Climbing is more than just pulling yourself up a wall—it’s about efficiency, technique, and balance. Many beginners struggle because they rely too much on their arms, waste energy with inefficient movement, and don’t use their feet effectively. The good news? With a few key adjustments, you can dramatically improve your climbing.
This guide will cover three essential climbing techniques:
- How to shift your weight properly to use less energy
- Why you should avoid the ‘M’ position to maximize your reach
- How to improve balance by using your hips effectively
By mastering these fundamentals, you’ll become a stronger, more efficient climber while reducing fatigue and injury risk.
1. The Importance of Weight-Shifting
One of the most common mistakes beginners make is using their arms too much rather than relying on their legs. Your legs are much stronger than your arms, so climbing should feel more like walking up a set of stairs rather than doing repeated pull-ups.
How Climbing is Like Walking Up Stairs
When you climb stairs, you step up with one foot, shift your weight onto it, and push yourself up—without needing to pull with your arms. Climbing is similar, except instead of steps, you’re using footholds.
To move efficiently, focus on these three key steps:
- Use the inside edge of your climbing shoe – Placing your foot flat against the wall reduces balance issues and keeps your body in an optimal position. Rotate your heel toward the wall to maximize contact.
- Get your hips over your heel – Your hips should be aligned over your higher foot before pushing up. If your hips are too far away from the wall, you’ll rely too much on your arms.
- Flag your other leg for balance – Just like a tightrope walker using a pole for balance, your free leg should extend outward to counteract weight shifts.
By combining these three steps into one smooth motion, you’ll develop efficient climbing habits and conserve energy.
2. Beware of the ‘M’ Position
One of the biggest mistakes new climbers make is getting both feet level on the wall, leading to what’s called the ‘M’ position. In this stance, your hips are stuck between bent knees, limiting your reach and making movement harder.
Why the ‘M’ Position Is Inefficient
It prevents weight-shifting – Instead of pushing off your lower foot, you end up trying to “jump” to the next hold, wasting energy.
It limits your reach – Your lowest foot determines how high you can go. If you don’t push off your lower foot, you won’t reach as far.
It leads to unnecessary fatigue – Holding this squat-like stance puts extra strain on your legs and arms.
How to Fix It
To break out of the ‘M’ position, commit to pushing off your lower foot until your leg is straight. Your goal should be to shift your hips onto the higher foot, allowing your body to rise smoothly.
Think of it like reaching for a $100 bill taped to the ceiling. If you stand on a small stool with one foot on the stool and the other still on the floor, you won’t be able to reach. But if you fully step up onto the stool, you gain extra height. Climbing is the same—your lower foot must leave the foothold when necessary to maximize your reach.
There are some exceptions to this rule, such as when you’re resting on a route. However, as climbs get harder and holds become more spaced out, breaking the ‘M’ position will help you climb with more reach and efficiency.
3. How to Improve Your Balance While Climbing
Balance in climbing isn’t just about staying upright—it’s about positioning your body in a way that allows you to move efficiently. Many beginners struggle with balance because they don’t use their hips properly or over-grip the holds instead of shifting their weight.
Why Hips Matter in Climbing
When climbing at a low angle (slab walls), it’s easy to keep your weight directly over your feet. But as walls get steeper, gravity pulls your hips away from the wall. If your hips are too far out, you’ll put more weight on your arms, causing fatigue.
How to Maintain Balance on the Wall
Shift your hips close to the wall – The closer your hips are, the more weight stays on your legs rather than your arms.
Think of movement in all directions – You’re not just shifting side to side, but also in and out from the wall.
Use flagging to stabilize yourself – If you find yourself wobbling or over-gripping, try extending your free leg to help counterbalance your weight.
Most climbers naturally shift their hips over their feet on slab climbs, but once the wall gets vertical, they forget to adjust their body position. Keep practicing until shifting your weight feels natural no matter the angle.
4. Warm-Up Before You Climb
Proper technique is important, but if your muscles aren’t warmed up, you’re more likely to struggle with movement and tire out quickly. Warm-ups increase blood flow, improve flexibility, and prevent flash pumps (a sudden, overwhelming forearm burn from climbing too hard too soon).
The Standard Climbing Warm-Up
- Start with easy climbs – Pick four easy problems (VB–V1) and climb them twice, both up and down.
- Use different angles and hold types – Make sure to warm up on different wall angles and hold shapes to activate all your climbing muscles.
- Increase difficulty gradually – If you’re preparing for harder climbs, slowly increase the intensity rather than jumping straight to your project.
5. Recover Properly After Climbing
Climbing is demanding on your muscles, tendons, and skin. Proper recovery ensures you can climb more often without injury.
Best Recovery Practices
Hydrate – Drink water to replenish fluids lost from sweating. Electrolyte drinks can help if you climbed intensely.
Stretch – Focus on your arms, shoulders, and forearms to reduce tightness.
Eat well – Protein and complex carbs help rebuild muscle and restore energy.
Take rest days – Climbing breaks down muscles and tendons, so rest days allow them to recover and grow stronger.
Care for your hands – Climbing chalk dries out skin, so wash your hands and apply moisturizer to prevent cracks and flappers.
Final Thoughts: Master These Basics First
Improving at climbing isn’t about getting stronger—it’s about using your body efficiently. By focusing on proper weight-shifting, avoiding the ‘M’ position, improving your balance, warming up properly, and recovering well, you’ll move more fluidly and conserve energy for harder climbs.
Here’s a quick recap:
- Use your legs more than your arms – Think of climbing like walking up stairs.
- Push off your lower foot to maximize your reach.
- Keep your hips close to the wall to improve balance.
- Avoid the ‘M’ position unless you’re resting.
- Flag your leg for stability to counterbalance weight shifts.
- Warm up before every session to prevent injury and improve performance.
- Recover properly to climb more often and reduce injury risk.
By applying these techniques, you’ll climb smarter, not harder—and progress much faster.
What’s Next?
Now that you understand these core techniques, try applying them during your next climbing session. If you want to refine your technique further, check out our other articles to continue improving.
