Bloody shins, bruised knuckles and big forearms.

[FlexLuthor]

Hello! Making a training log to help organize my somewhat extensive list of training goals and plans. Hopefully I'll receive some good feedback/encouragement from more experienced

About me:​

I'm a 24 year old former competitive rock climber with an interest in martial arts and weight lifting. I'm riddled with injuries, muscle imbalances and a deep seeded need to prove myself to myself.. if you know what I mean.

I have climbed for 8 years. Lifted on and off, very poorly and very infrequently for 3-4 years and have been training Muay Thai/Bjj since winter of 2012.

Current stats/training history:​

Spoiler

Height- 6'4"
Weight- 175 lbs
BF- Approx. 6-10%

Lifting:
1 rep max:
(Tested right before current lifting plan implemented)

Squat- 190#
Bench- 135#
Press- 90#
Deadlift- 295#

Current rep maxes:
Squat- 135#x5
Front Squat- 110#x5
Press- 90#x5
Bench- 105#x5
Deadlift- 235#x5
Weighted Pullup- 10#x10

Climbing History:​

Spoiler

Have previously climbed several V11 boulder problems outside.
Have climbed many V12 and one V13 boulder problems in the gym.

Injuries:​

Spoiler

Most to least severe.

Large knuckle on middle finger of right hand-
4+ years of on and off when pushing climbing training and level. Mainly on small hand holds. Crimps around or more acute than 90 degrees. No idea if it's getting better or not. If it is truly fucked, I won't ever be able to climb hard again. I choose to believe that it will eventually be ok.

Lower back-
L5 tiled anteriorly, pushing on nerve and causing somewhat severe pain in sciatic nerve. Vast improvement has been made in last year, but I have a long way to go.

Left foot/ankle-
Probably from skipping rope/trail running too much with very little lead up to such volume/intensity. Painful until warmed up, doesn't seem to get any worse or better.

2013 Goals-​

Increase bodyweight to ~190/195 lbs, while maintaining current leanness. I'm 6'4"... so that's seems like a healthy weight for me.

Increase flexibility/mobility.. I'm very, very inflexible.

1 rep max-
Squat- 350#
Bench- 250#
Deadlift- 400#
(Also known as a 1000lb total.)
Weighted Pullup- 125# (Did it a few years ago.)
Press and Front squat are unknown variables for me.
Do solid 1arm pullup on both arms.

Get first amateur Muay Thai fight... and win. Hopefully.
Compete in Bjj/Sub grappling tournaments.

Rehab my busted knuckle and climb solid double digit boulder problems. V10+

 

[MilkManUK]

Nice detailed first post there! Welcome Flex and good luck with your goals.

 

[LZD]

I'll be following this one! Glhf!

 

[FlexLuthor]

Rest period.

From 12/18/12 to at least 12/28/12.

Been training hard for the last 3 months, doing a pretty decent job of getting in climbing, lifting and MA training. Was starting to feel really run down, sore and lacking recovery. Made the decision after too hard of a climbing session last week to take it easy for at least a week and a half, maybe two depending on how I feel.

So I've pretty much been sleeping a ton, eating anything I can get my hands on and relaxing as much as possible. Plus taking hot baths and doing some stretching/mobility work. Feeling good right now, halfway through the rest period. No major pain in any old injuries, which is a good sign. Starting to get antsy to train again. Making this log has refueled my motivation and desire. Psyched for the new year.

I'll undoubtedly climb a few times during my break with friends from out of town. I'll keep the sessions mellow and volume focused. I'll try to get some foam rolling/light antagonist work done while i'm at the gym.

Thought of the day:

I don't have any idea if my lifting goals are reasonable in one year. Maybe if I was ONLY lifting it would be easier to achieve? I figure it doesn't really matter. A 1000 lb total i something I have wanted for a very long time, and since I'm going to stick with linear progression for as long as humanly possible, I guess my goals are pretty irrelevant compared to lifting consistently and intelligently applying recovery practices. May the gods of noob gains be with me.

Merry xmas!

