Something I think I could have articulated better in the video is that since I haven't hangboarded/done campus board myself, I can't speak to how much it'll help you as a beginner. Instead, what I wanted to say is that I think in the beginning there are other things you can train that will help you a lot more than improving finger strength. It'll make your fingers stronger if you do it correctly, but if you don't have the correct technique, strengthening your fingers will only have a marginal benefit :-) DON'T COME FOR ME PLEASE THIS IS JUST BASED OFF MY EXPERIENCE/NON-EXPERIENCE/CONVERSATIONS WITH FRIENDS
anyone who has just started climbing should not be doing hangboards or campusing due to the fact it takes a yr or 2 for your tendons to strengthen. If you do it to soon u will get injured very quickly
I completely agree. The risk vs. benefit of campus/hang- boarding is not worth it till you've climbed for ~2 years. Even if you're able to do it earlier, you'll get better results from just getting a lot of mileage on the wall.
"I think in the beginning there are other things you can train that will help you a lot more than improving finger strength." Beginners (people with under a year of climbing) should not hangboard or campusboard because you will get enough training stimulus from just climbing itself. The trouble is that it's too easy to go overboard and the nature of tendon injuries is usually sudden and unexpected. I suggest that beginners just climb problems to fatigue and keep that pace for a few months until you have a good idea of how intense your sessions need to be in order to get stronger. Remember that slopers, crimps, and pinches all use different muscles in the forearm so go after your weaknesses in grip type. For slopers(usually a beginner weakness), really try to position your body "hanging under" your grip to help you stay on. Instead of trying to palm it like a basketball, think about dropping your elbow so that the forearm is vertical, and "pull from the elbow". Don't let your elbows up in a chicken wing, that changes the wrist angle and which muscles in the shoulder that can keep enough force downwards through the hands. and similarly you can work weaknesses in climbing style, vert, slab, overhang, stem, crack, or specific movements, dyno, lockoff, flagging, backstep, drop knee, high foot, gaston, sidepull... even at v7 range I can easily find many weaknesses to go after
This would be my problem if I actually had somewhere to go to. Instead I have a real rock wall to go to alone. Pretty freaking stupid but it's bliss in comparison.
Had my first climbing session today. Age 64. LOL. After two knee replacements, and arthroscopy for patellar clunk syndrome, and lots of PT and Pilates, I’m finally on the wall. Very helpful information. Thank you.
My 2 cents, having started in February '19, would be: - Focus on keeping your arms straight as much as possible. - Watch your foot placement before averting your eyes. Don't quickly glance then scrape your feet. Be calm & accurate. - When reaching for a hold, you want your weight and centre of gravity on the same sided leg as the hand going up, so you can push up from it. Imagine doing a pistol squat! Really efficient. - You don't need to hangboard or campus, not as a beginner. Just focus on your technique and climbing as much and as often as possible. 2-3 times a week for a good 1-2 hours if you can. - As Jenn said, don't make the common mistake of powering through problems because of your base athletic ability. Sure maybe for a first send, but try redoing the route multiple times but with cleaner and more efficient technique. - Definitely watch where you walk/sit in the gym, I've had it happen too with people being under me half way through a climb! It's the climbers responsibility to make sure it's safe to be on the route when they begin, but then it's others responsibility to make sure they are out of the way once that person has started climbing. - Don't be afraid to befriend stronger climbers. It's free coaching at the end of the day and makes the sessions more enjoyable. Try doing stuff they are doing, even if it means only being able to do one or two of the moves! Discuss what they are doing and why they are doing it, with regards to the route, so you try to approach your own climbs with the same mindset.
Reasons beginners shouldn't hangboard or campus: - High risk of injury. - Baseline finger and contact strength aren't at a high enough level for training to be more efficient than just climbing. - Unlikely to use correct form resulting in lack of progress (campusing by swinging side to side, or using friction from compressing on the hangboard instead of actually hanging) - Forms the bad habit of powering through moves and ignoring other aspects of technique. - They take some of the fun out of climbing, which is the whole point. Many top-level professional climbers and coaches are firm believers that climbing alone is enough to reach an elite level (Chris Sharma apparently almost exclusively climbs). Ollie Torr and Tom Randall at Lattice Training have explained that training is useful for people who are crunched for time and need to use the smallest amount of time to make the largest amount of progress in specialized aspects of climbing.
In my opinion, the best things a new climber can do is focus on technique, joint mobility, flexibility, warming up, and pre-hab. Can't make progress if you can't reach holds, or if you hurt yourself getting there. If you don't have time to warm up, you don't have time to climb is something I have been told countless times. Thanks for the great content!
I agree. Campus boarding when starting out is essentially high risk, non-optimal training. You would improve faster by just climbing more problems, and with a significantly lower risk of injury.
woooah thank you so much for expanding upon that point and including real examples! i've always heard that they're good ways to train ~power~ but chris sharma is a really powerful/dynamic climber (...right?) so it might not be necessary for everyone :~)
@@JenniferLangen I would argue the culture of "training hard" comes from a sort of overly macho mentality and a need to quantify progress. I would guess that overtraining is a far greater problem than undertraining. Just anecdotally, more of my friends have lost progress to preventable injury than to lack of training. Thanks again for the content!
Hangboarding is actually safer than climbing, because you can load the fingers in a more controlled manner. That being said it doesn't train technique and beginner gets enough of a finger workout just climbing.
Agreed on the comfort zone point!! It makes climbing so much more fun when you take away the pressure of always having to send or solve a full problem. Getting into that mindset of just playing on the wall and attempting routes that look fun has helped me get out of my head and improve a lot.
ooo yes! so glad you've already been playing around with different routes! the climbers i know who aren't afraid to attempt harder problems (even if they look silly) are my favorite climbers
Great video! I'd like to add a beginner/intermediate climbing tip that I see many people do wrong. If you want to get the most out of your climbing session, you want to spend *at least* as much time resting between each climb/attempt as the time you're on the wall. It may not be as important for new climbers, but once you start climbing problems at your limit, you will burn yourself out very quickly if you don't rest enough. Patience is key! Use an app to help you track resting time or bring a friend to talk to and you'll find it easier to rest enough if you're struggling with that.
