10 Climbing Techniques Taught by a Slab Expert - ft. emilyysends

So today, Emily, who is a slab expert, will be teaching us some slab techniques. And she's the only one that I know that's able to clear the entire slab set, which is really, really impressive. I'm really looking forward to showing you guys all of the special things that slab can offer you as a climber. All right, so Emily, so which climb are we gonna go for first? We are gonna start with number five here. And I really like this climb because it teaches precise foot movement, but at the same time, it also teaches you that you don't actually need your hands for a lot of kinds of slab climbing. And that's really important to remember that slab climbing is all about your legs. And I can demonstrate that in this climb very easily. So slab climbing is anything where the wall is vertical or leaning slightly in. So balance is the most important part of slab climbing. I can do this part without my hands because my feet are so solid. And that's what you wanna think about when you're learning slab climbing. What are some tips to keep your balance? Because it might be kind of difficult for newer climbers to not use their hands and kind of move around the walls. Well, the other thing that's great about slab climbing is you can use the wall if you want to and put your hands directly on it. Now for this one, I know that it's tempting to go at it sideways, but the problem is that right here, you're gonna run into these two holds and you're gonna run out of room. So some people will use the volumes in order to stabilize, but it's important to have your heels facing outwards through this section so that you have the room to move around these starting holds for this other climb. So it's focusing on putting weight onto your toes rather than just the sides of your feet. You're tiptoeing across the volume. So I like the idea of keeping the heel outwards. So can you kind of further explain what does it do to the viewers? Why keeping the heel outwards? So keeping your heel outwards is good because being sideways is nice until you have to get around a different hold. The reason that having your toes to the wall and your heels out is important is because you can raise and lower yourself on your toes using the strength of your calves. So when you need to make adjustments, it's much, much easier to do it by doing this than it is by trying to pivot your foot sideways. So I can get closer to the wall up on my tiptoes like this. When I need to lean away slightly because this is in the way I drop my heels and walk slowly on the tips of my toes. Whereas if I were sideways, trying to move my leg this way is extremely difficult and without having really good balance and maybe solid hands, these are so in the way that will push me off. So Emily, that was a great tip. We'll move on to the next climb. So which climb are we gonna look at? We are going to look at number seven. And I see a lot of people struggling with this start because they try and approach it head on. The problem with that is that your starting hands, your starting feet are very close. So trying to do this is difficult. Whenever I see a climb that has close hands and feet, I try and think about how can I approach this from the side? You have a lot more freedom to stand into your start hold if you can start from the side. So I started this way with my left foot on and my right hand is just sort of pinching. So I can stand like this and I have the room to stand up and down rather than trying to do this, which is less room. So standing and I use my bottom foot to just stabilize me slightly so that I can have solid footing as I move into the next part of this climb. Volumes are your best friend when you're slab climbing because they're legal for any climb. You can use them in any way that you want, any way that you can. So especially for shorter climbers, it's great because I can use the edge of the volume to pull myself up. And using this left hand volume to stabilize me as I place my left foot. And using the left hand to push against this volume because I want to go that way. And rather than having to expend all the effort of pulling myself this way, if I just push with the left hand, it takes a lot of force off. So Emily, that was a great tip. So what's the next time that we're going to work on? All right, now we are going to work on number nine. I'm reducing my weight by pushing as well as pulling. So pulling with the top right hand, pushing with the bottom left hand. And when I insert my foot into this pocket, I'm making sure the pointiest part of my shoe is going into the deepest part of this pocket because I want to have a good point of contact for my starting foot. So pulling with the right hand, pushing with the left hand, stepping through the left foot and using the right foot to counterbalance. And the counterbalance is super important because it leaves my left hand free, but more importantly, it keeps me from doing this. Barndooring is bad. You want to stabilize. So think about how you can utilize your free limbs in order to counterbalance. So left foot behind me in order to counterbalance. In order to create space for my foot, rather than flat palming this hold, I go up onto my fingertips and that gives me just enough space where I can complete this move. So we're going to move up on difficulty, right? Yes. Slab Lab number 11. I really like 11 because it teaches some really good skills about how to start climbs, but also just in general. So a high angle start. It would be a lot of effort if I was going to start this climb in a half pull-up position. You don't need to do that. That's just wasting energy. So I want to start this climb using my skeleton because using your skeleton always requires less energy than using your muscles. So I want a straight line going from my fingertip all the way to my shoulder. I just use this as a layback. I treat it like a side cling and lay back off of it to reduce the muscle strain. So my points of contact are my left foot placed carefully in the dimple of this start hold. My left hand long and straight on this start hold and my right hand underneath me supporting me so that I can use this to push rather than using the strength of my left arm to hold me away from the wall because my second move is going to be placing a foot here and I need to make sure that I'm leaving space for myself to make that second move. Twist and stand on the top of the volume. Okay, slab lab number 12. I really love this one because it forces you to think ahead. So because this is clearly a side cling, I want to start my climb from the side because if I start square on, I'm going to have to readjust. So save yourself the energy and start from the side. Also, there is only one foot hold. That means both of my feet are going to be occupying this hold. So when I make my first foot placement, I want to be sure that I'm leaving space for my left foot. So right foot placed carefully, allowing space for my left foot to join it underneath once I complete my second move. Side cling, lift the right foot to insert the left underneath. Push with the left hand to create space and make a drop knee. The drop knee keeps my hips close to the wall. Also, I'm solid on my feet to the point where my left hand is free. So this climb is all about my legs. All right, Emily, so what's the last climb that we're going to look at? Lucky number 13. All right, I love this climb. So again, thinking about planning ahead, where am I going to want my hand for the second move? Because that's another side cling, I want to take it from the side using my right hand. So when I'm placing my hands on the start hold, I'm thinking about how am I going to make it so that my right hand is free in order to catch that second hold. And similar to number seven, the starting hand holds and the starting feet holds are very close together. I like to approach those kinds of climbs from the side rather than square on because your knees get in the way. If you're trying to start a climb square on with the hand and foot holds very close together, it becomes extremely difficult to stand out of this. So I would suggest if you can, try starting it from the side. So right hand to the side cling, left hand behind me, right foot onto the textured part of this dual texture hold, left foot out. This volume becomes good when you use it as a side cling. So how do I get my body into position where this is something I can lay back on? I pull hard with the right arm and I go toes first, keeping my arms long until I contract them. In order to get around this hold, I need to take my feet underneath me and flag the left foot out so that I have space to get around this orange hold that's in front of me. Thank you so much, Emily, for teaching us all the slab techniques. It's really, really great. I also heard that you have a coaching business, right? I do have a coaching business. I coach here at Miramisa and at Mission Valley. I love slab. I love coaching slab especially because I think anybody looking to get into climbing, new climbers, you should start with slab because it teaches you excellent habits from the beginning. And it is much, much easier to learn good habits than it is to unlearn bad habits. If you're looking for coaching, send me a DM and I would love to start working with you. Lastly, to all climbers, please support an honest business like my 5-Bar. Some other bars market themselves as whole real food, but actually consists of stuff like pea protein and sunflower lecithin. When I say 5-Bar consists of real food exclusively, it really means 5-Bar consists of real food exclusively. Additionally, 5-Bar is neither 94% nor 99% organic. It's 100% organic. Even though 5-Bar doesn't have a big celebrity behind it to push it, 5-Bar tries to compete with honest marketing and being a great product. Definitely check out the link in the video description below to order some 5-Bars. Thanks again, Emily, and see you guys in the next video. Bye.