Blok SessionsLog in

Fear inventory

List each moment you backed off today: what you feared, the realistic worst case, what happened.

Slot
Mental and reflection
Focus
Reflection
Time
10 min
Intensity
Low
Injury risk
Low
Equipment
Notebook

How to do it

Within an hour of a session, write down every moment you hesitated, downclimbed or didn't try: the move, what you were afraid of (the fall, the landing, looking silly, getting hurt), the realistic worst case, and what actually happened. Add how it felt in your body (tight shoulders, held breath, shaky legs) and a score from 1 (a flicker) to 10 (frozen). Name the fear plainly; naming it is most of the work. Then mark the lowest-scoring item where a fall would be safe: that's your next comfort-zone ladder. Keep the sheet and re-read it after a month to see which fears have moved.

Who it’s for

Climbers who back off moves their body could do, whether it’s a high top-out, a committing jump or a slab above a bad landing. Fear that stays vague is hard to work on. Once it’s written down you can pick one piece of it and start there.

Common mistakes

  • Writing it up days later. By then the details have gone and every moment blurs into “I was scared”. Do it soon after the session.
  • Vague entries. “Scared on the blue one” tells you nothing next month. Write the move, the fear and the realistic worst case.
  • Judging yourself. Leave out whether you should have been scared. Write down what happened and how it felt.
  • Starting with the scariest item. Begin with the lowest score where a fall would be safe. Small wins on easy fears are what move the bigger ones.
  • Never re-reading it. The re-read is where you see change. Without it the sheet is just a list.

How to progress

Work up the list from the lowest scores. Over a few months some fears drop to lower scores or disappear from your sessions, and the ones that keep coming back tell you what to train on purpose.

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.
  • Endurance Climb longer before you pump out, by moving efficiently.
  • 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.