Great list of beginner tips! 🙂 I'd like to add that the gym's safety video regarding how to fall and land safely shouldn't be taken lightly at all. I mostly go to a bouldering gym and have seen some really bad falls which could have been prevented, either from bad falling technique or beginners being just a bit too adventurous on climbs such as dynos.
oh yeah, learning how to fall should actually be pretty high on the list. you can break an ankle just from a couple feet off the deck if you fall improperly!!
This was my fear at the start too! But I found that climbing people are often very friendly, and when they're watching, they are either curious that they may learn something from you, or they're cheering for you! :) It is also possible that they're just mentally trying to solve the problem too as you're climbing the wall :)
What? The climbing community is so supportive. If there’s someone on the wall and it happens that I’m just resting... I watch the person with great enthusiasm!! no matter what level the person is! And I start rooting, and all! I might clap if he/she gets it right. Or I might give the person a tip (in case it’s a climb I can do.) chill! Really! Nobody is judging!
Glad to see this has one of the highest “thumbs up” ratios I’ve seen on any video. You kept it simple and clean. I love that you didn’t get sucked into anything too advanced and kept it real for new climbers. One thing I think should be added to a beginner routine though is hand safety exercises. A simple progression of hand stretching has done wonders for my recovery and I’m much more confident with a frequent climbing schedule.
If you are climbing a route you get two tries MAX to get the first couple moves before you should step away from the wall to see if somebody else is looking to climb it. I've seen people try the first move for like 2 minutes while 5 other people are looking to climb the same route
ooh that's so true, i totally forgot about those people who just hang around the same climb and try the same move over and over. lol ESPECIALLY if they're just chalking it up more and more every time :~)
Regarding body positioning, a good way to climb overhung climbs (creds to my climbing coach) is to step through on the wall/hold with the foot that is closer to the handhold you're reaching for, then flag your other foot, and turn your hip into the wall to bring your body closer to the wall and to the hold. Turning your hip/body to the wall is really good at improving your ability to reach for holds since it actually decreases the distance your hand is from the hold you want to reach for. This works pretty well for most beginner overhung climbs, but as a general rule of thumb, being aware of foot-placing and making sure to toe-down on foot holds, and making sure that your body isn't just facing the wall straight on, but rather turning into the wall to bring you closer to holds (esp. if you don't have long limbs) is super duper important when starting out. As you start climbing more often you get to know how your body works (and how gravity works) and can kind of get a sense of what will make you fall, and eventually, you'll also learn how to circumvent that.
thanks so much for sharing tips straight from your climbing coach!! i've always wondered how to do step-throughs on overhung climbs, i usually just flag out really far. then again, i'm not that good at overhung climbs :-) but all your tips make total sense regarding body position, utilizing your stronger muscles, and conserving energy!
Jenn Sends No problem! He's a lot better than me at explaining and a lot of his little tips are super helpful :D Just turning my hip into the wall alone has helped me improve tremendously!
Awesome vid again Jenn, nice tips for beginners. I would like to add a tip when u are in a pair of climbing shoes your toes are a bit scrunched causing u to be able to put more force on the tips of your toes. this makes the tip of your toe the strongest part to step on when in a climbing shoe. Awesome job tho it was long awaited for but well worth the wait. Added a reply to your campus and hangboard tips your spot on, beginners should not be doing anything campus or hangboard.
No climbing shoes in bathroom: great tip! our gym had poop on a route because of exactly this so the staff had to reset a section to clean it off. gross, don't do it!
i am SO glad you mentioned people being unaware of their surroundings. i’m still very nee to climbing so it is terrifying when someone is in my fall zone, i’m still pretty scared of falling on the mats let alone on top of a person. the gym nearest me is Very popular with Very young children (6-7 yr olds??) and the number of times I have had to call down to a KID to move out from below me is SUPER yikes. i want to yell at all their parents and also the gym employees not monitoring the amount of parental supervision happening. a climbing gym is not a playground, no matter how brightly colored the plastic holds are 🙃
AHHH the climbing gym is simultaneously the best and the WORST place for children -- i say "best" because they all have a great time climbing, but sometimes at the expense of everyone around them. i've almost crushed kiddos who have wandered under me :~(
I'm not a beginner anymore but I still watch this just so I can check if I still make these mistakes or not 😂 btw you're so nice, you look like a perfect climbing partner 😁
Great video and awesome tips as always! On the surroundings topic: Personally, if someone on the wall falls on someone under them, I feel it's 100% the fault of person on the ground; the climber has no energy/time/responsibility to look out if a dumb-ass walks right in their fall zone. Also.... degloving... Nightmare inducing picture right there.
thanks so much!! and yeah, i usually try to avoid absolutes when i'm making a video, but the onus is truly on the person walking. i actually climbed after i released this video, and the same exact thing happened to me again where someone walked right under me on the roof. it's frustrating !! i should have talked to the person after but i'm bad at confronting people... so i make youtube videos instead...
@@JenniferLangen Reading back, my comment sounds aggressive as hell, sorry lol. As you say, it's just so frustrating when it happens and even more so when you actually see the person walking right into your fall zone so you take a break/stop your climb and then not send it because you're so tired from.... "wait hanging" I guess?
@@guillaumechampagne6659 i didn't think it was aggressive at all!! it's super frustrating. and yeah the wait hanging is the WORST but uhm... good endurance training at best?? and almost-falling object at worst
Agree on the whole 'training regimen' thing. Just have fun and climb. Why worry about trying to squeeze every bit of progress out of your time if youre not going pro. Just relax a little 😂
I am climbing for some weeks and my muscles are sore for like 4 days after. I did'nt do any sport for the last 8 years or so and even before that I only went swimming for one our 1 week...so yeah..but I notice so much strength growing just by climbing
learning to use my damn feet more has been the biggest contributor to my progress :) I found that climbing more overhung routes helps me focus on it more, because if I'm not toeing down, then my feet are going to cut really liked this video :) solid advice.
re 3:15 Another advantage of not adjusting your holds, is to learn to make the most of the hold you have, so you can make do when you have no better hold.
