The Beginning..

I’ve been talking about creating one of these for some time now. I am not a strong writer, but like everything, getting better at something takes practice. Time to stop talking about writing and start actually doing it.Maybe folks will eventually find it and read things, maybe it’ll just be a brain dump for me. Only time will tell…

These past couple months I’ve been test driving a Kettlebells for Climbers program. I’ve seen great results with both my strength and climbing this season. Earlier this week, I accomplished a long term strength goal of performing a Turkish Get Up with The Beast, a 48kg (106 lb) kettlebell. It was NOT easy, but I managed to do it without it looking ugly. As always, there are elements here and there that I would (and will) try to perfect, but I was happy to achieve that goal. Climbing-wise I finally completed my first double digit bouldering problem, Hustle and Flow (V10) at the climber-owned Hospital Boulders in Alabama. After essentially taking last season off, it’s nice to feel like a climber again.

I owe a lot of my climbing improvement to great advice from Kris Hampton and Nate Drolet over at Power Company Climbing. They’ve helped me structure my climbing specific training time during the week at Tennessee Bouldering Authority. I’ve gotten considerably more out of my sessions with less time spent at the gym, so it’s definitely a win-win. By the way, TBA is THE bouldering gym you need to climb at in Chattanooga. A great staff, fantastic setting, and there is always a good crew of climbers to keep the motivation high. I’m super lucky a facility like that is in my hometown.  Kris and I are collaborating on the previously mentioned “Kettlebells for Climbers” program which will be offered through the Power Company website along with a bunch of other great content already up there. Make sure you check it out.

Today, I started playing with some Bottoms-Up Kettlebell work. My shoulders have been working overtime lately and they’re starting to get a little cranky. I’m figuring it’s time to back off the weights and work on some stability. I kept it simple today, I set a timer for 15 minutes and did a 2-1-3 complex with two 16 kg bells. 2 cleans, 1 press each arm, and 3 front squats. I rested as long as I needed and didn’t rush it. I was focusing on technique more than anything else.

Here’s a snippet of what the middle of a set looks like (with just the right amount of screaming music)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BCQR64inua3/?taken-by=paulcorsaro

I plan on sitting down and working out 4-6 weeks of a training plan and seeing where that takes me. It’ll also be interesting to see if there is any transfer from the increased grip demand to the upcoming sport climbing season. We shall see.

Well, this wraps up my inaugural attempt at writing a blog. I hope to try and make this a regular thing and who knows, maybe I’ll get better at it.

Until next time,

Paul