by Jamie Hagen
My New Year’s resolution this year is to focus more on progress and accomplishments I’ve made rather than immediately worrying about what I should be doing next. So here goes! I’m now completing V1s successfully, several routes a visit. Given my progress I feel confident I will be completing V2s by the end of January.
Part of diving into indoor rock climbing is getting over the nervousness of climbing in front of other climbers as a newbie. As you might imagine, the best way to get over this insecurity is just jumping in and successfully completing routes which will build your confidence. A few weeks of going to the gym and bouldering around ought to do the trick.
And as a beginning climber after pulling muscles on two different visits to the gym which kept me away from the gym for a week or more each time, I’ve finally learned the value of stretching!
Brooklyn Boulders Yoga Instructor Jocelyn O’Shea
Brooklyn Boulders offers yoga classes, and I highly recommend new climbers add some element of yoga or stretching as they grow as a rock climber. Yoga teacher Benita Hussain Matador Sports suggests these six yoga poses for rock climbers. There are also simple stretches to do before, during and after climbing such as these muscle stretches recommended by indoorclimbing.com.
At this point I could definitely benefit from spending time working on technique by practicing on some of the longer traversing V0+s before completing some V1s during my regular visits. By spending a few weeks doing this I’m hoping V2s won’t be far behind!
Tags: Bouldering, learn how to boulder, learn to climb, learning to climb, V1