Awesome, I always share your videos with my girlfriend, she is just starting and we find your videos really informative and encouraging. Thanks a lot for the great content. Cheers from Colombia (the country 😅😅)
ahh yay so glad your girlfriend started climbing!! it's so fun to climb with a significant other :-) thank you so much for the kind words, and cheers from los angeles :-)
I just started bouldering and I love the community. I used to be a gymnast so learning to use my feet when climbing is super tricky. When I was doing bars I would only rely on my arms for support so it's crazy to try to use my legs.
I think that when you mentioned over gripping it is also important to take long brakes/ do not do 5 routes in 10 min but spread them evenly through an hour (not for warm-up but when you to routes of your capability). btw love your videos!
I've never been this early before ! but i just discovered your channel and i love your videos. i'm new to climbing+bouldering and you've inspired me a lot to keep at it :D
I'm not a beginner but more and more of my friends are getting into climbing (i'm dragging them xD ) and it's actually quite hard to advice them properly, so this was very useful, thanks ! xD
I think that when I started out, I assumed I’d have to get super strong to progress, but honestly it hasn’t helped one bit and I’ve just tried to power through every move. I think that doing pull-ups and working out in general can never hurt though.
ooh after i started climbing i could do so many more pull ups!! it's weird because i've read through a lot of "training for climbing" programs and they all already assume you can do 10 pull ups straight, and tell you to add a weight belt to get better. i don't think i can do even 10 unassisted pull ups...
This was a great video! The first tip was what helped me when i started climbing. i kept forgetting to look around for foot holds and had a hard time moving up! Now it's come more natural! Also working on particular moves is great advice! Eventually your body gets used to it and you can string together the moves and send a project! :D
Climb with people who are better climbers than you! And ask questions all the time! People in the climbing community (as I’ve come to experience) are more than willing to help in any way they can. I’m 21 and new to climbing and I’ve asked children for advice and I’ve been made a better climber for it
Fingerboards or Campusboards are definitely not a thing for beginners I would never recommend doing it prior to at least 1 year of regularly bouldering/climbing. When you start out the important thing is to get better in technique which you'll get automatically better at by just climbing so you can use your strength in the correct way. Being able to lift big weights or frequently going to a gym for training also isn't really an advantage for fingerboard usage. If you still want to start out with fingerboards/hangboards/campusboards just ask the staff in the gym for some advice and tips they usually are friendly and helpful. Now for the safety part I would like to add If you see any people about to climb in to each other or people walking beneath someones fall zone. Don't be afraid to call them out on it (of course not in a bad mannered way). It will help everyone to stay safe and incourage other to maybe do the same when they notice it. So thanks Jenn for the video just had some things that I wanted to add to it
of course!! these are all valid points, i feel like you understand what i meant to communicate with regards to training outside of climbing. thanks so much for clarifying and expanding upon all these points, i really appreciate it!
Also rest for a bit inbewteen climbs and take it easy if your a beginner, went climbing for the first time with some experienced friends and I was having a good time and went a little bit to hard and still sore 3 days later and may have hurt my elbows a bit
Yey glad I stumbled on your video. I’ve been bouldering for fun but was not really committed to it just did it with my cousins when i got the chance to, but i wanna get back at it and try to actually be better.
i always look forward to your vids, great advice as usual!! recently i hurt my wrist while climbing due to dangling on a hold while the rest of my body jumped off of the wall so my tip would be to downclimb whenever possible or if you do jump, fully commit and dont dangle on a hold!!
OH NO that's awful, i think i've had a couple of experiences with my wrist making this clicking noise and feeling super weird after. such an awful feeling, hope you're doing better!
Kind of late to the party, but what's the alternative to wearing climbing shoes to the bathroom? Going barefoot? 😖 Walking to my locker, putting on outdoor shoes, going to the bathroom, walking back to the locker, changing back into climbing shoes, and resuming climbing? 😀
lack of situational awareness on the mat's is my #1 pet peeve. It's like skiing, if you're behind then it's your job to not hit the person in front of you. I don't have eyes in the back of my head and you have the space to move safely around me.
ooh that's a really good analogy! especially since in both situations there are real stakes and potential for injury to both parties. ugh, it's annoying for sure
I don't know if it is a mistake persay, but I think something to do with the social aspect of climbing could have made it on this list. (especially after the great bouldering with anxiety video!) You're going to be around other people climbing, and figuring out the right kind of way to ask to try a climb/hop on their project/get some beta can be scary for newbies. I've been climbing for a few months, and have come to the conclusion that my reading of problems sucks: I virtually never flash anything at my skill ceiling. So recently I've been more open with others at my level about how they're doing on X problem, and those talks are in turn helping me visualise my own beta better. Hope you don't feel too pigeon holed into beginner tips for your youtube career! Been a big fan of the projecting stuff.
If I can't solve a problem, I rest near the route and wait for someone who uses it as warmup. After that, it is super easy to start a conversation and ask for advice. Often, they will stick around to see where you go wrong.
Another nice video :) I completely agree with you about holding off on hangboarding etc for a while. As you said, there are so many other things to learn that will help more when you start out. I climb around V5-V6 at the moment and other than sporadically doing some pull ups have never done any proper training. Also, just climbing is more fun anyway!
I remember the first time I forgot to take my rings off I got told that if my ring catches it will take the skin straight off my finger. I never wore rings to the gym again. Haha.
Have definitely gotten on a route on autobelay for an onsight or redpoint burn and have had someone jump on the route next to me that intersects and have just had to hang there, burning out my hands waiting for them to pass me up even though I got on first. Thankfully both times I sent, but it killed my endurance for that day
HAHA people who intersect your climbs are actually just endurance training. until you fall, then it's... just unfortunate for everybody. glad you were able to send regardless!