 

[FlexLuthor]

Lightish-Medium intensity climbing day at my old gym, Rockreation in SLC, UT.

10 minute progressive warmup on spinning bike.
10 V0/V1 Boulders
10 V2/V3 Boulders
5 V4/5 Boulders

Bare minimum of rest between warmups.

10 minute rest with shoes off, stretching fingers and forearms.

"Work Sets-"
*Did a V7/8 second try. Blew the flash not rocking over onto my shoulder in the crux. EZ. Could be more like 6/7.
*Tried a hard V8 3 tries. Little progress on opening moves, tried middle a bit. Feels doable. Finger feels very good.
*Fucked around trying slightly harder moves on the steep cave. Less that 3 tries. Finger feels good, I feel snappy and connected. The rest has been good.
*Cut cool down short due to time. Not good. Need to budget time better.

Rested around 3-5 minutes between attempts.

Thoughts:
I feel good. Not incredibly strong, but good. Slopers and Pinches feel stronger than crimps, as is normal. My compression strength and core strength feel greatly improved, no doubt due to lifting and MA training. My fitness also felt surprisingly good. Climbed longer and harder than I intended, but that's what I get for going in with old friends and NOT HAVING A PLAN. I'm lucky my knuckle is feeling good, otherwise I could have pushed too hard and been set back god knows how long. In summary, It was a good session. The climbs at this gym suite my style, and have a lot of harder boulders without small holds that endanger my shitty hand. Feeling psyched!

Side note: I feel really fucking weak on some crimps and edges, mainly flat ones.. Expected, but disheartening. Will absolutely be a focus in the coming year.

Super side note: My long tendon on my ring finger is apparently healed to a very high degree. Feels excellent on easier pocket problems involving team 2 on my left hand. Psyched!

 

[FlexLuthor]

12/31/12

Last day climbing in 2012!

Short session at the Front with JP.

Warmed up climbing very light for 30+ minutes.

Climbed approx. 10-15 V3 and under boulders.

Fell off last move of slab V5. Did not try again, very crimpy. Hand feels pretty ok though.

Climbed a few V3-4's.

Flashed Pinchy V6 on bulge wall. Felt tiring, but very in control. Knuckle does not seem very bothered by hard pinching. I'm having trouble pushing through my feet.

Tried a very reasonable looking red dot, V7ish. Left of bulge wall. Did first half, couldn't do crux on open handed dishes on lip. Finger feels good open hand, and half crimp. Weaker open hand, but safer on knuckle. 3 tries.

Tried a HARD red dot, maybe V9+? Couldn't do a single move. All on big, slippery slopers. Very cool, but way too hard for me. Good news is my hand feels totally fine.
3-4 tries.

Finished off the day with a few progressively easier problems. V4-V1.

I noticed that incut underclings FORCE a very acute knuckle position. That is exactly how I reinjured my right hand route climbing, on henious undercling crimps on a 5.13d at momentum. I'll keep that in mind, and probably try to avoid that hold type. I am able to do a weird openhand undercling grip on some of them, but that will not be the case on all. Just be cognizant of this fact.

I also noticed my ability to stand on bad footholds has gotten alot worse. This is definitely just a practice thing, but also my shoes are worn the fuck out and have a big hole in the right toe. I need to find some I REALLY like. Probably a bit bigger than I have worn in the past. Maybe I'l look into Scarpa. JB's I tried on were perfect.

Anyway, it was good, if slightly unproductive session. No real focus, just climbing and moving around with JP. Felt good to try a bit harder than I have been at the front, and my confidence in my knuckle is increasing all the time. I need to get back into the swing of training though. It was a good rest period, but the real deal begins now! Psyched for 2013.

 

[FlexLuthor]

Wednesday January 2nd

Sparring class-

3-5 minute shadowboxing warmup
Sparred for 1 hr 15 minutes
Clinched for 10 minutes 1min on 1 min off
Stretched

Thoughts-
My second sparring class was a huge success! Compared to my first time anyway. I'm still struggling with turning away from punches. My kick checking is poor, my kick catching is non existant, and I flinch like a terrified child at a balloon popping contest.

