We have a full range of course and classes for you to enjoy, so no matter what your fitness level or climbing experience we have something for you. We can teach you the difference between ‘crimps crags’ ‘boulders and belayers’ so read on and enjoy everything we have to offer. Did you know we even have a full weight and cardio gym??

1. Before your first visit we require you to fill out a waiver form. If you are 18 and over you can fill out your own form either by downloading it from this site or when you arrive on the day.
2. If you are under 18 we need your parent to fill out the waiver on your behalf. This must be completed by your parent and no-one else. If your parents are not coming with you, ensure the form is printed off from our site and completed by your parents so you can bring the completed form with you on the day.
3. If you intend to bring some children that are under 18 and do not belong to you, you must get their parent to fill out the form before they arrive and bring it with you on the day. If you are not the child’s parent, you cannot complete the form for the child.
4. On your first visit we will require you to go through a short climbing and belaying lesson. This demonstration (demo) is compulsory for all new participants at Urban Climb regardless of your experience. Our intelligent and rather cool instructors will teach you everything you need to know to climb safely. You will be required to demonstrate what you have learned at the end of the lesson before being allowed to climb. Climbing lessons run for approximately 20-40 minutes depending on your skill level and the number of participants.
5. We run these demo sessions every 30 minutes every day during school holiday, so no need to book.
6. Outside of school holidays we run these sessions during specific time slots. These times are 5pm until 8pm Monday to Thursday. 4pm until 7pm Fridays. 10pm until 4 pm saturdays and Sundays.
7. If you are a group of less than 6 we do not require you to book. If you have 6 or more people please give us a call to arrange.
8. You must be 13 years or older to belay. Belaying is the part of climbing that involves standing at the bottom of the wall, holding and feeding the ropes for your partner. Under 13s can climb only.
9. If you are bringing lots of under 13s then you must be prepared to belay for them, or bring extra 13 and overs to do the belaying.
10. After your first climb we will offer you a week free pass for filling out a short feedback form. Don’t miss out, it’s a whole free week!
11. We do have snacks, drinks, (coffee during some periods) chairs and tables for you. So sit back and relax.
12. Bring a fun and funky attitude. Urban Climb and The Lab is known for its fun and excellent customer service. So bring your best attitude and enjoy!!

Looking to buy your first harness or shoes, or perhaps you want to upgrade your shoe to a better performing style. Look no further than the Urban Shop. With prices that can be as much as $100 CHEAPER than other outlets we aim to give you the best deals as part of our Urban Crew…..

Speak to one of our friendly team for more info…..

or visit our Urban Shop Online

So with this in mind we are starting to pencil in ideas for the next one in a couple of months time. The second boulder comp saw some developments on the first with some HUGE dynos taking place and an upscale in the prizes available. We want to go better yet, so we are wondering what the format should be for the next comp and if any of you crazy kids have ideas that we could factor in.

Contact us at info@urbanclimb.com.au with some ideas or suggestions, be it ideas for prizes, competition format, routes or whatever, let us know.

Also we would like to get some other businesses involved, perhaps to liven things up even more or just increase the party atmosphere that we already have, so again if any of you work for or know a business that might like to be involved in one of our comps or social nights, get in touch.

Ta!…..

After teaching adult squad for near on 2 years, I have to admit that it still amazes me that many climbers don’t believe that psychology is playing an important role in their climbing. There are a number of really clear and obvious examples that suggest that that is not the case. For many who have climbed in at Urban, you will have no doubt noticed that many new climbers get to the hook on the wave-wall, unhook and then fall off. What if we moved that hook up another half metre? Does everyone just max out at that point by coincidence or are they setting the anchor for their performance at the hook? Or many of you will have had the experience of climbing until you feel like you can’t keep going and then having someone down the bottom yelling out “Come on! Keep going, only a few more steps” and you finish the climb. Did that person somehow endow you with new levels of energy independent to your thinking?
Mind-set and physical ability are inseparable when it comes to climbing – like a nice cold beer and nachos after a long day at work! For many climbers, the challenge is being able to shift that mind-set to something more constructive and conducive to your success. Enter, cognitive restructuring. The sexiest of all things psychology, the mistress of many disciplines of psychology and the all-round amazing tool that every handy-man or woman should have in their climbing arsenal!
The process of applying cognitive restructuring is two-fold. The first is to identify unhelpful or negative thoughts. While this seems intuitive, many people are not aware that they may have “triggers” to these thoughts. For example, overhangs, crimps, long climbs, people watching them etc. Many people are also not very aware of the ‘mind-chatter’ that goes on when they are climbing. Dr Phil is a bit of an idiot I have to admit but bless him because what he is done is reduced complicated ideas to Texan-style sayings. One that I particularly like is “You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge”. This is very applicable to being able to shift negative thinking – it takes being aware of it to be able to change.
The next stage is the restructuring which is admittedly, difficult and frustrating. What you are trying to do at this stage is shift a negative thought to being something more constructive. NOTE! This does not mean trying to fool yourself into blind optimism so taking the thought “This climb is too hard there is no way I could ever hope to do this” and shifting that to “Dang! This climb is easy I might do it blindfolded” is not going to make you feel very good. Instead what you are trying to do is structure the thought in a way that gives you the best opportunity to succeed. So you may reframe the previous thought to “This climb definitely looks hard but I can see some sections I definitely think I can manage”. It may seem like a subtle and meaningless change but you are opening up the potential to succeed rather than thinking in the polar-opposites of “this is impossible” and trying to shift that to “this is easy”. Don’t believe me? Google self-fulfilling prophecy and have a bit of a read!
So your challenge is to start tuning into that ‘mind-chatter’ that narrates around in the back of your head and see if there are thoughts that are hindering your performance. Start to shift these toward a more constructive framing. Obviously there is more to this skill then what I can cover in a short blog so if you are keen to find out more, get along to Adult Squad where I cover this in much more detail!
Happy climbing!
Matt

