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Moving from a grade to the next in bouldering can be very hard when you are plateauing. Beause of that I summarized the most useful tips for every bouldering grade. I’m a V8 (7B) climber myself, so all the tips to there are from my personal experience.
All the tips above V8 are from pro climbers or experts in climbing. If you are stuck at a grade, just try to include the tips given for this grade and you will be more likely to break through your plateau. However, everything in climbing needs time, so don’t expect instant results. If you want to know how long it takes to move up through the bouldering grades you can click here.
Bouldering Tips for V1 (5)
Some people already climb their first V1 at the firsst time they visit a climbing gym. However, this is mainly, because they are either doing other kinds of sport that benefit climbing or they are just talented. If you are stuck at V0’s and want to move on to a consistent V1 the most important thing is to just climb regularly.
You are probably still very new to climbing and didn’t build any climbing specific strength yet. This comes over time, so if you climb like atleast 2 times a week you will make progress very fast. You don’t have to focus on a specific thing to improve as a beginner, because everytime you climb this will naturally happen.
So it’s just a matter of time how long it will take until you can climb all V1’s in your gym. Just be patient and be aware, that improving in climbing can sometimes take very long. If you want more tips for beginners or about going to the climbing gym the first few times click here.
Bouldering Tips for V2 (5+)
When it comes to a consistent V2 you should probably start focusing on your foot placement. Because this is still a beginner grade, I assume you are not climbing for that long yet, so your footwork is probably still very bad. As a general rule you should put up your feet first, before you grab the next hold.
Of course this doesn’t apply to any route, but is suitable in most cases. This is, because in most cases you need to be higher to reach the next hold easier. So putting one foot on the next foot hold increases your range and makes you grabbing the next hold way easier.
Most beginners also try focus way to much on their arms and solely rely on their upper body strength, wile they pretty much ignore their footwork. So go watch some Yourtube videos about active footwork in climbing and V2’s will be way easier for you than before.
Another big mistake beginners make at this grade is that they bend their arms when holding. This is totally normal, because it feels natural to do that. In climbing tho, you want to keep your arms straight when grabbing a hold, because it is way easier and reuqire less strength than bending your arms while holding.
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Bouldering Tips for V3 (6A/6A+)
This is the grade where most beginner plateau at. From my personal experience the main reason for that is still footwork. Especially at the hardest part of the route, the crux, most beginners have a very bad foot technique and don’t make it because of that.
A quick tip here is to climb some routes that are not that hard for you, probably V1’s or V2’s in your case, and really focus on your foot placement and footwork. If you don’t know what to focus on, watch some videos on Youtube about foot technique in climbing.
So, when you warmed up with this footwork focused style, you are more likely to focus on your footwork on the harder V3 route aswell. When we climb routes that are very hard for us, we don’t focus on technique at all, so this warm up should make you concious about your footwork and make you more likely to climb a V3 consistently.
Bouldering Tips for V4 (6B/6B+)
Most people cruise through the first few bouldering grade in a few weeks. But climbing a V4 and beyond can take a few months. This grade is when you should start actively focusing on improving your weaknesses in your bouldering sessions and structure them around this weakness or something else you want to train.
Most people really lack grip strength in the beginning, because you don’t need it in your every day life or in other kinds of sport. So focusing on that and climbing routes that require a lot of grip strength, can be very benfitial and improve your weakness.
However, at this point, you probably shouldn’t start using external training devices yet, like a hangboard or moonboard already and just improve trough climbing. Often another weakness is the general strength and additional weight training can help, but isn’t necessary.
So if you want to improve your climbing strength just through climbing, this article might help you. Another thing you might want to start training on are overhangs and core strength. Most gyms also have easier overhang routes you can try, that are a V4 or about that grade.
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Bouldering Tips for V5 (6C/6C+)
V5 is the grade you really should start to structure your climbing sessions. Because you already learned the rough fundamentals of bouldering now it’s the time to focus on specific things like footwork, finger strength other things you are not that good at yet. To learn how you structure your climbing sessions in the most effective way click here.
Sometimes it can also be helpful to project a route (in this case a V5) you think is doable for you. Projecting a route means to dedicate one or more complete climbing sessions to one route, until you manage to climb it. This is especially useful at this stage to learn the skills you need for V5s.
