Kent and Sussex Climbing Tips
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This page was created to give you as many useful tips as we can. We also have a rock climbing grading system page, developed to help you understand the grading system we use.
Make Sure Your Body is Warmed up and Stretched
In rock climbing, like most sports, it is very important that you are fully warmed-up and stretched before you begin your rock climbing session. It is best to begin with a gentle pulse raiser, which could be gentle jogging on the spot. This will increase your heart rate slightly, which will then increase the amount of bloodflow.
It is then very important to stretch. Starting at your fingers, and then making your way up your to your shoulders and down to your toes. Make sure to hold each stretch between 8 and 12 seconds. This will improve your circulation and your flexibility. This will improve your rock climbing perormance and decrease the chance of getting injured.
Stand Back and Plan Your Rock Climbing Route
It is a bad habit to look for a rock climbing route, and try to go straight for it. It is amazing how much difference it can actually make if you just step back and examine your route before you start. You should observe each hold and decide which hand you should place on which hold. This is a brilliant technique, as it teaches you to set your boby up in a way that would avoid hand swapping on tiny holds.
Improving Your Balance for Rock Climbing
It is important in climbing to make sure that you have a good sense of balance. Having good balance is the start of becoming a technical climber. When rock climbing, you should do your best to keep your centre of gravity above over your feet. Your centre of gravity is roughly the middle mark of your body. It is found within your abdomen. You can move your body in certain positions and move your centre of gravit to determine where your weight is, i.e. legs or arms. The weight should be mostly on your legs, as they are far stronger than your arms. Your legs should be placed either directly under your centre of gravity or at an equal distance apart from your centre of gravity.
Keeping Your Body Close to the Climbing Wall
It is very important to have your body close the climbingwall. You need to try and keep your hips and body as close to the wall as you can. Use your knees as guides. You should try to keep your knees from pointing directly to you or outwards like chicken legs. Try to twist with every move and keep your hips tight against the climbing wall.
Develop the Correct Muscles for Rock Climbing
It is very important to develop the correct muscles. It also helps to be as lightas you can. In rock climbing, you require strong arms, fingers, core strength, shoulders, back and lats. The best training exercise to imrpove all of these are pull ups. You should make sure that your palms are facing away from you, and try to go all the way up and down. Campusing is always useful for experienced climbers. You should not do the campus board more than twice a week.
If you have reached a plateau in your rock climbing, and wish to improve, than please email us now at info@ksclimbing.co.uk, or visit our experienced climbers page.