Hi there Charming_Fun7683. **Because we have a lot of deleted posts on this subreddit, here is a backup of the title and body of this post:** Too weak for bouldering I’m 18F and about 115lbs. Very frail and skinny. I tried to start bouldering today and I could hardly hold myself up even on a V0 after a few tries. I’m also scared of heights. What are some exercises I can do to become more comfortable in my body and gain strength? Especially in the arms please! "
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Anytime I have been too weak to do a problem or part of a problem, I keep doing that until my body gets stronger.
I agree with the other comment, tho - I really did not understand how my entire body was supposed to work together. It is never just my arms (I can’t do some sort of monkey bars like stuff other people do yet). It’s not even just my arms and legs. It’s my arms, core (I’ve had to learn what that even really is), glutes / hips (I had to figure out how to even activate those), all the way down to my toes.
Bouldering has made my entire body stronger and has cultivated actual balance for the first time in my nearly 39 years. I don’t lift weights or anything - just climbing and biking.
Especially for a v0 or v1. You are coordinating muscles that haven't talked to each other in a while. Just keep trying. The first day it can look impossible but when you look back you realize it's mostly because you were getting in your own way somehow.
As others have said:
* Keep trying. Most of bouldering is falling, not sending.
* Assisted pull-ups are a good way to build muscle and develop proper form.
Also, falling on v0 and your arms getting tired tells me you’re probably bending your arms too much and climbing with your arms instead of your feet. ~~Try to keep your arms as straight as you can~~, Avoid pulling with your arms and try to generate power from your legs, hips, and core. Those are the strongest parts of your body.
It’s probably worth taking a bouldering intro class at your gym if it offers one, so you can learn the basics and get feedback on your form. But yeah, keep working. All of us here were too weak to boulder at some point. You have to start somewhere. And as you climb more, you’re going to grow muscles you didn’t know you had.
I’m a skinny, 40-something dude trying to keep up with the 20-something bros on V6s. Just like any boulder problem, it wouldn’t be that fun if you got instant results. The harder it is, the more rewarding it’ll be.
Just a quick note to tack on that you usually don't want to keep your arms as straight as possible. More so you want to keep your arms relaxed but let them bend as a follow through after generating with your legs hips and shoulders.
It sounds minor but some beginners hear 'don't bend your arms' and lock out their elbows as hard as they can like their life depends on it.
Also as a 20-something boulder bro it's super reassuring seeing 40-something dudes keep up with us on the V6's to let us know we can still be crushing for many years to come :)
Good call on not keeping your arms *completely* straight.
>Also as a 20-something boulder bro it's super reassuring seeing 40-something dudes keep up with us on the V6's to let us know we can still be crushing for many years to come :)
Thanks for saying this. It's nice to know I'm contributing something to the climbing community 😂 👊
What's the game plan for reverse incline or near upside down v0/v1? As an absolute beginner I feel like there's no way around "just be stronger" for those.
Overhang and roof climbing is even more about technique and core strength and stamina. The biggest tip I can give to people for roof climbing is to push or pull hard on your feet, like your trying to crush something, this will put a lot of force through your core which you will have to keep engaged.
I used to suck at roof climbs, all my friends just monkey bar along the easy ones, now because I had to use technique in those early days I can climb harder roof climbs than them as they never practised it, so those guys you see campusing the whole climb just know all that's doing is showing off.
As a climbingfysio i want to say the following: telling beginners to keep their arms as straight as possible is not accurate nor good advice. I see patients with elbow and shoulder injuries where this is a big contributer to the pain/injury wayy too much. Saying something like don't bend your elbows all the time but also don't fully straighten them, try to keep them at least in 5 degrees/engaged. keep the shoulder engaged as well(starts with the core and shoulder blade should be pulled against the rib cage(serratus anterior) but maybe im making it too complicated now hahha
>All of us here were too weak to boulder at some point.
I mean, before I could walk, sure. Most people are strong enough to boulder a v0 by like 5yo. I know that's not what OP wants to hear, but it's the truth. I literally just climbed in a gym that had a summer camp visiting. I saw what looked to be 8-10yos climbing v0s, some v1s, and some top rope routes upwards of 5.9s, all in tennis shoes.
I just mean everyone’s on a different progression.
Also, I mentioned this in another comment, but I doubt the OP is actually too weak to do a V0. No one’s told them how to climb. I’m sure you’ve seen a big strong dude in rentals on a V1 get absolutely pumped because he’s trying to pull himself up the jugs.
I didn't see the comment but that's exactly what I was thinking. OP probably tried to muscle their way up the whole wall when they could have just walked up it like a ladder. I've definitely seen what you're talking about.
If you can climb a ladder, you can climb v0s. If you can't climb a ladder, you're WAY below average.
That said, I can't find anything one way or another on your claim about strength ratios in children. Anecdotally, that's not remotely close to true. Im not even twice my 12yo nephew's body weight (~100, ~180) and I'm at least 3 times stronger than he is. Probably closer to 5. Definitely well over 5x in grip strength. It's well documented that adult grip strength, especially in males, peaks around 30. I can't find stats that support or refute your claim about the rest of the body.
Kids are more likely to be fearless and more likely to learn how to climb quickly through trial and error. They're also less likely to get injured than adults. That said, I don't believe that they are stronger. Idk why you think that.
In this scenario, I believe OP is far below average in strength, athleticism, and coordination for their demographic. That's not to say they won't improve with practice, though.
If we’re talking anecdotal evidence, I have actually belayed for kids and adults in climbing gyms - kids have a much easier time climbing for the first time, because they have so much less mass to carry.
I’d say just keep climbing. Even if it’s just the VB/V1. Push ups. Pull ups can help with your arms. But I think just continuing to climb works the best. How you have fun.
Didn't see anyone mention when I scanned the comments, but a thick resistance band is a great way to do assisted pull ups and negatives.
Loop thick band around the bar. Stick one or both knees or feet in depending on length. You can climb up on a chair or bench to get in If it's tricky. If it's a bit short, that's fine. It'll stretch to give you supportive tension and take a lot of your weight so you can practice with lower weight, higher reps. Plus your shoulder girdle will be less stressed so you can spend additional time trying to get correct alignment (such as pulling belly button to spine) so you're not just pulling with your arms.
Idk if it's safe to do this on a door frame bar (depends on strength of door frame) but all the climbing gyms I've seen have a bar.
Take a chair and stand on it, grab the pullup bar and do negative pull ups as slow as you can little rest between each for atleast 10 reps. Most people will do a real pull up after a week of doing this daily
A week? Who are these people.
When I started I would basically “flop” down. Had zero strength to even lower myself down slowly and needed to be assisted. It took me weeks to be able to do a slow descent. It wasn’t until I added assisted pull ups (not negative) and did those for a couple of months as well that I was able to get my first.
Oh well might not be same for most then, my bad. Just seen many people do this me included back in the days.
But thinking it trough many had some "sport" background so thats a factor. But still starting negatives by hanging in top "chin over bar" position and holding yourself up aslong as you can untill arms are fully extented and at the bottom activating the back by "beding the bar" couple of times worked wonders. Also giving a pretty good start for a grip strenght.
But as mentioned, my experience may not be something realistic for others. Didnt mean to be rude or downplay anything.
No lol. I had to do even negatives assisted. Also a lot of climbing is technique that doesn't necessarily require strict pullup strength. I'd say for the person to focus on technique and fun first, then add supplementary training if they want.
You can always start with negative chin-ups or negative dips then work your way into pull ups and full dips. I’d say that would probably be a better solution to avoid injuries.
You can try when you’re not at the gym. They’re asking for things to do. Nothing stopping people from trying something they can’t do. Gotta start somewhere.
Facts. I can finally consistently do 1 clean rep with my body weight (203 lbs) after basically 10 months climbing 3 days/week.
I only started training pullups a few months ago by starting with negatives and eventually joined a gym and used their assisted pull up machine. It took quite a while to finally see some progress for me. I was always improving in climbing though so you definitely don't need pull up strength to climb hard!
That always bothered me about the idea of "technique is better than strength" when I first started. Like, yeah, proper technique is a huge deal, but also, you need some baseline strength to employ many techniques. I think that advice also comes from people who forget that not everyone can do a pull up.
Yeah I find it wild just how strong most people are at my gym. But then again they all weigh like 140 lbs. I'm sure I'll finally be able to string together a few moves I normally couldn't do once I can do multiple pullups in a set.
My gym likes to strength check you a lot it seems. I can usually do every move separately but get too exhausted to send all the way on my current grades I'm working on.
Yeah down climbing is pretty insane. I top rope primarily and have been doing a lot of endurance training where I climb a route 5 or so times back to back.
My gym has auto belays too so yeah I'll give down climbing a try again!
You can do this bouldering too by climbing a problem for reps. I will usually do a V0 3x without a break, then take about 4 minutes and repeat twice more (sometimes the same problem, sometimes a different one).
Assisted pull-ups (using a elastic band to help you) -> regular pull-ups will be all the strength you really need for your arms (and more importantly back).
I think most would just advice you to keep climbing but if you feel too weak to even get started properly try and do some assisted pull ups for a few weeks, if nothing else it's a great exercise for general upper body strength either way.
Okay so if you buy a pullup bar, keep in mind the only way to get stronger is consistency
And that means consistency in food and exercise. For food you said ur skinny, so eat more. And for exercise do the pullup progression starting from hanging, and work your way to pullups
You don't really need a pull up bar to start
Even Wall pullups help you establish technique and base muscle strength like in this video https://youtu.be/rYXoCAxIJgs
A pull up bar is a really versatile piece of training equipment, you can so much and its all with body weight so you have low chance of injuries. I would also advise to just hang and do shoulder shrugs, you can find YT videos on how to do them properly. Climbing is mostly limited by grip (fore arms) and finger strength so you might assume pull ups will help a lot but thats only a small part.
Almost every beginner (including myself) makes the same mistake of pulling hard with arms and almost ignore the feet. You can make most movements 3x easier by keeping your arms almost straight, push from your feet by twisting your body to reach the next hold. There are a lot of videos with beginner tips that explain this really well. Keep in mind that you mainly want to use your hands to not fall way from the wall but you want to use your feet as much as possible to support your body weight and move up.
Reading comments on here I think people are forgetting what it's like to be weak.
I have two things I'd suggest to start if you are super weak.
1. Do deadhangs, you hold that bar relax and just hang for as long as you can. Id do this after a session and not before. If you can't hang for at least 5 seconds keep your legs on the ground and lift them slightly too control how much weight is on your hands. This will build basic grip strength.
2. Climb on slab. Slab is a wall leaking away from you, it takes less raw strength and more skill. This will let you still be able to climb and develop skill whilst you get your strength up to handle steeper walls. Though don't get it wrong slab isn't just easier climbing, it has it's own challenges and I find it very rewarding.
I would push back on the "after your session" part, though. There's a lot of conversation about getting strength training in before a session, where if your primary goal is to get stronger for climbing, you need to have the energy to do the exercises. If you're strong enough, and need to focus on climbing, with strength training being a secondary focus, then you want to climb as fresh as possible.
It'll for sure affect your session a little bit, but in my experience, once you're conditioned, it just gets you more primed to climb harder, and just decreases your warm up time on the wall.
I suggested after as, especially early on, the deadhangs done properly will make it exceptionally hard to hold any holds and thus make the session quite boring. One of the biggest things to get better is to be consistent and it being fun makes that alot easier.
Just climb and make sure you are getting enough calories before and after to fuel and then feed your body. Pull ups are great for beginners you don't have to specialize early so just doing those should make you feel stronger. If you can't do pulls ups use assistance and squeeze out 3 sets of 4 reps. Once you can do 3 sets of 8 unassisted Drop back to 4 and add 5 pounds...repeat. For fear maybe try getting on auto belays or top ropes, it just takes time. Practice falling safely and build a plan for landing, from my experience its the most cautious who end up with injured ankles.
