A few months ago, I had the chance to be coached by pro climber Paul Robinson.
Due to the popular demand, Paul decided to start an online coaching program so he asked
me to be a beta tester.
Of course, I said yes right away to this opportunity.
I am the perfect tester because, like most climbers, I climb at an intermediate level
and I work a traditional 9~6 full-time job.
Here is what Paul came up for me based on his initial assessment.
On Monday, it's an active rest day with one core TRX workout: 45-second plank, 30-second
rest, 45-second saws, 30-second rest, 45-second mountain climbers, 30-second rest, and then
it was repeated 3 times.
I had never really specifically worked on my core before, but at first glance, it looked
kinda easy.
However, when I actually tried it for the first time, it took me near max effort to
complete it.
On Tuesday, it's a max bouldering day.
First, it started with an ankle warm-up, but we eventually replaced that with mobility
bar warm-up and foam rolling.
The next workout is bouldering on routes that require max effort, which in my case is V5
to V7.
Since I am not young anymore, I always automatically do a few V0s and V1s first to completely warm
myself up before attempting the hard boulders.
Once I feel I am out of strength to make any more progress on the climb, I finish up the
day with shoulder lifts, 15 lbs each, 5 times and 4 sets.
On Wednesday, it's a rest day.
On Thursday, it's a power day.
The first workout is climbing V0s and V1s till I am warmed up, and the next workout
is climbing on the MoonBoard!
After climbing on the MoonBoard for around 45 minutes, the next workout is the "Up
Down Up" on the campus board.
Initially, I started with 3-5-6 3 times for each arm, and after a few weeks, I progressed
to 3-4-6 3 times for each arm.
Paul also instructed me to take breaks as long as I needed to in between the attempts,
and typically I took 3-5 minute breaks.
The last exercise of the day is campus board laddering for 2 times, and again I took 3-5
minute breaks in between the attempts.
I know what some of you are thinking right now because I had the same thoughts when I
first saw it.
It is "Wow, isn't this a little bit too intense?
I doubt whether my fingers can handle it," and it turns out that Paul's initial assessment
was right.
My fingers could actually take this amount of load.
I was probably climbing a bit too conservatively this whole time.
That's why I progress slower than most climbers.
On Friday, of course, it's going to be a rest day after such an intense Thursday.
On Saturday, it's an active rest day with the same TRX core workout as shown on Monday,
and I kept my regular weekly swimming routine on Saturday.
In my opinion, the benefits of swimming are highly, highly underrated.
It's an amazing way to work and recover the muscles and joints.
I believe swimming is the main reason why I have never had shoulder or elbow problems.
On Sunday, it's endurance day since I have more time to stay at the gym because I don't
have to work.
The first workout is climbing V0s and V1s until I am warmed up.
The second workout is called "4x4." "4x4" means picking 4 climbs and climbing all of
them in a row, resting for 5 minutes, and then repeating the whole process 4 times.
This reminds me of rope climbing, and I haven't done rope climbing for a long long time.
I substantially overestimated my own endurance in the first two weeks.
Just when I thought I was going to get it right on week 3, there was a reset in my gym,
and then my ego got in the way and I again overestimated my own endurance for weeks 3
and 4.
I personally can't stand falling on moves that I know I have the ability to do, so I
pushed myself unnecessarily harder than I needed to.
I ended up pumping out my forearms and did not have any gas left to do the next workout
for 4 straight weeks, which is hangboarding with weights.
I only started doing it on week 5 and the protocol is hanging with extra 10 lbs for
8 seconds on the 20mm Beastmaker hold, taking a 3-minute rest, moving to a larger hold,
and hanging for 8 seconds on 3 seconds off for 2 times, taking a 3-minute rest, and then
finishing up with another 8-second hang on the 20mm crimp.
The last workout of the day is shoulder lifts, 10 lbs each side, 8 times and 4 sets.
I recorded my workouts and uploaded them to the app so Paul can give me advice on my form
and decide whether I am ready to move on to the next progression based on my performance.
After 6 weeks, I know my core strength improves because I can do the TRX core workout with
relative ease.
I made some progress on the campus board up-down-up, going from 3-5-6 to 3-4-6, and I am able to
use less momentum when I do the campus board laddering, but everyone, including me, wants
to know the million-dollar question, which is- did my climbing actually improve?
So I decided to focus on projecting a V7 in my gym to see how fast I could finish it.
For my first V7, it took me 2 months to piece all the moves together.
For my second V7, I ended up finishing it in 4 days, but I was on vacation and had the
privilege to be in the gym, focusing on working on the climb 5 to 6 hours a day.
For this V7, I would be happy if I could finish it in a month, but this happened on my fifth
day of working on it.
Come on.
You got it.
Yea.
Pistol.
Get it.
Yea.
Come on.
Finish it.
Pistol.
Ha!
Yes!
Hoo!
Ah!
Told you!
I am like so wobbly up there.
Oh my god.
Pretty amazing, isn't it?
I even think I could've finished it in 2 or 3 days if I had read the route correctly
and didn't waste my arm strength on trying the wrong beta.
Hope you enjoy learning my experiences with Paul's online training program.
Based on what I heard from Paul, all the spots for his program have already been filled.
For those who are able to get into the program, get excited!
You get to learn from the best and I am sure you will see an obvious improvement just like
I did.
Thanks for watching, and as always, make sure to like and subscribe.
See you in the next video.