How To Break Your Bouldering Plateau 

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hey Hannah! I have watched and enjoyed so many of your videos but this one is truly a CUT ABOVE. I was genuinely open-mouthed watching Xian break down your movement and so clearly demonstrate pathways to improvement through seemingly small changes. I genuinely am in awe ! Please get Xian on again!

She is so incredibly articulate - so much intelligence in her eyes, AND shes strong as hell? Impressive coaching.

Can we get more videos with Xian??! She’s such a great instructor and I feel lots of points she made, I can also apply those to my climbing, especially excessive pulling. Thank you Hannah for these always wonderful videos!!! ❤

Xian is so great at breaking down complex movement into smaller, digestible, chunks. Thanks Hannah for the video! and thanks Xian for the coaching! Super useful.

Xian is a fantastic instructor. WOW! Every suggestion she gave was spot on for your climbing requirements. That was amazing to watch first hand. Great video. I guess I'm impressed because she gave you tips on similar problems I'm having myself🤣 Gym day is tomorrow so I'm trying those skills out, too. Thanks Hannah and Xian👍🏽

I absolutely love Xian's observational breakdown and understanding of movement. As usual I learned something unique that I think will directly impact my own climbing, Hannah you really have a knack for that kind of content! Also Xian is fun and you guys really interact well. I'd love to see her more if possible!

Love the breakdown by Xian on your movement - so cool to see the full session play out

I absolutely love her teaching style, she‘s amazing!!

So much great information and feedback from Xian. Definitely shows how important it is to learn proper flagging, smearing etc. Thanks for sharing with us Hannah.

Great to see Xian on your channel! I always marvel at how fluid her climbing is, so it's fascinating to see her breaking things down analysing all the movements so precisely.

Lovely and informative video! Especially liked the "low willpower" concept. So refreshing! Especially considering that the self-help industry relies heavily on the "willpower" concept!

That was some excellent coaching !! A lot to think about and try, I'll save it and rewatch it when needed, for sure !!

I love these coaching videos so much. Even though these are personalized to you, the general principles to try to get the most out of tbe different techniques have been immensely helpful.

It's amazing how you always find people so good in giving advice and understanding climbing movement! This was really cool :)

That's coaching is sick, it's very nice to see the breakdowns, and how she can identify the patterns, top notch !!!!

Super insightful as always. Love the channel Hannah!

Climbed at the hangar this evening and have realised this movement was the exact problem I was having with pretty much every climb I got stuck on! Amazing vid and loved the really detailed coaching on one movement

🤯🤯🤯 Her tips were so great! I wish I lived closer to schedule a session 😢 Great video, congratulations to both of you ❤

Wow! Thank you very much for this very detailed explanation! What a coach she is!!

I watched your video while having dinner after my climbing session. I must say It made want to go climbing right now and try Xian Goh's pieces of advice. The way she breaks down movement is amazing. Congrats on your content, it's getting better and better!

This was brilliant Hannah. Xian makes it sound simple and explains the reasons for the movement so well. I will be trying to put this into practice tomorrow. I'm guilty of just rushing at problems and not thinking them through first. I'm learning so much from your videos. Thank you.

Watching Xian helping you I think we can all take something from it- thank you Hannah! Glad you sent the purple! This made me smile as I am not very well right now so thank you Hannah! 😊😁

Xian seems to be such a great coach. 👍 Thanks for sharing. I learned a lot.

Glad to see Xian on this channel!

So happy to see Xian !

Best video about climbing technique in my life! I have some issues with the movement, that don't let me to improve. I stuck on v5 (sometimes v6) for almost three years. Also, i gained some bad climbing habits. I simply jamp to the next hold instead of thinking about the line of movement. So, I got used to rely on forse. I started to work on it, and now I feel, that I'm improving. BTW, now I see, that it's a very common problem. Especially, many strong (and long) guys have the same issues. So, sometimes I can observe a paradox: a tall guy can't reach a hold, which 5'5 people take with ease. P.S. Thank a lot Hannah and Xian and sorry for my mistakes. English is not my first.

Great input from Xian. You always create such fab content to take away and try on the wall. Super helpful!

One of my fav coaching videos on your channel so far! This was super helpful. Great work to both you and Xian!

We were over on a trip from Australia and visited this place because of your videos (bought your t-shirt too!).. Think we saw Xian while we were there... She's awesome! Great video!

I found your channel on the day this was filmed, found myself I the background today 😂. Brill vid and loved the breakdown on what your cg is doing!!

Love your videos. The coaches you bring on are so knowledgable and articulate which has been really helpful for me! Thank you!

