Free Soloing Highest Indoor Boulder in The U.K (with heart rate monitor)

Thanks COROS for sponsoring today’s video! Here’s the watch & heart rate monitor used in the video:
Heart Rate Monitor - www.coros.com/heart-rate-monitor
Watch - www.coros.com/apex2
@COROSGlobal #trainwithcoros
Thanks to The Boardroom in Queensferry for being incredible hosts.
TEAM:
Sam Douglas-Jones: @samdj_
Louis Parkinson: @captaincutloose
00:00 Coming Up
00:19 Intro
02:24 First Top Out
03:21 Tip Number One
04:01 Fall Practice
05:00 Blue 7A
07:10 Black 7B
10:07 Red 7C+
11:51 Working With COROS
12:59 Red 7C+ Second Attempt
14:30 Tip Number Two
15:34 Intentional vs Irregular Breathing
16:35 Campusing 7A
18:23 Outro
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[@_roshi]

louis: it better be a good angle the angle: 💪👁️👄👁️

[@zelpha2974]

16:49

[@EmilAbrahamsson]

Louis with a heart rate monitor on a free solo wall? Hold on I’m just gonna go grab some popcorn 🍿

[@user-sr4jp9vr6e]

Are you planning on trying that solo wall? It would be such a fun video to watch if you climb it too someday

[@holahey919]

Momo Emil, momo

[@davidhelman3045]

I was holding my breath when his HR hit 190

[@shinraninja]

dont forget the lube

[@snev3182]

glaze

[@nuggetnivag]

Watching the heart rate hit 190 on that black sent me into panic mode. Can't imagine how Louis was feeling

[@stopa7284]

Your vision is blurry and you are in autopilot mode. Respiratory rate is so high that it is really difficult to focus

[@pher8902]

The scramble to stay in the wall is only relatable to early climbing. When the 10 foot walls were still scary to fall from but in this time it was a 25 foot fall. Big yikes from that fall.

[@NickSteffen]

@@stopa7284 blurry vision at 190 is not a great sign. You can definitely hit 190 just feeling really out of breath. If that’s what typically happens I’d recommend training at lower intensities and working your way up.

[@stopa7284]

@@NickSteffen have you ever climbed with heart rate sensor before?

[@NickSteffen]

@@stopa7284 I do all the time actually. I’ve hit 190 before climbing as well, but it’s rare. Usually 190 is something I’d hit doing intense interval cardio like rowing or sprinting for 2 minutes all out on a third set. Maybe if i keep pushing I’d get light headed and have blurry vision but I’d have to push way past when i hit 190. Now notably my climbing is less intense and less skilled than what Louis does, so if your doing a 100 foot 7c boulder problem your gonna die … Or if you’re like me you probably couldn’t even start it and thus would have a low heart rate 😅

[@althejazzman]

I think my heart rate increased just watching this! I certainly had sweaty palms.

[@CatalystClimbing]

I did too filming it!

[@Carlyfraser]

The positive attitude Louis has, has been so inspirational for me to continue climbing despite my chronic illness! He's so encouraging to others and himself, that it's starting to rub off on me :) amazing job!

[@CatalystClimbing]

Keep smashing it!

[@nessagardner2253]

Sending my support! I have a chronic illness as well, luckily it's not impacting me much at this point. I'm also beginning to climb and love the challenge it presents, mentally and physically. Best of luck to you in your climbing and health journeys!

[@annelieselittle9020]

As someone who’s only been climbing for 8 months, your advice has been so helpful Louis! I started out not even willing to try the bouldering wall, and now I’m projecting v3-v4s and having a lot of fun with it! Thanks for all the awesome videos!

[@CatalystClimbing]

Ah!! This makes me so psyched. Keep crushing 🤙

[@sockmower8392]

OMG you finally came to my home wall. Sad I missed you but glad you've been none the less.

[@JohnPretty1]

Brilliant as usual, Louis. Actually learning how to manage stress and fear are important life skills in general and not only for climbing. If climbing can aid in that then we should all do more of it.

[@maryjo6216]

I can't imagine what you were feeling when your heartrate hit the 190s! I don't think I've ever gotten mine that high, tbh! I have an original coros apex, back from when both me and the watch were running but not climbing. Mine doesn't have the climbing features :( I've been eyeing the armstrap b/c the wrist based heart rate monitor isn't great and now you have me wanting an entirely new watch... That was very fun to watch. Thanks for the fantastic content!

