(Part 3) Top products from r/bouldering

You definitely have to get on High Plains Drifter (V7) in the Buttermilks. It's a classic V7 test-piece. The crux is a bit high off the deck so it's nice to have another party there to combine pads.

In the Happies, hit up the Hulk (V6). It's the only 4-star (out of 4 possible) boulder in the Happies according to the Bishop Bouldering Guide (that guide book is awesome; I'd recommend picking one up if you go).

If you want to pick up a cheap V10, hit up Cocktail Sauce in the Buttermilks. It's said to go around V7-8, and I'm inclined to agree that the grade's a bit soft.

Pow pow (V8) in the Sads is a super fun body-tensiony, sloper climb.

Fly Boy (sit) (V8) is a pretty classic V8 in the Buttermilks. This one you definitely need to hit up when there's a lot of people around to pad up the large-ish rock hanging out in the fall zone.

Here's a Top 100 list you might find useful: http://sendage.com/sendlists/print_view/4eb96bfb0d4fa

It's very easy to get disheartened at first with others seemingly gliding up the wall. Try to remember that they have probably been climbing a very long time and quite regularly too. Instead try to look how they are climbing and improve your own technique, see if you can try those methods on easier problems or just straight up ask them "How did you do that?? I've been stuck there for so long!", I've found climbers are generally super friendly to approach and very eager to help eachother out with a problem. See if you can find a group of people to do a problem with, you'll be able to do it faster as they'll have a different way of thinking of doing it which may suit you better and it will be much more fun! (I've often found just a simple twist or drop knee will allow me to get past that crux that just wouldn't have occurred to me alone)

Another thing, if you do only the VB's first, get them nailed down, so you know how to do them efficiently. This way you'll learn valuable techniques that will be crucial for those pesky V0's and V1's and soon they'll be a thing of the past.

Take your time, talk to others, have a look at this book, get a chalk bag, have fun

You looked pretty casual climbing that thing, like it took no effort at all. Nice job.

I also like the fact you're focused on things you can control — your activity level and what you eat — and not on things you can't control, like the numbers on the scale.

As for diet, I recently read Always Hungry? by Harvard obesity researcher David Ludwig.

If your goal is sustainable weight loss, I highly recommend the book. It's virtually impossible to sustain a restrictive diet if you're eating the wrong things. Specifically, highly processed carbs and sugars trigger a cascade of biochemical reactions in your body which result in slower metabolism, more stored calories, and greater appetite.

Here is the author, speaking to the New York Times:

>It’s the low fat, very high carbohydrate diet that we’ve been eating for the last 40 years, which raises levels of the hormone insulin and programs fat cells to go into calorie storage overdrive. I like to think of insulin as the ultimate fat cell fertilizer.

...

>Simply cutting back on calories as we’ve been told actually makes the situation worse. When we cut back on calories, our body responds by increasing hunger and slowing metabolism. It responds in an effort to save calories. And that makes weight loss progressively more and more difficult on a standard low calorie diet. It creates a battle between mind and metabolism that we’re doomed to lose.

...

>We think of obesity as a state of excess, but it’s really more akin to a state of starvation. If the fat cells are storing too many calories, the brain doesn’t have access to enough to make sure that metabolism runs properly. So the brain makes us hungry in an attempt to solve that problem, and we overeat and feel better temporarily. But if the fat cells continue to take in too many calories, then we get stuck in this never-ending cycle of overeating and weight gain. The problem isn’t that there are too many calories in the fat cells, it’s that there’s too few in the bloodstream, and cutting back on calories can’t work.

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I've changed my eating habits based loosely on recommendations in the book: cut out sugar and refined carbs, eat more fats. I eat more protein than recommended because of how much training I'm doing. I eat lots of fish, eggs, cheese, nuts, vegetables, and fruits. I'm down about 10 pounds since November and I'm stronger. I'm can do one-arm pull-ups again, and am breaking personal records on my hangboarding and campus-board training.

The best part of the "diet" is that my portion sizes are down dramatically and I like what I eat, yet I don't feel hungry all the time. I don't count calories or macros.

If you want to count calories, that's fine, but it's a lot easier to stick to that calorie goal if you're not eating poorly.

Ok, you sound exactly like me. I started 4 weeks ago aswell, immediatly got addicted went every other day and even 2 days in a row. Then I got golfers elbow. I started to much too fast and my ligaments were not developed enough to keep up with my muscle growth.