Despite that, I did hit some people. Often in the gloves.. often in the head, rarely in the face or the jaw. Anyway, it was great! I learned a ton. I did get quite tired.. but managed to maintain an "ok" work rate through the hour.

The clinch work was absolutely exhausting. I did not really understand how tiring it was.. or maybe I was just ruined from sparring? Great class though.

Final analysis- Exhausted, very sore from leg kicks, very happy that sparring is so damn fun and the people at the gym take it easy on me. Psyched!

 

[FlexLuthor]

Wednesday 1/9/13

Sparring 1 hour
Clinching 5x2 min
Conditioning 10 min
Stretch

Got a cold following last weeks sparring session, just in time for my birthday! Took the rest of that week and the weekend off. Feeling good in tonights sparring session. Learned a ton, and actually felt quite good conditioning-wise.

 

[FlexLuthor]

Thursday 1/10/13

Climbed at the Front-

30 min. warmup
Flashed 7 Green Dots (V5-7)
-4 were in the cave, 3 were on the flat wall. Long rest between.

Finger feels good, no pain.

Lifted-

Back Squat- 3x5x95# = 70% 5RM
Bench- 3x5x85# = 80% 5RM
Pullup- 3x5xbw

Good reintroduction to lifting. Been a few weeks, and my hip flexor was sore the last month or so. I still feel a bit of a tweak when I'm squatting, maybe my stance is too wide? I'll work on it. Need to post some form check videos once I get back in the swing of lifting. Hopefully my lifting coach comes back into town soon and I can check up with him.

 

[FlexLuthor]

Friday January 11th

BJJ-

Worked on 2 slightly different escapes from the mount-
-One trapping arm with over/under gable grip
-One trapping arm when they attack your collar, you grabbing their shoulder

Key Points-
-Head up, feet by hips and elbows in tight!
-Trap arm TIGHT, trap foot, pull shoulder down in var. 2, bridge HARD and push off through the post leg
-Stay tight during the roll, block free arm if they are attempting a choke, and POSTURE.

Rolled for 30 min-
Felt good. Didn't get too terribly tired. Survived longer than normal. Submitted no one.. Although I think I did actually sweep someone once!

 

[FlexLuthor]

Saturday 1/12/13

Climbed at the Front-

Warmed up for 30 min.
Climbed 8 Green Dots (V5-V7)
-Flashed/All first try
-6 in the 1st cave
-1 in the 2nd cave (Hardest of night)
-1 on the blue bulge (Easiest of night)
Tried a Red Dot (V8-V10+) a few times.
-Slopers and pinches
-Feels good and doable... But probably not worth putting a lot of time in to.

Felt really tired warming up, and a progressively more pumped, but managed to pull off the entire workout with pretty good technique and really good breathing. My knuckle feels solid and strong, even on the top of the 7th Green Dot with a small crimp for the right hand. I was a bit desperate and fully crimped on it.. but it seems my knuckle handled it like a champ. Very psyched! Feeling good. I'll carry on with the volume climbing for now, playing it by ear.

No time to lift. Fucked around for too long climbing and chatting, and the gym closes early on saturdays. I'll lift on sunday.

Feeling tightness/soreness in my wrist and forearms. Need to get a good mobility circuit together and DO IT.

 

[FlexLuthor]

Sunday 1/13/13

Climbed at Front-
Recovery climbing.
10-15 easy boulders with little rest.
Feel tired, forearms a bit sore.

Lifting-

Front Squat- 3x5x80# = 70% 5RM
Press- 3x5x65# = 75% 5RM
Deadlift- 1x5x210# = 85% 5RM

Foam rolled and stretched for ~20 minutes.

Lifts felt good. Need to review cues and form for all lifts.. especially Press. Still feels retarded. But I felt good overall, psyched to get to lifting heavy soon.