From here it will probably take month until you progress to the next grade, but you will still get more experienced with every bouldering session and start doing many things right from intuition. The first V5 I climbed myself had a very hard crux and I could climb the rest, but not that small part. It wwas so hard, because I did it wrong. When a friend shows me how to climb it, I was able to climb it first try.
Bouldering Tips for V6 (7A)
As you learned pretty much all the fundamentals of climbing now, finger strength is most likely the main issue now that stops you from progressing to V6. So maybe it’s time to get on a hangboard now and train finger strength on additional training devices.
Altough it isn’t necessary it will speed up the progress. So if you don’t want to use a hangboard or a other device that trains your finger strength additionally to climbing or don’t have access to it, that’s okay. But be aware, that it will take very long to progress from just climbing.
Core strength is now also very important for more difficult overhangs, so always plan to climb on steeper walls and direct overhangs every climbing session. Overhangs are very strength consuming and exhausting, so maybe try to pt them to the beginning of your sessions, where you still have strength.
Bouldering Tips for V7 (7A+)
At this stage it is so important to have a good structure in your bouldering sessions where you focus on your weaknesses and improve them, because it takes so long to reach the next grade. If you are unsure what your weaknesses are, just try a V8 or V9 (you obviously wont be able to climb it) and try to think anout what comes in your mind first why you can’t climb it. This is your main weakness.
It is also very important to stay injury free at this stage, so try to be as safe as possible when climbing. When you are injuring yourself and can’t climb for one month you will atleast need 2 or 3 months to recover from that and get on the same level again. So trying too hard can fire back very hard.
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Bouldering Tips for V8 (7B/7B+)
Fro this grade on you are pretty much an advanced climber, so it will take very long to climb a consistent V8. Since I’m not able to climb a consistent V8 yet, I can just give you the tip to keep working on your weaknesses at this point and maybe include some additonal weight training.
I also started adding weight training in my free time and it really helps a lot in climbing. Especially overhangs are way easier when you have more general body strength. So adding additonal training to your climbing sessions might be a good investment in the future.
Again, like adding a hangboard to your routine, this isn’t necessary, but will speed up the process. Altough progressing is important, still try to have fun climbing and working out, because progress will take very long, like atleast a few months.
Bouldering Tips for V9 (7C)
For a consistent V9 you should dedicate some days to training on the hangboard or moonboard where you can traing your finger strength and endurance, some days for general weight training to improve your pverall strength and some days to focus on a kind of boulders only. For example a day where you only focus on finger strength heavy routes.
Without consistent and dedicated practice you probably won’t get from a V8 up to V9 and the next grades. For some people that is okay, to stay at this grade. But because you are reading this you are probably not this kind of person and you still want to progress and improve your climbing.
Just be aware that it really takes a lot for a consistent V9 and you will have to sacrifce much of your time and strength for it. However, always remember that it still should be fun.
Bouldering Tips for V10-11 (7C+/8A)
If you are able to climb a V10 you are pretty much a pro climber, so I don’t think I should give you any tips. However, I will give you some tips from other pro climbers, that you might didn’t hear yet. Having a good diet and sleep schedule can very impactful at this stage of climbing grades.
If you are eating bad things and don’t give your body the nutrients it needs or sleep to little, so you body can’t rrecover completely, it will slow down the process and it can be very difficult to progress. This could literally make the difference between a V9 and a V10 climber.
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Bouldering Tips for V12-13 (8A+/8B)
If you are able to climb a V11 and now want to go for a consistent V12/13, you probably did eerything right so far. The only tip I can give you is to keep doing and don’t stay on the same grade for the rest of your life. It’s easy to say this js my natural limit and don’t try to go ne grade higher.
Altough it will probably take years, you always shoot higher than you think what you can accomplish. Because you will never know if you can do it, if you don’ push it to the limit. Because of this, I encourage you to keep going and try to make progress, even on this stage. If this actually is your limit, you atleast know it now.
Bouldering Tips for V14-17 (8C/8C+/9A)
If you are able to climb a V14 you are under the top 0.1% of all climbers on thw world, so thats a pretty high target. It’s not possible for everyone to reach a grade this high, so if you are currently plateauing at a V12 or V13 chances you can’t really get better at climbing and hit your natural limit are pretty high.
However, you probably should still try it and see if you are able to climb a V14 with dedicated training. But be aware, that it will take years.