{"id":293,"date":"2016-01-20T21:06:37","date_gmt":"2016-01-20T21:06:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emilytheclimber.me\/?p=293"},"modified":"2016-01-28T12:37:02","modified_gmt":"2016-01-28T12:37:02","slug":"bmc-national-academy-bouldering-depot-manchester","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emilytheclimber.me\/?p=293","title":{"rendered":"BMC National Academy (Bouldering) – Depot Manchester"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Saturday 16 January I went to the BMC National Academy<\/a> at The Depot climbing centre in Manchester.<\/a>\u00a0 These academies are open to climbers who finish in the top 10 in the YCS final or make it to the final in one of the Open Youth competitions (leading or bouldering). \u00a0As was 6th in the YCS and made the final 3 times in the Open Youth Boulder comps<\/a> I was invited.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I\u00a0had to get up quite early to be at the centre for the 10am start and as we live in Sheffield it was a bit of a drive over the Peak District and through Manchester to get there. \u00a0Plus it was cold and raining!<\/p>\n

\"Arriving<\/a>
Arriving at The Depot in Manchester, you might be able to see me amidst all the FiveTen<\/a> gear!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The coaches for the day were Tom Greenall and Lucinda Whittaker who I knew already and also Tim Cunnington who I hadn’t met before. \u00a0The Depot is a new bouldering centre in Manchester and is massive – it had only opened the week before we got there so everything was shiny and new!<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Depot Manchester<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To\u00a0begin with we learnt about some self-massage techniques and used the foam\u00a0rollers and tennis balls. \u00a0I found loads of\u00a0tight spots which I didn’t know I had so this was useful.<\/p>\n

\"Learning
Learning about self-massage<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Then we talked about lots of strength and flexibility exercises we could do, one of them was a jump and a land which we then practiced in the flat\u00a0area upstairs and then on the wall.<\/p>\n

\"Practicing
Practicing jumping and landing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We had to jump off the wall and land with our feet either side of a small piece of paper. \u00a0This was to help us if we climbed outside and only had a small area on which to land safely.<\/p>\n

Then we had a lunch break and learnt about nutrition. \u00a0We learnt about what we should eat because most of our lunches didn’t have enough nutrition!<\/p>\n

\"Smoothie
Smoothie making instructions from Lucinda<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lucinda then showed us how to make a couple of smoothies, one was avocado, pineapple and spinach which was very green\u00a0but tasted delicious. \u00a0When I got home I made my own smoothie\u00a0which I found on the Internet which had one orange, half a banana, a cup of spinach and quarter of a cup of water. \u00a0This was really really nice and I’ve had a smoothie nearly every day since then. \u00a0Lucinda has inspired me!<\/p>\n

After lunch we then went and put tape on the holds\u00a0exactly<\/i> where we felt we were supposed to place our feet. \u00a0We then had to go up and down the climb six times to make sure we had perfect technique the entire time. \u00a0We\u00a0started off easy and worked up way up to problems which would be hard to top.<\/p>\n

\"Taping
Taping up the foot holds<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After doing this for quite a while we went over to the comp wall and tested out our technique on some really hard (but extremely fun!) climbs.<\/p>\n

\"Testing
Testing our technique on the comp wall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Then we talked about more about “Building the Athlete” – psychologically, physically and nutritionally which included looking at the current GB team picture and noticing how happy they all looked!<\/p>\n

Then we were given the task of splitting up into groups and trying to do climbs with as few a goes as possible.<\/p>\n

\"Having<\/a>
Having fun on the boulders at Depot Manchester<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the end we all discussed the most important points of the session\u00a0and what action we were going to take afterwards which included eating healthier and getting a foam\u00a0roller for self massage.<\/p>\n

The day was another great BMC<\/a> session and the Depot at Manchester is a fabulous climbing centre. \u00a0I will add a review of the centre to my Climbing Centres<\/a> page soon!<\/p>\n

Here is a short video from the BMC about the National Academy, look carefully and you might spot me!<\/p>\n