Rock Climbing - Beginner's Guide for Quick Improvement?
I've recently become quite interested in climbing, and I have been frequenting a local gym. As I become more serious, I'm curious how to most quickly improve.
For example,
- Should I focus on improving strength or technique?
- What is the best way to go about such improvement?
- Are there any essential books or reference sites?
Any advice is appreciated.
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Okay, this is a BIG question. One short post on the internet will not give you everything you need. To that end, I suggest reading some climbing training guides. I have read a few, and find this one to be the best.
That being said, in my experience, the important points to hit are these:
- Technique. Climb whatever style of climbing is hardest for you. Are overhung sections hard? Look on YouTube, get your footwork right. Practice the technique until overhung is as easy as slab. Study. Practice. Review. Repeat.
- Finger Strength. Train your fingers. Finger boards hurt, and are dangerous, but are also the fastest way to see quick gains in your climbing. Be careful!
- Core strength. Planks, Side Planks, Levers. These are important. Sit-ups and Crunches are useless.
- General fitness. Get flexible. Work on your upper body strength. Drop your excess body fat.
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You should always focus on improving the technique instead of strength - you will gain strength automatically while you are climbing. To climb better just climb.
The same goes with overhangs, the more you climb the better you'll get. Of course its inevitable to think of gyms as a source of strength training but bouldering should suffice to help you get stronger.
Running will allow you to gain more stamina, but long routes can do the job too :)
Start with the easiest grades and move to harder grades, when you find that you are feeling a specific grade easy. I can suggest a good blog which is written by a good old climber named Stevie Heston. Learn from more experienced climbers to gain good footwork as it is far more important than strength.
When you start to lead, you will enjoy climbing at a new level.
This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/4964. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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