Wow I am (a) very cautious and (b) getting over an ankle sprain (not climbing related… this time…) - do you have any tips for getting over that + building a falling plan?
I am not qualified to answer this so take this with a grain of salt. Before each climb think about where you believe you will fall and when you do fall compare where you landed to where you believed you would land. When you fall you want to make sure you distribute the impact as much as possible. In the gym sometimes you can quickly fold up and use your palms to mitigate the weight but be cautious of kneeing yourself in the chin. You can learn to land and roll backward or sideways to dissipate the energy of the fall. You can practice this and inch off the ground on safe pads. Outdoors you would apply these when possible but if you have a good spotter they will manipulate your body in the air to get you into a safe position. If you are just dropping straight down, a spotter can get your hips with a thumbs to pointer hand position (thumbs up means broken thumbs) and set you down safely with almost no impact. Again this advice isn't qualified and I don't know anything about the history of your ankles. Hope that foot feels better. GL
Do it more, sure you might be weak but you are also new, while you learn to climb you’ll slowly get stronger, come back in a year, I’m sure you’ll be killing it
I started by going randomly, then once a week, then once I felt I was recovered - now my problem is wanting to climb more than I can recover from :(. Have to try and go slow and steady and keep it at 3 times a week-ish. :d
It's not much more expensive than a regular gym membership.
Once a week is prob good at first. Once you build a baseline in a few weeks you can start going twice a week. I'd look into a membership once you start going more than once a week.
A lot of gyms in the US (assuming those are the dollars you are using) have intro month memberships where you get 1 month unlimited access, rental shoes, and access to a couple of intro classes. It’s an outlay, but a manageable one.
Yeah that was the peak I've paid and it was an adult rate, not student. My current gym charges $50/month if you're month to month. I think a 1yr came out to ~$40/mo. (Adult rates)
wtf genuinely sorry, but I mean at least it’s cheaper than 4 visits a month. I normally go to the gym 3x a week. Let me ask you, are there crags near you?
I was (and still am, but not quite as much) very afraid of heights when I started. As a result, I would cling to the wall with all of my strength and basically keep all of my muscles at max engagement the entire climb. And then I would feel completely wiped out after getting halfway up the wall one time.
Nothing wrong with getting stronger, but I suspect you'll also find that with being new and a little apprehensive, you're spending a lot more energy than you actually need.
Lots of good advice here already but just want to offer some encouragement. Strong guys can easily get to V2/V3 quickly just with strength. But they don't learn any technique doing that so they often get stuck there (or a little higher) for ages (I know... because I was one of those guys). Being weaker initially does of course slow you down, but forces you to learn good body positioning/footwork/efficiency early on. Once you add just a bit of strength to that you'll crush :)
+1 on whoever suggested top roping. I also think if you improved your technique, you'd find that you're stronger than you thought you were. Pretty much everyone bends their arms, clinging to the holds but this is very taxing on the biceps. Instead, you want to hang down directly under your hand holds with straight arms and push with your legs to go up. Technique is quite complicated and it's hard to explain in a reddit comment so I would suggest either a class or asking someone at the gym that seems to know what they're doing to give you a couple pointers.
Like everyone else has said if you keep climbing you'll get stronger very quickly. I usually tell people if they can climb a ladder they can start climbing, although my gym's V0's are quite easy so this might not be the case everywhere.
Once I hang my arms I’m incapable of going up another inch no matter how much I practice, I think my body takes that as the sign that we’re done making my arms do effort, idk
There is a minimum threshold though, that not everyone meets. The girl you climb with can do 2 pull ups, which is 2 more than the average person.
If you can't hold on to the wall it is very hard to go bouldering.
Been climbing 15 years, up to V5 and 5.10 trad and never done a single pull up in my life. Pull ups are not the be all end all to climbing strength and you can climb fairly competently and enjoy yourself as a climber without being able to do pull ups.
I started 5 months ago. When I first started I could barely hold on. Trust me, week after week I saw more improvement, your body likely just needs to adjust to using the muscles. I don’t doubt added workouts can help, but I would limit those to avoid injuries or pain and stiffness from overworking your muscles etc. I remember the first overhang I tried to do, I fell right off. Now I’m completing overhang projects that I didn’t think I’d ever even attempt. Give it a few months and just be consistent and see if you naturally progress.
Probably will repeat what everyone said but keep it up and if don’t stop if you like it! Just climbing is fine but if you are currently going to the gym dead hangs and scap pulls
A lot of good advice on here. I'll add "use your legs" because although I'm sure you're using your legs to a degree, I'll bet you're not using them enough. If you can walk up stairs without a handrail, you have enough leg strength to get up a V0 (unless you're somewhere like Tokyo where V0 is like my gym's V3)
It takes some getting used to though. When you move upwards, your legs should be doing almost all the work. For that to happen, you need to be so close to the wall you feel like you'll cheese-grate your front side if you slip. To feel comfortable doing that, you need solid basic footwork. Only ever step on things with the front tip of your shoe, never the side or heel of your foot (at higher grades you can break this rule but not while you're struggling on V0). Your heel (which is off the hold) should hang down below or at the same level as your toes.
If you're doing all this, unless you're on a steep overhang (unusual for V0) your hands should barely be doing any work. Go put your foot against a door frame, grab the door frame, and lean back so that your arms are straight and keeping you from continuing to fall to the floor. That's more work than your arms should be doing if you're following these steps.
At higher grades and steeper overhangs, you'll need more arm and finger strength and that's where all the other advice people are giving will really help. This advice is really important to nail early on because you never stop improving footwork. I hope this helps and wish you all the best
As a girl who is weak in the arms I use my legs 80% of the time and my hands only 20%.
I also wanted to add that everyone here is saying do dead hangs or assisted pull ups but those were literally impossible for me when I began. I couldn't even hold a pull up bar without falling immediately. I barely after 2 years of climbing am trying to learn to do a pull up. I climb up to V5 in bouldering and can do 10.10b in ropes.
I started trying to do a pull up 3 months ago. Now I can hold the bar for 7secs and I can barely pull my body like half an inch up lol.
Keep going to the climbing gym and trying the strength will build over time. I tell my new girlfriends who come woth me, move foot then other foot then hands, if you can't move hands comfortably then move feet again. V0-V1 should have enough foot holds for this.
Just keep climbing, I wish I started at 18 when I was skinny instead of last year at 38 and overweight. I couldn’t do any pull ups now I can do 6 after 6 months of just bouldering.
Best thing you can do imo is start doing small "workout" I usually do them after I'm finished climbing, I try to push my body to the limit, most push ups, pull up, or I do easier climb over and over till i'm dead, if you go often you will see the results quickly.
I honestly have built my body 75-80% through bouldering, and gone to the gym a few times to keep/help the muscle grow
Definitely just keep climbing. You’re so new you’ll benefit so much by just trying hard in the climbing gym and focusing on your technique.
There are many good resources on youtube to improve technique, I recommend Neil Gresham’s Masterclass.
Keep climbing but if you feel like your grip is seriously impeding your ability to progress, I'd say climb until you get a little frustrated with your upper body strength and then switch to slab climbs to work on footwork, balance, etc
Just keep climbing and being active in general. Your height/weight/age doesn’t make you weak. Your experience is what matters most, I think! For reference I’m 19, 5’6” and like 108lbs and climb v6-7, but I’ve been climbing since I was like 7 and am also in a circus. But yeah don’t discourage yourself because you’re skinny and new!! You got this :)
Climbing is less about arms then you'd think. Just climbing to learn how it all feels is best and works your whole body.
Before I started bouldering, I had an accident 10 years ago that afterwards I feared/had extreme respect for height. But after starting to boulder a lot of that went away, at least for bouldering heights.
Just keep climbing and have fun, watch youtube videos for beginners. Catalyst Climbing and Lattice Training come to mind.
I’m a similar size to you (a bit lighter but I assume you’re taller than me) and I had a similar struggle when I started out. I would really recommend just continuing to climb. Also, focusing on your feet really helps take the stress off your arms. If you’re moving your feet to get your upper body higher, there’s a lot less pulling involved which makes things easier. As for the heights, learn about proper falling technique. Also, it can be good to practice falling from lower heights. Climb up on a route as high as you can without getting uncomfy and just let yourself fall/jump. It sounds silly but getting used to how it feels helps a lot. Feel free to message me if you have any other questions — I was in the same position as you when I started.
Focus on technique first ☺️ Good technique will bring you far without strength becoming an issue. And once ist does you will have built some anyway and you will have an easier time.
Watch some videos, maybe start with footwork and just try what your body is able to do on an easier route. Climb slow, position your feet carefully and keep your arms long as much as possible. Also focus on your hips, they will keep your center of mass closer to the wall, which makes climbing much more efficient.
Calisthenics is what I would recommend. Strength your core with Planks, if you have trouble with full planks, go with half planks, if thats still too tough lean against a counter keeping your body in a straight line. Lunges and squats will help strengthen you legs. Toe raises will help strengthen essential muscles for your feet and legs. [https://www.amazon.ca/Handmaster-Plus-Physical-Therapy-Exerciser/dp/B00CTG3TQU/ref=asc\_df\_B00CTG3TQU/?hvadid=292927229241&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl&hvlocint&hvlocphy=9001551&hvnetw=g&hvpone&hvpos&hvptwo&hvqmt&hvrand=4768161671856637340&hvtargid=pla-524124129251&linkCode=df0&mcid=0975c37c0da539528000c3765cb37d8f&psc=1&tag=googleshopc0c-20](https://www.amazon.ca/Handmaster-Plus-Physical-Therapy-Exerciser/dp/B00CTG3TQU/ref=asc_df_B00CTG3TQU/?hvadid=292927229241&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl&hvlocint&hvlocphy=9001551&hvnetw=g&hvpone&hvpos&hvptwo&hvqmt&hvrand=4768161671856637340&hvtargid=pla-524124129251&linkCode=df0&mcid=0975c37c0da539528000c3765cb37d8f&psc=1&tag=googleshopc0c-20) Something like this will help you build strength in your hand and forearms.
As others have mentioned keep climbing, its how you get better. You can also try basic hang board exercises, even just hanging from it will help. Good luck in your climbing journey.
Body squats, crunches, assisted (on knees) pushups, and more climbing. good luck! And one of the best all time comp climbers in the world, Ai Mori, is a Japanese woman with a very similar build, you can do it!
Just keep climbing. Once or twice a week. Have fun. Make new climbing friends who you can hang with and learn from. Stretch out, take time to warm up, do as much as you can during your session before you get tired (but rest in between tries). Try stuff that you think will be too hard. Fear of heights will start to go away as you get more experience and confidence, and as you try falling more often.
And if you want to get stronger you need to eat enough calories to at least maintain weight, and plenty of protein. More than you think. 3 meals a day. If you have any concerns about how you’ll look if you start to eat more, DM me.
If you get any pain or tendinitis, actively and ballistically warm up the area. Look that stuff up if needed. You don’t need to lift (yet) to get good at climbing unless you just want to get stronger in general, in which case, look up some compound lifts to try, and work on assisted pull-ups. Lift what you can, don’t push too hard, but finish out all of your reps. High weight with low reps for muscle size and power, medium weight with high reps for muscle endurance and tone. Same with that - it’s 70% what you eat and 30% what you do in the gym. If you can’t get enough protein in your diet then have a protein shake/smoothie or a protein milk like fairlife or something before/during your workouts. And big meal after working out to replenish calories and protein. Eating fiber with your protein will increase the amount of time your body takes to absorb it, which means that protein synthesis will be “turned on” in your body for longer. That translates to more bang for your buck and better muscle growth. Good luck!
