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10 tips for indoor bouldering newbies

13 minutes read
Those who start bouldering are often quickly captivated by the sport. Fun and unfamiliar movement sequences are combined with holistic training. Bergzeit climbing expert Bene Hirschmann gives ten helpful pointers on how to get successfully started.

Just discovered indoor bouldering? Interested in bouldering outside, but not sure whether your know-how and strength are enough? Want to learn more about how to improve and develop your form for this climbing technique? Do you want to be able to solve complex moves without paying the price in sore muscles for days afterwards? Do you want to know why it always looks so easy with experienced boulderers? Maybe it’s still difficult for you to “read” the right sequences for complicated bouldering?

Then take a look at these ten pointers for bouldering for beginners:

Tip 1: Choose the right  gear

Bouldering is a very minimalist sport for which you don’t need much equipment – especially when starting off indoors.

  • Bouldering shoes/climbing shoes: The most important thing you need for indoor bouldering is climbing shoes. Find a shoe that suits you. Generally speaking, there is no such thing as THE perfect bouldering shoe. The high-end bouldering shoes of professionals should not mislead you into thinking that these are the shoes you need for bouldering. Because you don’t get better by buying an extreme bouldering shoe but only by climbing. By the way: There is no difference between climbing shoes and bouldering shoes. However, for bouldering, you usually choose a climbing shoe with some special features.
  • Chalk and chalk bag: Apart from the shoes, you only need a chalk bag in which you can store your chalk. By the way: The extra-large chalk bags are also called boulder bags and offer even more space for the magnesia that is so necessary in many cases. You can also normally rent a chalk bag when hitting the gym for the first few times.
  • Brush: A brush for hand and footholds made of natural or plastic bristles can do a very good job if you want to increase the friction, and keep the rock clean.

Many boulderers (including many beginners) use tape that they wrap around their fingers. This serves no purpose whatsoever, as tape only serves to relieve the pressure on the fingers when they are injured. Taping up without injured fingers is actually much more damaging to the fingertips in the long run, as it prevents them from developing calluses, which are more than important for crushing on the boulders. So, dear newbies: Hands off the tape, you simply don’t need it.

Der richtige Kletterschuh ermöglicht Kontrolliertes Stehen auf kleinen, aber auch abschüssigen Tritten. | Foto: Bene Hirschmann
The right climbing shoe enables a controlled stance on small but also sloping footholds. | Photo: Bene Hirschmann

Tip 2: Familiarise yourself with the character and style of the bouldering on offer

Bouldering is an art and requires far more mental effort than just pure strength. Of course, strength is undoubtedly a very important factor when wanting to top out. Still, it has to be trained specifically with regard to bouldering. Bouldering can hence not really be understood as an extension of getting pumped at the gym.

If you build up too much muscle mass but do not adapt it to the necessary requirements of bouldering, you will be simply dragging excess weight up the wall, and don’t be surprised if your bouldering prowess stagnates or even gets worse.

Bouldering means “reading” complex movement sequences and creating them with a good climbing technique in the most effort-saving way possible. Beginners who learn the right movement patterns first and recognise them immediately when they see a boulder have considerable advantages over climbers who want to wrestle down problems with pure strength. First the technique, then the strength! If you only boulder using your power, you block the possibility of being able to solve boulder problems effectively and will have a very hard time getting better after the jug hauling days are over.

Furthermore, the forced trying of bouldering above your limit (too strength-intensive, too crimpy, etc.) should really stay a no-go. The serious consequence of such overconfidence (or even self-flagellation) can be long-lasting injuries in the fingers, shoulders, and even back. Warming up for bouldering should also be a standard ritual.

Tip 3: Learn the safety measures

The most important measures for more safety in climbing summarised by the DAV:

  • Keep the fall zone clear: Do not enter the matted area below the bouldering walls when someone is climbing or hanging the final jug. Many boulderers, unfortunately, sit too close to the wall and do not look up when they walk to the base. Serious collisions between climbers and the “ground crew” are unfortunately not uncommon.
  • “Spotting”: On higher difficult climbs it is advisable to stand below the boulderer (at a safe distance) with your hands stretched upwards and “spot” them in case of a fall, i.e. put them in a stable falling position. In this way, injuries during the fall (broken arms when catching the fall on the mat, etc.) can be avoided.
  • Jumping off or down climbing? For bouldering up higher, it is advisable to climb down a few holds first and then jump onto the mat.
  • First look down, then jump off: Before jumping off, make sure to check if there are people milling in the fall zone!
  • Supervise children/lookout for kids

Tip 4: Be patient and approach bouldering without pressure to perform

Patience is the basis of successful bouldering. Many boulder problems can only be learned through patient trial and error. All out erratic full force attacks usually lead to nothing but frustration. Instead, you should first just try and work out the “solution” (movements) of a boulder before you make a serious attempt to send.

