Getting stronger is an awesome feeling - especially when it can be measured, like on a hang board. The dilemma is that the biggest gain is not coming from muscular development but instead through intra-muscular fibre recruitment that quickly will disapear. A hangboard session will basically teach a higher percentage of your muscle fibers to switch on - but within a couple of resting days, most of the gained recruitment will switch off again.

Let us say you make a short bouldering session that you finish with trying to measure you maximal three-finger open crimp. Then you continue bouldering for a month, meaning that you will be able to measure some strength progress. If you on the other hand skip bouldering and only do one (1) hangboard or campus session, you will in fact be able to measure a bigger gain.

The reason for this is simply that although your muscle fibres have not grown after one hangboard session, you will have taught your muscles how to activate more of their fibers. Another twist is that if you only focus on a certain grip, like three-finger open hand, you will at the same time loose some of your strength on open hand or open crimp in the very short run, as the recruitment coordination of the other two gripping positions will drop.

On the other hand, facing a crux move which you cannot do may just require some recruitment training. How to temporarly get 100% stronger in 30 minutes

A total of 83 athletes from 14 countries participated in the Paraclimbing event in Briancon. France dominated getting four golds. Full report on IFSC (c) Jan Virt

Andrea Gennari Daneri from Pareti Magazine has helped out with some comments from Alfredo Webber, who just did his second 9a, Pure Dreaming in Arco. Adam Ondra made the FA of it in 2018. The 51-year-old and 159 cm tall did his first 9a in 2017. (c) Giacomo Tonoli

"When I bolted Pure Dreaming in February 2017 I didn't think I would be able to climb this line; I did not even imagine that I would have made almost 400 attempts spread over 3 and a half years of ups and downs, fingers open, desperate attempts at 35 degrees, with the cold, with the rain, days where logic led not even to leave home. Surprisingly, given the temperatures not exactly at the top, yesterday I managed to climb this line.

Thanks to Alessandro "Classe" Corradini for the endless belaying and his patience. I am also happy that staring at my ascent there was a talent of the new generations Andrea Chelleris (12) with his parents whom I thank for the cheering and for the video. I think that soon the next Pure Dreaming climber will be Andrea."

Alfredo's comments from 2017, when he did his first 9a are still interesting. "I’m close to 50 years old and now I work full time in a quarry, five days a week, 8 hrs a day. I wake up at 7 am, breakfast, then a 20 km drive to the quarry. Back home at 6 pm. Two days a week I have training on my wall at home. It’s a 1h 30’ work, basically long sequences, with intervals of some harder moves; then some hangs on crimps. When I’m projecting something hard for Sunday I have to rest on Friday and Saturday, otherwise, I get weak. I’m less powerful than 20 years ago, but now I know myself better and I manage better my energies."

The male Olympic qualification starts on August the 3rd. We reached out to Jakob Schubert, one of the favourites to get a medal. He explains that when it comes to rationale for skipping the last two World Cups, this was mainly because after the successful World Cup in Innsbruck he felt a bit exhausted and had a sore neck. With the first place in the pocket - with all big names competing- Jakob felt confident enough to focus on the recovery towards the Olympic Games. Schubert vlog from Innsbruck.

What is the focus on the last training before the Olympics?
I will have four more lead sessions (around 4-5 hours each) and four more bouldering sessions (around 3-4 hours each) over the eight last climbing days until leaving. Speed is mostly done before bouldering for 1-2 hours. My training is not super different than normal, I try to get strong in all 3 disciplines. This week it’s still hard sessions, next week it’s all about getting a good feeling and feel ready mentally.

