Imagine a perfectly placed kneebar—just when your arms are pumped and screaming for relief. This technique can give you the rest you need to push through those final moves, even after a tough fight from the start.
The solution to lasting longer on the wall? Smart training and effective bouldering techniques like the kneebar. Stay with us, and we’ll walk you through nailing your first one.
What is the purpose of a kneebar in climbing?
Imagine you are driving in your car, on unknown streets, or in a foreign country and your GPS loses signal when you are getting close to a roundabout. You start panicking, while your GPS is overwhelmingly trying to reroute.
Which way to go? It would be so great if you would be able to pull over and give it time to reroute or find a solution yourself, right?
Picture a similar scenario happening while you’re sending a route, only the GPS is you! Be it bouldering or sport climbing, let’s learn how and when to use kneebars!
Let’s discover the climbing terminology
A kneebar is a bouldering technique widely used by climbers to progress in overhangs, tufas, and sometimes vertical climbing. It gives static control of movement and it helps with recovery when your muscles are pumped or you are getting ready to send a route.
Kneebars can be used both indoors and outdoors, in bouldering, rock climbing, and sports climbing.
A kneepad is a very sticky piece of rubber that you use to wrap your thigh. On one hand, it serves as a protection for your skin so you can lean on it against the climbing wall or rock.
On the other hand, it also serves as a means for progression and rest while bouldering and climbing.
Oddly enough and depending on the character of your route, kneebars serve as a way to:
- Give your hands and fingers a rest in between cruxes
- Buy time when you get out of the flow and forget your beta
- Readjust your hands and body position and get ready for “attack”
- Reach holds that otherwise would have been far, impossible to reach, or would have required a dynamic move
- Progress statically and in control of your climbing movement on your boulder
- As Adam Ondra says: improve your climbing a lot
- Look cool while climbing
How to nail your first kneebar
A good climber is not only one who trains 5 days a week in a gym and climbs all the time but also someone who is looking for ways to make their climbing efficient.
You might be surprised but climbing at a high level is not only about muscles, but a lot about strategy too. Here are our tips on tricks.
Find a kneepad that suits you and practice
At first, climbing kneepads might feel weird. I know I am not a fan. However, if you find one that fits your leg it can do wonders for your climbing. Not to mention, certain climbing styles, such as tufa or overhang, might be impossible without a kneepad.
Most of the time, you’ll be using your kneepad for a certain move, and you’ll continue the rest of the route climbing without using it.
Therefore, wearing your kneepad as often as possible will help you get comfortable with it.
Watch Dave Graham’s pad hack for making a knee pad stick…literally.
Knee placements
Once you’ve placed your knee right release your other leg and try finding a posture that supports your body in that particular bouldering kneebar.
Feel which muscles are working: ideally and depending on the wall structure, it should be either your abs or your thigh.
Foot placements
How high you place your kneebar foot on the climbing wall or rock dictates how easy (or not) that kneebar will be.
It is much better to enter a kneebar while keeping the rest of your body quite low instead of climbing too high and then trying to stick it.
The distance between the knee and foot placements
This will determine how comfortable and efficient you’ll be in your kneebar and, most importantly, how much you’ll be able to push against the wall.
Thanks to your ankle’s ability to rotate you can juggle a lot with the height differences.
That’s why, depending on how long are your legs you will move your foot lower or upper to better fit a kneebar.
Switch feet
This is not possible all the time but when it is please give it a try!
Being able to switch feet while resting, kneebar or no kneebar (remember to breathe) will allow your whole body to relax and will give you time and energy to keep on climbing.
Climbing pace
Ok, so you nailed your first kneebar and you feel comfortable while doing it? That’s great! However, don’t get too comfortable otherwise it will be too much!
Even better, we recommend finding your way and experimenting while learning how much you can rest between moves without exiting the flow or pumping your legs too much.
Want to know more? Make sure to watch Adam’s video on how to nail your first climbing kneebar.
Tips on how to practice the efficiency of your kneebar
Watch for the pain
If it hurts maybe there is something you can improve in your body positioning. Make sure you are placing your foot and knee right under the hold and that forces are applied on the thigh and not on the actual knee.
Even though it’s called a kneebar, the part you’re going to use (or you should be) is always your thigh. Never the knee.
Practice on easier routes
Indoor climbing gyms are great for testing kneebars because of the controlled environment with a multitude of holds.
Just like with the rest in climbing: the bigger the hold is the better. The smaller and sloppier it is the more difficult it gets.
So, choose wisely!
Make your choice. How to choose your kneepad?
Of course, we all have our preferences therefore choosing THE knee pad can be tricky. But that’s great because we have many options too!
When choosing yours look for one that fits your leg size and molds well around your leg, doesn’t slip, is easy to put on, and is thin enough but not too thin to hurt.
My favorite one is from SEND because it somehow feels more part of my leg than out of it. Thin enough to keep sensitivity, Send kneepads are almost as comfortable as socks.
And it’s not just me saying it: boulderers such as Alex Puccio, Seb Bouin, Daniel Woods, Dave Graham, etc. trust them with their life!
But, honestly, I am not surprised since SEND has been focusing for over 15 years on perfecting kneepads.
To wrap it up we have one more thing to add: as with everything, remember practice along with patience is key to success.
In no time you’re going to be able to nail your first kneebar, and then the second and third. Let us know how it went in the comments below.
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