You’re going to make mistakes when you climb, and that’s fine, especially early on. The most important thing in climbing (besides staying safe) is to have fun, so stressing over every little thing you might get wrong isn’t worth your energy. That said, some errors slow you down more than others. Here are seven of the most common climbing mistakes for beginners, plus the easy fixes that get you back on track.
Not Warming Up Properly
The first mistake a lot of beginners make when they get to the crag or the gym is jumping on the wall without warming up. Warming up your whole body is one of the simplest ways to prevent injury and get more out of your session. A quick 5 to 10 minute warm-up is plenty to start.
Warming up gets the blood flowing through your muscles. That blood flow lets your muscles stretch a little longer and contract a little harder. So you’re not just less likely to tweak something, you can also hold on longer and push and pull your way up the wall more easily than you would cold.
That extra edge means you can climb harder routes and stay on the wall longer before your muscles are cooked. It matters even more when you’re new, because moving up to harder climbs faster opens up a lot more routes and problems for you to try.
Bottom line, a proper warm-up keeps you safer and lets you climb harder and longer.
Muscling Up A Climb
One of the most common climbing mistakes for beginners is muscling everything, just yanking and pushing your way up the wall. The trouble is, leaning on raw strength caps the routes you can do, and weak spots like grip strength really start to hold you back as you try to level up. The fix that doesn’t cost you hours in the weight room is technique. If you want a structured place to drill movement, the Grip & Grind app is built for exactly that.
Technique covers footwork, balance, body positioning, and just being more efficient on the wall. Climbing with straight arms, for example, saves a ton of energy and helps you settle your weight onto your feet and legs instead of your forearms. There’s a lot to learn here, and it’s worth working through the core climbing techniques one at a time.
Top rope and sport climbing lean more on endurance, so as a beginner it helps to find a way to focus on technique, and that’s where bouldering shines. Boulder problems are short and built around movement, which makes them a great place to work on technique. Picking it up can feel awkward at first, but there are plenty of ways to learn. Watching other climbers in the gym is one. I like watching climbers on YouTube too, so I can see how they move, and there are great footwork and weight-positioning tutorials out there. If footwork is your weak spot, these footwork drills are a solid place to start.
Leaning on technique more than brute strength lets you climb harder problems and stay on the wall longer, which is where the fun is.
Want to build these habits without overthinking it? Send Edition’s free newsletter drops one short climbing drill in your inbox each week, about 15 minutes each. Grab the weekly drills here and chip away at your technique between sessions.
Climbing without Proper Safety Training
Climbing without proper safety training can get you seriously hurt or worse. A lot of new climbers feel comfortable going out with a trained friend one day, then heading out on their own with another first-timer the next. The catch is that you can’t absorb everything you need in a session or two. You need eyes on you from someone who knows what they’re doing until you’re properly trained.
That training can be a clinic (a lot of gyms run free ones) or a climbing class. The good ones let you actually practice what you learned while an expert watches, checks your work, and gives you feedback. That’s why YouTube videos and photo guides aren’t enough on their own. They can’t watch you and correct you, and they aren’t always from credible sources.
What you need to know to stay safe looks different for bouldering versus roped climbing, since the gear and the goals aren’t the same.
Here are some of the things you should really understand before sport climbing without expert supervision:
- Climbing knots. The main one to know is the Figure 8. It’s the knot that cinches tighter the more weight you put on it, so it keeps you safe if you fall.
- Clipping safety (which quickdraws to use, back-clipping, z-clipping, and so on). A lot of beginners don’t realize there’s a right way and a dangerous way to clip a quickdraw to a bolt. Work with a pro on back-clipping and z-clipping so you’re clipping safely.
- Belay safety (where the rope sits, where your hands go, where you stand, and so on). Belaying is more than feeding rope through the device. Your brake hand always needs to be ready to catch, you want the slack in front of you and not behind your leg, and you should stand close to the wall. If you want a primer, start with Belaying 101, then learn it hands-on with an expert.
- Climber and belayer communication. Before you leave the ground, agree on how the climber is coming down, whether they’ll be lowered or rappel. Once they reach the top, both of you confirm the plan again so you take the right action.
- Anchor set-up and takedown. This is a big one. Set an anchor up wrong and you risk serious injury, and the same goes for taking it down. There are plenty of videos out there, but practice this with an expert who can give you feedback before you ever do it alone.
And here are a few things to understand before bouldering outside without a pro:
- Mat safety (placement, size, and so on). Bouldering outside means crash pads. If you don’t own one you can rent it, but have the problem in mind first. You’ll want to know how high the climb is so you know how far you might fall and how thick the pad needs to be, plus the angle and direction so you know how wide a landing you need and how many pads to bring.
- Spotting (as the spotter and the climber). A good spot helps the climber land safely, guiding them to land feet first instead of on their head and keeping them on the pad instead of the rock or ground. Both roles need to know good spotting practice so everyone stays safe.
- Falling safely (proper falling technique). Aim to land on both feet with your knees bent to soak up the impact. From higher up, roll onto your back or shoulder to absorb the rest and protect your ankles and joints.