The Combined format in Tokyo is based on the multiplication of the results in all three disciplines. This means that it is much better to excel in one discipline rather than being consistent in all disciplines. Here are some ranking examples

1. Tomoa Narasaki 2 * 1 * 6 = 12 (Speed - Boulder - Lead)
2. Adam Ondra 7 * 3 * 1 = 21
3. Jakob Schubert 6 * 2 * 2 = 24
4*. Bassa Mawem 1 * 8 * 8 = 64
5. Alberto Gines Lopez 3 * 6 * 5 = 90
6. Alex Megos 8 * 4 * 3 = 96
7. Alexey Rubtsov 4 * 5 * 7 = 140
8. Colin Duffy 5 * 7 * 4 = 140

As we know, one slip in any of the disciplines can dramatically change the ranking. Particularly so in Bouldering, where a bit of luck could put any of the finalists, besides the Speed specialists, on top. Let us say Megos wins in Bouldering while all other results above are kept the same. 1. Megos = 24 (wins as he beats Narasaki in two out of three events)
2. Narasaki = 24
3. Ondra = 28
4. Schubert = 36
5. Mawem = 64

* The Speed qualification winner will probably end as #4 in the final. Another possibility is that there will be two Speed specialists in the final, which then increases the "risk" for one of them getting the bronze although not scoring one zone in Bouldering as well as just making two clips or so in Lead. However, Narasaki could win Speed meaning that he probably will get a maximal score of 14 and thus Ondra, or any other, need to win both in Lead and Boulder to get the gold.

Nick Bradley has done his second 8C, Delirium in Mt Evans and he has the video on Insta. The 24-year-old did his first 8B in 2015 and has since then built up a solid grade pyramid with 22 8B's and four 8B+' before doing his first two 8C's in 2021. " I did the left exit a few years ago so I had learned the beginning already. It took about 5 sessions this year to finish up Delirium."

Alex Totkova made her first 8a headlines when she did her first 8a at age 12. Previously, she had for two years won all the comps she had done in Bulgaria, Petzen, Imst and Arco. Being 13, she did her first 8c and last year she sent her first 9a (8c+). In 2019, she started doing IFSC Youth Cups and although winning two events, half of the time she was outside the podium. In her WC debut, she was #18 and then #6 before getting the bronze in Chamonix. (c) Vladek Zumr

How can you training wise explain your great progress in 2021?
This season, which is not over yet 😊, was planned by my coaches a year earlier. They inspired me and motivated me that things could work out. For my preparation most of the time we trained in Bulgaria in NSA gym. We do not have the best conditions for lead in all Bulgaria and I mostly train on the boulder wall for endurance. But I hope that things will get better soon 😀. I have a training program but it is difficult for explain. We are training different for every competition.

How does it feel to have taken such big steps up in the ranking?
With a lot of experience and adrenaline from yesterday's final, I am almost happy with my climbing😚….. but not really happy🤷🏼‍♀️, because I could do a little more. I really want to get pump at my maximum as the best climbers do. And I think I didn’t do my best, yes nice climbing but not enough. Now l am looking for the next competition which is after a few days. I want to show my limit.🤪 TOP

What are your goals for 2021?
My dreams are my goal and I want to fulfil my dreams without anyone knowing about them. After fulfilling them maybe I will want to say😁😆

Pierre Le Cerf has done the FA of Alone 9a in Gorges du Loup, which is an extension to an 8b+/c. (c) Loïc Athenon

"This project was a great lesson in life because, during the first two sessions, I barely reached the beginning of the hard passage. I fell each time on the first move after 35m of 8b+/c climbing. I lacked fluidity, mental strength for some parts, lower temperature and endurance in the forearms, and especially more endurance in the arms. I went back to training and inserted a bit of route-specific endurance into these workouts and I was doing circuits 8-10 min in my bedroom in the heat, without stopping, to get used to this long effort. I say "a great lesson in life" because in just two other sessions in the route I ended up doing it thanks to a great desire. Anything can happen quickly in life."

1. Sean Bailey USA 200 - Laura Rogora* ITA 223
2. Stefano Ghisolfi ITA 191 - Janja Garnbret* SLO 200
3. Sascha Lehmann SUI 148 - Vita Lukan SLO 153
4. Higuchi Masahiro JPN 135 - Natalia Grossman USA 151
5. Alex Megos* GER 127 - Alex Totkova (16) BUL 128
6. Alberto Gines Lopez* ESP 126 - Julia Chanourdie* FRA 115
* Athletes that will compete in the Olympics.

In the next event in Briancon, only Gines Lopez and Jessica Pilz have registered to compete out of all 40 Olympians.