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Backstep drill

5-6 easy steep boulders, 2-3 times each, backstepping wherever it helps.

Slot
On the wall
Focus
Technique
Time
20 min
Intensity
Low
Injury risk
Low
Intervals
10 rounds
Equipment
Boulders, Overhang

How to do it

A backstep is standing on a foothold with the outside edge of your shoe, so your hip turns into the wall and your body goes sideways. On easy steep boulders, use it on every move where it helps: when reaching with your right hand, put the outside of your right foot on a hold and turn your right hip into the wall (and the other way round for the left). Climb 5-6 boulders, 2-3 times each, and notice how much further you can reach than with your chest facing the wall.

Who it’s for

Steep climbing where facing the wall makes every reach too short. Turning the hip in is the single biggest reach gain available, and it costs nothing.

Common mistakes

  • Standing on the inside edge out of habit. Outside edge of the shoe, so the hip can turn.
  • Turning the wrong hip. Same side as the reaching hand.
  • Reaching before the hip has turned. Turn, then reach. In that order.
  • Only practising it on the good side. Both, every boulder.

How to progress

Notice the reach difference on purpose: climb a move square, then backstepped, and see how much closer the hold gets. Then look for it on problems you’re working, where it usually turns a jump into a static move.

When it fits

The training periods this exercise fits into in Blok Sessions.

  • Base Lots of easy climbing, good movement and aerobic fitness.
  • Strength Stronger fingers and pulling, with weight you control.
  • Power Explosive moves, momentum and coordination.
  • Power Endurance Keep your power through one hard move after another.
  • Performance Peak for a trip or a comp: focus, reading problems, trying hard.
  • Deload Train less, let your fingers recover, keep moving.

Start with a ready-made block

A six-week strength plan with a deload, as a file for the app, and seven short emails on how to run it.