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On Thursday I went climbing with Sol again. In my year and a half of climbing I have always had a great deal of trouble with negative inclines. For those non-climbers reading this, a negative incline means that the rock face is leaning in towards you. With a positive incline you have gravity working in your favor because your feet are being drawn into the wall, but with a negative incline gravity is continually pulling your feet away from the wall. This leads to the climber having a tendency to pull themselves up with their arms instead of pushing up with their feet. Needless to say, that wears out your upper body very quickly.
This last time out I finally began to understand a particular body mechanic in which you bring your hip into the wall to match the hand you are reaching with I.E. if you are reaching with your right hand you bring your right hip into the wall. Depending on the severity of the overhang, the hip tilt might be very subtle or it might be a complete body twist.
I decided to try a 5.6 climb on a wall with a negative incline, and for the first time ever I made it to the top of a negative incline wall. I had a few minor rough spots along the way, but whenever I got stuck I just thought about my hip placement and worked my way through it. The amazing thing is that I was able to use much more leg strength so that when I was done with the route my upper body was not shot. I was so amazed that I had to climb the route again to convince myself it wasn't a fluke. The second time I whizzed right up without a hitch, having worked out the problems on the first time through.
Woo Hoo!
This last time out I finally began to understand a particular body mechanic in which you bring your hip into the wall to match the hand you are reaching with I.E. if you are reaching with your right hand you bring your right hip into the wall. Depending on the severity of the overhang, the hip tilt might be very subtle or it might be a complete body twist.
I decided to try a 5.6 climb on a wall with a negative incline, and for the first time ever I made it to the top of a negative incline wall. I had a few minor rough spots along the way, but whenever I got stuck I just thought about my hip placement and worked my way through it. The amazing thing is that I was able to use much more leg strength so that when I was done with the route my upper body was not shot. I was so amazed that I had to climb the route again to convince myself it wasn't a fluke. The second time I whizzed right up without a hitch, having worked out the problems on the first time through.
Woo Hoo!