If you’re wondering how to get started with indoor climbing, I’m here to help demystify it for you. Indoor climbing is one of those sports that no one really thought about a decade ago, whereas now it seems to be all the rage. For good reason too, as it’s pretty much the most fun you can have while exercising. And sure I might be biased since I work as a climbing instructor, but I’m pretty sure a lot of people would agree.

However, as fun as it is, it can seem a bit intimidating at first. After all, suspending yourself in the air, being held by nothing but a few pieces of plastic, can seem rather unnatural! But don’t worry, I’m going to go over everything you need to consider before your first session. By the end of this article you’ll have a good idea of what to expect and where to start. Let’s dive right in!

What to Wear

Firstly, let’s go over your attire. Since climbing is a physical activity, you’ll want to make sure you’re wearing clothes that give you enough movement. Activewear is definitely the way to go, as everyday clothes such as jeans would limit your range of motion. You’re also going to get pretty sweaty if you’re doing it right, so you’ll want to ensure that whatever you’re wearing is made of a breathable material.

If you’ve got long hair, make sure to tie it back because otherwise your hair could get in the way of your face and make it hard to see the climbs, or it could even get caught on a hold. Similarly, you don’t want to wear a hoodie or anything overly baggy that could catch on a hold if you fell. The last thing you want is to be dangling by your clothes on the rocks… You’d look rather silly!

Make sure not to wear any jewellery, especially not rings. And sure I get it, if you’ve got a wedding ring you might not want to take that off, but trust me, it’s for the best. Just Google ‘degloving’ and you’ll never question me again… Actually for your own sanity, really don’t Google that. And on the topic of avoiding injuries you’ll want to go with trousers rather than shorts. I know it can get hot in the summer but unless you want to be leaving your knee skin on the wall, having that extra fabric will serve you well.

You’ll need climbing shoes to do indoor climbing, but don’t worry about buying them straight away. You can use rentals for your first few sessions until you’re sure it’s something you want to stick with.

How to Choose a Climbing Wall

When deciding which climbing wall to go to, you may not have many options. Some areas are not very populated or the sports hasn’t taken off around there, in which case you may only have the one wall near you. If that’s the case for you, then you can skip this section. However, if you have two or more options near you then I’m here to help you narrow it down.

Your first consideration should be proximity. Be realistic about how far you’re willing to travel for a climbing wall. You’re going to see the best results with consistency, so if the wall is too far for you to get to easily, then you might end up talking yourself out of going for sessions. That’s no good, no matter how decent the wall is. Once you’ve decided your acceptable distance range, then you need to think about what services are on offer.

Pricing and Services

The price of walls can vary wildly depending on the company and so you should take a look at both the one-off pricing and their monthly pricing. A lot of places will offer a significant discount for membership compared to pay as you go. Finding a wall with a good membership price is excellent for keeping that motivation. You’re much more likely to go to the wall if you’ve already paid for it.

Also take a look at their prices for rental shoes and harnesses. When you first start climbing you probably won’t have your own equipment and so if you’re renting them every session that cost can add up. The price for this can vary significantly between walls with some places offering them for free and others charging quite the premium.

In terms of what’s available there, see if they offer bouldering, top rope or both. There are very different styles of climbing depending on the type of wall, and you’ll need to figure out what you enjoy the most and find a wall that accommodates that. You’ll also want a climbing wall that has the right vibe for you. Do you like somewhere large and open, or do you prefer a small community feel? Do you want somewhere that has a cafe? Would you want loud music playing or would you prefer to be in relative peace and quiet?

I would strongly recommend visiting all the climbing walls in your vicinity and finding out which one suits you best. Have at least one session in all the places to see what it feels like. You might surprise yourself. Once you’ve decided where you enjoy climbing the most, get a membership if you can afford one.

How Often to Go Climbing

How often you go climbing will depend on your personal lifestyle. Your current fitness levels and your schedule will greatly impact your availability. However, even taking that into account there’s a pretty solid rule of thumb. Essentially this is what your climbing journey will look like with different frequencies:

• Less than once a week – You will lose strength and fitness, as well as technical ability. Any progress you’ve made will be undone.
• Once a week – You will maintain your current fitness and strength levels, but you’re unlikely to make much progress.
• Two to three times a week – Your strength and fitness levels will improve, as will your technical ability. You’ll make steady progress as the weeks go on.
• 4 to 6 times a week – If you’re already very fit and strong, you’ll see rapid progress provided that you take good care of your body and eat healthily. If you’re near the beginning of your journey, you’ll struggle and burnout. You could even cause yourself an injury.
• Every single day – Never climb every single day. It is a recipe for injury.