@@TheCorrectionist1984 i have a playlist at the end where adam ondra's video is the first one featured! he talks all about his climbing shoes and i thought it was really informative
@@JenniferLangen , oh I've seen that. Where he talks about using a plastic bag to get his feet in the first time? Any chance you'd date a public defender who can climb 5.11d? 😜
re 10:50 I don't use a climbing gym, but what about some kind of slipper over your shoes. I have rubber moccasins to keep my shoes clean & dry when I'm on the ground/belaying.
this is so embarrassing but I never understood no climbing shoes in the bathroom. I always took them off but was so confused, when duh. bathroom floors are gross 🤣🤢
My gym has signs stating "no climbing shoes in the bathroom" but I never understood it. I figured they meant their rentals because they are out of sight and easy to conceal. You just blew my mind with that last tip. Thanks! now i will stop getting dirty looks at the gym.
i am a beginner and i bend my knees a lot when i am going to reach for the next hand hold so it looks like i am going to do a big dyno jump but then i dont jump and just reach to the next hold. is this normal?
Its super common, but definitely something to work on. I thinks thats mostly just about building the confidence to stand up on your legs and trust your footing
Hi Jenn - How do you feel about guys not wearing shirts at the climbing gym? I'm new to climbing (3 months or so) and take my kids (11 &13) along as they love to climb too - But I find the whole shirtless thing a little unnecessary!
I really don't see the point of not wearing a shirt during climbing. I get that guys want to show how ripped they are, but a climbing gym is not really the place.
Another thing, don't move or touch other people's stuff. Its common sense but most people don't have it. I had a guy move my things to put his stuff in it. Esp. During covid. Wtf! Also my climbing gym has rules to not walk under someone who's climbing and some douchebag does on my first time. Gave me a bad impression of the climbing community. Luckily I've met some great people later on.
Only touched slabs for 2 years? I wish I could touch slabs at all 😂 my local bouldering gym is about 90% overhang and the slabs are all set with difficult routes. My first sessions were like 30 minutes long because my arm weren’t able to handle more overhang. I wish I had access to more slabs
Intermediate here: we can go to the bathroom with climbing shoes on or barefoot. Then climbing shoes on seems like the better option. Also I think the chalk on the mats will probably kill the germs
Regarding your bathroom point: Im not sure its really relevant. Nearly everything you touch is already dirty af especially those climbing holds lol. Yeah, your phone is covered in poop and pee and particles 🤷. It doesnt really make sense to worry about it when you dont notice it at all.
Yep. I made this point to my friends last night; your climbing center is super gross anyway, probably one of the dirtiest places you've ever been. It's entirely psychological, so people should just forget about it.
LOL i guess you have a point, i used to be on a swim team and i don't even want to think about what was in the pool. ALSO LOL i just remembered this article i read that said the air dryers in the bathroom basically blow all the airborne poop into your open hands. i think about that a lot now
@@thomasridler114 Y'ALL RLY DIDN'T HAVE TO expose the climbing gyms like that, i'm not ready to confront the unfortunate truth :~(( jk i rly appreciate this point bc i hadn't really thought of it like that (ignorance is bliss)
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Something I think I could have articulated better in the video is that since I haven't hangboarded/done campus board myself, I can't speak to how much it'll help you as a beginner. Instead, what I wanted to say is that I think in the beginning there are other things you can train that will help you a lot more than improving finger strength. It'll make your fingers stronger if you do it correctly, but if you don't have the correct technique, strengthening your fingers will only have a marginal benefit :-) DON'T COME FOR ME PLEASE THIS IS JUST BASED OFF MY EXPERIENCE/NON-EXPERIENCE/CONVERSATIONS WITH FRIENDS
anyone who has just started climbing should not be doing hangboards or campusing due to the fact it takes a yr or 2 for your tendons to strengthen. If you do it to soon u will get injured very quickly
you hit it right on the button !
I completely agree. The risk vs. benefit of campus/hang- boarding is not worth it till you've climbed for ~2 years. Even if you're able to do it earlier, you'll get better results from just getting a lot of mileage on the wall.
"I think in the beginning there are other things you can train that will help you a lot more than improving finger strength."
Beginners (people with under a year of climbing) should not hangboard or campusboard because you will get enough training stimulus from just climbing itself. The trouble is that it's too easy to go overboard and the nature of tendon injuries is usually sudden and unexpected. I suggest that beginners just climb problems to fatigue and keep that pace for a few months until you have a good idea of how intense your sessions need to be in order to get stronger.
Remember that slopers, crimps, and pinches all use different muscles in the forearm so go after your weaknesses in grip type. For slopers(usually a beginner weakness), really try to position your body "hanging under" your grip to help you stay on. Instead of trying to palm it like a basketball, think about dropping your elbow so that the forearm is vertical, and "pull from the elbow". Don't let your elbows up in a chicken wing, that changes the wrist angle and which muscles in the shoulder that can keep enough force downwards through the hands.
and similarly you can work weaknesses in climbing style, vert, slab, overhang, stem, crack,
or specific movements, dyno, lockoff, flagging, backstep, drop knee, high foot, gaston, sidepull...
even at v7 range I can easily find many weaknesses to go after
This would be my problem if I actually had somewhere to go to. Instead I have a real rock wall to go to alone. Pretty freaking stupid but it's bliss in comparison.
Had my first climbing session today. Age 64. LOL. After two knee replacements, and arthroscopy for patellar clunk syndrome, and lots of PT and Pilates, I’m finally on the wall. Very helpful information. Thank you.
are you top roping or bouldering?
I feel like you watched me climb somehow and used that as inspiration for this😂
lol YES i'm ALWAYS watching... no one is safe
My 2 cents, having started in February '19, would be:
- Focus on keeping your arms straight as much as possible.
- Watch your foot placement before averting your eyes. Don't quickly glance then scrape your feet. Be calm & accurate.
