Disclaimer: So the reason i'm calling this the First Oahu trip is because I didn't take any photos the first time I was over there (go figure), thankfully that was remedied on this trip :)
When I first came to Hawaii, I was unsure about how much I was enjoying climbing (or if I even enjoyed it any more at all). As a result, I decided to put climbing on the back burner. However, over the course of the following two months I felt a growing dissatisfaction - not only with myself, but with how I was spending my time. After throwing a multitude of solutions and ideas at this dissatisfaction to no avail, I finally acquiesced and booked a ticket for Oahu. For those not in the loop; Maui has only outdoor climbing, and the majority of that is two to three hours away from me, so it makes a lot more sense for me to go over to Oahu for a couple days to get my climbing fix in. Surprise surprise, after my first session I was the happiest and most satisfied that I'd been in two months, so of course I had to go back :) So in the spirit of forethought and good planning, my game plan for the trip was to follow Schedule #2 (2 days on, 1 rest day, 2 days on). I figured this would be the best for both maximizing performance as well as time spent climbing.
Day 1: Sustainability and Conserving Energy
I’m not sure how to write the sound for jumping up and down in my plane seat, but if I did, that's what I would be leading with. This is what I had been dreaming of for the last month. The plan: five days of climbing, training, and setting with the goal of not being able to lift my arms above my head by the end of it. Flying over Oahu on the small 10 seater plane the views of Honolulu landed on unseeing(?) eyes, I was dreaming of a polyurethane fueled heaven, otherworldly shapes in blinding white and bubblegum pink. Touchdown pulled me out of my reverie. I burst from the plane and sprinted across the tarmac, where I was met by my friend - and owner of Volcanic Rock Gym - Justin Ridgely. Our first order of business: coffee, and lots of it. Then we planned on rallying at the gym for a (supposedly) light session, before heading over to The Arch Project (the other gym on the island) to do the qualifying problems for the comp they were hosting that Sunday. (As we walked into the gym the conversation went something like this) me: "Gonna try and do a pretty light session and save energy for the comp problems later." Justin: "Wanna do a moonboard session with Kraft training between each climb?" me: "...Absofuckinglutely" Work Out 1: In this case we used the V4 benchmarks on the Moonboard mixed with the Rings training from the Kraft book. Why? Well the point of it is to get heinously worked very quickly. Core and body tension, pulling power and explosiveness, all of these are crucial for the MB, thus when these are being fatigued through the Kraft training you have to work much harder during the climbing, providing a great training even at lower ends of the grade spectrum. ... If you only have a small amount of time and want to get in a solid session I would highly recommend giving this a try. I think that the ideal way to structure this would be to set a timer for an hour, and for each climb that you do, you also do a set of Kraft (this works best when the training area is in close proximity to the Moonboard). Throughout this training pay special attention to moving in a controlled manner. The Kraft training starts introducing a lot of whole body fatigue very quickly, and as such it's easy to get sloppy and start executing moves poorly on the MB, potentially raising the risk of a finger injury or tweak. As with any climbing and training that will be done on small holds, make sure you have properly and fully warmed up. Personally, I prefer a mix of both climbing regular problems as well as 5 - 10 minutes on the hangboard when I’m warming up. After getting very worked on the MB (shocking I know), we loaded up and headed over to the Arch Project to climb on the qualifying problems. The comp had a one month qualifying period, where each climb that was up was worth a varying amount of points, and depending on how many points you were able to accrue you would qualify into Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced. My plan was to come in on the last day that qualifications were open, climb as many climbs as possible, and (hopefully) qualify into Advanced. Unfortunately I came to find out that they had closed the qualification sign-ups a week before so I was gonna have to come on the day of the comp and climb in the Drop-In category. This ended up being a good thing, because I had exactly 5% of my power left and would have had no chance getting the points that I would have needed to qualify into Advanced. So onto Plan B... Work Out 2: Flash contest! Spoiler alert, Justin won by a long stretch. At this point in the day, my ability to generate that bit of extra effort to make those harder moves happen, was severely diminished (truthfully completely gone). Ideally, anything to do with flashing and onsighting should be done as early in the session as possible to ensure the best quality of tries. This is great training when you’re preparing for a competition. It can be done by yourself or with as many people as you’d like. Decide which direction you're going to be working through the problems ;every climb is to be done in order, so no running around the gym looking for the climbs that suit you best. You will only get one try per problem so you better make it count ;) So set a timer, start climbing, and make sure to keep track of the score so you can gain valuable bragging rights within your climbing group.
