L’sport climbing finally debuted at the Tokyo Olympics. There were three tests for both women and men: lead (try increasing difficulty), speed (speed test) e boulder (low routes and without harness, short and intense trials). Representing Italy in this Olympic debut were Laura Rogora, Ludovico Fossali (gold at the 2019 World Championships in speed) and Michael Piccolruaz.
For Laura, climbing and equations are similar: whether they are numbers or a path on the wall, the ultimate goal in both cases is to solve the problem.
For those who have never been there, join a gym indoor climbing it is always a fascinating moment. The spaces develop above all in height and looking from the bottom upwards stimulates a hidden desire for conquest. Indoor climbing is experiencing a moment of extreme popularity, a figure also confirmed by the surge in Google searches in the two-year period 2019-20. “It gives the same positive sensations of being in the mountains, but within reach of after work”, says Francesco Ratti, Millet athlete and mountain guide, member of the historic Cervino Guide Society.
With him we took stock of how to approach this sport.
«Climbing requires knowing your body very well. You don’t start with a real workout, the first steps that move vertically are focused onBalance»Explains Francesco. “One learns to shift the center of gravity according to the feet, a movement that is not immediately automatic.”
To gain confidence, taking a course with an instructor is always a good method. «It serves to understand strengths and weaknesses, and subsequently set the right complementary training». The guide that accompanies you to the gym but above all outdoors is the figure who helps you to overcome your limits and trust yourself. «The thing that gives me the most satisfaction in this job is to help people realize their dreams. When you are in a consortium you create a very strong personal relationship based on trust. If there is the right feeling, the relationship becomes exclusive and lasts over time “. The one-to-one relationship is also important in the gym: «For those with no experience, it is absolutely normal to climb vertically, look down and be afraid to jump. But it is a fear that is gradually overcome, also thanks to the instructor ».
The beauty of climbing is not just physical exercise, but yours mental side. It is not misleading to say that in this it has points in common with yoga and all the artistic creativity of dance: “Unlike other faster sports where you don’t have time to think, while climbing the mind is concentrated only about the present moment and this allows to remove any other thought, with a beneficial effect “, says Francesco. “Obviously some steps can become automatic, but if you push yourself beyond your limits, you are forced to try to always remain in balance, and this requires physical and mental concentration”.
After becoming familiar with the vertical supports, we focus on force: «The big holds allow you to set up a climb of strength only, while with the small holds you train fingers, tendons and nerves». Professionals always support correct athletic training, which is also important for avoiding injuries: «The bouldering it is certainly a very useful complementary training because it allows you to work on strength. An athlete also prepares those we call dry exercise, or exercises in suspension on two, three, four fingers depending on the difficulty, alternating with exercises in suspension but with tractions and a progressive loading strategy ».
GUIDE FOR BEGINNERS: 5 things to know
Choosing the harness: the harness is morphological, so before buying it it is always better to try it on to see how it adapts to the shape of the body.
Shoes are not all the same. Have they always told you that climbing shoes are bad for you? True, but for those who start there are those from approach, much less narrow and with a less arched shape. The myth of the number less: you don’t have to calculate it yourself, you choose your usual number, the shoe is already designed to fit smaller.
You can go climbing alone. You can practice climbing in complete autonomy, that is, without the need for a companion who performs safety maneuvers on the ground thanks to the automatic winder, a system that exerts tension on the rope during the safe descent.
Step by step. At the beginning you climb with the rope already fixed on the last belay at the top. The next step is to go first, that is, starting with the rope from the bottom and fixing it to the splits, the anchor points.
Climbing allows you to get involved in the maximum possible safety and to discover your strengths.
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