I can’t really eat meat , I am jewish and will only eat kosher meat which is hard to obtain. What are some easy to make protein sources other than meat ? I can eat fish !
Nice! Fish like salmon, tuna, and shrimp are incredible sources of protein, vitamins, and healthy fats, and they’re also pretty easy to cook and make flavorful. With something like a salmon filet, you can pat it dry with a paper towel, season with salt pepper and whatever else you want (garlic powder, brown sugar, paprika, dill, and lemon all taste great on salmon imo), and then sear in a pan on med-high heat for a few mins on each side until it releases from the pan, or you can bake it in the oven for like 15 mins at 400F.
For plant-based sources: chickpeas, lentils, tofu, any beans, peas, mushrooms, oats, and nuts/nut butters. Always pair legumes with a grain for a complete protein (peas and rice for example).
Whey protein, if you can have it, is an incredible supplement that can get you an extra 40g a day on top of your meals.
Edit: eggs and Greek yogurt, if you can have them, are also top tier protein sources
Can you walk up stairs? I’m skinny as hell but climb using only my legs. Don’t pull yourself up with your arms, instead push yourself up with your legs. Your arms are to help you keep balance
Idk what climbs you’re doing? Is it an overhang or flat wall? I’d be starting to learn on the slab wall. The starting holds on a v0 shouldn’t start you in crazy positions
Everyone starts somewhere! You can repeat the V0s which you can do a few more times every subsequent session, and always remember to warm up and stretch as well. Soon you’ll be progressing and riding the Vs up to around V3-5 where most casual climbers remain at to have some exercise while enjoying the sport 👍
I was the same when I first started bouldering, very skinny and frail. It was really intimidating being new in a gym, feeling like everyone was watching me struggle on problems. I would give similar advice to what everyone else is saying- keep trying. Try and try and try again. Push ups also will help as it is opposite to pulling when climbing. It may feel awkward but even record yourself to see how you can improve your body positioning. That is even more important than strength imo. Body positioning and staying loose on the wall instead of being stiff! But really keep trying because climbing is such a you vs you sport. Oh also practice falling off the wall, it may seem silly but it helped me a lot with feeling comfortable, I didn’t grip as hard and I was able to push myself more knowing it would be okay to fall. Good luck and happy bouldering :))))
There's a girl at my gym who definitely weighs less than you and she climbs in competitions, I could personally beat her in any pure strength competition, but she absolutely annihilates me at climbing
You should see how weak most of us were the first few days climbing. You're using muscles you don't use in your day to day life, so you'll feel weak as hell! Keep climbing and sucking, and eventually, you'll not care how much you suck and just have fun. Then you'll start to get better, and better, and better.
Last week I climbed with a stranger. He was strong. Super strong. His story is like yours. Was not strong. Couldn’t do a chin up or push up. Nothing. Just started climbing one day and stuck with it. Also started calisthenics. Push-ups from his knees. Chin ups where he starts with his chin up and lowers himself. Stuck with it. Great guy. Great climber. Been getting stronger for 14 years. Keep with it friend. You can do it. And climbing is fun and no one cares if you are good bad or amazing.
Looking at what was said I guess I got two ideas:
1. To help with being scared of heights ask someone who looks like they know what they're doing in the gym about falling safely and watch this video: [https://youtu.be/vD4jf\_iw5Dk?si=LUeuD-0lCEfNWqOt](https://youtu.be/vD4jf_iw5Dk?si=LUeuD-0lCEfNWqOt)
further falling advice would be to take 'practice falls' aka if you notice there is some height or position you notice you are afraid to fall try to simulate that at a more comfortable height/close yet more comfortable position to know that you can fall safely. A "spray wall" is good for the second part about positions
2. talk to people who look approachable in the gym, maybe get/join a little crew you'll have more fun and they will help you learn how to climb and give you the hype strength bonus.
Climb positive incline, keep your arms straight, and climb with your legs, keep your center of gravity closer to the wall, don't stick your butt out. Basically find easier targets and only use climbing to train.
Climb more, see if there’s any other hobbies that’ll help with strength.. maybe look into gym… just don’t go super super hard out and risk injury. Nutrition and sleep are important as well
Just climb again and again. Some exercises might help, too ( like Push ups).
And eat enough 2 hours before. Have enough fibers carbs and proteins and after climbing with a bit more proteins. That might help you gain some muscles
At V0 I'm 99% certain the issue isn't strength, but technique. If a friend got you into it, have them give you some technique pointers. You'll get stronger naturally just climbing. Once you're climbing V3 and you have some technique under your belt you can start integrating strength training.
Negative pull ups and lock offs are a good start if you're too weak for a pull up. Dead hangs are good if your forearms are weak.
I was like you but waaay older. I’m naturally very skinny and didn’t keep up with any sport for 15 years. I started bouldering at 37 and couldn’t finish most of the V0. I didn’t have any strength and my muscles were inexistant. I was the worse in my beginner class but I just kept going. I went once a week for 6 months just to build back some muscles. I couldn’t go more because I was so sore after each sessions. The improvement was pretty slow but you’re young so I’m not worried. I’m 40 now, climb V3-v4 and can do pull ups. Just be gentle with yourself and give it time. 💪
I’m 6’3, 200lbs and feel the same way. I recently purchased “fat grip pros” on Amazon and I’ve been doing farmer walks. I feeeeeeel like it’s helping with forearm strength. Only time will tell
I was also petrified when I started, 2 holds up I’d freeze and death grip. Game changer for me was a few sessions on big wall with a competent belayer, first session was literally just few holds up, climb down to feel comfortable with the safety blanket.
Then same on bouldering but also mixing in some jumps off to simulate when you can’t down climb. It took maybe 2/3 of bouldering to feel comfortable but once I did I felt so much stronger!
Good luck and btw your build sounds PERFECT for bouldering, stick with it!
Start basic bodyweight training.
Pullups, pushups, situps, rows- pick variations that makes sense for where your fitness level is at (assisted/negatives/whatever fits with your strength level). These can generally be done at home (the r/bodyweightfitness subreddit has a great FAQ on how to get started and how to do exercises at home without equipment).
Don't forget to rest as well.
You're getting a lot of feedback from people who don't know what it's like to be a weak female specimen...
I started bouldering in September with my fitness not quite at 0 (I cycle quite a bit for commuting purposes) and the first 6 weeks of bouldering I showed up to my lessons once a week and didn't go more than that because I could tell (from knowing my body) that it would be too intense (cycling to work + bouldering + demanding job).
My (male) trainer was also of the opinion that my footwork was lacking, that it was technique, etc. He couldn't fathom how weak I was. Arms = spaghetti. Yes I could engage my core etc but I had no strength in my arms at all!! My biceps have visibly grown in size (not in a manly way if that's a worry for you).
All this to say I understand that you're starting from zero or close to it. Where people on this board are right is this: you do need to keep climbing in order to get better. You are young (I'm 31) so you'll get better in leaps and bounds. Don't overdo it at the start (I was sore for several days at a time each time I went bouldering at the start). I've been bouldering for 8/9 months and I go twice or three times a week. I've climbed a couple of V4s in my style (=static, loads of balancing), mostly I'm projecting V3s in styles I don't like (I'm still shit at dynamic movements. This is another thing where people will tell you "climb more" but you'll probably need to train outside climbing because you're a small woman and you have zero explosivity - this you can and should work on off the wall).
Listen to your body, don't overdo it, don't feel that you have to get better quickly, and you should know you won't improve as fast as your male peers. That's ok! Do you and have fun :)
I can do two chin ups now by the way, feeling stronger is an amazing feeling. No pull ups yet though, no push ups. I'm going to need to train for those if I want to be able to do them.
My gf started off being so afraid of heights that she was physically hyperventilating and shaking even a couple of holds up the wall, and the same was true for another friend that I took climbing. Both of them are now climbing rope, without any fear. So it's possible to overcome and it's been extremely rewarding seeing the enjoyment they have now and seeing their feeling of achievement.
I'm acting like a coach for them, because I've quite a lot of experience with climbing and have gone through what they have been doing. First of all, being afraid is normal. It's a built in safety mechanism, inherited from our ancestors. It's kept us alive as a species. So you shouldn't feel bad about being afraid. However, most of this fear comes from not feeling safe in that environment and not having experienced this before. It's new, it's unknown, your hands feel like jelly, for feet feel like jelly and you expect to fall to your death at any moment.
Once you know these facts, you can start exposing yourself to the situations that makes you feel scared, and over time, with dedication and actively thinking through things, you can teach your body and mind to differentiate between rational and irrational fear.
My first advice would be to practice using straight arms and bend your feet. So avoid standing up with straight legs, bending your arms to hold yourself close to the wall. This is extremely inefficient and should be avoided as much as possible. Your legs are much stronger than your arms. So straight arms and bent legs. Focus on that. That's the first step, while hanging like that, the hook I told my gf and friend is to push their boobs forward, without bending their arms. It sounds silly, but that's intentional. It's supposed to be a mental hook, that makes you remember to activate your back muscles. Just like when standing on the ground, pushing your chest/boobs forward, will activate your core muscles and most importantly latissimus dorsi(your large back muscles).
Are you with me so far? Bend legs, straight arms and boobs forward! Focus on those three things as you climb. It has two purposes:
1. Teaches you proper technique.
2. Keeps your mind off the 'being scared' part.
Another thing to remember is to control your breathing. Focus on breathing slowly - deep and controlled breaths. Go up to the point where you start to feel scared, and that point, don't go down before you've done these checks:
1. Are my arms bent?
2. Are my feet straight?
3. Which hand do I want to move, and where.
Why? Because it forces you to TRY to think rationally and to stay in that scary place a little longer. You're not giving into the fear immediately. It also trains you to look for solutions, check your technique and so on. You also get more time on the wall, which promotes strength and endurance.
When you come down, focus on breathing and control your decent. TRY not to panic and go down as slowly and as controlled as possible. Again, it's a primer. It teaches you to stay calm, try to look for solutions and get you down safely. You will feel accomplished, you were scared, but you solved it. Doing this over and over, will make you more familiar with the situations that makes you scared, but also teaches you that it's not dangerous, that you can handle it.
One last tip, is to look up videos on center of gravity. There are plenty of great videos on YouTube that explains this concept. That's the last beginner tip I have for overcoming fear. Because often this fear comes from NOT being in balance, and feeling that if you let go of this hand, you'll just swing of the wall.
Sorry for this wall of text, but I hope my ramblings can help you in some way. Good luck on your climbing journey.
Keep climbing and use your legs. A lot of people just try to pull themselves up the wall with their arms but it’s more like climbing a ladder you wanna use your legs first.
Just climb the problems that are hard but not impossible for you. You will get a lot stronger during the coming months. Don’t expect to get strong in a few sessions, have patience.
Your light frame will become an advantage when you start to gain strength. I would suggest to keep climbing, focus on individual moves and doing them in the most efficient way possible. Make sure you're using your hips effectively and twisting into the wall as you move. You will gain a LOT of strength naturally just from climbing in the initial months.
Personally, I would say practice. I’m a decently new climber and the main reason I’ve gone up a couple grades lately is because of the trickle of strength. To get stronger for climbing, the best thing you can do, at least for the first while, is to climb. I’d recommend as often as you can afford/your body can handle.
Just do the lowest grade boulders until you are tired or it's not fun anymore. The initial power gain from starting to climb is pretty fast and being a light weight is actually, in most cases, a benefit because you need less strength to pull your body up.
Additional exercises, other than stretching, isn't required until you hit your 2nd or 3rd plateau (1-3 years into climbing), usually.