Day 2: First Set and Superman Training
*Alarm clock goes off* *Alarm clock gets turned off* *Tries to get out of bed* *Wham* "owww" You know that thing where you gracefully get out of bed after a full day of training? Well that was the sound of my legs giving way and falling into a wall. From my past experience with climbing I knew that the best solution for my pain was, you guessed it, more climbing. So there I was, slamming coffee, 4arm Strong strapped to my arm, desperately trying to sand down my callouses into a climbable condition, as we hurtled towards the gym. The plan for the day was to reset the slab wall, do some light training, and then follow it up with testing out a Fascia Stretching session for the first time. I must admit to some nervousness for setting on the slab wall the first day in. As far as angles go, slab is the one that I've had the least amount of experience and exposure to, but as we got started I was pleased to see that it was a "good" setting day. Ideas came fast and coherently, there was a good spread of styles and moves, and once the problems were up they required little revision; mission success! Next up, our "light" training Session.
Work Out 3:
Light training, haha classic mistake. All jokes aside this is a rad exercise to do on the campus board. I first saw pictures of it from the German Kraft trainers of old. They would use a resistance band around their waist that was being held by a partner. For our version the resistance bands were attached to a pad that had been dragged a ways from the wall. The point of this exercise is that now you're body is working a lot harder to not only go up the board, but to also keep from getting pulled off horizontally. Naturally this exercise is going to be the hardest at the top when the bands are most stretched. Also, you're going to see an increased risk of injury that is comparable to doing campus training with a weighted vest. Every try should (must) be done with maximum concentration and effort, as dropping concentration and hitting just one hold in the wrong way could cause a very nasty finger injury. Keeping that in mind, and depending on how often you're campus training, I would consider scheduling this once a week or once every two weeks. You should really be using it more as a way to shock the system and expose it to a different kind of stimulus. How it looked for me: Circular Disks (I kept it to ladders, didn't have the skin or finger power to test bumps, double clutches, etc) 1) 1-2-3-4-> Up and down. 1 rep leading on each hand is a set. 3 sets. 2 min rest b/t sets. 2) 1-3-5-> Up and down. 1 rep leading on each hand is a set. 3 sets. 2 min rest b/t sets. 3) 1-4-7-> Up and down. 1 rep leading on each hand is a set. 3 sets. 2 min rest b/t sets. Definitely looking forward to a more regular training facility solution to test out long term what this will do for my climbing and strength. The day was finished off perfectly by trying out a Fascial stretch session followed by ice baths. For the stretch we went to Brittani Lum, who is a therapist that Justin had been looking at trying for a while.. I really enjoyed the experience, felt great directly after the session and had great results the day after. Even though I dedicate 20 min - 1 hour a day to foamrolloing + fascia release with a lacrosse ball, this is absolutely something I could see incorporating more regularly into my training.
