# My Lattice Climbing Training Plan Journey: Week Nine

*We're back following Kate Dean's Climbing Training Plan journey as she completes the ninth week of her plan. In this article, Kate talks about having to put a larger emphasis on sleep and nutrition, improved results in testing, and getting psyched for climbing outside.*

I’m just finishing the 9th week of my training plan. This past week has involved some re-testing and some much-needed rest from the high volume of workouts I’ve been doing over the last couple of months. The re-testing week has marked a shift in the focus of my plan from endurance to power endurance and I’m really enjoying trying new things and doing some strength workouts. Weeks 6 and 7 were my busiest so far, and I’ve been feeling fairly fatigued as a result – I have a newfound respect for the pros who are doing this week after week!

![](https://latticetraining.com/app/uploads/2019/06/belaying-1-768x1024.jpg)#### **Nutrition & Recovery**

Since I last updated you, I’ve learnt a lot about how to care for my body while following a training plan. When I was sent the plan, Lattice highlighted the importance of good nutrition and sleep when increasing the amount of exercise you’re doing. I can’t agree with this enough! I wasn’t prepared for how tired my body would feel as a result of increasing my volume of training this much. I’m pretty used to getting about 7-8 hours of sleep a night, but recently I need 8 hours minimum. Since increasing my sleep, focusing on improving the protein content of my diet and upping my daily calorie intake, I’ve found that I can recover from training sessions quicker and I am performing better too. In an ideal world, this good behaviour would have started from week 1 - if not before - but I’ll know for next time. Another thing I would advise female athletes is to, if you can, avoid having your highest volume training weeks when you’re on your period – it’s something I will definitely consider in the future!

#### **Testing Improvements**

The 8th week of my plan involved retesting my finger and shoulder strength. Before being given your training plan, you’ll be asked to complete a series of tests so the coaches can find your strengths and weaknesses to personalise your plan. When I did these, I discovered my finger strength was quite poor, as was my upper body strength, so I was hopeful that I could make improvements in these areas. The strength testing involves finding the maximum weight you can add to your bodyweight and still be able to complete two successive pull-ups. I didn’t expect this to improve much, as I feel that I’ve been mostly focusing on my fingers and endurance. I guess the Lattice team know what they’re doing though, because quite unexpectedly, I was able to add two extra kilos this time around. Similarly, the maximum weight I could add to my bodyweight when doing a deadhang on the small Lattice rung also improved by two kilos. I’m not sure what is technically a good improvement in these tests, but as my scores were fairly low these gains are pretty substantial and I was really happy with the outcome!

![](https://latticetraining.com/app/uploads/2019/06/fingerboarding-576x1024.jpg)#### **Getting Outside**

My outdoor climbing frequency has improved a lot since last time I wrote. Living in Sheffield means I’m lucky enough to be able to go outdoors as much as I want. I’m really enjoying Peak Lime sport. I wish I could say that I’ve climbed 7c with ease, but this isn’t the case yet. I’ve got involved in a couple of projects at Moat Buttress and I’m loving feeling closer to sending harder routes on this type of rock than I ever have! I haven’t found a project I can see myself dedicating the season to yet - I’m just so psyched, I want to try everything! Individual moves feel a lot easier than last summer, particularly on those tiny crimps. I have also found that, due to being generally fatigued, I’m starting outdoor sessions feeling tired and am consequently powering out early on the steep routes. However I’m confident that after I complete my plan and can come to routes fresh, the training will come into its own and I’ll be able to push myself way harder.

#### **Bouldering Surprises**

A nice surprise has been seeing my bouldering improve a lot. I’ve always considered myself a sport climber primarily, but I love bouldering too and have found my finger and shoulder strength to be a limiting factor. Although my plan has been directed towards sport climbing and improving my endurance, I have also been working on basic conditioning for my shoulder stability and doing a lot of compression, core and pull-up workouts, along with one or two finger-board sessions a week. This has made me way better at bouldering, almost accidentally! I’ve really enjoyed being able to quickly tick problems that felt impossible last year, and I can’t wait for this to translate to longer routes too. Having been in a bit of a rut with bouldering, this improvement has reignited my enthusiasm.

![](https://latticetraining.com/app/uploads/2019/06/bouldering1-1.jpg)Overall, the past month has been great and I’m still enjoying training and being able to fit in some time on rock. I’m excited to see how I find the new set of exercises that I’ve been given for the next few weeks!

*Keep following Kate’s journey on the [Climbing Training Plan](https://latticetraining.com/lattice-training-plans/) over the coming weeks to see how she gets on. You can also follow her [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/k8_dean1/) for more frequent updates!*