It being winter here in the northern hemisphere, my social media feed is full of news and images of the white stuff – people climbing it, hiking across it, skiing down it (me, jealous much?!). I came across one such article (link at the end)...
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😱 I don’t have any upper body strength The myth ‘I need to have strong arms’ often stops people getting started, so today’s article is all about why you don’t need strong arms when you’re starting out. In fact, you don’t need to be fit or skinny...
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Do you enjoy climbing but want to develop further skills and strength but don’t really know where to start? Gimme Kraft by Patrick Matros, Ludwig “Dicki” Korb and Hannes Huch is a comprehensive guide to getting fitter and stronger for all types of climbing.
“How do I get stronger?… train most efficiently?…what exercises make the most sense?” are questions set out in the introduction. These questions are readily answered in a compact, enjoyable and motivating training manual.
Do you find yourself sending boulder problems but having to take rests on longer routes? Do you have to shake out a lot on longer routes and find yourself shouting “take!” a little too often? If so then you might want to train your endurance.
Ever backed off a climb and berated yourself afterwards? Ever cursed and thrown a wobbly after falling off your project? Ever wondered why you can’t seem to get past that grade? ….
If you read part 1 last month you will have a good understanding that, while I’m pretty outdoorsy and active, I was completely unaware of the point of bouldering and how it fits with my ambitions of climbing mountains. I set myself the challenge to give it a go – here’s how I got on. If you want to find out the challenge I set, and why, you can read my previous blog post Why Should I go Bouldering. I have no illusions about doing anything as advanced as this:
The amazing Esme Hart bouldering at the 2016 Paraclimbing Championships at Manchester Climbing Centre.
People do keep saying that bouldering will help me with my climbing, so I wanted to find out what all the fuss is about.
FrictionLabs is a US based climbing chalk company currently boasting to have manufactured the highest purity of magnesium carbonate chalk on the market. “Why is this so great?!”I hear you ask. Well, chalk is a combination of magnesium carbonate and calcium carbonate. The former traps moisture, leaving surfaces dry and the latter attaches water to the outside of the molecule, leaving surfaces moist. It is claimed by the team at FrictionLabs that this makes their chalk last longer, safer to inhale and is less likely to dry out the skin.
Very soon the UK is getting Friction Labs’ new chalk products. We’ve got our hands on some to test out and give you the lowdown. Our tester, Beth gives her fully tested review of the chalk ball, followed here by her review of the full fantastical selection of loose chalk. It’s true, there are many types of chalk. We never knew, but we do now and so can you:
Comfort and feel. They are a comfort/performance hybrid so edging is really precise but could also wear on long multi-pitch routes. The blue and green show looks great too!
Them change the women’s fit from pink to something else! Better durability in the toe
| Criteria | Grade |
| Value for Money | 4 |
| Design | 4 |
| Comfort & Fit | 5 |
| Durability | 3 |
| Functionality | 4 |
| Total out of 25 | 20 |
If you’ve never been to WCS this is the year! Put 17th October 2015 in your diary and book your WCS tickets now, before they all sell out. This year sees an absolutely stellar line-up at the Women’s Climbing Symposium, which takes place at the Climbing Works in Sheffield on Saturday 17th October. We have no vested interest in promoting the event, other than it looks like the best collection of female climbers, together, in the same place, in the world, EVER! And they will be coaching, inspiring, entertaining and supporting you to climb more, to climb better and to dream higher. You can get your tickets on the Women’s Climbing Symposium website. If you’re still not convinced check out the line up:
By Emily Pitts // Route reading is like solving a puzzle. It involves time, skills and attention. These are some exercises you can use and practical things you can do to help you get better at finding solutions to your climbing puzzles, focusing mainly on indoor top rope climbing, as a mechanism for improving and moving on to lead climbing indoors and climbing outdoors. There’s hopefully something in here for beginners, but also people who are more experienced climbers.
Leah Crane and Shauna Coxsey, both from Team GB bouldering team, took this workshop during the 2013 Women’s Climbing Symposium at The Arch climbing wall in London. We were split into 2 groups and I was in Leah’s. I had watched Leah at many a competition event and always marvelled at her flying-squirrel like tactics so was eager to learn her secrets.
Towards the end of last year and into this year I was working quite hard at improving my climbing – technique, skills and knowledge. I picked people’s brains and worked on areas I thought would help. I started to improve, and what I mean by...
Read MoreIf you're not sure what exercises to do to improve your core muscles, here are a few suggestions, with demos I've found on the internet: Sit Ups http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fbU_MkV7NE Crunches http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xyd_fa5zoEU Reverse Crunch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyv14e2QDq0 Left and Right crunches http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwVXJKqWGpg The Plank http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz0oFaVGuh4 Russian Twist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeAtimSCxsY V-Sits http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_1KGrBx2T4 I've been doing a mix of these,...
Read MoreThis is the first in the 'Footwork' series - aimed to demystify the terminology, help you think about your footwork and ultimately help make you a better climber. So what do people mean by footwork? When people talk about footwork they mean things like: How you place your...
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I have just lead my first 7a+. I still can’t quite believe it, but luckily I had a witness – the lovely Emma Timmis from Womenclimb, who led it after me. This post is a reflection of my own personal climbing journey and includes the things that were most helpful to me and made the most difference to my climbing. During this period I had 1-2-1 training with Libby Peter, from whom I got some of these tips. Finally, please note I refer to everything in terms of indoor climbing!
Last in the 'Shauna does' series - check out Shauna talking about how she conditions her body to make it work well: a.did.as/ZeqC0E We hope to have Shauna on here very soon talking to us and you about her training and tips for people who want...
Read MoreImpressive dynamic moves in slow motion from the inimitable Shauna Coxsey: a.did.as/ZeqHRZ We love her and we want to dyno like that. Dyno practice here we come...
Read MoreShauna does footwork well! Her short film gives a flavour of what to do with your feet and why! a.did.as/ZeqRcd Next...
Read MoreLately I’ve seen a lot of people asking ‘What other exercise can I do to improve my climbing’. Here are some ideas of complementary forms of exercise for climbing to get you thinking: Pole Dancing Believe it or not, pole dancing for exercise requires great core strength,...
Read MoreFollowing on from the last blog post here are some practical things you can do right now to improve your skills for bouldering:
1) Watch