- When reaching for a hold, you want your weight and centre of gravity on the same sided leg as the hand going up, so you can push up from it. Imagine doing a pistol squat! Really efficient.
- You don't need to hangboard or campus, not as a beginner. Just focus on your technique and climbing as much and as often as possible. 2-3 times a week for a good 1-2 hours if you can.
- As Jenn said, don't make the common mistake of powering through problems because of your base athletic ability. Sure maybe for a first send, but try redoing the route multiple times but with cleaner and more efficient technique.
- Definitely watch where you walk/sit in the gym, I've had it happen too with people being under me half way through a climb! It's the climbers responsibility to make sure it's safe to be on the route when they begin, but then it's others responsibility to make sure they are out of the way once that person has started climbing.
- Don't be afraid to befriend stronger climbers. It's free coaching at the end of the day and makes the sessions more enjoyable. Try doing stuff they are doing, even if it means only being able to do one or two of the moves! Discuss what they are doing and why they are doing it, with regards to the route, so you try to approach your own climbs with the same mindset.
Hey, i started climbing in february too ,wondering what grade youre at after 9 month i did my first 7B today!
Reasons beginners shouldn't hangboard or campus:
- High risk of injury.
- Baseline finger and contact strength aren't at a high enough level for training to be more efficient than just climbing.
- Unlikely to use correct form resulting in lack of progress (campusing by swinging side to side, or using friction from compressing on the hangboard instead of actually hanging)
- Forms the bad habit of powering through moves and ignoring other aspects of technique.
- They take some of the fun out of climbing, which is the whole point.
Many top-level professional climbers and coaches are firm believers that climbing alone is enough to reach an elite level (Chris Sharma apparently almost exclusively climbs). Ollie Torr and Tom Randall at Lattice Training have explained that training is useful for people who are crunched for time and need to use the smallest amount of time to make the largest amount of progress in specialized aspects of climbing.
In my opinion, the best things a new climber can do is focus on technique, joint mobility, flexibility, warming up, and pre-hab. Can't make progress if you can't reach holds, or if you hurt yourself getting there. If you don't have time to warm up, you don't have time to climb is something I have been told countless times. Thanks for the great content!
I agree. Campus boarding when starting out is essentially high risk, non-optimal training. You would improve faster by just climbing more problems, and with a significantly lower risk of injury.
woooah thank you so much for expanding upon that point and including real examples! i've always heard that they're good ways to train ~power~ but chris sharma is a really powerful/dynamic climber (...right?) so it might not be necessary for everyone :~)
@@JenniferLangen I would argue the culture of "training hard" comes from a sort of overly macho mentality and a need to quantify progress. I would guess that overtraining is a far greater problem than undertraining. Just anecdotally, more of my friends have lost progress to preventable injury than to lack of training. Thanks again for the content!
Hangboarding is actually safer than climbing, because you can load the fingers in a more controlled manner. That being said it doesn't train technique and beginner gets enough of a finger workout just climbing.
you can wear climbing shoes going to toilet. depending on the width of the cabin, it's only a v3 not touching the floor with them
HAHAHAHA OMG yeah it took me a while to get the bat hang down but that's def the crux, the rest GOES from there
"Degloving"
*shivers*
My god she's wordy, yet informative
@@EGbean2 oof these videos are always like 20 minutes before i edit them down, you haven't even SEEN the extent of my wordiness and redundancy :-D
@@JenniferLangen lmao well I appreciate them going from 20 to 10! Next try 8
Agreed on the comfort zone point!! It makes climbing so much more fun when you take away the pressure of always having to send or solve a full problem. Getting into that mindset of just playing on the wall and attempting routes that look fun has helped me get out of my head and improve a lot.
ooo yes! so glad you've already been playing around with different routes! the climbers i know who aren't afraid to attempt harder problems (even if they look silly) are my favorite climbers
Great video! I'd like to add a beginner/intermediate climbing tip that I see many people do wrong. If you want to get the most out of your climbing session, you want to spend *at least* as much time resting between each climb/attempt as the time you're on the wall. It may not be as important for new climbers, but once you start climbing problems at your limit, you will burn yourself out very quickly if you don't rest enough. Patience is key! Use an app to help you track resting time or bring a friend to talk to and you'll find it easier to rest enough if you're struggling with that.
Great list of beginner tips! 🙂 I'd like to add that the gym's safety video regarding how to fall and land safely shouldn't be taken lightly at all. I mostly go to a bouldering gym and have seen some really bad falls which could have been prevented, either from bad falling technique or beginners being just a bit too adventurous on climbs such as dynos.
oh yeah, learning how to fall should actually be pretty high on the list. you can break an ankle just from a couple feet off the deck if you fall improperly!!
How the heck do i overcome my fear of people watching me climb. Im getting sooo scared when others look at me.. :/
Bring friends, or make friends that can also Boulder with you
This was my fear at the start too! But I found that climbing people are often very friendly, and when they're watching, they are either curious that they may learn something from you, or they're cheering for you! :) It is also possible that they're just mentally trying to solve the problem too as you're climbing the wall :)
What? The climbing community is so supportive. If there’s someone on the wall and it happens that I’m just resting... I watch the person with great enthusiasm!! no matter what level the person is! And I start rooting, and all! I might clap if he/she gets it right. Or I might give the person a tip (in case it’s a climb I can do.) chill! Really! Nobody is judging!
jrorejana YES!!! You’re so right!
I’m dealing with the same fear =\
Glad to see this has one of the highest “thumbs up” ratios I’ve seen on any video. You kept it simple and clean. I love that you didn’t get sucked into anything too advanced and kept it real for new climbers.
One thing I think should be added to a beginner routine though is hand safety exercises. A simple progression of hand stretching has done wonders for my recovery and I’m much more confident with a frequent climbing schedule.
If you are climbing a route you get two tries MAX to get the first couple moves before you should step away from the wall to see if somebody else is looking to climb it. I've seen people try the first move for like 2 minutes while 5 other people are looking to climb the same route
ooh that's so true, i totally forgot about those people who just hang around the same climb and try the same move over and over. lol ESPECIALLY if they're just chalking it up more and more every time :~)
Yeah, step away, rest a bit and see how someone else does it. Better for everyone involved...