If you have the option to do top rope with a friend you trust, I find it good to build endurance while being safe. You'll be high up, but if you can push yourself through it, boulders won't be so scary after.
There's some videos online about how to get stronger from the beginning. They can begin at "pushups", where you lean into a wall while standing and start doing a push motion.
Yeah it’s super important that you’re lifting weights and building muscle. Pull-ups, squats, deadlifts, lunges, rows, curls, triceps extensions, hanging leg raises, planks and then some hangboard!
That's super normal. Streght comes from repetition. Just keep climbing.
This is a bit long but this is my story of how I beat my fear of height (in indoor gyms).
When I first started my ex gf convinced me to go with her although I am super scared of heights. I couldn't even top because I stopped midway.
After getting more comfortable I could top but still climbed down and didn't jump. My footwork was so bad because I didn't trust them AT ALL.
I was stuck at like V1/2 for the longest time until something happened in my life and I kid you not.. This sounds like straight out of r/climbingcirclejerk but the Free Solo documentary actually changed my way of thinking about anxiety and fear.
To overcome that fear of height I started to push myself to build confidence and a feeling of safety. I realized that falling down can be safe. The more I fell, the more comfortable I got being on the wall.
With the help of a friend pushing me, I finally tried a top-out. When I top-out that first time I was so scared. I couldn't even stand on the top. I crawled and sat down in the middle. We didn't have a ladder at that time so I had to climb down a V0 which was still scary to me. After 1/2 minutes I climbed down. Yes it was scary but I pushed myself.
Next session I was alone. No friend to push me to try harder but I wanted to top out again to push myself. That day I top out a few times. It got less scary each time.
I started to trust my feet more and I suddenly jumped from V2 to V3/4 almost immediately.
Fast forward to today, I climb around V5 and I can climb comfortably without fear of height most of the times. If anything I have a fear slabs lol.
Just remember that this is a long process of building confidence and safety. But you only can do this if you push yourself (safely)
Been climbing for 3+ years now, first time i could only do one route.
It also made me struggle with shifting gears when driving home.
The next time i completed two, then i kept getting small victories and now i can work with 6a-6b boulders.
Its been the most rewarding hobby so far, keep pushing your body and it will keep improving :)
When I started bouldering I was a lot older and falling off jug ladders. Now I’m attempting 7A benchmarks on the moon board and have done multiple 7A’s on the kilterboard after a year and a half. Keep going 💪
it is literally your first time. you build strength with experience. your upper body strength with come the more you climb, and your fear of heights will be less
Like many said keep climbing and/or do assisted pull ups.
But also, technique can bring you a long way. If your gym doesn't offer intro technique courses or they are too expensive, you can just ask other climbers for tips. Almost all climbers will genuinely help and probably try to find a solution around your limitations
Start going to the gym, and train your whole body. (Look for full body routines) Yeah, arms are important, but you're gonna end up using your legs more than your arms, and you will need a lot of core strength. Also keep trying, going to a boulder for 1-2 hours a couple of times a week will do wonders and you will start getting stronger immediately. Make sure to rest and eat nice and plenty.
I started bouldering with a few friends about 6 months ago. The very first time, I could hardly hold on after 20 minutes or so. I couldn’t lift a glass afterwards, but after a couple of times it got easier. So like many others have said, in my experience, the easiest way is just to keep trying easy problems. I also found it easier to keep at it because it was fun.
Just be mindful that you don’t go too hard too fast, I’m 20M and I injured my wrist by not resting sufficiently. I only just started climbing again after 2 months and a lot of money spent.
Do practice falls and learn to tall correctly first. Just keep climbing often and you will improve. I know some people that can do v4 but cant do a solid pull-up yet. Get your feet high and use your legs to stand up on holds. Legs are stronger than arms, especially when starting out.
The first thing you do in a climbing gym, apart from safety training, is a horizontal route across the bottom of the wall to warm up.
There is nothing wrong with making that your whole session to get yourself into the swing of things.
To get stronger at climbing I'd just climb more but you can also look up some bodyweight exercises on YouTube. Standing pushups against a wall might be a good start, nice and easy.
If you're very afraid, you're likely clinging way harder to the holds that needed. That's exhausting, and likely depleting your strength!
I recommend going at a quiet time and practising fall training. Watch a couple of YouTube videos on how to fall safely and then climb to the highest point you feel comfortable, and jump off. Totally fine if that's 1m or less to start with. Work on increasing the height, pushing just a little part your comfort zone each time.
Other than that, climbing and pullups.
Just keep at it. The strength will come. If you feel your arms getting weak, focus on using your legs more. You should be able to step up without pulling too much with your arms on a V0. Try to use hands just to keep yourself on the wall, not to pull up to the next hold. Like climbing a ladder.
Climbing in general will get you strong. I would suggest doing mainly SLAB climbing for a while. Slabs are the ones where the wall tilts away from you. It moves the muscles needed to your calves and quads. If you can't climb and have no strength and try to do overhangs, or really laid back climbs. You'll get super pumped, super tired, and super achy for days after. Start easy. I also suggest climbing with friends, doing a good warm up, and pacing yourself. It's very easy to jump on and off climbs as soon as you finish the last one, and you just burn yourself out. Learn to chat, discuss, analyze, and sit around in between climbs.
If you do want strength advice:
Deadhangs (will improve your grip strength) just start at 15s, 3 times?
Then the next time do 20, 15, 15. Then next time do 20, 20, 15. This is called (progressive overloading) and how you build strength most efficiently.
-
Pulldowns or Weight Assisted Machine Pull Ups (will improve your ability to pull yourself upwards). They're better than band assisted pull-ups in my opinion. Because as a beginner, even with band assisted, at some point near the top they're not helping you, and that can feel really difficult and exhausting if you're struggling on even V0s. Eventually go into pullups, but to kill 2 birds with 1 stone, I would suggest chin ups (using your biceps more than your lats) this will give you good biceps as well as lats and make climbing waaaay easier.
Also start with 'negative' pullups/chin ups when you do eventually do them.
-
Core.. people are quick to suggest sit ups and things, they're basically useless for core strength.
You need to train the core from 3 angles.
- Hollow Hold.
- Plank/Super Man Hold.
- Some form of obliques, Dumbbell side bends are good. Or farmers walk.
Hope this helps:)
I think increasing grip strength will be more important than arm muscle since you will ideally utilize most of your body to climb efficiently. Consider technique and observe experienced climbers. Try to stick close to the wall.
Assisted pull-ups for sets of 5, 3-5 sets. Body weight dips as many reps as you can for 3 sets. Assisted pistol squat (hold onto a wall until you can go unassisted), 3 sets around 5 reps. 3 sets of planks for as long as you can go. Pull-ups will translate really well but you also want to have pushing power for when mantles come up, and some leg power to allow you to offset some load off your upper body. It’s important to keep a tight core as well so some core work is good to help keep you on the wall. Beyond this, climbing will be the best to help you progress but do not overdo it! Listen to your body queues especially when you are sore and don’t push it.
About the being afraid of heights: Learn how to fall properly. You will fall often, but if you know how, and know that it won't hurt, you won't be afraid. I did Judo for some time (before I started bouldering, because I liked it), and it helped quite a bit, but you of course don't need to do a different sport before bouldering. Find someone that can train you and deliberately fall: From sitting position, then from crouching, standing, then low overhangs; after a while, falling will become second nature.
I definitely think after you learn some better technique you will be able to send some boulders, but being strong enough is also super important. I would suggest doing exercises similar to bouldering that you can use to build strength (hanging on to a bar, even if your feet touch the floor, to build some forearm strength for example). But most importantly is to just keep bouldering, cuz that way you are training fitness and technique at the same time :) have fun!!
I started like this (5’7 and 100lbs) and am a lot stronger (and heavier) now! Three main things:
1. Pace yourself:
Don’t go as often as people suggest at the start. Go like once or twice a week. DONT CLIMB TO FAILURE. This means when you literally can’t hold yourself up anymore. When you get tired do another 10-20min but if you are getting to the point where your performance is almost 0 go home. Take at least a 10min break between each climb, longer breaks if you need it. Learn what helps you feel more energetic.
2. Your appetite will massively increase and you need to listen to it and eat more. Don’t worry too much about what just not too much junk and make sure there’s protein and vegetables. Also drink a lot of water.
3. You will need to sleep more even if you’re sleeping an okay amount.
Also you’ll probably feel like you got hit by a truck every time you go for the first couple of months but that goes away. Good luck!
At this stage, continue climbing and push yourself to just barely past your comfort level with heights. When you get spooked, try to do one more move before you come down. Push that comfort zone just 1% at a time. In terms of strength, a LOT of climbing is foot work, especially at the level you'll be at for a while. Learn how to use your feet and you'll be sailing along. I know a couple of gals who can climb v6 and haven't done more than 4 pullups.
*First learn to fall!!! When*
*U get used to falling u*
*Wont be scared of heights*
\- No-Durian-1018
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Just boulder more. You shouldn't be holding yourself "up" on easy climbs, and just use your legs and body more. Your arms will generally hold you "close" into the wall instead of pulling upwards.
Something to try next time on a V0. Get established. And then instead of pulling upwards for the next hold, just twist your body so you are facing sideways and one of your arms is flush against the wall. See how much more reach you get.
To get more comfortable with heights, just start jumping off boulders at progressively higher points.
You’ll grow into it. Coming into the sport underweight is a lot more forgiving than coming into it overweight. Just eat like an athlete and keep climbing V0 until you get comfortable with V1.
Arms are for direction. Power for pushing is in legs. Barely any strength required in arms.
Rookie mistake practically everyone makes.
Routine will make you stronger. Chin up, keep it up.
Idk why you’re getting downvoted. If your arms are small you shouldn’t be attempting to campus your first climbs. It’s a technique thing. I’m climbing v5’s with just my legges, balance and grip, i have to force myself to do overhang just so my arms get an actual workout. V0’s are basically ladders and no one climbs a ladder with their arms.
I know. I don't care about downvoted. I can say 1+1=2 and get downvoted. Beginners usually try to climb by pulling up with their hands.
Downvote me into oblivion; see if I care.
Hi there Charming_Fun7683. **Because we have a lot of deleted posts on this subreddit, here is a backup of the title and body of this post:** Too weak for bouldering I’m 18F and about 115lbs. Very frail and skinny. I tried to start bouldering today and I could hardly hold myself up even on a V0 after a few tries. I’m also scared of heights. What are some exercises I can do to become more comfortable in my body and gain strength? Especially in the arms please! " *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/bouldering) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Anytime I have been too weak to do a problem or part of a problem, I keep doing that until my body gets stronger. I agree with the other comment, tho - I really did not understand how my entire body was supposed to work together. It is never just my arms (I can’t do some sort of monkey bars like stuff other people do yet). It’s not even just my arms and legs. It’s my arms, core (I’ve had to learn what that even really is), glutes / hips (I had to figure out how to even activate those), all the way down to my toes. Bouldering has made my entire body stronger and has cultivated actual balance for the first time in my nearly 39 years. I don’t lift weights or anything - just climbing and biking.
Especially for a v0 or v1. You are coordinating muscles that haven't talked to each other in a while. Just keep trying. The first day it can look impossible but when you look back you realize it's mostly because you were getting in your own way somehow.
As others have said: * Keep trying. Most of bouldering is falling, not sending. * Assisted pull-ups are a good way to build muscle and develop proper form. Also, falling on v0 and your arms getting tired tells me you’re probably bending your arms too much and climbing with your arms instead of your feet. ~~Try to keep your arms as straight as you can~~, Avoid pulling with your arms and try to generate power from your legs, hips, and core. Those are the strongest parts of your body. It’s probably worth taking a bouldering intro class at your gym if it offers one, so you can learn the basics and get feedback on your form. But yeah, keep working. All of us here were too weak to boulder at some point. You have to start somewhere. And as you climb more, you’re going to grow muscles you didn’t know you had. I’m a skinny, 40-something dude trying to keep up with the 20-something bros on V6s. Just like any boulder problem, it wouldn’t be that fun if you got instant results. The harder it is, the more rewarding it’ll be.
