Magnus Midtbø Reveals Why Most Climbers Don't Improve

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Magnus Midtbø is a professional climber AND the biggest climbing Youtuber. He has climbed 5.15b (9b), and his YouTube channel recently hit 1M subscribers.

[LemonLimeFlavoured]

nah it's cus the shirts I wear are too heavy

[cradleofgoth]

Climbing with and observing people who are better than you is so helpful, I've learned so much by doing that.

[poolkrooni]

Catalyst climbing does a great job explaining the psychological side of climbing and keeping up a positive attitude in some of their coaching videos, suggested viewing for everyone!

[Gadgetmawombo]

Something i noticed about myself and friends is not eating b4 climbing. Youd think youd get bloated and itd make you worse but when I DONT eat and come on an empty stomach I burn out and am low energy. Maybe not the heaviest meal or whatever but a decent meal beforehand, not just a protein bar. You need calories to move lol.

[Bjorn_R]

1:04 Magnus making me feel like a ball of confidence. I will try any route with what in my mind looks like good holds. The bigger the better.

[hidden]

This is definitely it.

My first year of climbing I stuck to v3-4 grade and never even tried projecting.

I got in this weird mindset that it should be ‘Easy’ so when I would try a v5 and fall off the first move I would tell myself I’m not strong enough and just stick to v4.

When I brought my friend to climb with me during year 2 I forced him to do v4s and he was already climbing at my level within a couple weeks. I realized I just never pushed myself.

If you want to skyrocket your climbing progress, climb with someone stronger than you who climbs a few grades higher.

[aneverflowingstream]

Physical things aside, confidence is THE most important tool in climbing imo. Going from climbing in my range because I knew I could do it vs climbing things I wanted to climb because I just wanted to and confidently (not having a clue if I could or not) is tremendous to progress and enjoyment on the wall

[nvt]

Don't look at grades. Have fun. Look at a climb, think about the movement and workout the moves. Much more rewarding, than grade hunting.
We had one climber in our group who always said 8 UIAA was too hard for him. One day in a new gym, it wasn't UIAA Scale, it was graded in French, and he cruised one up with ease. We told him afterwards and from that point on, the blockage was gone in his head.

I started hangboarding with feet on the ground. gradually increasing hangtime.

Best technique for me getting stronger: climb slower and more precise, don't adjust the hand, after you placed it, wait 3 seconds before the hold to grab it. Suddenly easy routes, get really really hard. and your strength and technique will improve, because you have to have a good stand.

[mikewbma]

I find most of the time is the fear of falling on a boulder from the top where the crux is usually set. I find really need to practice falling by not sticking it.

[Ausaini]

I’ve decided this year I’m gonna focus on cultivating what Louis Parkinson calls “Relentless Optimism” I’m going to try hard boulders that aren’t my style and between two grades lower than what I climb and three grades harder than what I climb ( so currently v4-v9). My joints muscles and my sleep are playing nice lately since I’ve cut back on vices and supplement well, so I think it’ll be possible to get stronger learn and better even if I stay the same grade.

[Averell]

I think one thing that’s a very huge downer for confidence is the grading system. While it’s nice to compare yourself to others you also shy away from harder grades. Whereas with coloursystems that have huge overlaps in grades, it simply doesn’t matter that much and one is much more inclined to try the next harder colour because it might be a soft one for the colour. And just by that you „accidentally“ touch routes that are way harder than what you usually climb and get used to those.

And one can still compare their „strength“ world wide to others on systemboards.

[traumtaenzer]

I really like how you pointed out the importance of muscle memory. I am a beginner climber (started in the beginning of 2023, because of Magnus and other clibing youtubers btw) and I am always really surprised of my muscle memory. When I fall on a boulder 5 times and come back a week later, I almost every time stick the move. So this is just to give people confidence, that muscle memory doesn´t just work if you´re a pro climber oder you have climbed for 20 years. It even works if you are a beginner like me:)
Also I´ve started hangboarding in january 2024, just from the best edge and for five seconds and I started with my feet on the ground too. I´ve done this for 2 months, lifted the feet slowly and a few weeks ago I started to use the campusboard for the first time. What I want to say is, everything takes time but if it feels good and you have no pain or anything in your fingers after you did the exercise, just start doing it. These exercises have helped my brain more than my fingers I might think, because I am so confident now but also know my limits:)

[danielgeary]

This is so crazy, that’s my climbing gym. Never thought it was big enough for Magnus to come through

[faarao]

Big one is trying to reduce injuries, especially for older climbers

[antonioskontonasakis]

Yo I don't usually care for the sponsor of the video, in favt I usually skip them if I'm being honest, but that hangboard looks incredibly cool tbh. Like, absurdly useful for measuring finger strength, knowing where you are in the progress of your training (besides just hang time), and for knowing when to progress to smaller hold sizes. That genuinely looks super cool

[BigSources]

I have only been climbing for one month now and i managed to go from v0 to v6 simply because i tried stuff that seemed to be too difficult for me. I even tried two v6s when i haven't even done a single v5 yet and today i managed to do both. If you try something really hard, you will run into problems, which is great because problems give you a chance to improve. They narrow down where you might be lacking and then it's up to you to figure out what to do better. Once the problems is fixed, you will have become a better climber.

[YnseSchaap]

I always film myself when I train so I can see what I did because when I'm climbing I kinda zone out 😁

[malcopops]

Because its not a competition would be my answer... whether you're motivated is a genuine question as if you enjoy climbing at the grade you're on then doing all the extra training to improve is going to be tough!

[ChuSupport]

I need to be comfortable slipping off the top of a route. I find my lack of confidence when climbing being from fear.

[pauortega]

I am all the opposite. I get on boulders that are rlly hard, give it lots of tries through out multiple session to the point where I am pretty sure I am not strong enough and then…I keep trying because who knows, maybe the next try it goes 😂😂😂