- Scouting the way down. Bouldering outside isn’t only going up, it’s getting down too. If you top out, you need to be able to downclimb. Climbing down beats jumping for avoiding injury, so find your way down before you start up.
These lists aren’t complete, but hopefully they make the point. Get properly trained by an expert who can give you real feedback so you know you’re climbing safely. Better safe than sorry.
Not Including Strength Training
A lot of climbers figure climbing is a great workout on its own, so they skip the weights and just climb. Climbing does build muscle and get you fit, but without some extra strength work your muscles can get unbalanced, and that puts you at higher risk of injury.
Climbing leans hard on the front of your shoulders and your chest, for example. If you never train the muscles on the back of your shoulders, they get unbalanced and you’re more likely to hurt your rotator cuff. Those injuries often happen because the front shoulder muscles pull on the rotator cuff more than the back ones do. Build up your rear shoulder muscles so the rotator cuff gets pulled on evenly from front and back.
On top of that, strength training builds bone density, improves blood flow, and sharpens your balance and coordination, all of which matter for a healthy body and healthy climbing.
And the fun part, the strength you gain opens the door to more climbs faster. Your core, for instance, directly drives your balance, which drives how many climbs you can finish. Add core work to your routine and you’ll balance better and send problems that used to shut you down.
All of that is to say, strength training helps you climb safer and better, so it’s worth doing alongside your climbing sessions.
Only Training One Climbing Discipline
Plenty of climbers try rope climbing or bouldering, then stick with that one style and never touch the others. The problem is that each discipline builds a different side of your climbing, and those sides are hard to develop without cross-training. Bouldering leans on technique, roped climbing leans on endurance. Only boulder and you’ll probably struggle with endurance. Only rope climb and you’ll probably struggle with technique. If you’re weighing the two, this bouldering vs climbing breakdown is worth a read.
That might not sound like a problem if you only ever plan to climb one style, but skipping cross-training actually makes it harder to progress. Both bouldering and roped climbing need endurance and technique. At some point you can’t push your bouldering further without endurance, and you can’t push your roped climbing without technique.
And if you ever start competing, you’ll notice that outside of discipline-specific comps, the climbers who win are the well-rounded ones who can boulder, speed climb, and sport climb.
Being well-rounded lets you progress further and climb better, so cross-training across disciplines is worth it.
Not Stretching After Climbing
A lot of beginners finish their last climb and head straight home without stretching. The problem is you miss out on a bunch of benefits by skipping it. Here are three big reasons stretching after a session matters:
- It helps prevent injury. Flexible muscles are less likely to get hurt from the overuse that’s so common in climbing.
- It helps you recover and wind down after a hard session. While you climb, your muscles build up lactic acid, which leaves your arms sore and tired. Stretching helps clear it out so you recover faster.
- It builds your flexibility over time, which pays off on the wall. The more flexible you are, the better you move and the harder the climbs you can pull off.
So skipping your post-climb stretch is a real mistake. Even better, do dynamic stretches before you climb and static stretches after, and you’ll get more out of both.
There are tons of stretches you can do, but a good rule of thumb is to hit every muscle group. Flexible legs help a lot in climbing, but flexible legs plus arms, core, and everything else is even better, so the extra few minutes are worth it.
Fixing These Common Climbing Mistakes for Beginners
Beginners make plenty of mistakes, but these seven are the most common. Some can lead to injury, and others just make it harder to progress and hold your climbing back. Dodge them with the easy fixes above and you’ll climb better.
Take a look at your current routine and compare it to this list. If you’re guilty of more than one, pick a single thing to work on first, and once you’ve got that handled, move to the next. Keep going until good habits replace the mistakes.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most common climbing mistake for beginners?
Skipping a proper warm-up is one of the most common. It leaves you stiff and more likely to get hurt, and you won’t climb as hard or as long. A quick 5 to 10 minute warm-up before you get on the wall fixes it.
Should beginners focus on strength or technique?
Technique first. Muscling up the wall caps the routes you can do, while good footwork, balance, and body positioning let you climb harder without living in the weight room. Add strength training on the side to stay balanced and injury-free.
Do I really need safety training to start climbing?
Yes. Knots, clipping, belaying, spotting, and anchors are things you learn hands-on from an expert who can watch you and correct you. A gym clinic or class beats YouTube videos, since videos can’t give you feedback.
Should beginners stretch before or after climbing?
Both, ideally. Dynamic stretches before you climb and static stretches after give you the most benefit. Post-climb stretching helps clear lactic acid, aids recovery, and builds the flexibility that helps you move better.
How do I avoid these common climbing mistakes?
Compare your routine to this list, pick one mistake to fix first, and build a good habit around it before moving on. Working one short drill a week, like the ones in Send Edition’s free newsletter, makes it stick.
New to climbing?
These are the habits worth avoiding early. The Climbing for Beginners guide answers the rest of the first month questions in one place, from what to wear to what the grades mean.