Aggression has a negative connotation in bouldering and makes it more difficult. Aggression usually does not allow for clean and considered climbing but overrides it with rough movements and unnecessary feats of strength. However, you can turn your motivation into “positive aggression”, which helps you to approach a bouldering problem with full concentration and by using all your strength and skill.

Self-generated pressure to perform is anything but conducive to success. If frustration arises while bouldering, always keeps the golden principle of patience in mind.

Tip 5: Find the right sequences

Boulder müssen geduldig immer wieder probiert werden, hierzu gehört auch ein langer Problemlöseprozess. | Foto: Bene Hirschmann
Bouldering is a “practice makes perfect” type of sport which also involves a long problem-solving process. | Photo: Bene Hirschmann

Bouldering is a mental sport: even if as a beginner you cannot yet move as smoothly and elegantly on the wall as experienced climbers, you can still start to develop an eye for the correct “solution” of a boulder.

There are boulderers that are very easy and can be grasped at first glance: The left and right hand pull upwards alternately, the feet move analogously on the holds. Many boulder problems, however, leave a big question mark on the observer’s forehead at first glance. You can see the holds, which are not even that bad. But the way from the ground to the end of the boulder seems like an unsolvable riddle. Once you have found such a boulder, you are exactly where you should be as a beginner if you want to develop further.

The way to the goal is then to enter the boulder according to the “trial and error” principle: Try every possible solution to outsmart the distances between the holds. Leave no stone unturned and always keep the Golden Rule of Patience (Tip 4) in mind! You can also watch a more experienced boulderer solve your problem.

You should also keep one thing in mind: bouldering is a hard sport where you have to or can go to the limits. Every now and then you have to consider a very strenuous and at first seemingly impossible solution! This is the only way to keep improving! Many boulder problems require hours of mental work until the long-awaited “aha” effect finally follows. The shortest route does not always have to be the easiest. Bouldering in the hall is done by experienced climbers who also want to challenge you mentally. So, on many boulder climbs, you have to take detours between holds; for example, change your foot positions on a single hold several times and twist your body to get to the next hold.

My secret: Learning tricks while bouldering is the be-all and end-all! By this I mean: you have to learn not only to pull hard and to overcome the distances between holds by really bearing down, but you have to develop your very own style. This style, in turn, enables you as a boulderer to turn any movement, no matter how difficult, into the easiest possible solution for you  – through technique, brains, and patience you will find success!

Tip 6: Climbing technique and effective movements

The right body position can be achieved not only by pulling with the arms but above all by using the most important part of the body in bouldering – and climbing – in general: the hips!

In fact, by rotating your hips or taking momentum from them, you can control many movements in a certain direction and manage them in the most energy-saving way possible.
There are two simple ways of using the hips: firstly, when climbing in a frontal position (face facing the wall, legs stretched apart) and secondly, when climbing in a side-on position.

Tip 7: Don’t let the sight of experienced boulderers demotivate you

This is how it normally goes down: You have been trying your new project for some time (too long) without success. An experienced boulderer comes around the corner (often between 15 and 20 years old …) and does your boulder as a warm-up or showpiece. What boos for the ego!

Don’t get frustrated by such things – take them as a chance to learn something from other climbers! Often the smallest change in the movement is the key to success. Learn as much as possible from experienced boulderers. They often do complex movements automatically, almost instinctively, without having to think. Find the differences between your solution and that of an experienced boulderer and implement them yourself when on the sharp end.

Tip 8: Training for bouldering – getting the power to the wall

Das Halten von Kleinen Griffen kann man am besten durch das Bouldern selbst trainieren - Vorsicht, kleine Griffe haben ein großes Verletzungsrisiko bei Selbstüberschätzung. | Foto: Bene Hirschmann
The best way to train grasping small holds is by bouldering yourself – be careful, small holds have a great risk of injury if you overestimate yourself. | Photo: Bene Hirschmann

One thing first: I would like to distinguish the term “bouldering training” from learning climbing technique (tips 5 and 6). For me, it is absolutely important to practise a good climbing technique from the first climbing moves onwards and to try to “feel your way” into movements and make them as efficient and easy as possible for yourself. When it comes to the actual strength training, the technique should never be neglected and should always be recalled, even if you are concentrating on the strength aspect.

As a beginner, it makes absolute sense not to do any additional strength training! If you think you don’t have enough strength to do a boulder, here’s some advice from years of experience: If you try one or more boulder for a longer period of time, whether successfully or not, you automatically get an enormous increase in performance, which can soon be converted into the desired success if you climb regularly.