[@murrayty]

It was neat to see how your heart rate spiked during stressful/pumped situations (when you were questioning if you would make it). Although staying calm and avoiding those situations is best that cannot always be done. The hit of adrenaline they provide can sometimes help you push through those situations and one of the tricks is being able to harness that energy and then knowing how to shut it off when it is no longer needed.

[@rosiegeller-stevens8928]

Love love love this video Louis!! Looking forward to you going back and smashing that green 💪

[@user-ki1qq9ht7i]

I went here about 2 weeks ago and found that blue realy hard near the middle and so only managed the green and purple route. Amazing to see how easy you made it look :)

[@davidpickles8866]

my local gym! great climbing louis. a pleasure to watch as always

[@danrkelly]

Fun vid and worthwhile having a bit of a focus on managing fear and stress too.

[@nilsp9426]

Crazy how psyched out even Louis was in the fall training. Heart rate at 150-170 before the fall on a route that he climbed afterwards never exceeding 130. Fear is real! I wonder what Alex Honnold would have had as a heart rate. 50? 60? The guy tends to look as if he was meditating up the wall.

[@demystake]

the colab I didn't know I needed

[@colemantrebor6574]

@@demystake If you search up Louis Parkinson Alex Honnold there is a video of them climbing together

[@stopa7284]

I can guarantee that Alex is always below 120bpm. You can easily judge the heart rate by respiratory rate. The sensor used in the video has 4-6 seconds delay. You start breathing faster at 100bpm. Above 120bpm it starts to be difficult to use nose for inhales. Above 140bpm you can hear from distance somebody's breathing noise and assume the level of effort

[@937olter]

Ive been climbing for two yrs on and off and had a sprained ankle injury from a v6 that was a bit over my limit. Ive been doing it for a year since the injury and stuck in v4/5s trying to push to v6s again. Watching made me anxious definitely but also excited that ill be me someday climbing at that lvl. Ur tips for breathing are definitely going to help and i look forward to seeing more vids from ya. Just subbed now ❤

[@CatalystClimbing]

Let’s go 💪🏼 thanks for the sub - helps more than you know!

[@Paul-vi3ih]

I thoroughly enjoyed the video. It was a bit disappointing not to see you attempt the green route. It would have been interesting to watch, even if you encountered challenges and didn't succeed right away.

[@CatalystClimbing]

Unfortunately we were on quite a tight schedule (we had a train to catch back to London!) nice to have something to return for though.

[@amberblackford9999]

I would love to see you go back and give it a go Louis!

[@andihofacker]

Great to watch!

[@Matthias31415]

Having the Heart Rate Monitor ist actually so interesting, because we can tell how hard you are trying on each move 👍

[@Finnspin_unicycles]

Heartrate is too slow to respond for that, but you can probably track how much exhaustion builds up.

[@mattgriffith5216]

Always makie it look effortless Louie 👍💪

[@SMS-ek9xd]

Love this!

[@sponsjeee]

Woah, got sweaty hands just watching, awsome video!

[@skippymctwist7]

Loved the video, Louis! :)

[@junedog7000]

I've been there and done this and I can't explain it. You know you're completely safe (well so long as you land properly) but when you're tired near the top, it is really quite unnerving!

[@g.w.customcreations3534]

Capt. Cut loose free solo a 25ft overhang? HELL YEAH! Get it Louis. 💪🏻

[@rqceive618]

I was so into this video I said “You Got It!” Out loud in my car on that red route. Truly spectacular.

[@Costi1100]

This my home gym, love it hear. Only done the phycobloc with the easiest route but It 100% get's scary near the top when you are tired ahah

[@patrickmuller3248]

That was a really cool one!

[@lucyschmidt2241]

Amazing!!

[@slytherinbrian]

I panic on V1 slabs with my feet two feet off the ground. Louis, you're really impressive.

[@juha-mattikoponen1625]

You beast! I was getting anxious just watching this. I get nervous doing difficult moves (for me) on walls half this tall. It's not the height for me, it's the fear of falling uncotrollably and hurting myself landing badly. Enough broken bones in my life to not want any more.

[@riesenwildschaf]

impressive to see the heart rate can get up this much while climbing :)

[@sknot08]

Good stuff brotha

[@saulsug1066]

it was fun watching this video being filmed from a distance whilst i bouldered and did some fingerboarding nearby lmao, nice meeting you Louis! Still shook that you came to my home gym

[@HariGardner]

The Saul ft was my favourite part of the vid 🔥

[@donnahuang5567]

The Coros display was really cool! I would've liked to see the measurements as you rested as well.

[@Claudia18915]

I think my fear levels would be so much higher if I knew they were being monitored 😂 Btw think Ink should wear the go pro next! How is he doing? How long can he hang off the 10mm now?

