This article is crowdsourced! The tips below are sent in by our awesome Instagram bouldering community. From boulderers to boulderers. It’s been a pleasure to read everyone’s tips & tricks and to hand this information to you.
Have fun reading and trying these tips!
1. Use your legs - don’t pull
Legs are stronger than arms, because their muscles are way bigger. Therefore, using your legs will help you save energy so your arms can climb longer. Sounds logical, right? In reality this might be harder than it seems, because this requires technique and being aware of your movement. Things that are easily forgotten when you are just grabbing holds hoping to finish your boulder. My advice is to start practicing climbing with long arms. With that, I mean you keep your shoulders active, but you don’t pull yourself up on the holds but push yourself up using your legs. Good luck! Bonus tip: Find a slab and try to make a few steps sideways (or up, even) without using any handholds. This will help you develop a good sense of balance and foot placement.
2. Footwork
If you already looked around on the internet, you probably know: footwork is queen. Your feet are your base, the foundation of any position unless you’re doing a handstand. If you want to get good or better at climbing, start by improving your footwork! You can get crazy strong by doing weightlifting or crossfit...but that won’t help you stand and balance on those little footholds. Focus on getting comfortable balancing on little holds while being close to the wall and get those feet strong (if your toes are sore after a footwork session, you’re doing it right!).
Bonus tip: focus on solely using the tip of your shoes - the part of your big toe. This way your feet take up less space on the hold- so you can “match” your other foot on the same foothold. It also makes turning easier so you can change position with less effort.
3. Have fun & play
Some things don’t change when we get older. Our brains still learn new things faster while having fun. Of course it pays off to focus on specific techniques and putting in some serious training, but you will learn (and get results) faster when you are having fun. Try playing some boulder games with your friends or by yourself. Or make up your own games and challenges. I bet you will invent a lot of new moves, try new things and discover your strengths faster when approaching your new passion with childish curiosity and playfulness.
Bonus tip: For my favourite bouldering games, click the button below. You're welcome :)
4. Shoes
I’ve seen people climb 7b on torn Decathlon shoes. I’ve also seen beginners on expensive aggressive toe-down shoes struggling to send a 5a. My point is: skills over shoes. BUT it can be a big help to your performance if you have shoes that fit very snug, provide good friction and are still comfortable enough to still enjoy your climbing. If you can excell on rental shoes- good for you! I, myself am terrified as to even LOOK at an element wearing rentals. But I also have clients that walk up a slab with the cheapest climbing shoes on the planet. Bottomline: it’s personal and everybody’s feet are different.
Bonus tip: find shoes that fit very snug around your toes, middle foot and heels (so they don’t ‘fart’ when you walk). I advise you to buy your shoes at a climbing gym. They don’t make any money with selling you shoes as it’s a service product, but they usually have specific knowledge and experience regarding climbing shoes - use that knowledge and benefit!
Extra Bonus tip: the better your footwork, the longer your shoes will last. You can imagine what scraping the wall will do to rubber over time. So invest in proper footwork training!
5. Take it easy - take a break
You (re-)discovered bouldering and you are SO HYPED. Get the most out of your sessions by making a habit out of taking breaks and dosing your energy. Your enthusiasm may have you climbing all the boulders in the first half hour of your training. And now your arms are falling off. Nothing wrong with that but you might have more fun and a longer session AND more progress if you dose your output. Take a few minutes after every climb to read some harder problems, talk to your friends and shake your arms around. You’ll fatigue less quickly. So you end up climbing more boulders and saving energy for working on the harder ones.
(summary: more rest = more fun)
Bonus tip: rest days. They exist. If you let them. Rest days are crucial for progress and injury prevention. It’s on rest days when muscles and tendons repair themselves and get stronger for your next session.
6. F*** Hangboard Training
You want to learn how to boulder, right? My advice is easy: climb. Climb frequently. Take restdays. Take technique classes. Climb. No matter what your friends say.
When you start bouldering, your fingers will get stronger by doing just that. Your tendons need time to get stronger which is a slow but steady process. Your fingers need rest in between sessions to get ready for the next visit to the bouldergym. If you would add hangboarding to your training, chances are you are just putting extra stress on your fingers instead of getting better results. Besides, you will become a good climber faster if you focus on your movement, muscle memory, footwork and fun. promise!
Bonus tip: want to work your fingers? Focus on a good warming up for your fingers. For thát you CAN use a hangboard. Here's one of my favourite rolemodels, pro-climber Shauna Coxsey to share her warm-up routine.
7. Practice Falling
Some people don't seem to experience any fear or discomfort with height. But most of us have to get used to it. Luckily you can train yourself to reduce your fear of heights as well as practice falling. Fear of heights and fear of falling can both be distracting or even hold you back towards making progress in climbing. Imagine just being able to focus on technique and executing movements without being distrated by fear while knowing that if you fall- you will be fine. Start by getting used to climbing to the top of the wall and climbing all the way back. Do this in as many steps needed. I mean, it's good to challenge your comfortzone but there's no need to get into panick mode. After that, practice jumping down from lower heights while making sure to bend your knees en roll on your back when landing.
This young man breaks down the mental parts of fear of falling and makes it practical for you to train this youself. Thanks, random internet dude!
There are many more amazingly helpful tips out there for anyone beginning their bouldering journey or anyone who is ready to up their game. Google is your friend. And so am I. So send me a DM if you want more information on where to find further readings on tips for beginners.
As always: have fun, be safe, and be kind to yourself and others in our community.
Keep climbing!
Marije
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