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Last month the recuperation was going reasonably well. It was good to be able to get back up to climbing 7b-c - I just needed to pick routes with holds big enough not to stress my still very dodgy digit. Unfortunately I was still unable to train properly, but I managed to get a load of volume in and as a result I have progressed faster than I thought would be possible.

First up I managed to wangle a week off work and with Dave, Ako, Tim and Charlotte - we headed out to one of the best crags in Europe, Ceuse. Having not visited the crag for over ten years I was chomping at the bit.

The plan was to bomb down to Ceuse in one hit! We gave up at 4am.. The girls slept in the van whilst the Gents made do with the floor.

Unfortunately I was much better at storming up the hill than I was cranking on the crag! But I still managed to tick a couple of classics and most importantly we had a proper good laugh. Having done four days in a row of the notoriously arduous walk-in we decided to hit the more road-side venue of St Leger. What a brilliant crag. Unfortunately (but predictably) I managed to tear a ligament in my knee, which hurt like mad. Unable to walk properly I cut my trip short and headed back to blighty.

Despite tipping the scales at almost 13 stone I still managed to get a couple of things ticked at Ceuse. Managed to shift a good stone and a half so no excuses now!

Back in the Uk my knee was sore but ok for climbing after a couple of rest days. Over at Kilnsey I managed to tick a couple of classics including 'Mr Nice' 7c+/8a and the unbelievably good 'The Thumb' 8a. Next up I got stuck into Urgent Action which is probably the best 8a+ on the crag. The lower crimpy section was a bit harsh for my finger but the rest is nice, big moves on good holds.  Anyhow it was a total bonus to get it ticked and its certainly given me a bit of confidence in my ability to use my finger. Hopefully Katz will get it ticked soon!

With the unfeasibley good weather having come to an end its a good time to get back training. My original goal for this summer was to get back up to 8a+ but I reckon my finger will take 8b+ this year as long as I pick my routes.

I just hope my surgeon doesn't read my blog as he still thinks im squeezing a foam ball for five minutes, twice a day!

Steve

Getting back in shape has been difficult but at last I seem to be making some decent gains. Four months of solid gym work has given me a good base to train upon and also helped give me some momentum. Starting back was tough. Initially I was unable to weight my finger in any meaningful manner and although it was good to be back climbing it was still frustrating to not be able to give it 100%. This hammered home the fact that climbing is most rewarding for me when I can try hard.

Having made my first steps back on the limestone I was pleased to find that I could actually climb more than I thought. Within a couple of weeks I managed to get back up to 7c and this gave me a good platform to build up some volume.

On slightly less intense ground Ryan and I managed a couple of gems up at Rylstone. Not sure if we covered any new ground but we certainly uncovered some classics.

At the Depot we have made some big changes. We have just fitted a large circuits board, which is perfect for training ‘proper’ endurance. The board appears to replicate the pump you get outside perfectly and I am sure it will have a good crossover for climbing on rock. With the board in place I have managed to up the volume to 1,200 moves per session. Hopefully it will do the trick, although I think my trip to Ceuse (next week!) will come a little too soon to reap the benefits of endless circuits. Whatever happens it will just be good to get away and tick some quality routes.

This time last month I was seriously considering if I would be able to do any sort of climbing again this year - simple stuff like driving hurt. Fortunately my finger has started to get much better to the point at which I can actually do some meaningful climbing. Not necessarily hard climbing but lots of varied stuff, which has been great for motivation and gaining some confidence in being able to use my dodgy digit.

First session back was at probably my favourite grit crag, Caley. It was good just to run around the crag and tick a load of easier stuff, which was predominantly technical stuff which didn’t require any cranking on my finger. Sometimes you forget how enjoyable it is just to get a load of climbing in - rather than sitting under the same project all session.

A couple of wall sessions and I was back up to about font 6c/7a within a week, just as long as I picked my problems.