Can you do 10 chin-ups, but get on the wall and find you are unable to hold on to certain holds? Get stuck making the move past a certain hold? Chances are your weakness isn’t your strength, it’s your contact strength.  If you can’t hold on to that tiny piece of rock, chances are you’re not going to be able to move off it either!

So, what do you do?

Well, you have a few options. You could train on the systems wall. A systems wall is a wall set up with the same type of holds that you can practise.  For example, you’ll find a row of slopers or a row of crimps.  This will enable you to keep climbing up and down to practise and strengthen that particular grip type all while using your body in a simulation of climbing.

You can jump on the hangboard.  A hangboard is a board that pairs up different types and sizes of certain holds. The idea is to dead hang off these holds without moving.  You can also practise pull-ups on specific hold types.  And they don’t have to be the same hold types. You could try doing a pull-up with a crimp on one hand and a jug in the other.  When this gets too easy, you can add a weight belt.

Bouldering is a great way to develop your contact strength all while maintaining and building upon your core strength. You must choose hard problems that challenge you.

You could also jump on a climb that focuses on your handhold type of weakness. It must be a climb that is challenging and will take you awhile to work out.  Something a little outside of your comfort zone. This option trains your grip type in different positions rather than in the one direction.

Remember to maintain your strengths, but work on your weaknesses.  Contact strength is your first point of contact with the wall, so it’s a good bet that you’ll need to train it, no matter what your skill level.  Now you have the tools!  Go practise!

Ok folks, this article has been a work in progress because we wanted it to be purrrfect for you. After much deliberation on what questions we thought you might like, we ended up settling on the very best 8! I am sure they need no introduction but our guest interviewees are Alister Murray or The Lab  (our resident Exercise Physiologist) and Trina Lat, physiotherapist and climbing expert.

So i hope you enjoy this piece, we will also be adding mp3’s of the interview shortly! Stay tuned.

He said/She said

Q.    Can exercise be used for rehabilitation or should it be avoided when injured?

Trina: Yes, the question is what exercises are you allowed to do when you do have an injury. For example if you have a knee injury that worsens when running, you have to do certain exercises to strengthen weak muscles such as your quads and hamstrings, and do exercises such as squats and lunges. But then avoid running as an exercise until symptoms subside or you have corrected muscle imbalances that have been causing you knee pain. So its just like going back to basics really.

Alister:  yeah I definitely agree with that, and I think that exercise is important to aid in the recovery but if it’s done wrongly, like Trina suggested if you have a knee injury and you do a 10k run, then you could potentially do a lot of damage. So the exercise has to be specific for the injury and as long as it’s done with correct technique, then you should be able to optimize your recovery time with exercise involved.

Q.    I want to improve my climbing, should I consider taking supplements to help my training?

Alister: I don’t think supplements are going to help training too much unless the training program is very specific and your checking all the boxes in terms of your frequency and duration of training first. If you are someone who climbs yellows and you want to be climbing blacks, there are a lot more things you can be doing in terms of the technique improvement before even thinking about taking supplements. If you do however want to take supplements or want more information, you should see an EP at The Lab because we can let you know what kind of things are appropriate dependant on your dietary requirements and your training requirements too.

Trina: Supplements are there for muscle growth and strength, but it does not mean it will improve your climbing. So climbing more plus taking supplements may aid you in training but it does not mean it will get you climbing black routes, and taking only supplements with no extra climbing training will not make a difference. A combination of climbing, the right technique training, strength training and supplements as an aid, may see you having improvements.

Q.    I am having shoulder pain when I climb, should I see a physiotherapist or an exercise physiologist?

Trina: A physiotherapist can diagnose you or give you an impression of what the problem is or an assessment of the biomechanics of your shoulder and directly address the problem. Then I think as your symptoms such as pain or lack of range of movement subside, and as you get stronger you may want more training for a higher level of activity, especially if you are an athlete. I think then is the best time for you to see an EP.