Day 3: Pain Pain Pain
So you might recall the part where I was gonna climb for two days and take a day off? Yea, that would've been a great plan to follow. How it actually went down is that we rolled into the gym at 10 in the morning, and I spent an hour trying to "warm-up" before realizing that being warm in my current condition wasn't going to happen, and that climbing in that condition was definitely a mistake. Naturally this led us to do another Kraft training (which I totally would include here if I had the book with me, as it is though I can't remember the names of the exercises, and I would hate to pass on half-baked information). We did the work out that's done on a bar,so lots of pulls ups (controlled and dynamic), front levers, muscle ups, etc, This was the training that made me decide to change up my training schedule. Up until this point I had been doing pure lifting, but looking at its applicability to climbing, it makes a lot more sense to dedicate three days a week (out of my six training days) to calisthenics and bodyweight training. The positive thing to take from this is that I got really comfortable with my warm-up and warm-down routine, and that I was very strict on doing it before every session. The negative thing was thinking (read: lying to myself) that a solid warm-up is in any way a good substitute for a necessary rest day. The day was finished off in great style with hitting a sample sale for some clothes, picking up a wallet shiny enough to send an S.O.S. , eating enough food to induce hibernation, and then deciding that the best thing to do on an over-full stomach was to dance till our feet fell off. The artist that we went to see goes by Matoma. He's a Norwegian producer who does tropical house and nu-disco, but is also known for doing tropical house flips of Notorious B.I.G songs. These are my favorites so I've included some examples of said remixes below :) Day 4: Comp Day and Setting *Alarm clock goes off* *Try to sit up in bed* *Fail miserably when body gives out* *Repeat* But seriously, it was ones of those mornings where you wake up and immediately think, "there’s no way in hell I should be doing anything hard with my body today." Core is toast, legs are spaghetti, feet sore from dancing, so naturally we make a beeline for the gym. Walking inside I'm hit by a wall of chalk dust, try-hard screams, and climbing shoe stank. My stomach is full of butterflies in anticipation of competing; I've always been this way, and always will be. I yank out my headphones and try to find some solace in the music. We came at the start of the beginners heat and so had time to kill. I settle into a routine of getting beta from climbers on the wall, chatting with people, slowly warming up, stretching and meditating. Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced - the timer ticks down closer and closer. For this comp I had scheduled my warm up to last for over an hour. Knowing what I had put my body through for the past three days, as well as only having 30 minutes to climb, I knew that getting fully warmed up and recruited would be paramount to success. In this situation the break down went like this: 1) 10 min of jump-rope + mobility work to get the body moving. 2) Resistance band work. As usual I pay special attention to my shoulders. Lots of work to get the rotator cuff ready which is paired with lots of working surrounding the scapula and serratus anterior. 3) Initial finger warm up. To begin with I stick purely to jugs, the largest edges, and the wooden balls on the campus board. This is to work up a bit of a pump going and warm up to hanging and activating the scapula (again) and back. 4) Pull ups and push ups. 5) Final finger warm up. After letting the pump dissipate I progress to the smaller and harder edges (within reason and ability of course) until I feel i'm ready to pull at max power. 6) Climbing (they didn't have the space for it at this comp). Getting the flow of climbing in and feeling comfortable trying hard at your limit is (surprisingly ;) imperative for going into a comp. (This stuff might come across as pretty basic and common sense for a lot of people, but I figured it never hurts to include it) 10 minutes left, back onto the hangboard for the final hangs. 5 minutes left, i’m nervously checking, and rechecking the climbs that I’ve flagged to climb and going over the beta. 1 minute, we’re called onto the mats and the announcer starts calling out our names. There’s ten of us in the drop-in category, a strong show of crushers from VRG, some strong people from the Arch, and one very tired Nikken. Shoes on, hands chalked, I close my eyes and take five deep breaths. When I open my eyes, I (somewhat nervously) look out over the gym packed with competitors and spectators. Five more deep breaths and the nerves settle. The announcer says go, and the competitors scatter to warm up as fast as possible. I do my warm ups and progress to my harder climbs, trying to focus on my own performance as much as possible, but out of the corner of my eye I see Justin crush the hardest climb, I see J making some really strong sends. It’s my turn; start, right hand, right hand again, left hand, foot sequence, match, jump, and i’m off spinning in space. I try again; start, right hand, right hand, foot slip off again. Shit. I switch problems, but the same results follow me. Quality attempts, but just lacking that bit of extra power. At this point my only focus is putting on a good show, I haven’t been following the other climbers, but i’m sure they’re still crushing they’re way down the list of problems. I re-evaluate my scorecard and start looking for climbs I can reasonably get for a good point base. Four sends later and i’m feeling better, maybe I have a chance for 3rd. One more send on a crimpy boulder and time is called.