This means: If you want to get better and need more strength, then just go bouldering! And leave all other additional training methods outside the bouldering gym!

  • Conclusion: You get bouldering strength from bouldering, but bouldering strength is of little use without good bouldering technique.

The stupidest thing (there’s no other way to put it) you can do if you’re not satisfied with your strength is to hit the weights. There you will destroy all the specific bouldering power that you have painstakingly built up yourself while bouldering! Pure strength training on machines may help World Cup boulderers to build up strength in specific areas. However, they have already perfected the basic technique and basic power to such an extent that it is only a matter of fine-tuning their own strength-specific relative deficiencies. If you pump yourself up with mega biceps to be successful at bouldering (and of course to rival Arnold Schwarzenegger), then don’t be surprised why you don’t get any better. Thick muscles that are not adapted to bouldering are nothing more than an unnecessary extra weight that you have to drag up the wall!

As a reminder, any additional training involves a risk of injury, as you often do not know or cannot estimate your personal maximum load. More on this below

Tip 9: Don’t overdo it when bouldering and avoid injuries

More important here than the “how often” is the “how”: The typical injuries in bouldering affect the fingers, the shoulders, and the back. There are two different reasons for this: Insufficient warm-up or wilful overloading of the body.

Physical injuries from bouldering occur when you push your body so far to its limit that at some point it can no longer muster enough strength and stability and is injured in an overloaded area. So you should never overdo it within a bouldering session. Accentuate with heavy sessions (e.g. every third time you go bouldering) and consolidate your technique and strength in between with moderate bouldering sessions in which you don’t push your body to the limit.

In general, you should warm up with easy bouldering and always do the difficult bouldering at the beginning right after the warm-up! The risk of injury increases considerably when you are tired. Trying a boulder with small holds at the end of the bouldering session is therefore an extremely bad idea.

Ring ligaments, tendons, or capsules on the fingers can tear, rip, or be overstretched. Depending on the intensity of the injury, healing can take up to a year and usually involves permanent damage. Ring ligaments and capsules are mainly injured by excessive tearing at small groins and by slipping off small holds. Tendons can easily be overstretched or even torn if you pull too hard on finger holes. In general, you should be careful with this type of grip, as finger holes (especially for only one or two fingers) are extremely prone to inducing injuries.

Overall, you must always use small grips appropriately for your current level of strength. There is a fine line between effective training just at the limit and excessive training that exceeds the body’s tolerance.

Tip 10: Bouldering on the rock a ‘different ball game’ than indoors

Spotten ist am Fels unerlässlich, bei deisem extrem hohen Boulder wurde sogar ein Absprungpodest gebaut. | Foto: Bene Hirschmann
Spotting is essential outside, and on this high ball a landing platform was set up | Photo: Bene Hirschmann

You have already gathered some basic knowledge, technique, and strength for bouldering and would now like to test it all in the purest form of this sport, namely bouldering on boulders outdoors! Then here are a few words of wisdom, which might save you one or two bad experiences.

Indoor and outdoor bouldering are two different ball games. At the gym, the operator takes great care to keep the risk factors down to a minimum. Outside, however, there are no soft bouldering mats, only crash pads (portable mats that you place in the landing zone). Similarly, bouldering on rock does not offer a flat landing zone all too often; instead, you often have to struggle with large stones or roots that have to be covered expertly with the help of the aforementioned crash pads.

Thus try to get outdoors with someone on your first visit with someone who knows what to do. The “spotting” (tip 3) already mentioned in the safety measures is really quite indispensable on the rock! It requires some practice to be able to reliably perform spotting in different and sometimes more serious fall scenarios. More alpine bouldering areas in the forest, such as many spots in the Zillertal, Ötztal, or Averstal (where the well-known bouldering area Magic Wood is located) often have a tricky landing zone that has to be laid out with several crash pads and that need an experienced eye. Areas like Fontainebleau in France offer sandy bases and are therefore more suitable for beginners, in terms of safety.

When bouldering in the wild, keep it wild:

  • Not leaving rubbish, not making fires, and avoiding closed restricted areas out of respect for the landowners should really be a given.
  • However, I would like to point out one more point in particular: It is a habitual part of indoor bouldering that people cheer for each other loudly, that music plays in the background and that many people gather in one place. in the wild, however, noise such as loud shouting and loud music are simply not part of the package – but as always that’s just my take on that debate.
Bouldern am Fels ist die reinste Form des Kletterns.
Bouldering on the rocks is the purest form of climbing, but it also requires a lot of knowledge, technique, and strength. | Photo: Bergzeit

Do you need climbing shoes? You can find the right climbing and bouldering shoes in our magazine article on the new arrivals for the upcoming season!

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