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Drop knees

Find 5-6 moves on easy steep boulders where a drop knee helps, 3 tries per side.

Slot
On the wall
Focus
Technique
Time
20 min
Intensity
Moderate
Injury risk
Low
Intervals
5 rounds
Equipment
Boulders

How to do it

A drop knee is turning one knee inward and down so your hip gets close to the wall and your reach gets longer. With both feet pushing on footholds through the big toes, rotate the knee on the same side as your reaching hand inward (toward the floor), reach, then unwind. Find 5-6 moves on easy steep boulders where it helps, and practice each one 3 times per side.

Who it’s for

Anyone whose reaches feel short on steep ground. Turning the hip in brings your chest to the wall and buys reach that no amount of pulling will.

Common mistakes

  • Rotating the wrong knee. It’s the knee on the same side as the reaching hand. Getting this backwards is the most common error in the drill.
  • Pushing through the middle of the foot. Both feet push through the big toe. That’s what lets the hip turn.
  • Cranking it hard on day one. A deep drop knee puts real load on the knee joint. Build the range over weeks and never force it.
  • Staying in it too long. Turn in, reach, unwind. It’s a position you pass through.

How to progress

Find them on easy steep boulders first, three tries a side, then look for them in the beta of harder problems. When it’s automatic, the tell is that your feet start choosing footholds that make a drop knee possible before you’ve consciously decided to use one.

When it fits

The training periods this exercise fits into in Blok Sessions.

  • Base Lots of easy climbing, good movement and aerobic fitness.
  • Performance Peak for a trip or a comp: focus, reading problems, trying hard.

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.