All things considered I feel pretty good about my performance; was able to pull myself out of a mental hole and build a good base, put some good tries in and put on a good show when I fell off. The scorecards are collected and everyone gathers to hear the results. Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced are announced first. People cheer, pictures are taken, and prizes are given out. Then it’s our turn, in 3rd place is Potter, he walks up to the podium and gets his prize, shakes hands with the announcer and turns to face the crowd. My mind is racing, if he got 3rd, then 1st and 2nd must be between J and Justin. It’s what I expected, but i’m still bummed not to podium. J is called up for 2nd, handshakes are exchanged. The announcer turns to face the crowd again,
“And to finish it off in 1st place, Nikken Daniels!” Now my mind is definitely racing, my first reaction? That they must’ve made a mistake, there’s no way that my score was high enough. I walk up in a daze: shake hands with J and Potter, receive my prize and turn to face the crowd, photos are taken and people cheer. Honestly, at this point it still hasn’t quite hit me yet. The crowd disperses and mingles and i'm hit with an onslaught of high-fives, hugs, and well-wishes. Onwards to the next session!
Day 4 Setting:
Cave setting, no thanks, can I go back to the slab? okthxbye. All jokes aside this is going to be the angle that I always feel the most comfortable on, and will also set the fastest on. In the case of today I was surprised at how good the setting felt; I was able to work quickly and efficiently both physically and mentally. The flow of movement and hold selection came very easily today. However the forerunning is where I started to lose it. My fingers giving out, my back had no power, and my body tension was almost non-existent. Luckily I was able to glean the information I needed to start changing what needed to be changed from other forerunners. I left the gym at 23:30 in an exhausted state. Day 5: Final Setting and Occlusion Training You know those days, the ones where your body is just throwing question marks at you, like why is everything hurting? Why can't I lift my arms above shoulder height? Why does my core hurt when I breath? You know, fun things like that. Anyways, we slept in later than what we had been planning on, so we had to race to the gym to finish up the setting from the previous night. Tweaked some things, added a couple new problems, and made some more tweaks. Then it was clean up, warm up, and time to climb. Surprisingly, the climbing almost went somewhat ok! Minus the fact that my fingers couldn't crimp, minus the fact that as soon as I cut feet I was off, minus the fa- You know, you get the picture. I done goofed, I was destroyed, and my body was definitely telling me to stop… But not without one last hurrah.
Occlusion Training:
So firstly, what is occlusion training? Well it's wrapping some kind of device around a limb to restrict blood flow out of the working muscle, performed properly, blood is able to enter the muscle through arterial flow, but is partially prevented from leaving the working muscle. The bands should be set to a tightness of 6-8 out of 10. The intensity and difficulty that you should be shooting for is going to be around 30-40% of your 1RM, this allows for maximal recruitment of the fast-twitch muscle fibers. In this case we were using occlusion training to target the forearms. This is what our circuits looked like; 30 Bicep Curls x 3 sets 30 Finger Curls x 3 sets 30 Wrist Rotations x 3 sets -There is going to be 30 seconds holding (maintain half crimp position on the board) rest between sets and exercise. At no point during the workout should you put the board down. Depending on my current training intensity and goals, as well as accounting for how much I prioritize other methods of training, I would probably shoot to schedule this in 1 - 3 times per week. Let me know if you guys have tried this out before! I’d love to hear people’s experiences with working this into your training for the long term. To Finish: I can confidently say that this span of five days was the hardest I've pushed my body, and in my opinion the farthest that I could have (somewhat safely) pushed it. Big big thanks to all the fantastic people I met and climbed with over on Oahu. Specifically to Justin Ridgely who let me crash with him, and who let me jump in and set with the crew at Volcanic Rock Gym. Cheers, Nikken
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me.So shockingly enough I don't spend 24/7 trying my hardest not to fall off a rock wall, so that's what this is gonna be for. |