[@CatalystClimbing]

He’s too busy on a global adventure flashing 9as at the moment… he’ll be back soon!

[@bastyo]

I got sweaty hands watching that black 7B top out lmao scary stuff

[@kim98677]

If you climb you already know how crazy strong Luis is, his climbing is effortless at times. But the way he rocketed up that campus would convince anyone, that was crazy

[@uncleiroh5672]

I started bouldering this time last year, and it shocked me how many people were scared of heights. The number of people landing with straight legs too 😮

[@colemantrebor6574]

So many people either climbing down all the way scared of any little fall, or the ones jumping from the top and landing with completely straight legs (Magnus)

[@kevinsilman7525]

​@@colemantrebor6574double the work out down clinbing....

[@benbobben]

That campus was insane!

[@kevedwards]

Great Wall that is, last time I went the setting was great and the bouldering used to be quite old school, not sure what it’s like nowadays though.

[@neaituppi7306]

It is interesting, I can watch several different channels doing the same thing, but some are more interesting to watch, by the personality of the host.

[@75and90]

Nice to see Newt Scamander climbing!

[@raymondfoo9045]

Wow, first climbing athlete from Coros is Tommy Caldwell. It is getting more now? I saw Stefano wears Coros in a video too. I had Coros Apex Pro but sold it after I stopped running, it is a really good watch.

[@Jagknorr]

Good god man 😬 id be terrified! Haha. I like how your heart rate SPIKES at the topout…thats always me too 😅

[@machshau87]

My hands are sweaty just watching this 😂

[@tyronelaces8690]

Woohooo more videos!

[@haushunny5058]

This video was 🎉🎉🎉

[@samuelellis3019]

I was not as scared of this in person lmao, watching you do it is somehow so much scarier than when my friends asked me to come on it with them.

[@kavali6320]

Never thought of Louis as a guinea pig before 😉. Conclusion: That heart rate monitor showed Louis is human after all. A pretty damn fit one ;) As always, learned a few things, too.

[@AA-nx8zy]

If you're trying to become more mindful and intentional about your breathing during climbing - Don't be surpised that it can have the opposite effect when you first start doing it. This has to do with the tolerance your body has for co2 (simply put, how well can perform the same thing with "less" breathing more or less. Keep doing it and try to stay disciplined with it for around 6-8 weeks and focus on nasal breathing during this period. In the average human it takes about that time to adapt to higher levels of co2 in the blood. Once adapted you've essentially unlocked a near gear and are able to climb a similar project with less breathing/effort. This also enhances your recovery on a day to day basis as well as during climbs because of improved blood circulation, oxygen transport and oxygen uptake. You'll move more efficiently through space. Love that youre mentioning it frequently Lewis, if you want to go into a rabbit hole look up my teacher mr Patrick McKeown from the Oxygen Advantage. Awesome video!

[@YazzyPazzyJazzy]

omg the black 7b almost gave me a heart attack, ive never felt scared watching someone climb before until that holy shit

[@simonight_art]

first looks sick!

[@PureCreativeDesigns]

So sick to see you at my local gym!

[@saturated3821]

This makes me wish I'd worn HRM when I started climbing. It's only been a few weeks, but already in that time I feel a lot more chill. When I started, anything above one meter from the ground I was squeezing wayyyy too hard on the holds, getting pumped and tiring myself out real fast, getting out of breath faster than expected, because I was so nervous 😅 At least the progress in that regard has been quite fast. Nice to see real advanced climbers can still get really stressed as well (and master it, too).

[@thenayancat8802]

Dunno if I could justify a watch for mountain sports but I've used a coros running watch for years, great kit, and Coros unlike Garmin doesn't make semi-nasty stuff like shock collars for dogs

[@GoobuGoobu]

I was all excited to see Louie try the 8A+ and then he just... didn't? Am I missing something? Good video though!

[@SirCharcoal]

Yeah I guess he changed his mind and they didn't film that bit. Also noticed the red and green didn't have top out jugs, but he used them on the red anyway. I bet he was knackered after going up so many times!

[@CatalystClimbing]

We were on a bit of a tight schedule with a train back to London! Nice to have something to come back for though 🤙

[@HariGardner]

if you're interested in how the 8a+ is climbed I have a vid on my channel

[@GoobuGoobu]

@@CatalystClimbing Makes sense! Can’t wait to see it!

[@GoobuGoobu]

@@HariGardner I didn’t realize you meant it was that EXACT 8a+ lol. It looked good and efficient. Well done!

[@Saxpro101]

Great video! I thought you were going to hit the green problem??