With the above concepts in mind, your best bet when starting climbing is to go two to three times a week. You can increase this in the future when you’re stronger and fitter, but don’t try to rush it.

Bouldering or Top Rope

There are two main types of climbing that you’ll find at climbing walls – bouldering and top rope. Despite both being climbing, these are drastically different to each other. Most climbers will have a preference and do one a lot more than the other. However, there’s nothing stopping you indulging in both.

Bouldering is all about power and technique. The walls are much shorter than they are for top rope, and you climb completely free with no harness. There’s a soft floor underneath you to catch you if you fall. Depending on the climbing wall you go to the height will vary but it’s usually somewhere between 3.5 – 5 metres.

Top rope is a specific type of climbing and not all climbing walls will have it. Even places with a high wall might have an auto belay or lead climbing instead. However, they’re all very similar so I’ll use ‘top rope’ here for the sake of convenience.

Top rope is all about endurance. You will absolutely need technique and strength as well, but those can only get you so far. Fitness will be key here. Where bouldering walls are relatively short, top rope walls can get real tall. Typically, they’re somewhere between 10 and 15 metres high. You will have a harness that attaches to a carabiner and a rope. For standard top rope, you’ll have somebody on the ground feeding you slack. For auto-belay it will all be done by a machine. If you’re doing lead climbing, you’ll clip yourself into the wall as you climb.

Your First Few Sessions

Your first few sessions should be all about figuring out what you enjoy. They’re so much fun to be had with indoor climbing and you don’t want to miss all that in the pursuit of success, however, you define that. Don’t worry about being ‘good’, just enjoy yourself. Try all the different types of climbing available to you. That will help you figure out what climbing styles are right for you, and this will be so useful if you decide to continue with the sport.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. As a beginner, people will be eager to help you. The climbing community is so friendly and supportive, so take advantage of that. If you’re ever stuck, you can just ask another climber and they’ll likely be able to help you. If you feel nervous talking strangers, you can always go up to the staff whose job it is to help you.

Don’t try and rush through the grades. In fact, don’t really pay attention to grades at all. There’s nothing wrong with sticking with VBs/ V0s for as long as you need to. As long as you’re enjoying climbing and you’re making progress within yourself, that’s all that matters.

Stretching Before Climbing

At the start of all your sessions, make sure to dedicate some time to stretching. Climbing is an active sport even though a lot of people underestimate it. If you don’t stretch at the start, you probably will pull something eventually. Some useful stretches are:

• Ankle rolls – Carefully roll your ankles in a circular motion first clockwise then anti-clockwise. Do this a few times for each foot.
• Wrist flexion – Put your hands together as if you were about to pray. Then turn your hands upside down. Place your hands so they’re almost touching your body, and then slowly rise them as close as you can to your chest. Once you reach a height where you feel resistance, hold it there for a few seconds.
• High leg – First, find something solid that’s at roughly hip height. You can go higher or lower depending on your flexibility. Stand a distance away from it that’s the same as the length of your leg. Then lift your heel so that it’s touching the solid surface. From there, lean forward, keeping your leg straight and try to touch your toes.
• Interlocking fingers – You’ll need to interlock your fingers so that they’re all together. Then turn your hands so that your palms are facing outwards. Stretch your hands away and slowly up. You should feel the stretch first in your rest and then getting closer to your shoulders the higher you lift.

Those are just some of my favourites that target some of the most active muscles during climbing. However, that list isn’t even close to exhaustive and you should find the stretches that work best for you. Ideally, you’ll want to spend at least 5 minutes before each session doing stretches. You should also warm up on easy climbs before you get into your projects.

Conclusion

I really hope this guide has answered all your questions on how to get started with indoor climbing. It’s such an incredible hobby and a great way to have fun and exercise at the same time. I’ve always hated exercising but climbing changed that completely for me. As an instructor, one of my favourite things about my job is getting to introduce new people to the hobby. It’s awesome to think I could be reaching an even larger audience with this article.

Even though it can seem intimidating at first, you’ll soon get the hang of it. The more often you go, the more natural it will seem. There are so many different styles of climbing, and you’ll get to learn what suits you the best.

What first got you interested in indoor climbing? Please let me know in the comments! Also, please follow our Instagram to keep up to date with my latest hobby adventures, including climbing!