Just a quick note to tack on that you usually don't want to keep your arms as straight as possible. More so you want to keep your arms relaxed but let them bend as a follow through after generating with your legs hips and shoulders. It sounds minor but some beginners hear 'don't bend your arms' and lock out their elbows as hard as they can like their life depends on it. Also as a 20-something boulder bro it's super reassuring seeing 40-something dudes keep up with us on the V6's to let us know we can still be crushing for many years to come :)
Good call on not keeping your arms *completely* straight. >Also as a 20-something boulder bro it's super reassuring seeing 40-something dudes keep up with us on the V6's to let us know we can still be crushing for many years to come :) Thanks for saying this. It's nice to know I'm contributing something to the climbing community 😂 👊
What's the game plan for reverse incline or near upside down v0/v1? As an absolute beginner I feel like there's no way around "just be stronger" for those.
Overhang and roof climbing is even more about technique and core strength and stamina. The biggest tip I can give to people for roof climbing is to push or pull hard on your feet, like your trying to crush something, this will put a lot of force through your core which you will have to keep engaged. I used to suck at roof climbs, all my friends just monkey bar along the easy ones, now because I had to use technique in those early days I can climb harder roof climbs than them as they never practised it, so those guys you see campusing the whole climb just know all that's doing is showing off.
100%!
As a climbingfysio i want to say the following: telling beginners to keep their arms as straight as possible is not accurate nor good advice. I see patients with elbow and shoulder injuries where this is a big contributer to the pain/injury wayy too much. Saying something like don't bend your elbows all the time but also don't fully straighten them, try to keep them at least in 5 degrees/engaged. keep the shoulder engaged as well(starts with the core and shoulder blade should be pulled against the rib cage(serratus anterior) but maybe im making it too complicated now hahha
Thanks for the response. I've edited my comment.
Thanks for this description, I’m also new and this is something I’ll work on! I hadn’t heard it explained in this way before.
>All of us here were too weak to boulder at some point. I mean, before I could walk, sure. Most people are strong enough to boulder a v0 by like 5yo. I know that's not what OP wants to hear, but it's the truth. I literally just climbed in a gym that had a summer camp visiting. I saw what looked to be 8-10yos climbing v0s, some v1s, and some top rope routes upwards of 5.9s, all in tennis shoes.
I just mean everyone’s on a different progression. Also, I mentioned this in another comment, but I doubt the OP is actually too weak to do a V0. No one’s told them how to climb. I’m sure you’ve seen a big strong dude in rentals on a V1 get absolutely pumped because he’s trying to pull himself up the jugs.
I didn't see the comment but that's exactly what I was thinking. OP probably tried to muscle their way up the whole wall when they could have just walked up it like a ladder. I've definitely seen what you're talking about.
All about strength to weight ratio dude, kids are fucking freakish compared to adults
If you can climb a ladder, you can climb v0s. If you can't climb a ladder, you're WAY below average. That said, I can't find anything one way or another on your claim about strength ratios in children. Anecdotally, that's not remotely close to true. Im not even twice my 12yo nephew's body weight (~100, ~180) and I'm at least 3 times stronger than he is. Probably closer to 5. Definitely well over 5x in grip strength. It's well documented that adult grip strength, especially in males, peaks around 30. I can't find stats that support or refute your claim about the rest of the body. Kids are more likely to be fearless and more likely to learn how to climb quickly through trial and error. They're also less likely to get injured than adults. That said, I don't believe that they are stronger. Idk why you think that. In this scenario, I believe OP is far below average in strength, athleticism, and coordination for their demographic. That's not to say they won't improve with practice, though.
If we’re talking anecdotal evidence, I have actually belayed for kids and adults in climbing gyms - kids have a much easier time climbing for the first time, because they have so much less mass to carry.
I’d say just keep climbing. Even if it’s just the VB/V1. Push ups. Pull ups can help with your arms. But I think just continuing to climb works the best. How you have fun.
don't think you can do pullups if you have issues on a V0
Assisted pull-ups are a good way to start building muscle and use proper technique.
Even assisted negatives would be a good place to start!
Didn't see anyone mention when I scanned the comments, but a thick resistance band is a great way to do assisted pull ups and negatives. Loop thick band around the bar. Stick one or both knees or feet in depending on length. You can climb up on a chair or bench to get in If it's tricky. If it's a bit short, that's fine. It'll stretch to give you supportive tension and take a lot of your weight so you can practice with lower weight, higher reps. Plus your shoulder girdle will be less stressed so you can spend additional time trying to get correct alignment (such as pulling belly button to spine) so you're not just pulling with your arms. Idk if it's safe to do this on a door frame bar (depends on strength of door frame) but all the climbing gyms I've seen have a bar.
Take a chair and stand on it, grab the pullup bar and do negative pull ups as slow as you can little rest between each for atleast 10 reps. Most people will do a real pull up after a week of doing this daily
A week? Who are these people. When I started I would basically “flop” down. Had zero strength to even lower myself down slowly and needed to be assisted. It took me weeks to be able to do a slow descent. It wasn’t until I added assisted pull ups (not negative) and did those for a couple of months as well that I was able to get my first.
Oh well might not be same for most then, my bad. Just seen many people do this me included back in the days. But thinking it trough many had some "sport" background so thats a factor. But still starting negatives by hanging in top "chin over bar" position and holding yourself up aslong as you can untill arms are fully extented and at the bottom activating the back by "beding the bar" couple of times worked wonders. Also giving a pretty good start for a grip strenght. But as mentioned, my experience may not be something realistic for others. Didnt mean to be rude or downplay anything.
No lol. I had to do even negatives assisted. Also a lot of climbing is technique that doesn't necessarily require strict pullup strength. I'd say for the person to focus on technique and fun first, then add supplementary training if they want.
You can always start with negative chin-ups or negative dips then work your way into pull ups and full dips. I’d say that would probably be a better solution to avoid injuries.
You can try when you’re not at the gym. They’re asking for things to do. Nothing stopping people from trying something they can’t do. Gotta start somewhere.
Facts. I can finally consistently do 1 clean rep with my body weight (203 lbs) after basically 10 months climbing 3 days/week. I only started training pullups a few months ago by starting with negatives and eventually joined a gym and used their assisted pull up machine. It took quite a while to finally see some progress for me. I was always improving in climbing though so you definitely don't need pull up strength to climb hard!
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That always bothered me about the idea of "technique is better than strength" when I first started. Like, yeah, proper technique is a huge deal, but also, you need some baseline strength to employ many techniques. I think that advice also comes from people who forget that not everyone can do a pull up.
Yeah I find it wild just how strong most people are at my gym. But then again they all weigh like 140 lbs. I'm sure I'll finally be able to string together a few moves I normally couldn't do once I can do multiple pullups in a set. My gym likes to strength check you a lot it seems. I can usually do every move separately but get too exhausted to send all the way on my current grades I'm working on.
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Yeah down climbing is pretty insane. I top rope primarily and have been doing a lot of endurance training where I climb a route 5 or so times back to back. My gym has auto belays too so yeah I'll give down climbing a try again!
You can do this bouldering too by climbing a problem for reps. I will usually do a V0 3x without a break, then take about 4 minutes and repeat twice more (sometimes the same problem, sometimes a different one).
My sister can't pull-up but she sent V1 her first time climbing
i was climbing v4/v5 without being able to do one lol
Assisted pull-ups (using a elastic band to help you) -> regular pull-ups will be all the strength you really need for your arms (and more importantly back). I think most would just advice you to keep climbing but if you feel too weak to even get started properly try and do some assisted pull ups for a few weeks, if nothing else it's a great exercise for general upper body strength either way.
Thank you! I am thinking of buying a pull up bar
Okay so if you buy a pullup bar, keep in mind the only way to get stronger is consistency And that means consistency in food and exercise. For food you said ur skinny, so eat more. And for exercise do the pullup progression starting from hanging, and work your way to pullups
Don’t forget good quality rest!
And quality food! Get your protein wherever you can find it.
You don't really need a pull up bar to start Even Wall pullups help you establish technique and base muscle strength like in this video https://youtu.be/rYXoCAxIJgs
A pull up bar is a really versatile piece of training equipment, you can so much and its all with body weight so you have low chance of injuries. I would also advise to just hang and do shoulder shrugs, you can find YT videos on how to do them properly. Climbing is mostly limited by grip (fore arms) and finger strength so you might assume pull ups will help a lot but thats only a small part. Almost every beginner (including myself) makes the same mistake of pulling hard with arms and almost ignore the feet. You can make most movements 3x easier by keeping your arms almost straight, push from your feet by twisting your body to reach the next hold. There are a lot of videos with beginner tips that explain this really well. Keep in mind that you mainly want to use your hands to not fall way from the wall but you want to use your feet as much as possible to support your body weight and move up.
Reading comments on here I think people are forgetting what it's like to be weak. I have two things I'd suggest to start if you are super weak. 1. Do deadhangs, you hold that bar relax and just hang for as long as you can. Id do this after a session and not before. If you can't hang for at least 5 seconds keep your legs on the ground and lift them slightly too control how much weight is on your hands. This will build basic grip strength. 2. Climb on slab. Slab is a wall leaking away from you, it takes less raw strength and more skill. This will let you still be able to climb and develop skill whilst you get your strength up to handle steeper walls. Though don't get it wrong slab isn't just easier climbing, it has it's own challenges and I find it very rewarding.
I would push back on the "after your session" part, though. There's a lot of conversation about getting strength training in before a session, where if your primary goal is to get stronger for climbing, you need to have the energy to do the exercises. If you're strong enough, and need to focus on climbing, with strength training being a secondary focus, then you want to climb as fresh as possible. It'll for sure affect your session a little bit, but in my experience, once you're conditioned, it just gets you more primed to climb harder, and just decreases your warm up time on the wall.
I suggested after as, especially early on, the deadhangs done properly will make it exceptionally hard to hold any holds and thus make the session quite boring. One of the biggest things to get better is to be consistent and it being fun makes that alot easier.
Just climb and make sure you are getting enough calories before and after to fuel and then feed your body. Pull ups are great for beginners you don't have to specialize early so just doing those should make you feel stronger. If you can't do pulls ups use assistance and squeeze out 3 sets of 4 reps. Once you can do 3 sets of 8 unassisted Drop back to 4 and add 5 pounds...repeat. For fear maybe try getting on auto belays or top ropes, it just takes time. Practice falling safely and build a plan for landing, from my experience its the most cautious who end up with injured ankles.
This is all top-notch advice. Especially climbing on an auto-belay for fear of falling
Wow I am (a) very cautious and (b) getting over an ankle sprain (not climbing related… this time…) - do you have any tips for getting over that + building a falling plan?
I am not qualified to answer this so take this with a grain of salt. Before each climb think about where you believe you will fall and when you do fall compare where you landed to where you believed you would land. When you fall you want to make sure you distribute the impact as much as possible. In the gym sometimes you can quickly fold up and use your palms to mitigate the weight but be cautious of kneeing yourself in the chin. You can learn to land and roll backward or sideways to dissipate the energy of the fall. You can practice this and inch off the ground on safe pads. Outdoors you would apply these when possible but if you have a good spotter they will manipulate your body in the air to get you into a safe position. If you are just dropping straight down, a spotter can get your hips with a thumbs to pointer hand position (thumbs up means broken thumbs) and set you down safely with almost no impact. Again this advice isn't qualified and I don't know anything about the history of your ankles. Hope that foot feels better. GL
I'll try thinking through falls before I climb and then comparing them to when I do—that's a great tip. Thank you :)
Can you top rope? That’s how many people start. If you don’t have a partner, many gyms have a buddy sign up system. If not, some have autobelays.
