October, 2009

Training — 1 Comment - by Natalie Berry
28
Oct 09

Lights, Camera, Action!

Last week was a very busy week indeed! On Wednesday I filmed my bit for the Gadget Show at the Edinburgh Indoor Climbing Arena (EICA Ratho). It was an action-packed day and was a very tiring but enjoyable experience. I won’t tell you how I got on in the three races, just to keep the suspense! I don’t know when it will be aired as yet, but it will most likely be the end of November. Unfortunately I couldn’t wear my lovely new Currentbody.com leggings (picture coming soon!) due to advertising rights etc but I will be sure to train and compete in them over the next competitions and events.

After the filming I went on a two-day trip to Dunkeld Upper Cave crag, which is a sport climbing venue about one hour away from Edinburgh. I went with three climbing friends and a dog, all of whom were great company and everyone got some good routes ticked (even Jessie the dog!) I flashed a 7b+ called Hamish teddy’s Excellent Adventure and got a 7c called Marlena 2nd attempt! (first attempt I forgot to take my chalkbag up with me!) We were very lucky with the weather, until we had to descend in the dark and rain on the Friday night after two very tiring days! I even used my mi-Sport on the capillarisation setting in the car to warm up on the way to the crag!

On Saturday I watched a dry tooling competition (dry tooling is climbing on rock or indoors with ice axes and big boots!) at EICA Ratho. I was thinking of having a go at it but decided that I was too tired after climbing for four days on the run (plus I don’t trust myself with ice axes!) It was very exciting to watch and I was appointed photographer for the day! (again, pics to follow!)

On Sunday I did some coaching for the Quickdraw Climbing Club with a fellow British Junior Team member and afterwards I had a short but intense training session. Compex was on the agenda for the evening, an explosive strength session on my biceps and forearms.

Tuesday was my third training session with my regional coach Neil McGeachy and two friends from Edinburgh. I can really see the improvement in my strength from using a mixture of the strength, explosive strength and endurance settings each day on my forearms and biceps. I have also been doing core exercises in the gym such as medicine ball sit-ups, leg raises and planks.

I’m now off to Glasgow Climbing Centre for an endurance session!

Photos to come!

Training — No Comments - by Natalie Berry
21
Oct 09

New article in the Bearsden Herald

Natalie Berry Climber

” Bearsden climber aims for Euro success in Slovenia “

” SIX times British indoor climbing champion Natalie Berry has her eye on a podium place at next month’s European Youth Series (EYS) in the Slovenian city of Kranj — repeating her win in 2007.

Natalie (17) just missed out on a podium place in the third round of the EYS at The Edinburgh International Climbing Centre at Ratho.

The gravity defying Bearsden climber, who is taking a year out after finishing her advanced highers at Bearsden Academy last term, said: “I have been training at Ratho at least three times a week and building up my strength and endurance. ”

Read the rest of the article here on the Bearsden Herald website…

Training — No Comments - by Natalie Berry
14
Oct 09

Exciting Times!

Sorry for the lack of posts on here recently, I had a very busy weekend at the climbing festival and have been resting after two weeks of hard training.

I have been continuing to use a mixture of the strength and endurance settings on my mi-Sport which is really helping my finger strength and forearm endurance. I am now getting really close to completing my two projects at EICA Ratho,  7c+ and  8a graded routes. I’m hoping that they’ll be done sometime over the next week!

Some more exciting news is that I have been asked to appear on “The Gadget Show” as part of an experiment testing climbing “gadgets”. I will  be racing against one of the presenters who will be using a moving wall to try and give her the edge in the competition. It will be filmed at EICA Ratho next Wednesday, and I am also receiving some new currentbody.com leggings to wear for my TV appearance and for training and competitions!

Off training now at Glasgow wall, feeling strong after a rest!

Compex Mi Sport / Training — No Comments - by Natalie Berry
8
Oct 09

Making progress!

As I continue to use my Compex mi-Sport I am beginning to really notice the benefits of electromuscular stimulation. I have been using the device every day for the last week or so and have been using the Endurance setting on my forearms and the Explosive Power setting on my biceps. During my normal training sessions in Edinburgh I have been feeling much stronger on the steep competition wall, as though my grip strength has increased and my forearm endurance too!  I am still experimenting with the contraction levels, and find that I can tolerate a bit higher on my biceps (90-100) than on my finger flexors (80-90). I have been using work level 3 with Explosive Power and work level 5 on Endurance.

Today I also had a session on my home bouldering wall in my garage, and a weights session (lat pull-downs and tricep pull-downs) I hope to use my home facility more now that I have finished school and in the run up to my final European event of the year in Kranj, Slovenia next month.

This Saturday should be a very exciting day, as I am helping with the “Climbing Rocks Festival” organised by the Quickdraw Climbing Club by participating in bouldering coaching sessions for beginner climbers. It will be a great opportunity to promote the sport and bring new talent into climbing. I am also starting a training plan with my local GB Team coach after the festival, which will involve weekly sessions every Saturday

Compex Mi Sport / Training — No Comments - by Natalie Berry
3
Oct 09

Stepping it Up

Last night I had a great session at EICA Ratho in Edinburgh where I did 12 routes on the ridiculously steep competition wall! There are some excellent new routes which really tested my forearm endurance.

I’ve just detached myself from my Compex mi-Sport after completing my second session with the equipment. As well as working on my finger and wrist flexors I also decided to try it out on my biceps this time. First of all I used the motor point pen to determine the exact position of the motor points, which appeared to work much better than my haphazard approach last time!

I selected the “Strength” programme and increased the muscular contraction levels to about 50 for my wrist and finger flexors and about 75 for my biceps, with a work Level of 3 (38 minutes). My arms felt quite tired afterwards yet I still think I could handle a higher level of contraction next time!  The sensation of the electrodes on my biceps was a bit strange at first, rather like pins and needles, but after a few minutes I felt a lot more comfortable with the feeling.

Tomorrow I am coaching children for the Quickdraw Climbing Club for their first session after the summer holidays, which is a monthly job for myself and a fellow British Team member. Hopefully we will get a good training session in after work for ourselves too. Maybe I should introduce the Club to EMS training!?  Off for a session on my Beastmaker fingerboard now and then dinner!