John Frieh

Nov 30th conditions update 50 bucks a day for clinics! :[]

How do you then account for that apparently not being the case for Mark? NIAD is a pretty rigorous benchmark compared to all-round climbing. Id have to see his training journal to tell you exactly why... either he was strict on his diet or the cardio work he was doing was canceling out the weight lifting. Link perhaps?

Training/lifting/@fit/etc doesnt replace climbing time... fully agree that too much of that will make you plateau. That said in specific amounts during your training cycle will benefit/enhance your climbing. James Litz Will Gadd

JH: I would consider modifying Mark's 3 sets of 10-12 to either lower rep/higher weight or higher rep/lower weight... the classic 3 sets of 10-12 falls into the domain that results in muscle bulking/overall mass gain so you will find yourself gaining weight which for NIAD isnt a good idea.

Considering his young age and that he was having range of motion issues it would have gotten worse (i.e. injury) for him and much harder to fix. Lucky for him he invested some time correcting it and had a great great summer Hopefully Layton can chime in... he can likely add some good examples

Ask any PT if the inability to straighten your arm above your head holding 2 pounds is a good or bad thing and let me know what you find out

climbing isn't rocket science. climbing is simply a technical form of weight-lifting. certainly technique is important, but in the end, it's about strength to weight ratio, with a large part of that equation being finger strength to weight ratio. i'm not meaning to disrespect your opinion, but your above statement calling climbing a "non strength" sport is laughable at best.... Fully agree on strength to weight ratio but I disagree with your proposed programming to achieve it. James Litz can do a pullup with 165# strapped to him or a one arm pull up on a ring with a 25# KB in the other hand but for a period of time couldnt extend a water bottle above his head locked out because all he did was pull pull pull. Not having unloading/foundational periods in your programming will only set you up for a short career.

I thought it was because of their use of incredible amounts of performance enhancing drugs. Exactly! But if you read anything published by many of them during that time period they would use those drugs to recovery faster... i.e. on their rest days unlike today where users will take the drug(s) immediately before a lifting session.

In weightlifting the strongest lifter always wins because they can lift the most weight in their respective weight class. In climbing the strongest climber isnt the best climber. I.e. much much more than strength matters to be a great climber. So: adopting the programming of a strength based sport for a non strength sport will not deliver the same results. Or... what works for apples wont work for slugs

+1

Louie Simmons among other notable strength coaches follows/endorses a similar methodology: lift heavy often in your competitive lifts. That said most strength coaches agree a large part of eastern bloc success in the 70s and 80s wasnt primarily due to their programming approach but instead their understanding of recovery/rest days. The point of periodization or unloading/reloading isnt to make you a better climber as much as it is to ensure you enjoy a long, fruitful career... specifically making sure you dont neglect aspects of your fitness that will catch up with you later in life. Think of all the youngins that cranked hard for a few years and then burned out/disappeared. That’s easy. Building and living out a career long enough to take advantage of your experience without losing your physical capacity in the process is far more interesting, and difficult.

50 bucks a day!

Great pics! Nice work all Cant wait to head out there this weekend

Yes Nice TR Craig! PS: told you so!

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Pics? Sent you a PM

Post of the week

Alex: many thanks for keeping WA ice current! And thanks in advance to all that report on conditions!

I wish! I'd be taking that one for sure!

17 days They are dropping prices on the clinics to 50 bucks!!! Suck it Ouray

Most of the lakes on the approach werent even frozen so we are going to need an extended cold snap to start things forming. Could be good but we need some cold first

Hiked around Strobach on Sunday to stretch the legs and see if anything was starting to form. Nothing is even remotely close. Snow was shin to knee deep on approach; flotation recommended. Also talked to some elk hunters on the road in; apparently elk season starts Wednesday so wear your orange

Nice work dudes! Looking forward to the next trip :brew:

Mod. Nomic with quark head. Stephen Koch did it in his garage.

Verizon > AT&T That said you cant use an iPhone w/ Verizon. Rumors are saying this summer. I hate AT&T but love my iPhone