This was awesome!! Please do more coaching videos it really helps to see it visually! Also Xian is a great teacher!

Wow, I make the same mistake myself and that was SO helpful; I'll try out Xian's suggestions next time I go bouldering. Thanks for another great video Hannah :D

Hannah, I just started the video, but thank you for making awesome content :) I love seeing new videos pop up from you

Great video. This is something I've been struggling with too. It's fun to see you improve so quickly. Xian is a very good teacher and really gets movement.

honestly...i m always happy to see Hannah"s content...great for uplifting... keep up the spirit Hannah and keep creating good content💪💪💪

This is such a good video! Xian is so helpful. Knowledgeable and great at sharing that knowledge.

Wow this is a mega input for me! I have to try it all! Thank you sooo much! ❤

I love Xian's coaching! She's amazing. This is exactly what I needed. Thank you for sharing 🙏🏽 ❤

I love your videos!! Very helpful for beginner climbers. Thanks a lot!

wow love this video! I am going to try out those tips in the next session.

I've found this video really helpful since seeing a few weeks ago, it brought some more awareness into what I'm doing with my hips what a great coach to have on. Many thanks 😊

I just found your channel a few days ago and have been going through all your content. I've never even tried climbing before but I have been fascinated! Thank you for all the great content! I'm thinking of visiting a climbing gym in my area soon! :)

This was so interesting !!

That's exactly the move I need to do on a project to get my first v6. Can't wait to get get on the wall and try this technique. Thanks!

Great consultation + great student. Nice video, thx 😊

This is great, thanks! I really need to get out of the habit of pulling!

Great video Hannah!!!! So many good pointers….I think that what I notice with you is that when you climb freely and allow yourself to use your momentum, you climb with more flow and it looks more effortless. But if you’re like me, you want to feel like you’re climbing gracefully or pretty, so you intentionally (or unintentionally) slow yourself down in order to climb with more style (I do anyway). But what that does is forces you to have to depend on strength and makes climbs harder than they need to be. I’m an analytical person so I have to force myself to not think, and simply do, and that admittedly makes the prospect of falling greater. But what I’ve learned is that it also increases my ability to climb harder, and I think that you may deal with some of the same things. You’re clearly strong enough to take your climbing to the next level, but I think that simply focusing on using your momentum to get to the next hold will do wonders for your confidence and will eventually help to get rid of the fear of falling (I think that that is also why you would rather climb slowly and controlled). I know that you’re physically capable of really really strong climbing, the trick is going to be now on taking all that you’ve learned about form and precision and all of that and basically throwing it out the window in order to now focus on dynamism and momentum based climbing, because you’re definitely strong enough. As always, rooting for you and thank you for giving us such useful content😃🤙🏽

Oh great, a new video, Hannah! 💗. Just finished a sesh in the local gym. Will watch later when I get home!

Yessssss Xian!!!!!! One of the greatest!!

Hi Hannah, I’ve enjoyed watching your improvement videos! They’re very helpful. I’m not sure if this is something you’d be interested in doing on your channel, or if it’s something you’ve already done, but nutrition and rest are equally as important as the techniques and drills showcased in these improvement/training videos. It would be great to see you do a video on nutrition and rest. It would help a lot of people, as I know it helped me when I found myself incredibly tired and incapable of lasting very long, especially when in an intense training cycle.

Thank you Hannah and Xian for the great content! I've definitely learned a few things here. However, while watching I constantly find myself hoping that the camera could be facing more towards the wall instead of being from this steep side angle that barely shows the movement of the hips across the wall, especially for the last sent that Hannah did, I could barley see any movements (e.g. how far the reach was)... 😢 I think it would be incredibly helpful to have shots from a variety of angles. 🙏 Thank you Hannah and keep up the good work!

Another very helpful video

please have Xian back on the channel!! i feel i learned so much from her breakdowns!

Wow! That was truly insightful. I'm gonna test some out on my next climb.

Xian was always my favorite bobat!

When Xian leveled her hips in that first demonstration my jaw dropped. It seems so obvious in hindsight but I struggle with this all the time!

Top level coaching, great video!

Great video, thanks! Although I think the last climb should have been filmed from the same angle as the other takes. We couldn't really see what you did differently to finally send the route.

great video as per usual!

Like your vids! Keep it chill!

I need to climb with someone to give me feedback this is so helpful! 😊I’m still at V0 did my 1st V1 yesterday but I have NO clue what my errors are 🤦🏽‍♀️🤣

Great video 👏👏👏

Getting that purple at the end was awesome to see! no way for me 😂

🗽I always enjoy technical lessons, in order to check my own techniques and thinking. 👍👍 .

