Crack Climber VS 9c Strength Test

Was that five? Don't know. No, that's four. I decided to take a 9c sport climbing test. Although I have climbed to a reasonable level in other disciplines of climbing, I would say my main strengths certainly lie in the crack climbing and trad climbing bracket. So I thought it would be interesting to take a very basic test to see where my general strength levels lay. For some perspective of where my training and climbing is currently, I would say I'm in medium shape. Basically what I mean by that is that I've been stomping around the hills alpine climbing and getting really weak, yet I haven't been sort of like fully on it and in fighting fit project mode. I'm kind of somewhere in the middle. So this test was first done by Magnus on his YouTube channel and thought up by Martin and Stian. A score is given at the end of the test and then this score dictates a sport grade which your strength should be able to climb. The test is very basic and consists of four exercises. On each exercise you can score a maximum of 10 points. So four exercises times 10 points equals a maximum score of 40 points. If you get 40 points then this means your strength equates to a 9c level. Scores below the 40 point mark equal to different grades. So the first exercise is a finger strength test which is a maximum hang for 5 seconds off a 20mm edge. This exercise is measured by percentage of body weight hung. For example if you hang 100% body weight you get 1 point, 110% body weight you get 2 points, 150% 6 points and so on. The second test is a pull strength test. So this is the maximum weight you can do a pull up with off a bar. This exercise is again measured by percentage of body weight. The third test is a body core strength test. This is a maximum hold in either a tucked position, an L-sit or a front lever position hanging from a bar. So for example if you hold an L-sit for 10 seconds this gives you 4 points, if you hold a front lever for 5 seconds you get 7 points and so on. The final test is a forearm pump test and this is just a maximum hold from a bar. The exercise is measured by the time hung from a bar and each 30 second or minute interval gives you a certain number of points. So for example 3 minutes gives you 6 points, 3 minutes 30 gives you 7 points, 5 minutes gives you 9 points and so on. These tests are going to show us how strong a track climber really is. You know, do I have the strength of 9c? Can I go back to silence and climb it? That's what everybody wants to know. What's your hypothesis? My hypothesis? Yeah, expectations. I would say it would be good if I could get a score or a grade of 8c+. I'd be happy with that. 8c plus is the max sport grade I've ever climbed. I've never tried harder than 8c plus but that's the max that I've done. So it would be nice if I'm an 8c plus standard but we'll see. Yeah, I've got an idea. Anybody who's watching, maybe they could comment below before they finish watching the video and predict what I'm going to get. And now they're just going to cheat. Or watch the video and then predict. Yeah. What do you think I'm going to get? I think you're going to get 8c. You think I'm going to get 8c? Yeah. 8c. Okay, you're going 8c, I'm going 8c plus. I said 9a earlier today. Yeah and I was over-optimistic. But I changed my mind. Good. Because 9a isn't going to happen. Not when I've felt that 20mm edge lattice doing us over with their rounded radius. So you're going to do the test as well? Yep. That's Mari. What are you saying? Just that I'm going to do the test and I'm not going to get 8c but above 8 would be good. And I'm going to try really hard. Good. Okay, good. Let's get warmed up then. Just warming up. Getting the muscles firing. I like it's some CrossFit thing. Weighing time. Scaled in. Tap here firmly and quickly. Wait for zero seconds. Step on. Moment of truth. Here we go. 69. What is it? It's important to do the exercise in the correct order. So fingers first and then pull up and then front lever and then the endurance at the end. What you don't want to do is you don't do the endurance first and then have to do like the max finger hang at the end. And the strategy is I think I'm just going to build it up. Probably start with 20 kilos on or something. 20 kilos. That was easy. That was 20. I do remember when I did this hang once and I was trying to do five seconds and I've been doing loads of crack climbing training and I went on a desert trip with Tom and I couldn't do, I think it was 36 kilos because my fingers were so... That worked. 30 car kgs. Just proof. Proof that you're lifting your legs. I think I can ramp it up by another 15. 15, 30, 50. And now I'm going to start engaging. That was starting to get a little bit harder. I actually had to try them. So the last hang was 160% body weight. So now for the next score up to get one more point I have to do 180% body weight. So that is 55 kilos. That'll give me 180% and that'll give me seven points. This is definitely starting to feel like a nap. Five seconds. There we go. Oh, I need to warm into that. Okay, I think this could be my max. Recruit. Was that five? Don't know. No, that's four. An extra second. No, four again. That was four again. Maxing out at four. So it's just like one second to get that extra point. That's interesting because you would have thought you could just pull yourself together and do like one more second but maybe that is actually your limit. Come on, I can get five seconds. Just five seconds. Just need a good grip. Yes. You did it. I did it. I engaged the shoulders a bit more. Really? Yeah, I engaged the shoulders a bit more and that gave me an extra second. Instead of being down like that. Yeah. I was just a bit more like that. Ah. And it gave me an extra