Climbing Feet First!

-Day 13 of 31-

"Think with your feet!"  This was one of the first concepts to really stick in my head when I was learning to climb.  I'm sure most of you have heard about maintaining at least three points of contact (preferably four) and staying "in-balance" while climbing.  Thinking with your feet will help you with all of these.


The vast majority of non-climbers view climbing as a sport primarily focused on the upper body and that you need to be really strong in your upper body in order to climb.  The truth is, being well-balanced in both upper and lower body strength will put you in optimal shape for climbing.  But the lower body really drives where you're going.  When you start thinking "feet first" you put your body in a position to move where you really want it to go.  This doesn't necessarily mean that you move your feet first because sometimes your hands will have to find the holds first.  But you should be looking and finding your next footholds and seeing where the route will go and how it will play out with your body position.  And absolutely don't leave your feet behind.  Nothing is worse than being stretched out trying to reach a hold with your hands while your feet are way down there and you've forgotten all about them.  Meanwhile there's a perfect foothold at knee level for you to move up to that you've missed because you're focused on your hands.

You leg muscles are also much larger than your arms, so fatigue will not set in as quickly.  Early in the season you'll notice that your legs just aren't used to the physical workload required for longer routes (depending on how you train).  This is especially true of trad climbers who have to remain at a stance for awhile placing gear.  "Elvis leg" or "sewing-maching leg" is brought on by this fatigue.  To help alleviate this through training in the gym, take your time on routes.  Make some deliberate pauses.  Weight your feet and bounce on your toes on a hold.  Be diligent in this practice and it will pay off.

A final note on this.  When climbing at the gym, don't assume that your feet need to stick to only the footholds marked on the route.  Most gyms have a textured surface to the main "face" of the wall.  There are all sorts of possibilities for you to smear and edge your feet on this textured surface...use it!  What's more is that everyone is shaped differently and while a route-setter will try to accommodate most people, not everyone's reach and positioning will work out the same way.  The more creative you are at finding the "holds-between-the-holds" the more you will get into the flow of a route and begin to move more dynamically between rest stances.  Hmmm...dynamic movement...a topic for another day!