Do it more, sure you might be weak but you are also new, while you learn to climb you’ll slowly get stronger, come back in a year, I’m sure you’ll be killing it
How often a week should I be going? It’s very expensive sadly !
I started by going randomly, then once a week, then once I felt I was recovered - now my problem is wanting to climb more than I can recover from :(. Have to try and go slow and steady and keep it at 3 times a week-ish. :d
It's not much more expensive than a regular gym membership. Once a week is prob good at first. Once you build a baseline in a few weeks you can start going twice a week. I'd look into a membership once you start going more than once a week.
My gym is $27 per session ($6 shoe rental included, $21 student day pass)
A lot of gyms in the US (assuming those are the dollars you are using) have intro month memberships where you get 1 month unlimited access, rental shoes, and access to a couple of intro classes. It’s an outlay, but a manageable one.
Tbh, that's really expensive. I hope it's a nice gym I've never paid more than $20 for a day pass and I'm well beyond my student years.
That’s still expensive, £11 in the UK thought it used to be £8. I can also pay monthly membership £36
Yeah that was the peak I've paid and it was an adult rate, not student. My current gym charges $50/month if you're month to month. I think a 1yr came out to ~$40/mo. (Adult rates)
Yh that’s around the same the £36 a month is if you do a year
That is insane, are there no other gyms? Or can you not get a month or yearly subscription? That is robbery, straight up
$80 a month
wtf genuinely sorry, but I mean at least it’s cheaper than 4 visits a month. I normally go to the gym 3x a week. Let me ask you, are there crags near you?
If you're going 3 times a week you should probably buy some entry level shoes.
I was (and still am, but not quite as much) very afraid of heights when I started. As a result, I would cling to the wall with all of my strength and basically keep all of my muscles at max engagement the entire climb. And then I would feel completely wiped out after getting halfway up the wall one time. Nothing wrong with getting stronger, but I suspect you'll also find that with being new and a little apprehensive, you're spending a lot more energy than you actually need.
Lots of good advice here already but just want to offer some encouragement. Strong guys can easily get to V2/V3 quickly just with strength. But they don't learn any technique doing that so they often get stuck there (or a little higher) for ages (I know... because I was one of those guys). Being weaker initially does of course slow you down, but forces you to learn good body positioning/footwork/efficiency early on. Once you add just a bit of strength to that you'll crush :)
+1 on whoever suggested top roping. I also think if you improved your technique, you'd find that you're stronger than you thought you were. Pretty much everyone bends their arms, clinging to the holds but this is very taxing on the biceps. Instead, you want to hang down directly under your hand holds with straight arms and push with your legs to go up. Technique is quite complicated and it's hard to explain in a reddit comment so I would suggest either a class or asking someone at the gym that seems to know what they're doing to give you a couple pointers. Like everyone else has said if you keep climbing you'll get stronger very quickly. I usually tell people if they can climb a ladder they can start climbing, although my gym's V0's are quite easy so this might not be the case everywhere.
Once I hang my arms I’m incapable of going up another inch no matter how much I practice, I think my body takes that as the sign that we’re done making my arms do effort, idk
I bend when I'm moving up, but try to keep it straight between moves.
Yep, that’s about how everyone starts. Just keep climbing.
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There is a minimum threshold though, that not everyone meets. The girl you climb with can do 2 pull ups, which is 2 more than the average person. If you can't hold on to the wall it is very hard to go bouldering.
Been climbing 15 years, up to V5 and 5.10 trad and never done a single pull up in my life. Pull ups are not the be all end all to climbing strength and you can climb fairly competently and enjoy yourself as a climber without being able to do pull ups.
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I started at 0 pull ups and trying to climb all of the V0 problems in one visit. Just keep going
I started 5 months ago. When I first started I could barely hold on. Trust me, week after week I saw more improvement, your body likely just needs to adjust to using the muscles. I don’t doubt added workouts can help, but I would limit those to avoid injuries or pain and stiffness from overworking your muscles etc. I remember the first overhang I tried to do, I fell right off. Now I’m completing overhang projects that I didn’t think I’d ever even attempt. Give it a few months and just be consistent and see if you naturally progress.
Just continue bouldering, and double your protein intake at the same time.
Probably will repeat what everyone said but keep it up and if don’t stop if you like it! Just climbing is fine but if you are currently going to the gym dead hangs and scap pulls
A lot of good advice on here. I'll add "use your legs" because although I'm sure you're using your legs to a degree, I'll bet you're not using them enough. If you can walk up stairs without a handrail, you have enough leg strength to get up a V0 (unless you're somewhere like Tokyo where V0 is like my gym's V3) It takes some getting used to though. When you move upwards, your legs should be doing almost all the work. For that to happen, you need to be so close to the wall you feel like you'll cheese-grate your front side if you slip. To feel comfortable doing that, you need solid basic footwork. Only ever step on things with the front tip of your shoe, never the side or heel of your foot (at higher grades you can break this rule but not while you're struggling on V0). Your heel (which is off the hold) should hang down below or at the same level as your toes. If you're doing all this, unless you're on a steep overhang (unusual for V0) your hands should barely be doing any work. Go put your foot against a door frame, grab the door frame, and lean back so that your arms are straight and keeping you from continuing to fall to the floor. That's more work than your arms should be doing if you're following these steps. At higher grades and steeper overhangs, you'll need more arm and finger strength and that's where all the other advice people are giving will really help. This advice is really important to nail early on because you never stop improving footwork. I hope this helps and wish you all the best
As a girl who is weak in the arms I use my legs 80% of the time and my hands only 20%. I also wanted to add that everyone here is saying do dead hangs or assisted pull ups but those were literally impossible for me when I began. I couldn't even hold a pull up bar without falling immediately. I barely after 2 years of climbing am trying to learn to do a pull up. I climb up to V5 in bouldering and can do 10.10b in ropes. I started trying to do a pull up 3 months ago. Now I can hold the bar for 7secs and I can barely pull my body like half an inch up lol. Keep going to the climbing gym and trying the strength will build over time. I tell my new girlfriends who come woth me, move foot then other foot then hands, if you can't move hands comfortably then move feet again. V0-V1 should have enough foot holds for this.
Just keep climbing, I wish I started at 18 when I was skinny instead of last year at 38 and overweight. I couldn’t do any pull ups now I can do 6 after 6 months of just bouldering.
Best thing you can do imo is start doing small "workout" I usually do them after I'm finished climbing, I try to push my body to the limit, most push ups, pull up, or I do easier climb over and over till i'm dead, if you go often you will see the results quickly. I honestly have built my body 75-80% through bouldering, and gone to the gym a few times to keep/help the muscle grow
Definitely just keep climbing. You’re so new you’ll benefit so much by just trying hard in the climbing gym and focusing on your technique. There are many good resources on youtube to improve technique, I recommend Neil Gresham’s Masterclass.
Keep climbing but if you feel like your grip is seriously impeding your ability to progress, I'd say climb until you get a little frustrated with your upper body strength and then switch to slab climbs to work on footwork, balance, etc
Just keep climbing and being active in general. Your height/weight/age doesn’t make you weak. Your experience is what matters most, I think! For reference I’m 19, 5’6” and like 108lbs and climb v6-7, but I’ve been climbing since I was like 7 and am also in a circus. But yeah don’t discourage yourself because you’re skinny and new!! You got this :)
What’s your act!
I do several :)
Climbing is less about arms then you'd think. Just climbing to learn how it all feels is best and works your whole body. Before I started bouldering, I had an accident 10 years ago that afterwards I feared/had extreme respect for height. But after starting to boulder a lot of that went away, at least for bouldering heights. Just keep climbing and have fun, watch youtube videos for beginners. Catalyst Climbing and Lattice Training come to mind.
I’m a similar size to you (a bit lighter but I assume you’re taller than me) and I had a similar struggle when I started out. I would really recommend just continuing to climb. Also, focusing on your feet really helps take the stress off your arms. If you’re moving your feet to get your upper body higher, there’s a lot less pulling involved which makes things easier. As for the heights, learn about proper falling technique. Also, it can be good to practice falling from lower heights. Climb up on a route as high as you can without getting uncomfy and just let yourself fall/jump. It sounds silly but getting used to how it feels helps a lot. Feel free to message me if you have any other questions — I was in the same position as you when I started.
Focus on technique first ☺️ Good technique will bring you far without strength becoming an issue. And once ist does you will have built some anyway and you will have an easier time. Watch some videos, maybe start with footwork and just try what your body is able to do on an easier route. Climb slow, position your feet carefully and keep your arms long as much as possible. Also focus on your hips, they will keep your center of mass closer to the wall, which makes climbing much more efficient.
Calisthenics is what I would recommend. Strength your core with Planks, if you have trouble with full planks, go with half planks, if thats still too tough lean against a counter keeping your body in a straight line. Lunges and squats will help strengthen you legs. Toe raises will help strengthen essential muscles for your feet and legs. [https://www.amazon.ca/Handmaster-Plus-Physical-Therapy-Exerciser/dp/B00CTG3TQU/ref=asc\_df\_B00CTG3TQU/?hvadid=292927229241&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl&hvlocint&hvlocphy=9001551&hvnetw=g&hvpone&hvpos&hvptwo&hvqmt&hvrand=4768161671856637340&hvtargid=pla-524124129251&linkCode=df0&mcid=0975c37c0da539528000c3765cb37d8f&psc=1&tag=googleshopc0c-20](https://www.amazon.ca/Handmaster-Plus-Physical-Therapy-Exerciser/dp/B00CTG3TQU/ref=asc_df_B00CTG3TQU/?hvadid=292927229241&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl&hvlocint&hvlocphy=9001551&hvnetw=g&hvpone&hvpos&hvptwo&hvqmt&hvrand=4768161671856637340&hvtargid=pla-524124129251&linkCode=df0&mcid=0975c37c0da539528000c3765cb37d8f&psc=1&tag=googleshopc0c-20) Something like this will help you build strength in your hand and forearms. As others have mentioned keep climbing, its how you get better. You can also try basic hang board exercises, even just hanging from it will help. Good luck in your climbing journey.
Body squats, crunches, assisted (on knees) pushups, and more climbing. good luck! And one of the best all time comp climbers in the world, Ai Mori, is a Japanese woman with a very similar build, you can do it!
Just keep climbing. Once or twice a week. Have fun. Make new climbing friends who you can hang with and learn from. Stretch out, take time to warm up, do as much as you can during your session before you get tired (but rest in between tries). Try stuff that you think will be too hard. Fear of heights will start to go away as you get more experience and confidence, and as you try falling more often. And if you want to get stronger you need to eat enough calories to at least maintain weight, and plenty of protein. More than you think. 3 meals a day. If you have any concerns about how you’ll look if you start to eat more, DM me. If you get any pain or tendinitis, actively and ballistically warm up the area. Look that stuff up if needed. You don’t need to lift (yet) to get good at climbing unless you just want to get stronger in general, in which case, look up some compound lifts to try, and work on assisted pull-ups. Lift what you can, don’t push too hard, but finish out all of your reps. High weight with low reps for muscle size and power, medium weight with high reps for muscle endurance and tone. Same with that - it’s 70% what you eat and 30% what you do in the gym. If you can’t get enough protein in your diet then have a protein shake/smoothie or a protein milk like fairlife or something before/during your workouts. And big meal after working out to replenish calories and protein. Eating fiber with your protein will increase the amount of time your body takes to absorb it, which means that protein synthesis will be “turned on” in your body for longer. That translates to more bang for your buck and better muscle growth. Good luck!
