Are you working on the "right things?"

 

Have you ever gotten onto the wall, tried your absolute hardest, and then wondered, “Is my training actually helping me progress?” Or maybe you’re working through a new health routine but feel uncertain about how well you’re really doing.

 

In both climbing and everyday life, it’s easy to create goals or move towards things that "seem" right but don't actually align with our identity and values. Nor do they focus on things that are important to us and create joy longterm. 

 

And when it comes to climbing, joy and fun should always be at the center :)

 

Below is a stab at an extensive questionnaire that covers climbing technique to general health considerations. When I work with my one-on-one clients, we cover much of these so that I can design a focused program targeting the lowest hanging fruit so they can see progress quickly, while also having the long view in health. 

 

These questions are meant to help you reflect on your current abilities and health status, and point you in a direction of where you want to go. Think of these questions like using a map before setting off on a road trip: it’s not about judging how far you have to travel, it’s about knowing where you’re starting so you can plan your route with confidence.

 

For some of the physical testing, don’t get bogged down in numbers or feeling “less than” if something’s not perfect.

 

Progress over perfect!

 

The goal here is a gentle reality check—a friendly conversation with yourself—so you can pinpoint where to focus your training, tweak your routine, or practice a bit more self-compassion. Because once you have a sense of your starting point, you’ll find it much easier to make meaningful progress that reflects who you are and what you truly need.

 

And remember: in order to work on something you suck at, you have to be willing to let go of working on something you are good at. 

 

👉 How to approach these tests: 

There are a lot of tests and questions below. If you do them all, it might feel overwhelming. Instead, choose 1-2 sections that you think are applicable to your situation. If you feel you have decent overall strength, but need help with technique and stress management, do the Techniques and the Stress & Recovery questionnaires. 

 

Physical Tests

These tests can give you a good idea of your general and specific physicality. If you want to do these tests, consider splitting them up over several days, don't do all of these in one day, you won't get accurate results (and be hella sore).

 

1. 20mm Max Hang (7s) with Weight – Half Crimp

 Why It’s Important: Measures your maximum finger strength in the half-crimp grip, a crucial position for small- to medium-sized holds. Tracking improvements here shows whether your grip strength is increasing over time.

 

2. 20mm Max Hang (7s) with Weight – 3-Finger Drag

Why It’s Important: The 3-finger drag is another key grip style, especially during extending climbing positions, and seems to be usefule for sport climbers. 

 

3. Repeaters (20mm, 7s on/3s off to Failure at 60–80%)

 Why It’s Important: This test gauges forearm endurance and your ability to sustain repeated efforts on the wall, which directly impacts how long you can climb without pumping out.

 

4. Rate of Force Development

 Why It’s Important: Shows how quickly you can generate power (how quickly you can get to your max strength) in your pulling muscles, critical for dynamic moves or explosive transitions on the wall. This test needs a device such as the PitchSix force gauge (use code MODUSATHLETICA for $10 off!). 

 

5. Critical Force

Why It’s Important: Reflects your sustainable climbing power endurance over time (the sweet spot between strength and endurance). This test needs a device such as the PitchSix force gauge (use code MODUSATHLETICA for $10 off!). .  

 

6. 2-Rep Max Pull-Up

 Why It’s Important: Tests pure upper-body pulling strength. Seeing how much weight you can move for low reps indicates your top-end power reserve for steep or powerful climbing.

 

7. Max Pull-Up Reps to Failure

 Why It’s Important: Measures pulling endurance. Useful for longer routes or back-to-back boulders where repeated pulling capacity matters.

 

8. Shoulder Engagement in the Active Hang (Two Arms and One Arm, Assess Rotation)

 Why It’s Important: Strong scapular control and stability protect your shoulders and improve your ability to hold tension during big moves or on steep terrain.

 

9. 3-Rep Max Chest Press or Bench Press

 Why It’s Important: Evaluates pushing strength, balancing your upper body. Strong pushing muscles helps shoulder joint imbalances.

 

10. Push-Ups (as many as possible)

 Why It’s Important: A simpler measure of upper-body pushing endurance that also reveals core and shoulder stability needs.

 

11. 3-Rep Max Deadlift

 Why It’s Important: Tests total body pulling strength from the ground—this contributes to overall power, core stability, and grip strength.

 

12. Hollow Hold (Max Time)

 Why It’s Important: Checks core strength and tension control for overhanging climbs, which is the foundation for stable climbing movement and good posture on the wall.

 

13. Plank (Max Time)

 Why It’s Important: Measures your general trunk and shoulder endurance, which translates to better overall body tension.

 

14. Side Plank (Max Time)

 Why It’s Important: Tests lateral core stability, helping with twisting and offset weight distribution on the wall.

 

15. Leg Raises from a Bar (as many as possible)

 Why It’s Important: Looks at hip flexor and core strength—both critical for high steps, steep terrain, and keeping your feet on small footholds.