Regarding body positioning, a good way to climb overhung climbs (creds to my climbing coach) is to step through on the wall/hold with the foot that is closer to the handhold you're reaching for, then flag your other foot, and turn your hip into the wall to bring your body closer to the wall and to the hold. Turning your hip/body to the wall is really good at improving your ability to reach for holds since it actually decreases the distance your hand is from the hold you want to reach for.
This works pretty well for most beginner overhung climbs, but as a general rule of thumb, being aware of foot-placing and making sure to toe-down on foot holds, and making sure that your body isn't just facing the wall straight on, but rather turning into the wall to bring you closer to holds (esp. if you don't have long limbs) is super duper important when starting out.
As you start climbing more often you get to know how your body works (and how gravity works) and can kind of get a sense of what will make you fall, and eventually, you'll also learn how to circumvent that.
thanks so much for sharing tips straight from your climbing coach!! i've always wondered how to do step-throughs on overhung climbs, i usually just flag out really far. then again, i'm not that good at overhung climbs :-) but all your tips make total sense regarding body position, utilizing your stronger muscles, and conserving energy!
Jenn Sends No problem! He's a lot better than me at explaining and a lot of his little tips are super helpful :D Just turning my hip into the wall alone has helped me improve tremendously!
Dam never thought of the overgripping thing before and tried to avoid it today and really helped my hands. Thanks!!!
Awesome vid again Jenn, nice tips for beginners. I would like to add a tip when u are in a pair of climbing shoes your toes are a bit scrunched causing u to be able to put more force on the tips of your toes. this makes the tip of your toe the strongest part to step on when in a climbing shoe. Awesome job tho it was long awaited for but well worth the wait. Added a reply to your campus and hangboard tips your spot on, beginners should not be doing anything campus or hangboard.
No climbing shoes in bathroom: great tip! our gym had poop on a route because of exactly this so the staff had to reset a section to clean it off. gross, don't do it!
i am SO glad you mentioned people being unaware of their surroundings. i’m still very nee to climbing so it is terrifying when someone is in my fall zone, i’m still pretty scared of falling on the mats let alone on top of a person. the gym nearest me is Very popular with Very young children (6-7 yr olds??) and the number of times I have had to call down to a KID to move out from below me is SUPER yikes. i want to yell at all their parents and also the gym employees not monitoring the amount of parental supervision happening. a climbing gym is not a playground, no matter how brightly colored the plastic holds are 🙃
AHHH the climbing gym is simultaneously the best and the WORST place for children -- i say "best" because they all have a great time climbing, but sometimes at the expense of everyone around them. i've almost crushed kiddos who have wandered under me :~(
Another good tip is to pay attention to the way hand holds are positioned so you can figure out which hand you should be using.
@10:21 true! Luckily our staff members at our gym spots that one person running to the bathroom with their climbing shoes on 😱
I'm not a beginner anymore but I still watch this just so I can check if I still make these mistakes or not 😂 btw you're so nice, you look like a perfect climbing partner 😁
Great video and awesome tips as always!
On the surroundings topic: Personally, if someone on the wall falls on someone under them, I feel it's 100% the fault of person on the ground; the climber has no energy/time/responsibility to look out if a dumb-ass walks right in their fall zone.
Also.... degloving... Nightmare inducing picture right there.
thanks so much!! and yeah, i usually try to avoid absolutes when i'm making a video, but the onus is truly on the person walking. i actually climbed after i released this video, and the same exact thing happened to me again where someone walked right under me on the roof. it's frustrating !! i should have talked to the person after but i'm bad at confronting people... so i make youtube videos instead...
@@JenniferLangen Reading back, my comment sounds aggressive as hell, sorry lol.
As you say, it's just so frustrating when it happens and even more so when you actually see the person walking right into your fall zone so you take a break/stop your climb and then not send it because you're so tired from.... "wait hanging" I guess?
@@guillaumechampagne6659 i didn't think it was aggressive at all!! it's super frustrating. and yeah the wait hanging is the WORST but uhm... good endurance training at best?? and almost-falling object at worst
@@JenniferLangen So you're saying it's a good alternative to hangboarding, right? lool
Agree on the whole 'training regimen' thing. Just have fun and climb. Why worry about trying to squeeze every bit of progress out of your time if youre not going pro. Just relax a little 😂
very true!! i understand wanting to progress for personal reasons but dang, 99.9% of us won't go pro, so we might as well just have fun with it!
Ive been climbing in the local gym three days a week for the past 4 months and I agree with you 100 percent.
I am climbing for some weeks and my muscles are sore for like 4 days after. I did'nt do any sport for the last 8 years or so and even before that I only went swimming for one our 1 week...so yeah..but I notice so much strength growing just by climbing
learning to use my damn feet more has been the biggest contributor to my progress :) I found that climbing more overhung routes helps me focus on it more, because if I'm not toeing down, then my feet are going to cut
really liked this video :) solid advice.
overhangs are so good for training almost EVERYTHING and i wish i had done more of them earlier
re 3:15 Another advantage of not adjusting your holds, is to learn to make the most of the hold you have, so you can make do when you have no better hold.
Awesome, I always share your videos with my girlfriend, she is just starting and we find your videos really informative and encouraging. Thanks a lot for the great content. Cheers from Colombia (the country 😅😅)
ahh yay so glad your girlfriend started climbing!! it's so fun to climb with a significant other :-) thank you so much for the kind words, and cheers from los angeles :-)
I just started bouldering and I love the community. I used to be a gymnast so learning to use my feet when climbing is super tricky. When I was doing bars I would only rely on my arms for support so it's crazy to try to use my legs.
I think that when you mentioned over gripping it is also important to take long brakes/ do not do 5 routes in 10 min but spread them evenly through an hour (not for warm-up but when you to routes of your capability). btw love your videos!
