Well, this past couple of weeks have been a bit rubbish for me - mostly just over-tired and feeling achy - usual over training/under recovery stuff, I thought. As it turns out though, I've got some nasty virusy thing which has resulted in a middle-ear infection. It's like being on a rollercoaster... all the time . So, seeing as I have none at the moment, I thought I'd say something about balance.

You'll hear people talking about "balancy" climbing. Usually what they mean is some delicate slab with tiny holds where iron-like grip and bulging forearms won't necessarily cut it. You'll be relying on body position and pure friction. But I think all climbing relies ultimately on balance. So what is balance really? When it comes down to it in day-to-day life, it's the ability to stay upright with the minimum of muscular effort (ok, I can't do that one at the moment ). Transfer that to a climb and it becomes the ability to be aware of your centre of gravity and move your body to result in the minimum amount of force possible on all your points of contact. When you're just standing, your points of contact are your feet on the ground. When you're on a climb, your points of contact are whatever hands and feet you have on at the time - and that can change quickly as you move. Whenever you're out of balance, you'll have to compensate with muscle power in order to stay on, so it follows that, if you can keep balanced as much as possible, you'll use less energy. That means better climbing - and not just on slabs!

So, here are some ideas you can try out to help practise becoming aware of your balance. They'll definitely help your climbing....

No more lurching! On a climb/bouldering problem you don't find challenging, practise finding your balance on every move by just lightly touching the holds for a few seconds before you commit your hand/foot to it. Just move your hand/foot to the next hold, but don't take hold of it for a moment. You'll soon know if you're out of balance as you'll either have to grab/stand on the hold quickly, or you'll come off. You'll probably find that you'll have to adjust your body position a lot in order to stay in balance - don't get tired holding on harder with your other limbs!

Find a slab. Preferably an easy angled one - it doesn't have to be a "proper" climb. Practise moving about on the slab without using your hands - traversing is good. Experiment with the position of your hips and body, especially as you're moving. How do you need to move the rest of your body when you take a foot off to move it?

Lose a shoe. Again, on a climb that's easy for you, only use one foot. The other foot can be used for balance (so for smearing or flagging) but mustn't be used on any holds. Focus on reducing the amount of stress on your other limbs by moving your body around. For us humans, our centre of gravity is just below our belly button and in a bit, so lead with your hips and see what differences you can find.

...and there's some exercises you can do in the comfort of your own home, or at the bus stop...

Be the stork! Yes, that's it, stand on one leg. Put your arms out and lift one knee as high as you can (this also exercises your ankles, core muscles and bum as a bonus). Just stand there for as long as you can - or until you get bored. It helps to think "down" when you're doing this - relax the foot that's on the ground and allow your weight to sink into the floor. Swap feet. If it gets too easy, drop your arms down to your side. Harder still involves crossing your arms over your chest and holding on to opposite shoulders. Still too easy? Move your free leg around vigorously in all directions whilst you stand there. If you're such a balanced person you're still finding it easy - do all of that with your eyes closed!

Mindful walking. Usually, when you walk, it's largely about picking one foot up, sticking it out in front of you then toppling over on to it (aaaand repeat). Try this (when you don't need to get somewhere in a hurry!). Instead of letting yourself get out of balance, adjust your body so that you stay in balance all the way through each footstep. You can check if you're doing it right by occasionally backing off from a step just before it touches the ground. You should be able to freeze (musical statues anyone?) at any point - even as you're starting to put weight on to the front foot. Really focus on the movement and what you have to do to stay in balance.

Another interesting side to balance is the kind of dynamic/active balance which you need when you're moving. It becomes a combination of your passive balance and momentum - normal walking and running are prime examples - so the speed (strictly speaking, your acceleration) at which you're moving becomes important. Your balance during any dynamic movement in climbing is strongly affected by the amount of energy you throw into it to start with. Imagine you're lunging straight upwards for a hold that's too far to get to statically. First, you push up and start moving fast, then gravity kicks in and starts slowing you down. Eventually gravity will pull you back down towards the ground. The trick is to judge it just right so that you catch the hold exactly at the still point between the upward and downward movement - the top of your jump. If you go too far, you'll fall back on to the hold with your weight and a bit of momentum. If you don't go far enough - well, it's obvious what will happen! You can (and should) practise this on any climb. Really focus on trying to use your momentum so that, at the brief moment you take a hold, there's no weight on your hand/foot. You don't have to restrict this to big dynos either - use this on every hold you use, even if it's easily within reach. You might even find it helps you to use less energy overall.

Well, I hope that's all helpful - I can't do any of it right now. Hopefully I'll be back in a non-spinning world by next week and I can actually go and do some climbing! By the way, if you haven't already had a peek, go check out the first in my series of 1-Minute Climbing Tips on YouTube. I've already had suggestions for future tips, so keep them coming. There'll be some more in the next week....