I worked with a climbing team recently to help them improve their mental game. I assigned them the task of committing completely to stopping or moving; stopping to rest, or committing completely to climbing once they decided to go. Some of them committed more completely than others did. I mentioned this when we debriefed the drill. I asked them what they could do to commit more completely. One girl said: “I need to climb more confidently.” Climbing confidently remains a concept that isn’t helpful unless we can translate it into actions. So, I asked her: “What will you actually do to climb more confidently?” 

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We shift mental concepts into bodily actions by identifying specific ways we’ll engage the body. We can start by visualizing what climbing confidently looks like. Videos of elite climbers, who demonstrate climbing confidently, are helpful. Take, for instance, Margo Hayes’s recent success on La Rambla, a 5.15a in Spain. Take a moment to watch this one-minute video clip of her ascent. What do we see that she does that demonstrates climbing confidently?

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If we dissect her effort we begin to see tangible actions that she’s doing, if we know what to look for. Taking action is a body task, which includes four elements for engaging it. We utilize the acronym BERP to remember them: Breathing, Eyes, Relaxation, and Posture, which also includes how we move the body. 

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B: An energizing breath, that’s deep and intentional, helps us climb confidently. We inhale deeply and force the air out when we exhale. 

E: Our eyes help us direct and focus our attention. Maintaining eye contact on holds helps us do this. We can also “glare” at the holds if we need a bit more intention. We achieve this glare by contracting our forehead and eyebrows a bit. Doing this heightens the intensity; it demonstrates confidence about the actions we’re doing and directs our attention more completely to the holds. (For example, note Margo’s eyes at the 20 second mark in the video.)

R: Using energy efficiently requires relaxing muscles that aren’t needed and engaging ones that are needed. We can experiment with expanding our upper body to feel more engaged. We feel more confident by expanding our chest and shoulders.

P: Many women like doing the “Wonder Woman Power Pose” to feel confident. Elevating the head and rolling the shoulders back helps us maintain proper posture. Next, we engage the body deliberately, making precise movements, even dead-pointing to holds, to demonstrate complete engagement. We climb confidently by pressing our feet into holds and grabbing holds deliberately with our hands. 

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To climb confidently requires us to change what we do with these BERP elements. Exaggerating them helps us experience full engagement of the body. We see these elements when we look at how elite athletes climb. Watch Margo’s video again and notice what she does with each of these elements. Then, emulate them.