Last TIP is soooo important and one of my biggest pet peeves! Please don't wear your shoes in the bathroom people!!
I've never been this early before ! but i just discovered your channel and i love your videos. i'm new to climbing+bouldering and you've inspired me a lot to keep at it :D
AHHH you are SPEED!! so glad you started climbing, hope you're loving it so far!
And don't forget warm-up!
And look at your feet when you move them to a hold!
oooh that warm up is essential, and YES make sure your eyes are on your feet until they're placed!
I'm not a beginner but more and more of my friends are getting into climbing (i'm dragging them xD ) and it's actually quite hard to advice them properly, so this was very useful, thanks ! xD
I think that when I started out, I assumed I’d have to get super strong to progress, but honestly it hasn’t helped one bit and I’ve just tried to power through every move. I think that doing pull-ups and working out in general can never hurt though.
ooh after i started climbing i could do so many more pull ups!! it's weird because i've read through a lot of "training for climbing" programs and they all already assume you can do 10 pull ups straight, and tell you to add a weight belt to get better. i don't think i can do even 10 unassisted pull ups...
@@JenniferLangen my strongest female climbing friend topped out at like.. 12-ish pullups? She climbs v9.
3:16 is a tip even experienced climbers can benefit from. Great vid Jenn!
thanks so much! and yeah, this tip works so long as there are harder climbs out there (so it works for pretty much everybody!)
This was a great video! The first tip was what helped me when i started climbing. i kept forgetting to look around for foot holds and had a hard time moving up! Now it's come more natural! Also working on particular moves is great advice! Eventually your body gets used to it and you can string together the moves and send a project! :D
Climb with people who are better climbers than you! And ask questions all the time! People in the climbing community (as I’ve come to experience) are more than willing to help in any way they can. I’m 21 and new to climbing and I’ve asked children for advice and I’ve been made a better climber for it
Fingerboards or Campusboards are definitely not a thing for beginners I would never recommend doing it prior to at least 1 year of regularly bouldering/climbing. When you start out the important thing is to get better in technique which you'll get automatically better at by just climbing so you can use your strength in the correct way. Being able to lift big weights or frequently going to a gym for training also isn't really an advantage for fingerboard usage. If you still want to start out with fingerboards/hangboards/campusboards just ask the staff in the gym for some advice and tips they usually are friendly and helpful.
Now for the safety part I would like to add If you see any people about to climb in to each other or people walking beneath someones fall zone. Don't be afraid to call them out on it (of course not in a bad mannered way). It will help everyone to stay safe and incourage other to maybe do the same when they notice it.
So thanks Jenn for the video just had some things that I wanted to add to it
of course!! these are all valid points, i feel like you understand what i meant to communicate with regards to training outside of climbing. thanks so much for clarifying and expanding upon all these points, i really appreciate it!
Really liked the advice on overgripping, thanks! =D
haha yeah! BEWARE overgripping if you want to climb for longer than 30 minutes!
I'm brand new to climbing and your videos have been so helpful! Plus, you're a delight to watch. Thank you!!!
Super advice my tip practice quite foot placement if you do this you have to look where you put your feet and it will make you a smoother climber
OOOh i totally should have included that one, because i think about it a lot when i climb! good tip!
Thanks for the video! Your videos inspire me to be a better climber and helps me a lot as a beginner :-) keep doin what you dooo
thanks so much!! so awesome that you started climbing, keep it up :-)
Also rest for a bit inbewteen climbs and take it easy if your a beginner, went climbing for the first time with some experienced friends and I was having a good time and went a little bit to hard and still sore 3 days later and may have hurt my elbows a bit
Yey glad I stumbled on your video. I’ve been bouldering for fun but was not really committed to it just did it with my cousins when i got the chance to, but i wanna get back at it and try to actually be better.
I saw you on geekclimber's channel. I such at bouldering too. I just started a channel myself to show my bouldering progression.
i always look forward to your vids, great advice as usual!!
recently i hurt my wrist while climbing due to dangling on a hold while the rest of my body jumped off of the wall so my tip would be to downclimb whenever possible or if you do jump, fully commit and dont dangle on a hold!!
OH NO that's awful, i think i've had a couple of experiences with my wrist making this clicking noise and feeling super weird after. such an awful feeling, hope you're doing better!
I've been climbing for around 9 months and the only reason I have started fingerboarding is because I've temporarily moved away from the gym.
The only mistake is not subscribing to this channel.
*looks at the number of views that don't add up to subscriber count* you fools
Also unprotected sex.
I need to re-watch this video before my gym reopens. I've forgotten so much!
Kind of late to the party, but what's the alternative to wearing climbing shoes to the bathroom? Going barefoot? 😖 Walking to my locker, putting on outdoor shoes, going to the bathroom, walking back to the locker, changing back into climbing shoes, and resuming climbing? 😀
lack of situational awareness on the mat's is my #1 pet peeve. It's like skiing, if you're behind then it's your job to not hit the person in front of you. I don't have eyes in the back of my head and you have the space to move safely around me.
ooh that's a really good analogy! especially since in both situations there are real stakes and potential for injury to both parties. ugh, it's annoying for sure
Great video. I've just been climbing for over a month and in love with it
I don't know if it is a mistake persay, but I think something to do with the social aspect of climbing could have made it on this list. (especially after the great bouldering with anxiety video!)
You're going to be around other people climbing, and figuring out the right kind of way to ask to try a climb/hop on their project/get some beta can be scary for newbies.
I've been climbing for a few months, and have come to the conclusion that my reading of problems sucks: I virtually never flash anything at my skill ceiling. So recently I've been more open with others at my level about how they're doing on X problem, and those talks are in turn helping me visualise my own beta better.
Hope you don't feel too pigeon holed into beginner tips for your youtube career! Been a big fan of the projecting stuff.
If I can't solve a problem, I rest near the route and wait for someone who uses it as warmup. After that, it is super easy to start a conversation and ask for advice. Often, they will stick around to see where you go wrong.