Next up I headed up to Ben Nevis to try and catch some winter action with my old chum Pete Chadwick. Pete and I have been climbed loads over the last ten years and as usual we had a proper good laugh. Although we have both done a bit of winter climbing over the years neither of us are particularly hardcore. Reading the guide the night before was rather unnerving with all its tales of doom. Text messages from friends ‘don’t become another statistic’ and such like, doing nothing for our already fragile confidence. Tons of fresh snow and temps around 7 degrees made it a bit adventurous approaching the routes. We set off (predictably) up the wrong route and ended up on some dodgy technical ground with no real gear and ripping axe placements. Sitting on the belays watching massive avalanches only added to the excitement. Anyhow we topped our route and survived the day and I certainly left the crag with an appreciation for folks who stick their neck out on the Ben week in week out.

Having had a great weekend partying at a Friends wedding in Poland Dal and I headed up to the county for some child friendly bouldering. The finger started to feel stronger and climbing up to font 7b it felt solid. Having had my first session back on the limestone I reckon I will be able to get into some sort of reasonable shape for a May trip to Ceuse.

4 weeks after the operation im still some way from pulling on any holds.

Having spent a solid 5 months in the gym I have noticed some major changes. A significant increase in strength, muscular endurance and a small, but not insignificant, increase in body mass. Once I start getting close to climbing on rock again I will shed a lot of the mass by not working the opposition muscles as hard. Like most climbers im shocking at most 'pushing exercises' so as soon as you work them you tend to stick a bit of muscle on. But if I had avoided working these pushing muscles then I would never have made the overall gains.

The aim of the game now is to avoid any serious hypertrophy, or at least keep it to a minimum. Im working on six weeks of conditioning followed by a prep phase and finally a strength phase.

Anyhow this is how the next 12 weeks will pan out in the gym.

Week 1-4 (conditioning phase) 6 day week
Conditioning wise I have moved from only working muscles in isolation to including two session of compound exercises, using dumbbell and barbell complexes.

Mon&Thur (complexes)

Dumbbell Upright Row X 15
Dumbbell High Pull Snatch X 15
Dumbbell Bent Over Row X 15
Dumbbell High Pull Snatch X 15
Dumbbell Squat Push Press X 15

These are performed In A Non-Stop, Continuous Order.
2 sets,  20 min rest before repeating.

150 reps per session

Tues/Fri (Back & Biceps) 60 sec between each exercise.

Lat pull-downs x 30 (2 sets)
Close grip pull downs x 30 (2 sets)
Straight arm lat-pull downs x 30 (2 sets)
Seated Rows x 30 (2 sets)
Bent Rows x 30 (1 set)
Rear delt laterals x 30 (1 set)

20 min rest

Concentration curls x 30 (1 set)
Hammer curls x 30 (1 set)
Low Pulley curls x 30 (1set)
High Pulley curls x 30 (1 set)
Reverse Curls x 30 (1 set)

Wed/Sun (chest/shoulders/triceps) 60 sec between each exercise.

Incline press x 30 (2 sets)
Bench press x 30 (2 sets)
Decline press x 30 (2 sets)

20 min rest
Seated dumbbell presses x 30 (1 set)
Bent over lateral raises x 30 (1 set)
Lateral dumbbell raises x 30 (1set)
Side lying lateral raises x 30 (1 set)

20 min rest
tricep extensions x 30 (1 set)
one-arm reverse push downs x 30 (1 set)
one arm push downs x 30 (1set)

Week 5-8 (preparation phase) 6 day week
Repeat as above but moving down to 15 reps and adding a set to each exercise. This time I have 2min rest between each set and 5 min between exercises.

Week 9-12 (strengh phase) 5 day week
Repeat as above but moving down to 2-3 reps, 5 sets per exercise. This time I have as much rest as I need. This time I cut out the monday complex session.

Throughout this I do 3 x 6 min rounds of skipping mon-sat followed by a core complex.

For some good examples of complex routines check out some of the javorek routines on youtube.

Steve