Weeks 4 & 5: rehab and ARCing

What I did:

I had tweaked my finger one day before the start of this week, so I focussed on rehab. My physiotherapist said I had a mild strain of the A2 pulley of the ring finger (classic injury), but that I could still climb easy routes and boulders as long as I made sure I would H-Tape the finger and I would ONLY climb with an open hand. I considered the training value of this to be relatively low, so I decided to focus on ARCing to build endurance. I also managed to do some mental training.

Reflecting:

My sleep started improving and honestly I feel super strong now, and full of energy! Too bad about my finger, but at least I've learned the value of a deload week!

I also notice some improvement in terms of cardio on the crosstrainer, but my endurance on the wall is still terrible. My ARC (aerobic endurance) sessions in the past were of such low intensity that I didn't feel any pump. Last week however, I did an ARC session on a 5a in an overhang and that lead to a light pump that I constantly had to manage by shaking out. After 3x 30 minutes of this, I was extremely fatigued in the body and I turned into a couch potato the rest of the day. Something tells me this was the correct training stimulus for building aerobic endurance! So from now on, I'll be sure to pick an easy climb with a light overhang when working on aerobic endurance.

What will I do next time:

I have a new appointment with the physiotherapist Monday, so I will await his judgement. Hopefully I can start increasing the load on my fingers in the crimp position, as that's a major weakness I should be addressing this year. Meanwhile I will try and climb outdoors whenever possible to get more experience on real rock - as long as the route doesn't have any nasty crimps for my right hand. If I try something outside that is a 7a or easier, I will try and go for the onsight as a mental training (so I practise moving while insecure, and if I fall it will be while trying to go for the next move). On harder routes I'll try and go bolt to bolt and work the moves, so I practise projecting. 

When not climbing outside, I will spend more sessions ARCing in the climbing gym on autobelay as that seems to be the right training stimulus for me to build aerobic endurance.

Furtermore over the next 4 weeks I want to: climb a 7b, be able to climb 3 full laps on my kilterboard circuit, ARC on a higher level route and take at least 10 falls while really trying to go for the next move.

Statistics:

Climbed 0 meters on real rock.

Climbed 550 meters of aerobic endurance laps (while doing movement drills).

Taken 0 falls while committing to the next move.