rachelmanija | My First Bouldering Class

I used to rock climb a bit. I enjoyed it but did not care for messing around with ropes, and also tend to stick better to activities I can do solo.

Yesterday I took a bouldering class at a local climbing gym that rejoices in the name of The Cliffs of Id.

Speaking of excellent names, not to mention a canny sense of their clientele, it had the Huitlacoche Taco Truck parked in the parking lot.

I was in a class with two girls of about 10-12 who just flew up the routes, plus the mom of one of them who had an easier time than me as she had a longer reach. For a while I thought the other girl was also her daughter, while the mom thought she was mine; we eventually discovered that she was a very self-possessed person who had come on her own. I used to climb and scramble a lot at that age, alone and on local easy low cliffs and crags. I could really see the advantage of being extremely flexible, extremely light, and apparently composed almost entirely of muscle.

I made it up one V0 and fell off the next two tries, the second time because it was a different route that I struggled with and the third time on the same route as the first and because my muscles completely gave out halfway up. So this is exactly what I was looking for: something extremely strenuous that I can actually max out my strength on without (too much, hopefully) risk of back injury or repetitive strain, self-directed, something I can do by myself, engrossing, absorbing, and not prohibitively expensive or prohibitively far away.

Also hopefully I will get better at it with practice. I had thought I was pretty physically fit in the sense of "can lift a fair amount of weight, can do very strenuous hikes, etc" but I nearly fell over after completing that one climb. (And today I feel like I got hit by a truck.)

I invite anyone who'd like to geek out in comments with any advice, helpful links, personal experiences, etc. I'd be particularly interested in tips on avoiding joint injuries, which I am extremely prone to no matter how careful I am with form. At the moment my knees, ankles, wrists, and elbows are the problem areas but I have had past trouble with pretty much every joint in my body.

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Okay, I have a body part I want advice on! It's the muscle in my lower back just to the left of my spine and just above the butt - I think it's either the oblique or the gluteus medius? Well, OWWW.

It feels like very intense DOMS, not an actual injury. So, 1) got any good stretches to recommend for that part? 2) am I supposed to be getting DOMS there or is there something specific I'm liable to have done wrong for that to happen?

It's the muscle in my lower back just to the left of my spine and just above the butt - I think it's either the oblique or the gluteus medius? Well, OWWW.

Above or below the top of your pelvis?

Off the top of my head, I'd suggest trying gentle foam-rolling and seeing if that makes it feel better or worse (if worse, discontinue foam rolling, obviously). Also soaking everything in a hot bath.

2) am I supposed to be getting DOMS there or is there something specific I'm liable to have done wrong for that to happen?

Can't think of anything specific, and you're not "supposed" to per se, but climbing involves moving in a tonne of weird ways (all of which your body is totally infamiliar with right now), so having DOMS in places where you didn't even know you had places is pretty par for the course.

Just at the top of the pelvis. As you say, it's a very odd area that I apparently normally don't exercise or even notice. The other sore areas I can figure out what I was doing with them. (I also rubbed the skin off the knuckles closest to the back of my hand on one hand, in the exact configuration I used to do the same thing by punching stuff, which is strangely nostalgic.)

I can't believe I did all that in literally three climbs, two not even completed, total climbing time probably ten minutes.

Edited 2019-03-17 08:19 (UTC)

I can't believe I did all that in literally three climbs, two not even completed, total climbing time probably ten minutes.

COOL ISN'T IT.

YES. Mind is blown. I'm going to be careful not to overdo it starting out but if I can manage to avoid injuring myself, I can only imagine how strong I'm going to get.

There is also immense appeal in being able to just pop in whenever I feel like it rather than having to get a group together and then spend ages trying to remember how to tie a knot, something I have always been monumentally bad at. In karate there is exactly one specific knot you need to tie, for your belt, and despite having tied it thousands of times I would have to re-do it several times, spend minutes trying to remember how to do it, etc, at least once a week.

YES. Mind is blown. I'm going to be careful not to overdo it starting out but if I can manage to avoid injuring myself, I can only imagine how strong I'm going to get.

Yes! People who are serious route climbers will do bouldering as part of their training, just to boost strength and power.

But also! In my experience, it's an advantage to start weak (in terms of bouldering-specific strength), because it forces you to start learning technique early. Then your strength will catch up just from the bouldering, and then you'll have strength AND technique!

There is also immense appeal in being able to just pop in whenever I feel like it rather than having to get a group together and then spend ages trying to remember how to tie a knot

YUP. I now do trad routes outdoors as well as bouldering, but indoors, I pretty much always boulder. Works SO MUCH BETTER for me.

My First Bouldering Class

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