Footwork Techniques

— Do I have strong enough arms for rock climbing?

— How can I train my arms?

— To hang on the walls, you probably need strong arms, right?

I regularly hear these questions from you, friends. Unfortunately, questions about legs are much less frequent:

• the role of legs in climbing
• proper foot placement technique
• switching from one foot to the other. On the ground, your legs carry 100% of your body weight (unless you’re using poles for Nordic walking). On the rock, your legs still bear the main part of your weight.

If we can step with our legs, we step with our legs. And use the minimum amount of our arms’ resources, exclusively for holding onto the rock.

Climbers have a special exercise to improve foot contact. Climb an easy route using only one hand and two feet. This is when you realize the importance of proper foot placement.

For climbing, we use special shoes with a rubber sole and toe – climbing shoes. For better grip on the rock, it’s important to press down with the heel. This way, your feet won’t slip while climbing over ledges.

There are different techniques for switching feet. You can put the toe of one foot under the other if the ledge is very small. Or you can practice the technique of simultaneous switching, as in the video.

I hope this material was helpful. Light it up if you want me to talk more about techniques.