Training Block 1 + 2 Benchmarks
How strong am I after two months of consistent training? Let's get some new benchmark numbers.
I finished my second training block last Wednesday on March 7th, and I'm here a couple of rest days plus a Gunks day to benchmark and where I'm at. I feel like I introduced a good bit of fatigue, and figured a handful of deload days would do me well, so these were done feeling completely fresh.
I've been keeping track of four different metrics: Individual half crimp testing on a 20mm edge using overcoming isometrics, 3RM deadlift, 3RM weighted pull ups, and 10:10 repeaters until failure. The isometric test came from Tyler Nelson, and the rest came from Logical Progression. It took me about an hour in total to run through all of these.
| Date | Testing weight | LH 20mm O.I. (lbs) | RH 20mm O.I. (lbs) | 3RM Deadlift (lbs) | 3RM Pullup (lbs total) | 10:10 Repeaters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01/03/23 | 175lbs | 63.8 | 64.5 | 245 | 205 | 38s |
| 03/12/23 | 176lbs | 99.4 | 102.6 | 295 | 231 | 85s |
| +55.9% | +59.25% | +20.4% | +12.7% | +123.7% |
Huge gains in finger recruitment! I really haven't done much fingerboarding outside of my warmup and four sessions of 3-6-9 repeaters in block 2, but this makes sense given on the wall climbing leading to exposure on small edges. I feel really excited to have gained some good deadlift strengths, and the pullup increase is also nice considering the four sessions weighted pullups were programmed for.
Overall, I'm still in the beginner phases of training gains, and I imagine a good chunk of this comes from getting the hang of the movements again. But, it's nice to see the raw metrics pay off. I haven't lead since my rope solo climbing trip on Wallface, but managed to do a sort of climb a 10b in the gunks (I climbed the opening 15 feet of 5.4, took on a piece before the meat begins because I got scared, then went to the top, placing gear as I went. Not a send, but happy with that) and felt really good. Pumped, but good.