I bought this and followed YouTube exercises and its helped a lot.
https://www.amazon.com/TheraBand-Resistance-Epicondylitis-Tendonitis-Intermediate/dp/B00066D6K4/ref=pd_bxgy_328_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00066D6K4&pd_rd_r=G1H17NFHVQR76G1KYN00&pd_rd_w=3xahq&pd_rd_wg=nivTr&psc=1&refRID=G1H17NFHVQR76G1KYN00


Also start going once a week then twice a week and ramp up. Don't go straight in to 3 days a week off a week of rest. Build up and be patient. Im currently sitting out a week because I was too eager to go back in the same week.

Another thing I did was only climb the 3 V0 problem I knew perfect. I worked on my technique and how to climb them more efficient each time.

What does /r/bouldering think of grip strength exercises, like using these or these or these? useful for climbing, or not at all? is a hangboard fundamentally just better? I'm interested in something more portable than a hangboard, but I'm not sure these grip strength trainers will target the right muscles.

I don't know how cold it gets where you are, but a thermos and some nice coffee would be the best present I could get this christmas. I've had this one on my wishlist for a while: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0017IHRNM/

About two weeks into climbing, I was fortunate enough to stumble upon this book in one of those give-and-take bookshelves in a local coffee shop. Reading it helped me a lot, way more than any online resource I've found. It will help you come up with a clear plan for improvement and teach you about how to think about climbing. You're gonna have to put in the work at the end of the day - it's not a shortcut by any means. But if you take the advice this book gives seriously, I think you will be surprised by the results. Before you throw money at a coach, consider reading up more.

9 Out of 10 Climbers Make the Same Mistakes by Dave MacLeod gives a good overview of common bad habits/practices a lot of climbers make, and how to avoid them.

It's a good book for gaining a bit more overall awareness of how best to approach getting better at climbing, rather than just throwing yourself at harder and harder climbs until you can do them.

He also has a second book called Make or Break, which is centred around common climbing related injuries and how to avoid them (or recover from them).

Lots of good things to be said about Leukotape.

I've also heard good things about Mueller tape.

Edit: see other commenters links for a better version of Mueller Tape

Mountain Project has some listings. These are supposed to be good, but I normally do stuff with ropes, so I can't 100% vouch: https://gunksapps.com/

Also, Central Park some some fun stuff too, all kinds of levels: http://www.beta-boy.com/nycboulderingguide/index.html

There's a book for sale here: https://www.amazon.com/SHARP-END-PUBLISHING-Bouldering-Guide/dp/1892540894 (also they sell this at REI Soho and various climbing gyms, I've seen it at BKB Gowanus and Cliffs LIC)

Chalk

Tape

ClimbOn

Chalk Brush

Merry Christmas!

I have the rockfax bouldering guidebook for the Lake District it’s not exhaustive but is a good place to start.

Lakes Bouldering: Rockfax Climbing Guide (Rockfax Climbing Guide Series) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1873341512/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_akJYzbR46A5FB

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Diamond-Momentum-Harness-Graphite/dp/B00LU59XF2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480871087&sr=8-1&keywords=black+diamond+climbing+harness

is this harness pretty good, i just used the price point as a jumping off point, but what do you guys think of this?

Edit: oh was going to buy em this too, now is this actually good or is it some just novelty thing you guys would never even bother with?

https://www.amazon.com/Gripmaster-Exerciser-Tension-5-Pounds-Finger/dp/B0006GBDZY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1480871200&sr=8-2&keywords=gripmaster

Good job. Check out this book if you want to work on your mental game
https://www.amazon.com/Rock-Warriors-Way-Training-Climbers/dp/0974011215

You can find it online: https://www.amazon.com/Antihydral-Cream-Treatment-Hyperhidrosis-Excessive/dp/B07SNZNSD9

Rhino skin tip juice is more widely available in the US (and cheaper) and has the same active ingredient (methanamine): https://www.rhinoskinsolutions.com/store/p40/Tip_Juice.html

The only tape I ever use for my various finger taping needs is J&J coach tape.

Johnson & Johnson Coach Sports Tape 1 1/2 Inch x 10 Yards (Pack of 3) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009RFB3U/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_1qynxbK28WAVW

The Book of John or the Book of Matt?

Get a thera-cane to work out those back muscles!

I'm going to Moab in June and plan on going to big bend. There are some books on the area but a lot are out of print.

http://www.discovermoab.com/climbing_moab.htm

http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Desert-Climbs-Fred-Knapp/dp/0965707989?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00

I use Dr. Scholl's Spray

I leave it in my gym bag and do a quick spray after every session. I used to be able to smell my shoes from 5+ feet away but now I can get within 3" before I gag!