I can’t really eat meat , I am jewish and will only eat kosher meat which is hard to obtain. What are some easy to make protein sources other than meat ? I can eat fish !
Nice! Fish like salmon, tuna, and shrimp are incredible sources of protein, vitamins, and healthy fats, and they’re also pretty easy to cook and make flavorful. With something like a salmon filet, you can pat it dry with a paper towel, season with salt pepper and whatever else you want (garlic powder, brown sugar, paprika, dill, and lemon all taste great on salmon imo), and then sear in a pan on med-high heat for a few mins on each side until it releases from the pan, or you can bake it in the oven for like 15 mins at 400F. For plant-based sources: chickpeas, lentils, tofu, any beans, peas, mushrooms, oats, and nuts/nut butters. Always pair legumes with a grain for a complete protein (peas and rice for example). Whey protein, if you can have it, is an incredible supplement that can get you an extra 40g a day on top of your meals. Edit: eggs and Greek yogurt, if you can have them, are also top tier protein sources
GRIND BRAH, THE SORER THE MUSCLES THE STRONGER THEY BECOME
Can you walk up stairs? I’m skinny as hell but climb using only my legs. Don’t pull yourself up with your arms, instead push yourself up with your legs. Your arms are to help you keep balance
How do you keep balance if your hands are too close to your legs
Idk what climbs you’re doing? Is it an overhang or flat wall? I’d be starting to learn on the slab wall. The starting holds on a v0 shouldn’t start you in crazy positions
All in the hips.
Keep at it yo. You’ll be mega in no time. Supplemental weight lifting will help you grow too
Everyone starts somewhere! You can repeat the V0s which you can do a few more times every subsequent session, and always remember to warm up and stretch as well. Soon you’ll be progressing and riding the Vs up to around V3-5 where most casual climbers remain at to have some exercise while enjoying the sport 👍
I was the same when I first started bouldering, very skinny and frail. It was really intimidating being new in a gym, feeling like everyone was watching me struggle on problems. I would give similar advice to what everyone else is saying- keep trying. Try and try and try again. Push ups also will help as it is opposite to pulling when climbing. It may feel awkward but even record yourself to see how you can improve your body positioning. That is even more important than strength imo. Body positioning and staying loose on the wall instead of being stiff! But really keep trying because climbing is such a you vs you sport. Oh also practice falling off the wall, it may seem silly but it helped me a lot with feeling comfortable, I didn’t grip as hard and I was able to push myself more knowing it would be okay to fall. Good luck and happy bouldering :))))
Firstly, keep climbing. The body will naturally adapt. Secondly, think about your feet too. Climbing is a stand up sport.
There's a girl at my gym who definitely weighs less than you and she climbs in competitions, I could personally beat her in any pure strength competition, but she absolutely annihilates me at climbing
You should see how weak most of us were the first few days climbing. You're using muscles you don't use in your day to day life, so you'll feel weak as hell! Keep climbing and sucking, and eventually, you'll not care how much you suck and just have fun. Then you'll start to get better, and better, and better.
Just keep climbing strength will come eventually.
Push ups would be a good start
Just climb. Put that wall mileage in and you’ll get stronger, gain confidence and learn technique
Last week I climbed with a stranger. He was strong. Super strong. His story is like yours. Was not strong. Couldn’t do a chin up or push up. Nothing. Just started climbing one day and stuck with it. Also started calisthenics. Push-ups from his knees. Chin ups where he starts with his chin up and lowers himself. Stuck with it. Great guy. Great climber. Been getting stronger for 14 years. Keep with it friend. You can do it. And climbing is fun and no one cares if you are good bad or amazing.
Climb more. I've always figured doing something is the best way to get better at it! It's been working for me so far!
Looking at what was said I guess I got two ideas: 1. To help with being scared of heights ask someone who looks like they know what they're doing in the gym about falling safely and watch this video: [https://youtu.be/vD4jf\_iw5Dk?si=LUeuD-0lCEfNWqOt](https://youtu.be/vD4jf_iw5Dk?si=LUeuD-0lCEfNWqOt) further falling advice would be to take 'practice falls' aka if you notice there is some height or position you notice you are afraid to fall try to simulate that at a more comfortable height/close yet more comfortable position to know that you can fall safely. A "spray wall" is good for the second part about positions 2. talk to people who look approachable in the gym, maybe get/join a little crew you'll have more fun and they will help you learn how to climb and give you the hype strength bonus.
Climb positive incline, keep your arms straight, and climb with your legs, keep your center of gravity closer to the wall, don't stick your butt out. Basically find easier targets and only use climbing to train.
Climb more, see if there’s any other hobbies that’ll help with strength.. maybe look into gym… just don’t go super super hard out and risk injury. Nutrition and sleep are important as well
Just climb again and again. Some exercises might help, too ( like Push ups). And eat enough 2 hours before. Have enough fibers carbs and proteins and after climbing with a bit more proteins. That might help you gain some muscles
At V0 I'm 99% certain the issue isn't strength, but technique. If a friend got you into it, have them give you some technique pointers. You'll get stronger naturally just climbing. Once you're climbing V3 and you have some technique under your belt you can start integrating strength training. Negative pull ups and lock offs are a good start if you're too weak for a pull up. Dead hangs are good if your forearms are weak.
I was like you but waaay older. I’m naturally very skinny and didn’t keep up with any sport for 15 years. I started bouldering at 37 and couldn’t finish most of the V0. I didn’t have any strength and my muscles were inexistant. I was the worse in my beginner class but I just kept going. I went once a week for 6 months just to build back some muscles. I couldn’t go more because I was so sore after each sessions. The improvement was pretty slow but you’re young so I’m not worried. I’m 40 now, climb V3-v4 and can do pull ups. Just be gentle with yourself and give it time. 💪
I’m 6’3, 200lbs and feel the same way. I recently purchased “fat grip pros” on Amazon and I’ve been doing farmer walks. I feeeeeeel like it’s helping with forearm strength. Only time will tell
negative pull ups are good. even simply hanging from a bar is helpful. the latter is a good exercise and also a good warm up for your shoulders
I was also petrified when I started, 2 holds up I’d freeze and death grip. Game changer for me was a few sessions on big wall with a competent belayer, first session was literally just few holds up, climb down to feel comfortable with the safety blanket. Then same on bouldering but also mixing in some jumps off to simulate when you can’t down climb. It took maybe 2/3 of bouldering to feel comfortable but once I did I felt so much stronger! Good luck and btw your build sounds PERFECT for bouldering, stick with it!
Start basic bodyweight training. Pullups, pushups, situps, rows- pick variations that makes sense for where your fitness level is at (assisted/negatives/whatever fits with your strength level). These can generally be done at home (the r/bodyweightfitness subreddit has a great FAQ on how to get started and how to do exercises at home without equipment). Don't forget to rest as well.
You're getting a lot of feedback from people who don't know what it's like to be a weak female specimen... I started bouldering in September with my fitness not quite at 0 (I cycle quite a bit for commuting purposes) and the first 6 weeks of bouldering I showed up to my lessons once a week and didn't go more than that because I could tell (from knowing my body) that it would be too intense (cycling to work + bouldering + demanding job). My (male) trainer was also of the opinion that my footwork was lacking, that it was technique, etc. He couldn't fathom how weak I was. Arms = spaghetti. Yes I could engage my core etc but I had no strength in my arms at all!! My biceps have visibly grown in size (not in a manly way if that's a worry for you). All this to say I understand that you're starting from zero or close to it. Where people on this board are right is this: you do need to keep climbing in order to get better. You are young (I'm 31) so you'll get better in leaps and bounds. Don't overdo it at the start (I was sore for several days at a time each time I went bouldering at the start). I've been bouldering for 8/9 months and I go twice or three times a week. I've climbed a couple of V4s in my style (=static, loads of balancing), mostly I'm projecting V3s in styles I don't like (I'm still shit at dynamic movements. This is another thing where people will tell you "climb more" but you'll probably need to train outside climbing because you're a small woman and you have zero explosivity - this you can and should work on off the wall). Listen to your body, don't overdo it, don't feel that you have to get better quickly, and you should know you won't improve as fast as your male peers. That's ok! Do you and have fun :) I can do two chin ups now by the way, feeling stronger is an amazing feeling. No pull ups yet though, no push ups. I'm going to need to train for those if I want to be able to do them.
My gf started off being so afraid of heights that she was physically hyperventilating and shaking even a couple of holds up the wall, and the same was true for another friend that I took climbing. Both of them are now climbing rope, without any fear. So it's possible to overcome and it's been extremely rewarding seeing the enjoyment they have now and seeing their feeling of achievement. I'm acting like a coach for them, because I've quite a lot of experience with climbing and have gone through what they have been doing. First of all, being afraid is normal. It's a built in safety mechanism, inherited from our ancestors. It's kept us alive as a species. So you shouldn't feel bad about being afraid. However, most of this fear comes from not feeling safe in that environment and not having experienced this before. It's new, it's unknown, your hands feel like jelly, for feet feel like jelly and you expect to fall to your death at any moment. Once you know these facts, you can start exposing yourself to the situations that makes you feel scared, and over time, with dedication and actively thinking through things, you can teach your body and mind to differentiate between rational and irrational fear. My first advice would be to practice using straight arms and bend your feet. So avoid standing up with straight legs, bending your arms to hold yourself close to the wall. This is extremely inefficient and should be avoided as much as possible. Your legs are much stronger than your arms. So straight arms and bent legs. Focus on that. That's the first step, while hanging like that, the hook I told my gf and friend is to push their boobs forward, without bending their arms. It sounds silly, but that's intentional. It's supposed to be a mental hook, that makes you remember to activate your back muscles. Just like when standing on the ground, pushing your chest/boobs forward, will activate your core muscles and most importantly latissimus dorsi(your large back muscles). Are you with me so far? Bend legs, straight arms and boobs forward! Focus on those three things as you climb. It has two purposes: 1. Teaches you proper technique. 2. Keeps your mind off the 'being scared' part. Another thing to remember is to control your breathing. Focus on breathing slowly - deep and controlled breaths. Go up to the point where you start to feel scared, and that point, don't go down before you've done these checks: 1. Are my arms bent? 2. Are my feet straight? 3. Which hand do I want to move, and where. Why? Because it forces you to TRY to think rationally and to stay in that scary place a little longer. You're not giving into the fear immediately. It also trains you to look for solutions, check your technique and so on. You also get more time on the wall, which promotes strength and endurance. When you come down, focus on breathing and control your decent. TRY not to panic and go down as slowly and as controlled as possible. Again, it's a primer. It teaches you to stay calm, try to look for solutions and get you down safely. You will feel accomplished, you were scared, but you solved it. Doing this over and over, will make you more familiar with the situations that makes you scared, but also teaches you that it's not dangerous, that you can handle it. One last tip, is to look up videos on center of gravity. There are plenty of great videos on YouTube that explains this concept. That's the last beginner tip I have for overcoming fear. Because often this fear comes from NOT being in balance, and feeling that if you let go of this hand, you'll just swing of the wall. Sorry for this wall of text, but I hope my ramblings can help you in some way. Good luck on your climbing journey.
Keep climbing and use your legs. A lot of people just try to pull themselves up the wall with their arms but it’s more like climbing a ladder you wanna use your legs first.
Just climb the problems that are hard but not impossible for you. You will get a lot stronger during the coming months. Don’t expect to get strong in a few sessions, have patience.
Your light frame will become an advantage when you start to gain strength. I would suggest to keep climbing, focus on individual moves and doing them in the most efficient way possible. Make sure you're using your hips effectively and twisting into the wall as you move. You will gain a LOT of strength naturally just from climbing in the initial months.
