Joey
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Posts: 24 
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Post by Joey on May 5, 2016 5:16:53 GMT -7
I was doing an ARC session, 30 min low intensity traverse, when the gym gets slammed. People top roping and getting in the way and what not. This made my second set near impossible, so I got off the wall to boulder, trying to get in volume. It didn't feel right, it was not doing what the 30 min traverse does. I also did not want to top rope and let my partner belay me for 30 minutes. What are some other alternatives just incase I run in to this situation again? I will try and work timing out when the gym is dead but life gets in the way sometimes.
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Post by joecoov on May 5, 2016 7:38:05 GMT -7
I was doing an ARC session, 30 min low intensity traverse, when the gym gets slammed. People top roping and getting in the way and what not. This made my second set near impossible, so I got off the wall to boulder, trying to get in volume. It didn't feel right, it was not doing what the 30 min traverse does. I also did not want to top rope and let my partner belay me for 30 minutes. What are some other alternatives just incase I run in to this situation again? I will try and work timing out when the gym is dead but life gets in the way sometimes. Hey Joey, Due to my gym usually being very busy when I can visit, I typically do up-down-up-down and switch off with my partner. It is not the same as 30 minutes, but you still get some of benefits, while being considerate of others in the gym. Typically the routes that were set long ago are great to do this because everyone else is trying to get on the new routes. -Joe |
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Post by MarkAnderson on May 5, 2016 13:11:49 GMT -7
Here are some ideas:
-Trade off with your partner doing 2-4 pitches in a row. Think of it like outdoor mileage, but indoors. You can do up-down-up like Joe suggested if you like. Or pick a group of routes that you can climb from the same rope (or if leading, pull the rope through so you don't have to untie).
-If your gym has a treadwall, use that
-If your gym has an adjustable-angle system wall, make it vert or slightly overhanging (depending on your fitness and the wall's hold sizes). Then just snake your way around the system wall until your head explodes.
-Volume Bouldering. This isn't for everyone, but I've had some good success with it. I think it's probably better for better climbers, since you need to have a pretty huge disparity between your limit and what you are doing in the workout. In other words, when I do it, I'm pretty much on problems V4 and below. If V4 is your limit, the gym probably doesn't have enough quality problems that are easy enough to get a true volume workout in. Anyway, to make this work, you need go from problem to problem with really no resting. You don't need to run between problems, but don't sit around either.
-Go to the gym when it's not crowded.
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Post by jonfrisby on May 5, 2016 14:08:02 GMT -7
I put a friend who gets bored easily on a Steve Bechtel routine that involves doing a new problem every minute and a half. So if the first problem takes 60 seconds, you rest 30, if it takes 44 seconds, you rest 46. I think it's 10 problems total but not sure. The article is no longer in the free section of his site.
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Joey
New Member
Posts: 24
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Post by Joey on May 9, 2016 5:14:03 GMT -7
Awesome. I mostly end up trying to go when its dead but that always is not the case.
Mark when you say 2-4 pitches, Is that Up and down for one pitch? I like to avoid lowering.
With volume bouldering, How much time would be "ideal" for a set? I don't like sitting down, so going from problem to problem is a smooth transaction for myself.
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Post by MarkAnderson on May 9, 2016 8:52:38 GMT -7
Mark when you say 2-4 pitches, Is that Up and down for one pitch? I like to avoid lowering. Whatever you can negotiate with your partner. Ideally you would get the set length as close as you can to length of a proper ARC set, so if your partner is cool with you up and down climbing 4 pitches, then do that. With volume bouldering, How much time would be "ideal" for a set? I don't like sitting down, so going from problem to problem is a smooth transaction for myself. Again, you're trying to replace ARCing, so try to get the time similar to what you would do for ARCing. |
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Post by jetjackson on May 19, 2016 20:21:03 GMT -7
Lately I've been doing ARC on auto-belay, I'll generally hop on something that has a 5.9, 5.10 and maybe a 5.11a. I'll go 5.9 up/down,5.10 up/down, 5.11a up, and then if I can't downclimb it if possible, other wise I'll just downclimb the 5.9. Then I'll start again - without getting off the wall. I'll keep going until I hit 20 minutes, and if I feel like I'm risking too much of a pump, I'll back off and hang out on the 5.9 for an extra lap.
I'll work up to being able to do 3 x 20 minute sessions, without getting off the wall, with about 15 minutes rest in between each session.
Not sure if this is ideal - maybe Mark can chime in, but could work if they have auto-belay.
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Post by MarkAnderson on May 20, 2016 9:37:56 GMT -7
I've done a bit of that. I think it can be really good from a physical and mental perspective (if the routes are the right difficulty). One obvious down-side to traversing is that you're rarely training the muscles that actually propel you upwards (more like swinging sideways on straight arms). This is probably more critical during PE than ARCing, but still, it would be nice if the lats, biceps, etc could get some endurance work too.
Technically, I think traversing on random holds is probably better. When you're climbing actual routes your options are often limited, depending on the route-setting. Most setters don't place many "extra" holds, so you're often locked into a narrow and rarely-imaginative sequence. Where I climb, anything under 5.12 is just going to be a straight up, frog style ladder, making it very difficult to practice novel skills.
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Post by jessebruni on May 20, 2016 10:56:04 GMT -7
Where I climb, anything under 5.12 is just going to be a straight up, frog style ladder, making it very difficult to practice novel skills. I didn't realize you ever climbed at an actual gym |
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Post by jetjackson on May 20, 2016 11:47:30 GMT -7
Traversing at our local gym would pretty much be out of the question with the exception of during business hours, after 9pm, or early in the mornings - which are mostly out of the question for my schedule.
One day I'll have a massive shed in my yard with my own walls set up for traversing.
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Post by MarkAnderson on May 20, 2016 20:15:59 GMT -7
Where I climb, anything under 5.12 is just going to be a straight up, frog style ladder, making it very difficult to practice novel skills. I didn't realize you ever climbed at an actual gym It's rare  |
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