So glad you did this one! The last one is so on point! Keep killing it girl! 😊👏
Another nice video :) I completely agree with you about holding off on hangboarding etc for a while. As you said, there are so many other things to learn that will help more when you start out. I climb around V5-V6 at the moment and other than sporadically doing some pull ups have never done any proper training. Also, just climbing is more fun anyway!
SAME the reason i climb is because i get bored doing any other form of exercise, pls don't make me do these so-called "reps" !!
I remember the first time I forgot to take my rings off I got told that if my ring catches it will take the skin straight off my finger.
I never wore rings to the gym again. Haha.
wow ...
you told my feelings... I always try to tell this for beginners. thats relly good video...
Just started climbing 4 days ago
Have definitely gotten on a route on autobelay for an onsight or redpoint burn and have had someone jump on the route next to me that intersects and have just had to hang there, burning out my hands waiting for them to pass me up even though I got on first. Thankfully both times I sent, but it killed my endurance for that day
HAHA people who intersect your climbs are actually just endurance training. until you fall, then it's... just unfortunate for everybody. glad you were able to send regardless!
He he the Ondra vid on his shoes use is hilarious. Adam is crazy.
Which one?
@@TheCorrectionist1984 i have a playlist at the end where adam ondra's video is the first one featured! he talks all about his climbing shoes and i thought it was really informative
LOL i love that video so much, his feet are the stuff of legend. i don't know how he does it
@@JenniferLangen , oh I've seen that. Where he talks about using a plastic bag to get his feet in the first time?
Any chance you'd date a public defender who can climb 5.11d? 😜
Yay! Another great video
Last tip is the most important
re 10:50 I don't use a climbing gym, but what about some kind of slipper over your shoes. I have rubber moccasins to keep my shoes clean & dry when I'm on the ground/belaying.
Thanks for a great video I will try to keep these in mind in my next session which is my 4th ever
good luck!! it's a good thing you're ready to practice good climbing habits so early in your journey :~)
I would loooove to see a whole video dedicated to flagging!
I liked this video so much that I subscribed. Thank you for those brilliant #protips!
Im getting in to the intermediates so i hope this video will be usefull for someone else. Jenn could you do like a intermediates guide??
LOL i feel like i'm still within the lower intermediate range, maybe i'll be able to think of a couple of tips for y'all!!
If i ware to rate myself i would be a beginner++ NG
Great vid thanks for the tips i already knew but for a beginner video useful guide
thanks for watching it, even if you already do all these things! it means a lot that you still watched it :-)
I’m a total noob I need this video
Thanks for this
this is so embarrassing but I never understood no climbing shoes in the bathroom. I always took them off but was so confused, when duh. bathroom floors are gross 🤣🤢
My gym has signs stating "no climbing shoes in the bathroom" but I never understood it. I figured they meant their rentals because they are out of sight and easy to conceal. You just blew my mind with that last tip. Thanks! now i will stop getting dirty looks at the gym.
U make the best vids really your good
thank you !
i feel bad for anyone how googled degloving
100% YES 8 9 and 10 , thankyou so much for mentioning 10. SO disgusting
OK i'm glad!! i was wondering whether i was just being uptight LOL glad i'm not the only one!!
Hey, video production question. Do you ask permission to film before recording at a gym
Brush Brush Brush them holds when you can barely see their color :)
👍
🔥
i am a beginner and i bend my knees a lot when i am going to reach for the next hand hold so it looks like i am going to do a big dyno jump but then i dont jump and just reach to the next hold. is this normal?
Its super common, but definitely something to work on. I thinks thats mostly just about building the confidence to stand up on your legs and trust your footing
Hi Jenn - How do you feel about guys not wearing shirts at the climbing gym? I'm new to climbing (3 months or so) and take my kids (11 &13) along as they love to climb too - But I find the whole shirtless thing a little unnecessary!
I really don't see the point of not wearing a shirt during climbing. I get that guys want to show how ripped they are, but a climbing gym is not really the place.
Another thing, don't move or touch other people's stuff. Its common sense but most people don't have it. I had a guy move my things to put his stuff in it. Esp. During covid. Wtf! Also my climbing gym has rules to not walk under someone who's climbing and some douchebag does on my first time. Gave me a bad impression of the climbing community. Luckily I've met some great people later on.
Only touched slabs for 2 years? I wish I could touch slabs at all 😂 my local bouldering gym is about 90% overhang and the slabs are all set with difficult routes. My first sessions were like 30 minutes long because my arm weren’t able to handle more overhang. I wish I had access to more slabs
WHERE R U
regular shoes
I need more etiquette videos pleeeeease
try purposely falling to make your self less afraid of it and practice falling correctly
And if you don't know what de-gloving is...Google it before dinner, lol
Trent Arnold wow why did I listen to you?? 😂 I’m utterly grossed out now 😂😂😂
google it DURING dinner, especially if you're eating with company! show everyone around you too!!
Friend of mine works in an OR and has assisted in several degloving related amputations. He likes to share details...
kreygasm
Intermediate here: we can go to the bathroom with climbing shoes on or barefoot. Then climbing shoes on seems like the better option. Also I think the chalk on the mats will probably kill the germs
Regarding your bathroom point: Im not sure its really relevant. Nearly everything you touch is already dirty af especially those climbing holds lol. Yeah, your phone is covered in poop and pee and particles 🤷. It doesnt really make sense to worry about it when you dont notice it at all.
Yep. I made this point to my friends last night; your climbing center is super gross anyway, probably one of the dirtiest places you've ever been. It's entirely psychological, so people should just forget about it.
LOL i guess you have a point, i used to be on a swim team and i don't even want to think about what was in the pool. ALSO LOL i just remembered this article i read that said the air dryers in the bathroom basically blow all the airborne poop into your open hands. i think about that a lot now
@@thomasridler114 Y'ALL RLY DIDN'T HAVE TO expose the climbing gyms like that, i'm not ready to confront the unfortunate truth :~(( jk i rly appreciate this point bc i hadn't really thought of it like that (ignorance is bliss)