16 Bouldering Tips for Beginners

Bouldering is an amazing sport. Knowing these 16 bouldering tips will make your climbing journey even more wonderful. So, without further ado, let’s dive in.

1. Use toes properly

While bouldering, make sure you are using your toes. Many people tend to use the backside of their foot, or they use the mid-portion. This is not recommended. By doing this, you are mainly restricting your movements. If you use your toe, you can pivot easily. Also, you can reach more upside.

Climbing shoes are designed in such a way that they will help you with balance when you’re using your toe. Do otherwise, and you will see it’s not efficient.  

2. Use legs properly

Do you know that the legs have one of the biggest muscles? Why don’t you use that to your advantage? 

Use your leg to move your body while moving from one rock to another. When you’re moving your legs and pushing yourself, you will find it easier to move from one rock to another. Don’t just pull yourself with your arm. Instead, use your legs and push yourself.

When you’re swinging, use your legs to give you that extra push. Then, you will see for yourself how easy it is to climb.

3. Climb with straight arms

When you’re climbing, make sure you have straight arms. When you have straight arms, you will feel less pressure on your arms. Also, you will feel the climbing is more enjoyable than ever. On the other hand, if you bend your arms, you will give your arms tremendous pressure, which is not recommended.

You can experiment yourself to test this. First, carry something with straight arms and walk for a while. Then carry something bending your arms and walk for some time. You will see that you have to use more energy while carrying the goods bending. That’s why always keep your arms straight.

4. Make a map in your head

Before bouldering, take a look at the route and make a map inside your mind. Then, just check where you can hold with your hands, where you can place your feet comfortably before jumping into it. If you have a clear picture of the route, then it will be easier for you to climb.

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5. Film yourself 

Film yourself with a phone camera while climbing. When you’re climbing, you are not seeing yourself. But if you film yourself, you can see your techniques later in the video. And you can show that to a professional and find out if there are any mistakes that you’re making.

6. Using adequate chalk

It’s a common phenomenon to use bouldering chalk before climbing. But keep in mind not to use too much chalk in hand. Mainly there are two types of chalks, liquid chalk, and loose chalk. 

If you use too much loose chalk, you will lose traction and grip. Your hands will slide while grabbing. If you use too much liquid chalk, it will take too long to dry. Then while climbing, you’ll see that your hands are still wet.

7. Wash your hands

After finishing the climbing session, wash your hand completely. Make sure you have no chalks in your hand anymore. That moment your hand skin can recover and grow.

8. Have good skincare

As you use your hands to climb, it’s very important to have proper skin care. It would be best if you kept your hands dry so that you could climb easily. There are so many youtube videos and information articles out there that you can use to have proper hand skincare.

You’ve covered half the bouldering tips. 8 more to go.

9. Don’t be afraid of falling

I know what’s the first thing that comes into your mind while climbing. That is what will happen if I fall? Well, don’t worry about that too much. If you keep thinking about falling, it will ruin your precious moments. You will fall eventually. But don’t think about it too much. If you are not good at something, keep doing it. Having a fear of falling is not good when it comes to bouldering.

10. Climb with more people

Don’t be hesitate to invite your friends and family to climb. When you have various people around you, it will create a more energetic moment. You can learn different lessons from different people. Whether someone is tall or short, fat or thin, each person will bring a new perspective to bouldering. Someone will climb fast, and someone will climb slow. You can learn something from each of them.

11. Don’t think too much

If you want to be better at bouldering, don’t just sit at your home. Start bouldering today. Go to the wall. Start climbing. There are some things that you will learn only when you do it for yourself. If you keep wondering and do nothing, you won’t be better at bouldering all of a sudden.

12. Wave your hands

Before climbing, wave your hands and let air flow through your fingers. If your hands are wet, they will become dry. Also, waving your hands will loose the muscles a bit, which will help you keep your hands straight.

You’ve covered 12 bouldering tips. 4 more to go.

13. Invest in good pair of shoes

While bouldering, one of the most important accessories is shoes. Please, invest in a good pair of shoes. Your shoes will determine how comfortable you will be throughout the climbing.

If your shoes are too large, then you won’t be able to step on anything. You will keep on losing your grip. If your shoes are too tight, you will be in too much pain. You won’t be able to climb comfortably. That’s why consult with a bouldering specialist and get yourself a good pair of bouldering shoes.

14. Clean your shoes

After climbing for a while, you will see that your shoe is covered with chalks. While having chalks in your hand is good for climbing, having chalks stuck in your shoe soul is not good. So clean your bouldering shoes every once in a while so that there’s no chalk stuck there.

15. Increase core strength

There are many exercises that you can do on your own to increase your core strength. Increase your core strength so that you can climb easily. The powerful core will give you so much support that you cant imagine.

16. Enjoy the climb

The most important thing is enjoying yourself while bouldering. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Just give your best performance and try to enjoy the climbing journey.

Now you know all 16 bouldering tips for beginners. I hope these tips will come in handy.

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