 weeks ago	Today
Left	44	46kg	44
Right	45	48kg	47

 

Climbed  0 meters on real rock.

Climbed 350 meters of aerobic endurance laps (while doing movement drills).

Taken 0 falls while committing to the next move.