Scott Semple (Page 7)

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Is 5.11 the junk zone of rock climbing?

Between 2005 and 2010, I focused on sport climbing. I redpointed 13c and flashed 12c. A key part of my progress was avoiding 5.11. When I was sport climbing, I learned a lot from my friends Jay Audenart and Simon Villeneuve. Simon in particular has a fun, irreverent attitude

Functional Mysophobia: Crazy Ways to Stay Healthy

Originally published at Uphill Athlete in February 2019. For endurance athletes, staying healthy while training represents more money in the fitness bank. Imagine that for every day you were sick, you had to dig into your savings and pay your employer two and a half days of income: * Five days

How to calibrate a treadmill

I recently discovered that my treadmill doesn’t report its actual speed. At first, I was disappointed. Then I calibrated the machine and found that it under-reports its speed. Phew! The other day at the gym, I warmed up on a treadmill that I had used many times in

Don't fill the bowl

When I “fill the bowl”, life is too jam-packed. Everything in the bowl competes for space. When the unexpected happens, the important things suffer. The solution? Don’t fill the bowl. — Most mornings, I eat eggs with lentils, bruschetta, and hot sauce. This morning was no different, but all

Should WHOOP be called WHOOPs?

I hoped a WHOOP would guide me toward better recovery. I sent it back for a refund.

Lactate Test #5: Progress

On September 18th, I did my fifth lactate test for the season. As with previous tests, I did both the aerobic and anaerobic portions on the same day with a break and some food in between. What does this lactate test show? Anaerobic capacity has increased In my last test,

First Impressions: Whoop vs. Garmin

This morning was my second workout with a Whoop on my wrist. In both cases, Whoop’s data is inaccurate and grossly overstates the intensity of the workouts. I recorded both sessions with the Whoop and a Garmin Fenix 2 with an HRM-Run chest strap. The workout was a

Lactate Test #4: Stupid is as stupid does

Over a month ago, I did my fourth lactate capacity test of the season. I did both the aerobic and anaerobic portions on the same day, albeit with a break and some food between them. Since my last test in early July, I’ve been doing a lot of Local

Training on a treadmill: Accuracy versus precision

In early 2018, I bought a treadmill. Training on a treadmill sounds horrible to most–and for long, steady sessions it is–but for high-intensity training, it’s perfect. Yesterday, I wrote about the big impact that gradient has on climb rates. While writing, I looked online for an

Gradient: Small changes in angle, big differences in climb rate

When using climb rates as benchmarks, make sure that the grade of the terrain during tests is consistent. Small variations in gradient will create big differences in climb rates and misleading results between tests. I often use a treadmill as part of my warm-up for strength sessions in the