Rock Climbing: Mastering Basic Climbing Techniques, Skills & Developing The Climbing Warrior's Mindset (Rock Climbing, Bouldering, Caving, Hiking) by Jack Norwatch

Author:Jack Norwatch [Norwatch, Jack]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jack Norwatch
Published: 2016-06-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 4 – Learn Proper Body Positioning

So you've learned how to use your hands and feet, how to properly place them on the holds so you can climb more efficiently. But you need to learn one more thing about your most important tool, your body. To keep yourself balanced on the rock while spending the least amount of energy and effort, you also need to learn about proper body positioning.

Understand that there are various ways to place your hands, feet and body against the rock. Your main goal is to figure out the best way to position them in a way that you maintain your balance.

How to maintain balance?

We've talked about the importance of maintaining stability and balance. But what is it and how do you find it? The center of gravity in your body is found around your navel. You would want to keep this point at the center in between the various points of contact on the wall. By being aware of your center, you are better off finding the best ways to position your body so that most of your weight rests on your feet rather than your arms and hands.

While you may have a strong upper body, your forearms are not designed to carry all the weight. In fact, this is the weakest link. Your legs are stronger which is why you need to be more conscious about them and maximize their use.

When you are climbing, you place yourself in a constant battle against gravity. You cannot eliminate gravity. It will pull you down if you let it. You are given an important tool however. You can use your entire body to work around this obstacle.

So now, we will take a look at proper body positioning according to a rock's orientation. Remember, you have to work with gravity. Working against it is futile so pay attention.

How to position your body on vertical walls?

On a vertical wall, your feet are perpendicular to the ground. You can get most of your weight on your feet by positioning your body as close to the wall as possible. You can do this by moving your hips near the wall.

When you pull your hips away from the wall, you can notice that the weight shifts from your feet to your arms. This is not preferable because by doing so, you put yourself at work against gravity. What you ultimately want is to work with gravity. Keep your hips close. Be mindful of this as you make your ascend and at each and every step up just like the climber does on the image below.

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