Quick, quick, slow

On Friday I took a bit of my own advice and went climbing with some friends who I havent climbed with for a long time.  The change of partner did me the world of good as I did different routes to usual, boosting my motivation.

As someone who likes to climb slow and steady, using mindful techniques to anchor myself in my body, I normally struggle on steeper climbs, where a slightly more attacking approach is needed to compensate for my lack of core strength!  However, steep was the order of the day on Friday, so I changed my tactics for the session.  I began by warming up as I always do, keeping movements controlled, slow and steady so that I could place my awareness into different parts of my body at will.  Once both mind and body were warm, I switched tactics and took longer before I stepped onto the climb to memorise sequences , rests and clip positions, and then tried to move smoothly but continuously through the route.  The important thing here was not to try to move quickly, but this was an inevitable by-product of creating continuous movement.  Result - rapid smooth progress up steeper routes.

So, top tip for today, try to vary the pace of your climbing.  Mostly we dont pay attention to speed unless we are trying to avoid a fall, but being able to control the pace at will can be a useful skill.  Practice on well-known routes or problems until you are able to vary at will, and then go ahead to transfer to newer or harder routes.