Hey climbers! after one year of bouldering—plus one injury and countless beta tweaks—I’ve finally made it from V0 to solid V7. Here’s what actually helped me level up. This isn’t some “get strong fast” hack—it’s just real progress, the kind you feel in your body and see in your sends. Let’s go: ⸻ 🔹 1. Warm. Up. Like You Mean It. Let’s be real—I used to totally half-ass warmups. Stretch for 5 minutes, hop on a V2, then immediately regret everything. Then came the wrist injury. One month off the wall. Zero climbing. Lots of ice packs. Big lesson learned. Now? I treat warmups like part of the session. 30-40 minutes to get everything fired up—shoulders, fingers, core. A few easy V0-V1s to find my flow. No more rushing. Bonus: Warmed-up climbs feel so much cleaner. Your body hits positions faster, you breathe better, you’re just… ready. ⸻ 🔹 2. Perfect the Basics Before You Push Grades I know, I know. You just sent your first V3 and you’re itching for that V4. But trust me—clean technique will take you farther than just muscling through. For me, the plateau hit around V3-V4. I’d get so close, but not quite finish the climb. I started recording my attempts and realized… my footwork sucked. I’d skip holds, ignore balance, rush moves. So I took a step back and started focusing on intentional climbing: • Precise foot placements • Locking in my body tension • Taking a breath before committing It wasn’t flashy, but slowly, my consistency went up. And guess what? That’s when the grades started going up too. ⸻ 🔹 3. Repeat Climbs. Yes, Even the Ones You Already Sent. Flashing a problem once feels awesome. But sending it twice, three times, five times? That’s when you know it’s your climb. Some of my biggest breakthroughs came from redoing older climbs—especially technical problems with awkward body positions or weird beta. Each repeat made the movement smoother, the flow more natural. That muscle memory? It’s pure gold. So yeah, don’t just tick off problems. Milk them for all the body awareness and beta they offer. ⸻ ✨ Final Thoughts I’m writing this from a train in Tuscany, flying past Italian autumn fields, thinking about the thing I love most—climbing. I feel lucky it’s become part of my everyday life. And even luckier to share that journey with you. See you on the wall. 💙🧗‍♀️ #sport #climbing #boulderingprogress