Weight change moving from 10/5 to 7/3

[jdb]

Hi, I have done 3 seasons with the beginners routine and am now looking to move to the intermediate one. I am wondering how the move from a 10/5 protocol to the 7/3 one should effect baseline weights, ie is there some guideline as to how much extra weight you should be be able to hang using the shorter duration 7/3 hangs?

In the beginners routine the maximum weight hung is baseline.
In the intermediate routine the maximum weight hung is baseline +5kg (~10lbs).

So if the baseline is kept the same this would already be a 5kg increase. When I was doing the beginners routine I would increase the baseline between seasons to allow for a possibility of a 5kg increase from last seasons max. If I made this same adjustment now in addition to the routine change, then I would be looking at a 10kg (~20lbs) increase by the end of the cycle which seems like a lot. Or does this seem reasonable given the decrease in hang time?

I'm tempted to be a bit more conservative and initially aim for a 7.5/5kg total increase.

Does anyone have experience of making this transition?

Thanks

[daustin]

I made the transition from 1 set of 10/5 to 2 sets of 7/3 after only one cycle, so I didn't have a lot of experience setting my baseline before making the switch anyway. Roughly, I'd say that the baseline between the two were fairly similar when I made the switch, but this varied by grip -- for my weaker grips, my baseline was generally a bit lower in the 2-set 7/3 workout, though that also might have been just because I set the baseline too high in my first cycle at 10/5.

This is just n=1 and I'd take it with a grain of salt. My guess is that, like many things in climbing training, there isn't a great way to generalize from climber to climber. I think starting with the same baseline is a fine approach, and just be aware that you may need to tweak the baseline a bit in your first few workouts. If any of the grips feel WAY too hard when you switch to 2-set 7/3, don't be afraid to really back off the baseline, and bring the weight down even lower than you think you might need. As Mark and others have pointed out at various places on the forum, better to start lower than your "true" baseline if that means you're able to complete more sets, maximize TUT, and steadily increase resistance from workout to workout.

[Charlie S]

I also added weight when switching.  Though the hang history went like
1.5 cycles of 1 set of 7/3
1.5 cycles of 1 set of 10/5 (had to decrease weight)
3 cycles (current) of 2 sets of 7/3, increased weight

Pulling off weight when I went from 1 set of 7/3 to 10/5 was fairly pronounced.

See the history here:


It may be beneficial to come up with some arbitrary way to measure volume.  This will let you create a more 1-for-1 transition with weight.

Note that all of the holds changed between the 10/5 and 2 sets of 7/3 because I switched to the superior RPTC hangboard.  Prior to that was the Metolius 3D Simulator.  (It's actually a great board and skin friendly, but the holds are not as advanced.)

[jdb]

Thanks. Sounds like it would be a good idea to start with a more conservative baseline increase of +0/2.5kg rather than +5kg and just see how it goes. As you say it is probably less disruptive and easier to correct if the initial baseline is too easy than if it is too hard.