trip in Finale ligure, Beginning of april

[stephrascasse]

Hi everyone,
I have a trip in Finale ligure, in Italy, scheduled for the beginning of april.
I heard that the rock and the style of climbing is similar to Buoux (I'm starting to get a bit worried haha)
Nevertheless, I hope to do my best there
I did four  8a (would be 13b, something like that ?) for the moment, in general not really fingery. The first was one year ago.
My goal is of course to try something around this difficulty.
Problem: I'm not preparedddd!
I explain : begginning of december I injured one of my finger not so badly,probably a pulley strain but at the end of december, I went to sicily to climb for one week... Not the best idea I agree. (great destination btw) and it didn't really help!
So in january, I completely rested my finger, and right now it feels not so bad, i still feel it a little bit, but it is going in the good way : at the gym, i'm at the same grade as before (I ban the extra crimpy problem).


My objective for the next month is to prepare myself and particularly my fingers for this trip, but I'm not sure how I should do it.

I was thinking of doing 6 fingerboard session for the next 3 weeks, with  days at the bouldering gym on easy (but not so easy) problems to not lose my sensation (in general, it happens to me during hangboard phase and I hate that!)
and to do 2 hard bouldering sess the last week of march.



I completely forget about PE, have to make some choice.
I feel like I would lack of power training, do you think some campusing on big hold (like easy overhanging problem, no foot) during hangboard phase would help as a completary exercice?
Do you think I risk of reinjuring myself? If yes, how should I do?

Finally, if you have any route/sector in finale you know would  be great, I'd be happy to hear that!

Goodbye,
Steph!

[MarkAnderson]

I've never been to Finale Ligure, so I can't comment on the comparison to Buoux. I have been to Buoux, so if it is like Buoux, I would say its probably not a great destination for someone with a finger injury. Consider lowering your expectations and focusing on having fun.

That said, I think your training plan is good. Keep in mind that you are really rehabbing your finger injury during the Strength Phase, so be prepared to use lower resistance than usual and consider taking extra rest days if you feel you are not recovering completely between sessions.

[stephrascasse]

Thank you so much for your response Mark.

I'm understanding more and more the importance of the rest phase for my progression and for preventing my finger injury. I feel so much stronger sometimes after two days off or more!
At the moment, my finger is coming back really strong. I did one HB session (first of the year) for the moment, with no weight (well,excluding my own, of course ) and felt like it helps to give me back sensation
I've done the following holds (6*7/3,3min rest) :
- Two easy sets to finish the warming up : 2P-3 front finger, and sloper 30°

-2P-IM
-1P-MR
-2p-RP (special hold on BM2000) (can't do it at BW, so I stopped, as I keep in mind my rehab^^)
-0.5P -open crimp
-45° slopers with thumbs (like a very flat pinch) (can't do the seven at BW, so I stopped from time to time, as I keep in mind my rehab^^)
this five sets 2 times

felt like really complete and not too stressful on some particular finger position.
Today will be the second one and probably add some weights! hope that steps of 2.5kg will be okay!

Can't manage to not going back to the gym ( I finally upped my personnal best!), so I'm planning on alternating HB session and Bouldering session. Two rest days after HB and one rest day after bouldering. What do you think?

Finally,I have the great luck to be able to go climbing outside most of the weekend (going to Orpierre saturday and sunday ) How much resting day would you take after two days outdoors??

I'm conscious that I totally changed my training plans but I see HB training and periodised training as a plateau breaker, and surprinsingly I'm not on one, so I changed my mind, and hope it will work! Yet, I'm concerned with resting days, so I'm keen on listening to all your advices!

Steph

[MarkAnderson]

Mar 9, 2016 8:16:59 GMT -7 stephrascasse said:

... I'm planning on alternating HB session and Bouldering session. Two rest days after HB and one rest day after bouldering. What do you think?

That is the bare minimum amount of rest I would condone for a HEALTHY person. Since you are injured, I would recommend more rest. I would average one training session every 3 days. Depending on how you feel, that could mean 3 rest days after a hard HB session, or 2 rest days after a hard bouldering session.

Mar 9, 2016 8:16:59 GMT -7 stephrascasse said:

How much resting day would you take after two days outdoors??

I would not recommend two consecutive climbing days for an injured person. However, for a healthy person, I would recommend two rest days after two consecutive climbing days. Injured people generally need more rest than healthy people.

[stephrascasse]

Hi, thank you for your response mark. I went to finale for the last five days, and it was pretty good. I did two 7c, and many 7a and 7b onsight.In finale, The climb above 7c are very often really fingury and sooo bouldery, which do not suit my style at all,and quite rare also, (in the sector i went, at least). I believe your advice was very good for Finale, going hard on such routes could have been destructive.
FYI, since the 3 march. I did 4 hangboard sessions quite spread out, because i felt it was quite risky on the finger, maybe i was going too hard, but going easy on such session is not the point IMO. So I did some bouldering session, like 3-4, plus some sessions of 1h30 of ARCing+easy boulders up&down.
I climbed outdoor every weekend, and did 1 8a, 1 8a/+ and 1 8a+/b, always on long routes without really really hard crux. Still quite surprised of such accomplishement, but I believe it was because all the route was perfectly my style.
I find myself having a LOT of stamina, and manage to rest on quite small hold, I suppose it is the positive effect of ARCing + Hangboarding. I made great progress on physical terrain, thanks to core training (arm and abs training basically)
At the opposite, I feel being really weak on small holds that one can meet on vertical climbs. I don't know if i'm lacking of pure strength, or that i'm feeling so unconfortable on these holds that i can't let go?
I believe that my injury is gone now, as i don't feel it anymore and some month passed by.
Would you have advice on how to work with that? There are still aspects of the training that i didn't try, like campusing or maximum hanging or else, but not sure it will help ?
Thank you and goodbye

[MarkAnderson]

Wow, great job! Problems with small holds could either be that you don't really trust your feet on small holds, or that your fingers aren't well-trained on smaller holds. You should be able to tell which is more likely (or if it is both). If the problem is your feet, you need to practice, and perhaps get some different shoes. If the problem is your fingers, down-sizing your hangboard holds (and reducing resistance accordingly) is a great way to correct that.