Climbing movement requires a sense of body awareness. As a guide with Front Range Climbing Company in Colorado, I've taken a lot of beginners climbing at the Garden of the Gods and Red Rock Canyon. A lot of those novices are unsure about moving over stone. I tell them that climbing is about learning to move on new and different terrain from the flat sidewalks of our everyday lives.

Use Finesse Rather Than Brute Strength

I find that women who start climbing take to it faster than men for the simple reason that many athletic women come from a background in gymnastics and dance, activities that require body awareness and moving from the body's core; whereas men tend to come from ball games like basketball, football, and baseball, sports that require an awareness of core movement but less so than many other sports.

The men tend to grunt and clutch their way up a cliff, grabbing handholds and pulling up with their arms. The women on the other hand use their dance skills to stand on their feet and move from their body core, using finesse and footwork rather than brute strength.

Always Move in Balance

To be a climber, of course, requires attention to strategically placing your hands and your feet so that you are always moving in balance, always trying to find equilibrium, and always moving from the core or torso and using your arms and legs to find that elusive body awareness. As you learn to climb, you begin to learn and use a repertoire of movements. You begin to teach your body how to find balance and awareness by finding the correct body positions for every move, which are dictated by the changing combinations of handholds and footholds that you encounter.

Body Position is Most Important

Climbing is all about body position. You need to find a position of balance in your torso or body core as you move, staying in equilibrium as you climb upward.

You move your arms and legs, grabbing handholds and using your feet on edges and smears; arms and legs moving in opposition to each other; and consistently maintaining a centering balance. When you are off-balance, you know it. Your body wants to swing one way or another; you over-grip your handholds; your footwork gets sloppy.

The X-Body Position

To stay in balance with your body, use what is called the X-body position. Think of your body forming a capital letter X with your outstretched arms forming the top of the X and your splayed legs forming the bottom. The center of your body, the core or torso, forms the middle of the X. You move an arm or leg to keep the center of the X in equilibrium and somewhat stationary. Strive to always be in balance and to always move in balance. You will always encounter off-balance moves as you climb. It's what you do with those moves to keep in balance that often spells success or falling off.

Move from 3-Points of Contact

When you're climbing, strive to always have three stable points of contact with the rock-two arms and one leg or two legs and one arm. Move the fourth point to the next hold. Moving from three points of contact means that you are always in contact with the rock face and usually moving from your core and in balance. It is usually easiest to maintain the three-points-of contact rule on slabs and vertical faces. When you climb overhanging walls, you need to used advanced and more strenuous body positions that might require only two points of contact, like when you flag a leg out to keep your core in balance.