I saw a great video on How To Rock Climb that outlines some basic rock climbing techniques and body awareness tips to help the new climber..
The learnings I took from this video are..
Do not over grip, hold on gently.
Why?.. Fatigue in the forearms, or “over-pumped” forearms, are a limiting factor that prevents new climbers achieving what they are capable of for their current skill level.
Over-pumped forearms impede grip strength, that directly affects hand-hold effectiveness.
Focus on keeping weight on legs.
Where’s the benefit?.. From a physical aspect, the legs are stronger and have a greater fatigue capacity than the arms.
The metal positive here is that, keeping the weight on the legs provide a general sense of balance and centred-ness. It provides a level of reassurance and confidence to the climber when foot-holds are well formed.
Focus pushing up with legs rather than pulling with arms.
This follows on from the previous point.. There is a simple body mechanics adage for climbing which says “climb with the legs, balance with the arms”.
Keeping arms generally straight.
How does that help?.. A few reasons here, the climber can reach higher, its easier on your arms, that is.. its harder to hold on with bent arms, and less stress and fatigue on upper arm muscles
Keep three points of contact on whenever possible.
Makes sense.. Moving one contact point at a time allows the climber to only concentrate on one variable at a time
arms”.. A simple process like, move one leg up the wall, push up with the legs, and then move one arm up the wall, is a good guide
Thanks to LifeStyleWebTV for posting a well presented video. Check it out…