Hi hannah great vídeo! One Thing i noticed on the last move that usually helps me with this kind of stuff is If you straithen ur right hanging leg a bit more to the right It Will Twist tour hips more into the under cling rather than If u Just keep It paralel to ur body

Xian is brilliant!!

I have the impression that sometimes the more "technique" one learns (I am talking at beginner/intermediate level) the more one is prone to overthinking and forgetting what is the most instinctual way of simply climbing a wall/line. There were instances like at 8.20 where Xian is showing the simpler way of making the move, while Hanna's twist seems to be sort of "forced". I do the same and I go by phases; the current one for me is the drop knee phase...every. single. time. ahahaha

i remember seeing xian often in biscuit factory about 7/8 years ago. she's been strong even way back. her old style was what i'd describe as ballerina on walls, but i guess she's going comp style nowadays

Hey Hannah, great video! To break your plateau I think you should dedicate more time to board climbing (I noticed you said that you didn’t board climb much when you were moon boarding in a previous video). I think unless your genetically blessed, only climbing on commercial sets only takes you so far - at some point the stimulus becomes too random to make consistent progress. I was stuck at a similar plateau for years until I got on the Moon and kilter and logged climbs consistently, building upon similar movement patterns, and have seen steady improvement. Also achieving strength gains also unlocks more fluidity and technique you can apply on the wall (if you have a good technique base, as you have). Anyway, just my 2c I thought I’d share :)

xian is a genius!!!

About 8 minutes into the video and caught myself thinking how it's funny with rock climbing how sometimes your bad habbits in terms of technique can end up in long term helping you out because even if you do the inefficent movement, if you keep doing it and getting stronger and stronger in it and it's like a great training move generally useful in a lot of climbing overall, in the end it can still kinda work out aye :D

Committing to getting to the top or falling off can really help improve performance and ensure you get the most out of each attempt. Erase the option of giving up. Exceptions should be made if you are certain that you will fall in an uncontrolled/unsafe manner. I just see way too many people give up when the going gets tough (which is when you really benefit from any exercise) and therefore losing out on breakthroughs in performance and/or overcoming fear of falling. Stay safe but try hard...meaning don't give up.

I have a question for you Hannah: I wear size 41, in Miura I have size 39, in Hiangle 5.10 I have size 41 1/3, how to choose the size for the unparralel you have? Thx.

Hey Hannah. Been watching you for a while, big fan. I'll be in London(honeymoon trip) and planning to do s little bouldering while I'm there. What's gyms would you recommend I hit?

Dont you think you used the wrong beta on the first purple one? Shift your hands to where your left foot is, and right foot where your hands where, reach for the next hold with the right hand, should be easier

This is crazy, I should film myself climbing

Throughout the video all I could think was "Hannah is so strong!"

omg OMG OMG when I saw this on my RU-vid I freaked out my 2 fave climber girls

is xian singaporean? her accent sound like sg accent plus uk influence

Hannah. Another great video. I have been climbing for about 9 months and am loving it. I hate to admit (sounds chauvinistic) but I would never have thought that my favorite climbing video content would be from a woman. There just isn't anyone else out there doing it the way that you do. Keep the videos coming and I'll keep watching!

It's interesting because she basically tells you not to use a drop knee around the 11 minute mark, and to shift your weight over so you can reach. Seems to be different to what be_climbing was teaching you before. Perhaps it's because the hold is further away that you need to do something else.

4:36 who are the cool dudes in the cap and the white shirt in the background tho???? 👀👀👀😳😳

Is Xian still with bouldering botbat?

Love the videos. In my experience, plateau's are usually strength based and not technique based. In order to employ lots of the techniques mentioned, strength is required. When I broke through V5/V6 plateau that most climbers face, it was through strength training. Most of the techniques here apply all the way up to V10+, the only thing that changes is the size of the holds and the distance between them. Flagging and dropknees and heel hooks all apply from V5 to VInfinity, its just that they get smaller. Would be curious to hear others' thoughts on this. Cheers!

I hope Hannah doesn't become another Geek Climber. That is to say, chasing so many different things for content, and seeing no meaningful improvement in their climbing as a result. This video is a solid step forward to bringing the focus back in. You can tell Xian doesn't coddle Hannah like some other mentors on this channel, and that's a good thing.

very clickbait title

Hi Hannah, apologies for the unsolicited advise, I recommend you do some scapula stability exercises. Try and prevent the slouch and scap lift when you reach, open chest ie thoracic cage.