second. Just. Yeah. By the absolute. But that's all you need. Just. By an absolute. Nuts ass. Yeah. Starting with 15kgs. Is that it? Easy. Ramp it up to 160%. Going big. Come on. Wow. Yeah? Nice. The next percentage is 180 to get an extra point. Come on. Yeah. Because immediately when you start hanging. It's fine. And you feel like, okay, I can do this. Then after two seconds, it's just like. Yeah. Really hard. So here we're doing max pull up. Yeah, max. One pull up. How much weight you can pull. Easing in at 40. Yeah. Not exactly easing in, wasn't it? Yeah. Paddling with the legs. Not allowed. It's the same percentages for the pull up. So if I go 55 kilos. Then I'll be at 180%. Come on. She wasn't there. Or maybe, I mean, I should have a rest. And then give it another go. And that was 55. That was 55 kilos. Yeah. Come here. I haven't got it. So what I'm going to do. Because I didn't. I was one kilo off doing my 160% on that 40 kilo thing. So I'm going to make sure I get my 160%. I feel like I should be able to do this. I can't quite do it today. That was quite close. I'm actually quite tired now. Your body was, wasn't it? I could just do one more. Just to be sure, couldn't I? Yeah. Just a proper one. For the exercise? Yeah, for the exercise. Was I over? Yeah. Okay. They'll have to decide in the comments. Was he over or not? Good job. Okay, 100. That's me maxed. Let's move on with our lives. Come on. Easy. Easy with 15. Get the big guns out. Yes, easy. Oh, you can definitely do 25. Yeah, you can do 25. Come on, come on, come on, come on. Come on. Yes. Good effort. Yeah. Nice one. That was good. What would the next be? 160. 20, 30 and a half. Yeah. Yeah, that's a bit too much. Next is L-hang. Yeah, the next one on the list is, it's basically like core body tension. So it's either a knee tuck like this, an L-sit or a front lever. So I'm going to try a five second front lever. I definitely can't do any more than that and I'm not sure if I can do that. Five second front lever gets seven points. So that's what I've got to aim for. And then it's a 20 second L-sit for six points. I don't know if I can do a front lever at the moment. No, damn it. Stop, stop, stop, stop. Can't do two things at once. When do I start? No, I can't, I can't hold it. Yeah? Yeah. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. I feel like my feet weren't, I don't know, it's not great is it? It's not great form. Basically, I should do the L-sit. Let me just do the, let me do a 20 second L-sit. 19, 20. Front lever. Front lever, ready? Yeah. Okay. L-sit. Good. Five seconds. Come on. Come on, keep it going, keep it going. 10 seconds. Come on, hold it, hold it, hold it. Good, good, good. 17, 18, 19. You're there, done it, smashed it. Easy. Nice one. Yeah, how many points? Six points. Okay. Okay, so the final test that we're going to do is a hang from the bar. Just grab a bar and hang. So six minute hang gives you maximum points. So that's what we've got to aim for. And then it goes down from there. Five minute hang, nine points. Four minute hang, eight points. Yeah, we should aim for full score here. Full score? Full score. We've got to go big on the last test. Okay. Half a minute. Yeah. Oh, three. Come on, come on, max it out. You're gonna do six. Seconds, nine, eight, two, one. Oh, we're on six. Well done. That's awful. Yeah, it's just crazy. You didn't fall off though. They're like in a bar shape. Yeah. It's just one of those pumps where you can just keep going, but it just makes you feel a bit nauseous. No. Yep. 30 seconds in. Come on, you've got to endure the awfulness of it. Come on, come on. Coming up three minutes. Keep it going. Come on, keep pushing it. Keep pushing it for three minutes. Nearly there, nearly there. You're at three minutes now. Come on, come on. Oh, good effort. No. Yeah. No. Yeah, that was good. Three minutes. Yeah. I don't know what score that is, but it was three minutes. Well done. I know, yeah, it's horrible, isn't it? Yeah, but you're off with climb. So, how did we do? In the first test, which was the finger strength test, I hung 180%, which gave me eight points. Mari hung 160%, which gave her seven points. The second test was the max pull test. I got 160%, which gave me seven points, and Mari got 150%, which gave her six points. The third test was the body core strength test, where we both got a score of six points. And the final test was the forearm pump test. I got a maximum score, which gave me 10 points, and Mari got three minutes, which gave her six points. So this means I got a final score of 31 out of a possible 40, and Mari got 25. These scores can be equated to 8C+, and 8B. So, happy days. Is that good? That's good. It's really good. Very good. Yeah, and that is about right for you. Yeah, maybe. Because you've climbed up to 8B. Yeah, maybe. I mean, mine was about right for me, because I've climbed up to 8C+. It's a quality test. Yeah. That's all we can say. Yeah. What a great test. It's on the money. Neither of us are nowhere near climbing 9C. We're miles off. Not going back to silence then. Not this winter. That's not going to happen. But this is only... It's a test judging purely on strength and fitness in four areas of climbing. Yeah. And as we all know, climbing consists of... A lot of drop-knees. A lot more than four areas. It's a very basic test. If this was a test of tricks, we would max it out, because we know all the tricks. The tricks. We know all the drop-knees and the heel hooks above the head. The flip-a-roos. We know all the flip-a-roos. And the tickling. The flip-a-roo tickle. Maybe we need to come up with a trick test, and it's like what you can do, so like hanging by your toes, or like hanging by your heels. If you can lick your nose, that's two points. Good, I'm two points in.