Loughborough Uni research proj

 Early on this year I took part in a study at Loughborough University, helping some PhD students out with their research into how effective the blood vessels in climbers are at delivering blood. It was a really cool day hanging out in the labs and checking out all their ghetto equipment.
 Here was the study overview again.


Elite rock climbers have a highly adapted forearm vasculature, when compared to the sedentary population. For example, we have previously demonstrated that the blood flow capacity, and blood flow during exercise, was much higher in the rock climbers compared to non-climbing control subjects. However, this study is not able to identify the mechanisms for this higher blood flow capacity, which could be due to structural and functional changes in the artery supplying the forearm (brachial artery), or a higher number of capillaries within the forearm.

Therefore, this study aims to examine artery structure and function, and capillarity, in a population of elite rock climbers, and compare them to a group of non-climbing control subjects.


Anyway they sent me the results a while back and I thought I'd put them up for the people that might find them of interest...

You gotta go big sometimes son!

     

Its been a good while since my last post. Time seems to be rushing by at crazy speeds at the moment its sometimes hard to keep track. The autumn so far though has been pretty decent with good conditions for both the lime and grit. I really like mixing the two up at this time of year. It keeps things interesting and means you can get totally wasted on the lime one day but still have enough left in the tank for a good day out on the grit the next.     

I got a call last week from an old friend who wanted to come out with us to shoot some pictures, so I immediately thought of heading on over to Millstone to try a route that someone had shown me last winter. The line sits high in the sky, right above the famous Masters Edge, giving climbing in a slightly unusual position with plenty of exposure! It was a big relief to top out on this one and give the season a really good kickstart. We were also joined by Jerome, a good mate of ours from London, who made a quick ascent of this sketchy rig as well. Super impressed with this lads efforts, very cool given it was one of his first hard grit routes! The pictures came out pretty awesome, massive thanks again to Usherwood for these snaps!     

Mid crux on 'The Bad and the Beautiful' E7 6b

A week or two ago I also managed to do something new at the Tor, repeating 'Lets Get Ready to Rumbleweed'. It gets V11 this thing but in the end its all just training. Should have a quick video of this to post up sometime soon. 

Looking awful out there though today so a board sesh is calling and massive bowlful of stew! Below are a few more shots. Cheers x

Stoked after topping out!

Ted gurning on the top of 'Blood and Guts on Botty Street, E5 6b

Perfect end to the day, gotta love the grit!

Times are a changin'

 Its been a few weeks now since we got back to the home crib and we've just about got back into the swing of Peak life. Autumn is definitely fully here now with colder mornings, the nights closing in as well as having to deal with freezing fingers at the crag! Me and Ed spent a weekend checking out a few lines away from the crowds a short while ago and sent a knarly rig on Garage at Stoney called The Big Apple, 8a before we cruised over to do Tomb Raider, another 8a just around the corner from the Tor. If you want something different and a bit new then go seek them out, you deffo won't be queueing for these!

We kicked off the grit season at Millstone the day after doing the slabtastic 'Sniveling Sh*ts'. So stoked for the grit again, got the bug back instantly and hoping we'll be able to get plenty of stuff done over the winter.

Just spent a sick weekend partying and chillin in Hartington for Denise and Dan's 30th anniversary! Big thanks to them for putting on a great few days with plenty of music and amazing food!

        Some maniac caught prowling the grounds

Anyway guys the European Outdoor Film Festival is coming to the UK this November, for the first time and is being sponsored by Mammut. Here is a teaser of whats on show! For tickets and more information go to http://www.eoft.eu/ There looks to be some pretty stunning footage lined up and I can guarantee it will leave you feeling truly inspired.

                    

Finally as well as all that, if you've not seen the latest trailer for the Reel Rock Tour 7 then I recommend you check it out below. This years line up looks totally radical and we are super pumped to go and see it next weekend. Our good friend and top alpinist David Falt will be visiting us for a couple of days as well, so we're hoping to get out on some grit and show the lad around.