 

[FlexLuthor]

Monday 1/14/13
Bjj & No Gi

Tuesday 1/15/13
Yoga Class PM
Rest

Wednesday 1/16/13
Sparring

Thursday 1/17/13
Rest

Friday 1/18/13
Bjj

Saturday 1/19/13
Lifted

10 min spin bike warmup

Backsquat- 3x5x125# = ~90% 5RM
Bench 3x5x95# = ~90% 5RM
Pullup 3x5x5#

3x10-
Good Morning @ 25#
Reverse Calf Raise with Blue Band

 

[TrinitronMaximu]

Thanks for the OAP info, I do really want to use one of those pulleys, I just know I wouldn't be able to bring it with me all the time unfortunately.

Cool log, you've got a lot of things on your plate! Good luck overcoming your injuries and accomplishing all those goals.

 

[FlexLuthor]

Sunday 1/20/13
Rest

Monday 1/21/13
Running-

4 Mile trail run in PC. 10 min. mile pace.

 

[FlexLuthor]

Tuesday 1/22/13

BJJ PM

Lifting-

5 min. row ~1000m

Frontsquat 3x5x95#
Press 3x5x75#
Deadlift 1x5x235#

Well, after the first trail run of the year, and my first run in like 4 months.. my calves are unbelievably sore. Hips are a bit sore. Lowerback is very tight and painful during BJJ. Need to keep working on that.. shrimping is very painful on my left side. BJJ is going to get very difficult, very soon unless I focus on fixing my lower back. Maybe I need to go back to the Chiro? I definitely don't feel it nearly as much when I'm fully stretched out and feeling flexible. That will continue to need to be the focus. Otherwise, my lifts felt good. Very good! Stoked to get back on track. Haven't had much time to climb, or wont the rest of the week. But that's ok. Flavio Behring is in town, teaching at the school and I'm going out of town to climb in St. George this weekend. Looking forward to that for sure!

 

[FlexLuthor]

Wednesday 1/23/13

Sparring 1.5 hour
Conditioning 5-10 min. (Feels like eternity)
Stretch 10 min.

Thursday 1/24/13
Rest

Friday 1/25/13
First night of GM Flavio Behring Seminar!
3 Hours BJJ, no rolling.

Saturday 1/26/13
Second day of GM Flavio Behring Seminar!
4 hours BJJ, no rolling.

 

[FlexLuthor]

Sunday 1/27/13

BJJ Open Mat-
1.5 hours, probably 5-6 rolls. Lots of rest between.

Monday 1/28/13

5 min rowing warmup
Climbed ~30 min warmup

Lifted-

Backsquat 3x5x135# = 5RM up to this point (A bit hard on the last few reps.)
Bench 3x5x105# = 5RM up to this point
Pullup 3x5x10# = EZ as pi

BJJ-
No Gi Class
30 min rolling

Felt tired... got manhandled by some big, strong, more experienced guys. Learned some things about protecting the neck though. Good night!

 

[FlexLuthor]

Tuesday 1/29/13
Mitt work lesson in the morning

Conditioning-
30 sec. fan bike sprint
30 sec. pushups AMAP
30 sec. box jumps AMAP
30 sec. rest

3 rounds.

Felt horrible, thought I was drying, dry heaved. Must have done something productive!!

Wednesday 1/30/13
30 min. mitt work
1 hour sparring
10 minute clinch

Felt very tired, very slow and clumsy sparring. Got some good shots in, tried to stay in the pocket longer before fading back and out. Really need to work on footwork, especially circling out and not backing up. My punches/hip rotation is coming along reasonably well. That's the focus of the mitt work before sparring. Will try to do some shadowboxing and focus on balance, footwork and proper mechanics this weekend. I definitely need more practice outside the gym... lots more. I believe since I'm a right leg dominant southpaw, it's hard for me to move forward and to my right. I'm much more fluid and quick moving back and left. Not good... since as southpaw I WANT to be moving right to set up my cross vs orthodox. Practice makes perfect I suppose! Probably more skipping rope and trail running will be helpful.

 

[FlexLuthor]

Thursday 1/31/13
Rest

Friday 2/1/13
BJJ

Chokes from the guard

Saturday 2/2/13
Rest

Sunday 2/3/13
No Gi Open mat
1 hr rolling