Gym climbing is pretty fucking awful, climb outside. Be that guy. Most gyms are more “commercial” so are geared towards showy low tier parkour.
I have one at home, but I only use it to treat climber's elbow which thankfully doesn't bother me too often. For cooling down I usually do forearm stretches.
I do Emil's sub-max hangboarding and short mobility workouts daily, but I think most of my gains come from limit climbing. It's hard to tell what works at the intermediate level I'm at right now.
Hyped, the outdoor climbing season finally started here in PNW, and I already sent my white whale project from the last year. Aiming to send my first V5 and 5.11b this season.
Started taking it seriously again early last year and haven't slowed down since.
I've had a similar experience not too long ago. My first time climbing, I was invited by a friend and had a blast and later learned it was a semi-regular meetup, so I've been going ever since.
Outside will make you so strong.
So for outside lead climbing, don’t be intimidated by the grades. I promise an outdoor 5.6 will be harder than your gyms 5.11’s (unless you go to a really good gym). What you need to be concerned with is cleaning a lead route. A girl died in the last 2 years down in Alabama lead climbing on her first outdoor lead climb because they sent her to clean the route up and she fucked up at the end. Completely detached and let go from the top of something like 60 feet. Helicopter evac, didn’t make it.
Might be because I'm a new account? I actually made this account specifically because of this thread.
I hate hearing things like that. Unless I'm mistaken it didn't sound like she had any practice with cleaning. There's a setup on the ground at a crag I go to, and I used that to practice until I was comfortable. Anyone else I teach how to clean I'd make them practice there too before sending them up on their own.
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That's good to hear. I'm finding I now have a much firmer handshake than I did a few months ago and want that to continue.
I've been looking up how to do it correctly, and when we went, we luckily had three climbers, the lead, me, and the last climber that would clean the anchors. While we were waiting for the third, we practiced cleaning the anchor, but I want to do it on the ground more until I know every step correctly. I'm glad we went to where there were easier routes and we climbed a 5.6, 5.7, and 5.8 without any problems. I want to learn all positions so that I can do them, and I believe that the more knowledgeable a climber is, the better, especially when safety is so critical. It sucks to see the injuries and death that can happen from climbing. I hope to never be in those situations, so I'll continue learning.
I hit reply too soon on my earlier message, but it's good to see that you're still climbing even with such a scary fall, and good luck tomorrow!
Make sure to always where your helmet, then.
Same. I’d been listening to MATI since like late 2020 and lurking the forum since right after drop kiwifarms. Saw this thread and saw it was underwhelming dead and needed necro posting. Now I can sperg at strangers about climbing.
Don’t post those. The climbing community is JUST small enough that someone could phone book you from those pictures. Better yet to leave the story of the accident a bit vague. Don’t want to end up on the username hall of shame or shot by a troon climber.
Understood. Appreciate the advice.
Yeah, I'm definitely not letting something like that stop me. And thanks. I had a good time today. Topped an easy V0 slab. Almost topped a V1, but psyched myself out at the topout. It's a bit frustrating, but all my friends are understanding. This isn't something I can get over in a day, so I'm trying to look at it like baby steps.
Beta Climber’s fail compilations are entertaining. Mainly watch stuff put out about climbs in the southeast though. It’s where I spend most of time time climbing so great to learn more about the areas around there.
I do also watch videos of people doing boulders around my area. Sometimes for beta, or to see the harder climbs done. I've also searched for videos of people doing High ball boulders. Like the V16 you posted above KneeGrow. There's a V0 in a popular area near me that's considered a High ball. I think it's about 35 ft. Did it one time years ago, and that was enough.
Any update on the bucket of rice training? Did you try it out.
There’s a highball V1 famous at my favorite crag near Chatt called “Storming the Castle”. I couldn’t even begin to tell you how many people have broken femurs on that thing. I think it’s like 30 feet. Funny enough there’s a V2 within line of sight of storming that’s WAY easier than the V1. I’ve got a small list of highball projects over there.
My kids are weird and have been eating the rice. So, no.
I've seen "Storming the Castle" before looking at bouldering videos! Looks really cool with that deck thing at the top. Went out to a crag in the Southern part of NY last week and saw a few highballs there ranging from V1 to V7. Neither me nor my friend even considered them. Honestly
Have you considered a type of sand? I haven't done any research on this myself, but I swear I've seen people use sand for forearm resistance training. The kids won't eat the sand.... hopefully.
I really should try out some hangboard training. My fingers are pretty strong, but I do feel strain in them if I'm doing back-to-back bouldering sessions.
I’ve not looked into it. I’m sure however my kiddos will find a way of making sand part of my bed sheets somehow.
Tendons are aid.
Sorry for the late reply. Jealous you’re in season now. How is the climbing out there? I only know what’s in the south east sadly. Been to The Red yet? Sport climbing Mecca, I always have a really weird experience when I stop at Miguel’s out there.
Most people are when they first start. I know some kid that started about the same time as me, he was just as bad. Fast forward 5ish years and he climbs V12 outside, while I’m at V7 (I’m also quite older than him).
Literally just climb more. It’ll help significantly if you have a friend or two already into climbing (meeting people at the gym is super easy and typically most people are super friendly and happy to share advice) so you can be shown little bits of technique. General calisthenics and weightlifting will certainly help as well as far as general strength, but as far as endurance and technique those you’ll have to suffer for.
Thankfully in the gym you’re relatively safe. Injuries can and do happen in the gym, so don’t be dumb. You just want to be sure to learn to fall correctly. Wait until you get outside my mans, I think the biggest fall I’ve taken (bouldering) was something like 15 feet. I’ve done a handful of 30 foot problems, all you can do is focus on finishing the climb.
I would second KneeGrows advice. I will add though to stretch out first. Especially if it's a strictly bouldering gym. Bouldering is more power focused, and I've pulled muscles bouldering cold before. Also, yeah when you land fall back. Don't take the impact on your knees. Although any good gym should teach you this the first time you go. You mentioned using the finger board? Be careful, especially as a new climber. Your tendons won't be as strong, and you could risk injury. Give it at least a few months before doing that.
YES
Stretching is aid. Warming up is aid. You start on your limit every time.