Alister: I agree, if the shoulder pain you are having in climbing is very acute then seeing a physiotherapist is a great way to get a diagnosis and thorough assessment. As your injury rehab progresses, especially if you are looking to remain active, an EP can definitely play a role in that as well, because that can be programmed into your rehab so that you are able to maintain some activity despite the limitations that you’re getting. Aside from that if you are experiencing pain you should see either one first up, the EP will be able to give you a bit of an idea as to the cause or be able to even refer to you a physiotherapist. So if you are able to see either one for a bit of advice then you can definitely get in front of the right person from there.

Q.    I spend all day sitting at a desk, and I suffer from neck pain. What can I do about it?

Trina: Sitting at desks for prolonged periods of time can be contributing factor to neck pain. So postural problems or ergonomic problems, meaning how your desk is set up can be contributing factors. With this in mind you may think that there would be a result in weakness of certain muscles, by compensating in each other, which will results in neck pain. A physiotherapist can assess your neck, biomechanics and shoulder, some physiotherapists specialize in ergonomics to assess your work stations. I think it would be good to go see someone who can assess this and relieve you of your pain.

Alister: I think this is very important as your neck muscles are very attune to tightness because they tend to go into protection mode for your brain. So if pain has been there for a period of time I would suggest getting it checked out because you can get pretty nasty injuries that can be long lasting. Going on from what Trina said, a lot of the postural issues that are around these days are caused from the work in front of a computer. The bottom line is the body likes to move, so if it is sat in one position for too long it can just get tired and fatigued. So the tension you’re getting can be from sitting in that position, but also it can be from weaknesses through the mid shoulder blade area, sometimes just some strengthening in that area can relieve the pain in the upper neck. But if you are suffering from that pain come to see an EP or a physiotherapist to see what you can do to prevent your tensions.

Q.    In your profession, what advice can you give to climbers, to help them improve performance?

Alister: I think one of the biggest things for improving you performance is making sure that you have a solid plan. Set goals and being really specific so you know what is in front of you, and get a plan so you know how to get there. You plan will involve really structuring your training and making sure you utilize your time to the best of your advantage. So we need to make sure that when you do get time to climb that you utilize it the best you can and we are actually doing things that are specific to what you want to achieve. That way, we will have better quality training sessions and be able to get to our improved performance faster. So I think having clear goals and a structured training plan will make it a lot easier.

Trina: Alister is right about having goals and a plan, but I think to be a good climber it is important to identify your weaknesses and strengths. For example, if you have a history of dislocating your shoulder or a weak shoulder that means you are very lax, and that means you have weakness in your rotator cuff muscles. In climbing it is very important that you can reach up or lock off without it popping. In my profession I would say having specific exercises for your rotator cuff using therabands and tubes, and do exercises to strengthen it specific to climbing, this would improve your performance. Another example is if you are short or little, flexibility in your legs is important. You need to high step more and therefore will have to be quite flexible. So being able to identify weaknesses and addressing them specifically will benefit you and improve your performance as a climber.

Alister: climbing is such a multifaceted sport; you need flexibility, strength, endurance and you need to have good decision making skills and be sharp mentally. So because there are so many facets you need to cover it is important to identify all the strengths and weaknesses, so try to bring in the help of as many people as you can in that. You can ask the staff at Urban Climb for help, even take one of the courses available to help improve technique and hone your skills.

Trina: climb with someone you don’t normally climb with and climb with someone that is maybe better than you so you can learn from them.

Q.    Can or do EPs and Physio’s work together?

Alister: One of the big things that comes out of performance management, especially when it comes to athletic development of any kind, is that a multidiscipline approach tends to have the best outcomes when it comes to improving performance. That means working with not only one person but a team of people. So EPs and physiotherapists definitely work closely together and each profession can add a different viewpoint to the situation. So whether it is improvement or rehabilitation, they can work together to help solve the problem.

Trina: In addition to that, it is not only EPs and physiotherapists that work together but also climbing instructors that can help give technique skills, sports psychologists can help the mental aspects and even yoga instructors to help. Working with different professionals in different fields will yield a better outcome because you are targeting every facet of the sport.

Alister: And that extends to life coaches, nutritionists and dieticians, all of the above.

Q.    Who’s better, an EP or a physio?

Alister: they work together closely in various facets, here’s an example – so let’s say that your climbing quite well as a result of seeing an EP or climbing instructor, but all of a sudden you get an injury, you would want to see a physio.

Trina: So if you do get an injury it would be best to see a physiotherapist to get it diagnosed and if you need to get MRI’s or X-rays, physiotherapists are the best people to get that for you. And then you can go back to climbing with the same strength and technical ability.

Alister:  I think that when you’re back at that level you can then work with an EP to get back in shape and improve performance.

Q.    If an EP and physio were in a bare knucle fight, who would win?

Trina: The physiotherapist of course, I would go straight for the gut and he would be out cold an unable to get me because I’m too fast and too small!

Alister: Yeah but I have a solid steel six pack from my intense EP training and she wouldn’t make it past my razor sharp stomach. But seriously though I’ve been on the table of a physio and those guys have seriously strong hands!

***If you want to get in touch with either Trina or Alister just shoot us an email to info@urbanclimb.com.au and we will get you in touch with them.***