ANNA’S TOP TIPS FOR NEW CLIMBERS

If you were to scroll through @rockwearaustralia Instagram feed, you come across the incredibly talented Anna Davey scaling rock climbing walls with what looks like pure ease! Anna is beyond talented on & off the wall! We sat down with her to find out where this talent and passion of hers all began.

“I’ve always been very sporty; I came from a background of tennis and netball before falling heavily in love with weightlifting. I remember googling ‘back workout’ one day to find some more interesting exercises. Rock climbing came up as one of the best back workouts you could get! So away I went! Gosh I am so happy I went through with the slightly of left field visit to a climbing gym. Little did I know, I’d be instantly hooked and later compete for Australia.”

Anna climbed recreationally for about 2 years before realizing she was actually pretty good, so she started competing. She was winning multiple comps in Western Australia, so decided why not take on the national stage. In 2019, Anna qualified to represent Australia in the World Cup and World Championships.

Off the wall Anna is a personal trainer and climbing coach. If that wasn’t impressive enough she is also a qualified lawyer…this girl does it all!

Climbing can be quite strenuous on your muscles and joints. A good warm up will mean your muscles are warm, activated, and ready to take load. Your performance will be much better if you take the time to prep the body and you will reduce your risks of injury. Try some form of cardio, band work and some mobility work for the shoulders and hips.

You’ll quickly learn a lot about body positioning and beta (the sequence to take up the route) if you watch someone more experienced do it. Humans are visual learners, and you might spot some valuable footwork skills and be able to implement that into your climbing.

The number one thing new climbers usually do wrong is keep their arms bent the whole time up the wall. Instead relax your arms, use momentum from your hips and push with your feet at the same time as moving your arm.

To stay on the wall you need to have the correct centre of gravity. With our centre of gravity being our hips, it’s pays to consider where your hips are on the wall. This can get pretty complex, but in general you need to keep your hips close to the wall when moving positions and distribute your bodyweight proportionately between limbs.

When stepping on foot holds, step on your toes, not on the sole of your foot. You can’t pivot and drive hard if you’re on the mid sole of your foot.

Getting a coached session early on can help you take various shortcuts to understanding body positioning and foot work skills on the wall.

Don’t just run off after your session! Take 10 minutes to cool down with some static stretches to lengthen your muscles.

Maybe the most important thing about climbing is that you have fun! Laugh, smile, learn, fail, fall and share the experience with friends and family.

“When it comes to my activewear style I am quite specific with what I look for, so I love the huge range that Rockwear has to choose from.”

My go-to’s when looking for activewear to wear on the wall are:

• Booty shorts! Shorter shorts are generally preferred to as sometimes we need to hook our knees under holds in what’s called a ‘knee bar’ and that requires friction from your skin, not material.
• Mid-thigh length shorts or leggings (depending on weather) for training and competing
• Low or medium support sports bra. Climbers prefer strappy backs with light straps so our lats can move freely and not feel restricted.