[@MrRadicalsheep]

After watching your heart rate in the video do you supplement your climbing with any cardio training IE. running, swimming etc.. I startedd climbing to suppliment my running for STR training. Then naturally feel in love with climbing =)

[@arrowblast6]

The gopro angle on the head was too good😂😂

[@snorly1584]

I could totally do this. (I've never climbed before)

[@kaiyuli8971]

my hands got really sweaty just by watching him finishing that black one

[@TheJamessilbers]

💪

[@mongolen]

I even got sweaty feet watching this, which didn't even happen while watching Free Solo.

[@JoshuaKemmerling]

Mad, I go climbing there pretty regularly. Also how can the boardroom be in Chester when it is in Wales? 🤔

[@Mikeyboofboof]

Because if he said it was in Queensferry, there’s be loads of confused climbers turning up at the southern end of the Forth Rail Bridge looking for a tall Climbing wall!🙂

[@CatalystClimbing]

We meant no harm 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 have adjusted the description!

[@nomaddevelopers]

Sick vid of an indoor “highball”…

[@kaylabelle5427]

Dude, Louis - the irregular breathing was giving ME anxiety 😂

[@vj420]

Louis campused that faster than i could normally climb it.

[@jonnes__4657]

🗽 More than 190 in heart rate.... WOW, my max in rope climbing is about 150 -- I'm always monitoring it during a session! .

[@shinraninja]

wonder waht dropping the top would be like though as surely you can sometimes land incredibly awkward?

[@rodrigobertoa5916]

Allmost flashed a 7c+ ... what kind of beast is this man?

[@MichaelJervis]

Does Louis do much cardio work or just strength and climbing? Interesting to see his HR on all the areas, but trying to get an idea how much of the increase is panic and how much is exertion. Might have to use my HRM climbing a bit, primarily a cyclist, interesting to see how my cardio performs on the climbs.

[@tomlloyd2603]

I didn't realise free walls like this existed in the UK! I thought the highest limit was 4.5m

[@phkit420]

I went there to try this after watching the Hannah morris video I literally rolled out of the top

[@frankiedoodle8320]

Can't believe I missed you at the boardroom 😭😭

[@CatalystClimbing]

We’ll be back!!

[@seanmorgan9506]

This might be a stupid question but are the grades in the Font grading system or the UK tech system?

[@Claudia18915]

There's defo a correlation between heart rate and the amount of times to get chalk

[@ReaperUnreal]

How did you get it to show my heart rate while watching this? My hands are so incredibly sweaty now.

[@eadelindizon9514]

when he said 'im going to rest for a while' after the black, i'm curious to know how long 'a while' is for louis to let the pump wear off before attempting a 7C+ 😅 (as compared to us mere humans)

[@YukiIjuin]

For some reason my intrusive thought for the psicobloc was "What if they had a slide that came down instead of stairs".

[@tristanvega6971]

Just casually campusing a v6 in typical Louis Fashion

[@leevi_n]

9:20 might've also felt more complicated, because you were so panicked

[@SpartaSpartan117]

When will we see ink free solo?

[@nocturne9257]

Bit off topic but what climbing trousers does Louis wear?

[@martinbak5548]

I am so sorry, but head cam footage looks so hilarious :D

[@DaChimpster]

My hands started sweating before I even clicked on the video

[@ehtikhet]

Jesus, fuck that! 😳 My heart rate is spiking just watching.

[@hooshbackz2626]

I think you should have done the regular breathing climb first and then the irregular breathing second given you showed your heart rate dropped earlier in the video when you were more familiar with something.

[@alexandercarlsen2038]

the 7a loked super juggy. was it strictly 7a due to the length?

[@BAAAASJE]

Woah I would not have the balls to try that

[@gregthehutt8053]

I go there

[@kunhee19]

Does anyone know what shoes Louis is wearing in this video?

[@mikehayden7691]

"Better be a good angle!" lol

[@dobbyasp]

Loved the video, but it breaks my Welsh heart to hear you say the Boardroom is in Chester

[@CatalystClimbing]

We meant no harm 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 - have adjusted in the description

[@leedarkin-miller7685]

Oh, for a Portal gun 4:04

[@johnnymuller7454]

16:50 do you also like trains by any chance?

[@sinopulence]

I think HRM displays will become normal for climbing youtubers, it definitely adds something to the video.

[@joaopedromoura2309]

sweaty hands.

[@fpswreck538]

tbh the rentals would have made that campus at least 2 grades harder XD

[@junyuzhang414]

I’m scared to just whiplash my neck on those falls !!!

[@saulsug1066]

been there done that