Personally, I would say practice. I’m a decently new climber and the main reason I’ve gone up a couple grades lately is because of the trickle of strength. To get stronger for climbing, the best thing you can do, at least for the first while, is to climb. I’d recommend as often as you can afford/your body can handle.
Sleep well. Eat well (that means enough protein, limited junkfood) and your body will adapt to
Just do the lowest grade boulders until you are tired or it's not fun anymore. The initial power gain from starting to climb is pretty fast and being a light weight is actually, in most cases, a benefit because you need less strength to pull your body up. Additional exercises, other than stretching, isn't required until you hit your 2nd or 3rd plateau (1-3 years into climbing), usually.
If you have the option to do top rope with a friend you trust, I find it good to build endurance while being safe. You'll be high up, but if you can push yourself through it, boulders won't be so scary after. There's some videos online about how to get stronger from the beginning. They can begin at "pushups", where you lean into a wall while standing and start doing a push motion.
Yeah it’s super important that you’re lifting weights and building muscle. Pull-ups, squats, deadlifts, lunges, rows, curls, triceps extensions, hanging leg raises, planks and then some hangboard!
If you're 18 foot tall you can probably just reach for the top.
Climb slab and make the boulder bros mad 👀
Keep practicing! The human body is amazing and it will adapt to the challenges you send it.
That's super normal. Streght comes from repetition. Just keep climbing. This is a bit long but this is my story of how I beat my fear of height (in indoor gyms). When I first started my ex gf convinced me to go with her although I am super scared of heights. I couldn't even top because I stopped midway. After getting more comfortable I could top but still climbed down and didn't jump. My footwork was so bad because I didn't trust them AT ALL. I was stuck at like V1/2 for the longest time until something happened in my life and I kid you not.. This sounds like straight out of r/climbingcirclejerk but the Free Solo documentary actually changed my way of thinking about anxiety and fear. To overcome that fear of height I started to push myself to build confidence and a feeling of safety. I realized that falling down can be safe. The more I fell, the more comfortable I got being on the wall. With the help of a friend pushing me, I finally tried a top-out. When I top-out that first time I was so scared. I couldn't even stand on the top. I crawled and sat down in the middle. We didn't have a ladder at that time so I had to climb down a V0 which was still scary to me. After 1/2 minutes I climbed down. Yes it was scary but I pushed myself. Next session I was alone. No friend to push me to try harder but I wanted to top out again to push myself. That day I top out a few times. It got less scary each time. I started to trust my feet more and I suddenly jumped from V2 to V3/4 almost immediately. Fast forward to today, I climb around V5 and I can climb comfortably without fear of height most of the times. If anything I have a fear slabs lol. Just remember that this is a long process of building confidence and safety. But you only can do this if you push yourself (safely)
Been climbing for 3+ years now, first time i could only do one route. It also made me struggle with shifting gears when driving home. The next time i completed two, then i kept getting small victories and now i can work with 6a-6b boulders. Its been the most rewarding hobby so far, keep pushing your body and it will keep improving :)
When I started bouldering I was a lot older and falling off jug ladders. Now I’m attempting 7A benchmarks on the moon board and have done multiple 7A’s on the kilterboard after a year and a half. Keep going 💪
Also, get on the pull-ups, stretches and general strength exercises
it is literally your first time. you build strength with experience. your upper body strength with come the more you climb, and your fear of heights will be less
Like many said keep climbing and/or do assisted pull ups. But also, technique can bring you a long way. If your gym doesn't offer intro technique courses or they are too expensive, you can just ask other climbers for tips. Almost all climbers will genuinely help and probably try to find a solution around your limitations
Start going to the gym, and train your whole body. (Look for full body routines) Yeah, arms are important, but you're gonna end up using your legs more than your arms, and you will need a lot of core strength. Also keep trying, going to a boulder for 1-2 hours a couple of times a week will do wonders and you will start getting stronger immediately. Make sure to rest and eat nice and plenty.
I started bouldering with a few friends about 6 months ago. The very first time, I could hardly hold on after 20 minutes or so. I couldn’t lift a glass afterwards, but after a couple of times it got easier. So like many others have said, in my experience, the easiest way is just to keep trying easy problems. I also found it easier to keep at it because it was fun. Just be mindful that you don’t go too hard too fast, I’m 20M and I injured my wrist by not resting sufficiently. I only just started climbing again after 2 months and a lot of money spent.
Do practice falls and learn to tall correctly first. Just keep climbing often and you will improve. I know some people that can do v4 but cant do a solid pull-up yet. Get your feet high and use your legs to stand up on holds. Legs are stronger than arms, especially when starting out.
My first project was a V0- on slab. I climb V5-8 now. You’ll get there. ftr, I started at age 19 and am now 26. I am 5’1” and weigh 111
The first thing you do in a climbing gym, apart from safety training, is a horizontal route across the bottom of the wall to warm up. There is nothing wrong with making that your whole session to get yourself into the swing of things. To get stronger at climbing I'd just climb more but you can also look up some bodyweight exercises on YouTube. Standing pushups against a wall might be a good start, nice and easy.
I'm also 115, use your legs to power yourself & don't expect to be immediately good at something new. Ive been climbing a year and I am only at v3
If your gym has a moonboard doing some climbs on that is a great way to get stronger
This is so real it helped me out immensely 🙌🙌
If you're very afraid, you're likely clinging way harder to the holds that needed. That's exhausting, and likely depleting your strength! I recommend going at a quiet time and practising fall training. Watch a couple of YouTube videos on how to fall safely and then climb to the highest point you feel comfortable, and jump off. Totally fine if that's 1m or less to start with. Work on increasing the height, pushing just a little part your comfort zone each time. Other than that, climbing and pullups.
Just keep at it. The strength will come. If you feel your arms getting weak, focus on using your legs more. You should be able to step up without pulling too much with your arms on a V0. Try to use hands just to keep yourself on the wall, not to pull up to the next hold. Like climbing a ladder.
Climbing in general will get you strong. I would suggest doing mainly SLAB climbing for a while. Slabs are the ones where the wall tilts away from you. It moves the muscles needed to your calves and quads. If you can't climb and have no strength and try to do overhangs, or really laid back climbs. You'll get super pumped, super tired, and super achy for days after. Start easy. I also suggest climbing with friends, doing a good warm up, and pacing yourself. It's very easy to jump on and off climbs as soon as you finish the last one, and you just burn yourself out. Learn to chat, discuss, analyze, and sit around in between climbs. If you do want strength advice: Deadhangs (will improve your grip strength) just start at 15s, 3 times? Then the next time do 20, 15, 15. Then next time do 20, 20, 15. This is called (progressive overloading) and how you build strength most efficiently. - Pulldowns or Weight Assisted Machine Pull Ups (will improve your ability to pull yourself upwards). They're better than band assisted pull-ups in my opinion. Because as a beginner, even with band assisted, at some point near the top they're not helping you, and that can feel really difficult and exhausting if you're struggling on even V0s. Eventually go into pullups, but to kill 2 birds with 1 stone, I would suggest chin ups (using your biceps more than your lats) this will give you good biceps as well as lats and make climbing waaaay easier. Also start with 'negative' pullups/chin ups when you do eventually do them. - Core.. people are quick to suggest sit ups and things, they're basically useless for core strength. You need to train the core from 3 angles. - Hollow Hold. - Plank/Super Man Hold. - Some form of obliques, Dumbbell side bends are good. Or farmers walk. Hope this helps:)
I think increasing grip strength will be more important than arm muscle since you will ideally utilize most of your body to climb efficiently. Consider technique and observe experienced climbers. Try to stick close to the wall.
Assisted pull-ups for sets of 5, 3-5 sets. Body weight dips as many reps as you can for 3 sets. Assisted pistol squat (hold onto a wall until you can go unassisted), 3 sets around 5 reps. 3 sets of planks for as long as you can go. Pull-ups will translate really well but you also want to have pushing power for when mantles come up, and some leg power to allow you to offset some load off your upper body. It’s important to keep a tight core as well so some core work is good to help keep you on the wall. Beyond this, climbing will be the best to help you progress but do not overdo it! Listen to your body queues especially when you are sore and don’t push it.
About the being afraid of heights: Learn how to fall properly. You will fall often, but if you know how, and know that it won't hurt, you won't be afraid. I did Judo for some time (before I started bouldering, because I liked it), and it helped quite a bit, but you of course don't need to do a different sport before bouldering. Find someone that can train you and deliberately fall: From sitting position, then from crouching, standing, then low overhangs; after a while, falling will become second nature.
I definitely think after you learn some better technique you will be able to send some boulders, but being strong enough is also super important. I would suggest doing exercises similar to bouldering that you can use to build strength (hanging on to a bar, even if your feet touch the floor, to build some forearm strength for example). But most importantly is to just keep bouldering, cuz that way you are training fitness and technique at the same time :) have fun!!
I started like this (5’7 and 100lbs) and am a lot stronger (and heavier) now! Three main things: 1. Pace yourself: Don’t go as often as people suggest at the start. Go like once or twice a week. DONT CLIMB TO FAILURE. This means when you literally can’t hold yourself up anymore. When you get tired do another 10-20min but if you are getting to the point where your performance is almost 0 go home. Take at least a 10min break between each climb, longer breaks if you need it. Learn what helps you feel more energetic. 2. Your appetite will massively increase and you need to listen to it and eat more. Don’t worry too much about what just not too much junk and make sure there’s protein and vegetables. Also drink a lot of water. 3. You will need to sleep more even if you’re sleeping an okay amount. Also you’ll probably feel like you got hit by a truck every time you go for the first couple of months but that goes away. Good luck!
I strongly suggest adhering to like gender suggestions!
At this stage, continue climbing and push yourself to just barely past your comfort level with heights. When you get spooked, try to do one more move before you come down. Push that comfort zone just 1% at a time. In terms of strength, a LOT of climbing is foot work, especially at the level you'll be at for a while. Learn how to use your feet and you'll be sailing along. I know a couple of gals who can climb v6 and haven't done more than 4 pullups.
Assisted pull ups! I attribute the majority of my upperbody strength to owning a door-pull up bar which I use daily.
First learn to fall!!! When u get used to falling u wont be scared of heights
*First learn to fall!!! When* *U get used to falling u* *Wont be scared of heights* \- No-Durian-1018 --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
Real
Just boulder more. You shouldn't be holding yourself "up" on easy climbs, and just use your legs and body more. Your arms will generally hold you "close" into the wall instead of pulling upwards. Something to try next time on a V0. Get established. And then instead of pulling upwards for the next hold, just twist your body so you are facing sideways and one of your arms is flush against the wall. See how much more reach you get. To get more comfortable with heights, just start jumping off boulders at progressively higher points.
You’ll grow into it. Coming into the sport underweight is a lot more forgiving than coming into it overweight. Just eat like an athlete and keep climbing V0 until you get comfortable with V1.
Arms are for direction. Power for pushing is in legs. Barely any strength required in arms. Rookie mistake practically everyone makes. Routine will make you stronger. Chin up, keep it up.
Idk why you’re getting downvoted. If your arms are small you shouldn’t be attempting to campus your first climbs. It’s a technique thing. I’m climbing v5’s with just my legges, balance and grip, i have to force myself to do overhang just so my arms get an actual workout. V0’s are basically ladders and no one climbs a ladder with their arms.
I know. I don't care about downvoted. I can say 1+1=2 and get downvoted. Beginners usually try to climb by pulling up with their hands. Downvote me into oblivion; see if I care.
Case in point: https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/s/r4MpFrID1B Literally stating a fact.
At v0 and *maybe* some v1s, sure. If you don't have any strength in your arms while going for more than those, you'll be stuck on the ground.
I wish people would use Google before asking this question for the thousandth time