 

16. Vertical Jump

 Why It’s Important: Explosive lower-body power can help with dynamic climbs or jumps between holds, and it’s a handy measure of overall athleticism.

 

17. Ankle Mobility with Narrow Squat

 Why It’s Important: Limited ankle mobility can compromise foot placements and balance, especially on slab or technical footwork climbs.

 

18. Side Split Distance

 Why It’s Important: Assesses hip flexibility, important for wide stems, drop-knees, and other moves requiring a broad range of motion.

 

19. Wall Angel Flexibility

 Why It’s Important: Tests shoulder and thoracic spine mobility. Better mobility here supports overhead reach.

 

20. Shoulder Zipper Test

 Why It’s Important: Evaluates internal/external rotation in the shoulder joint. Good rotation is key for varied hand positions on the wall.

 

21. Forward Bend Flexibility

 Why It’s Important: Reflects hamstring and lower-back flexibility, impacting how easily you can step high or maintain tension on steeper routes.

 

Here's a playlist that will help you improve your flexibility.

 Here's our "how to create your training program" podcast.

 

Technique Tests

The best way to figure out your technique flaws is to video yourself on a variety of terrains and difficulties. A bonus is if you can get some videos of someone your size who shows a lot of skill on the same climbs, and do a comparison. Here, comparison is wonderful, especially if you approach with curiosity and an open mind. 

Give yourself a rating of 1-5 for each, 1 = Not at all and 5 = All the time. Add up your totals. Where you see the lowest scores, find some drills here and start working on them each session. Often spending 10-15mins on technique at the beginning of a session is a solid strategy to get it done!

Foot Confidence

• Why These Questions Matter: They gauge how well you trust your feet and your ability to place them precisely. Confident footwork conserves energy in your arms, prevents slips, and allows smoother movement on varied foothold sizes (from volumes to micro-edges).

• Do you feel confident on volume feet?
• Do you feel confident on small feet?
• Can you rotate on your feet with confidence no matter how big the foothold is?
• Are your feet quiet on contact?
• Can you “pull” with your toe to shift your weight over that toe?
• Can you match feet without having to hop?
• Can you feel your toe, creating a mindmap of where your toe is and how much pressure is on it?

Tension

• Why These Questions Matter: Body tension connects your feet to your hands, preventing foot cuts and uncontrolled swings. If you can maintain tension across different body positions (like wide leg spans, high steps, and heel hooks), you’ll climb more efficiently and with fewer wasted moves.
• Do your feet cut often?
• Do you feel confident walking your feet multiple times before moving hands?
• Do your hips sag during overhangs?
• Do you feel confident in wide-leg positions?
• DO you feel confident in a high step position?
• Do you feel confident in heel hook positions no matter the size or position of the heel hook?
• Do you feel confident in compression climbs?
• Do you feel confident during toe hooks and bat hangs?
• Do you feel confident catching holds dynamically?
• Do you feel confident catching a hold with two arms in a dyno?
• Do you feel confident catching a hold with one arm in a dyno?
• Can you compress with your upper body?
• Can you compress with your lower body?
• Do you feel confident in wide-arm positions?
• Do you feel confident in extended positions (arms straight)?
• Do you feel confident in locked-off positions?
• Do you feel confident in cross-over moves?

Movement

• Why These Questions Matter: These questions cover fluidity on the wall—things like drop knees, back-flagging, and dynamic movements all require awareness of body positioning and timing. Evaluating movement skills helps you identify where you’re smooth versus where you might be “fighting” the rock.

• Do you feel confident in a drop knee?
• Do you feel confident back-flagging?
• Do you feel confident in one-leg positions?
• Do you feel confident twisting into moves?
• Do you feel confident moving dynamically?
• Do you feel confident in your hand precision while latching holds?
• Do you feel confident in measuring distance and depth perception between holds and executing this?
• Are you able to high-step?
• Are you able to step wide?
• Do you feel like you flow on the wall?
• Do you hold your breath on easy movement?
• Do you feel a softness in your movement?
• Do you feel clunky in your movement?

Terrain

• Why These Questions Matter: Confidence on slab, overhangs, corners, or bulges pinpoints style-specific strengths and weaknesses. This helps you target the types of climbs or terrain you need to practice more. Rate Your Confidence In each

• Slab
• Vertical
• Overhanging
• Compression (Aretes)
• Dihedral (Corners)
• Bulges

Hold Types

• Why These Questions Matter: Different holds (slopers, pinches, crimps, underclings) require specific grip positions and movement strategies. Recognizing which hold types feel sketchy helps you direct your training to improve grip variety. Rate your confidence in each. 

• Incut crimps
• Small crimps
• Shallow crimps
• Wide pinches
• Narrow pinches
• Underclings
• Side pulls
• Slopers
• Volumes
• Meat-hooks
• Reverse meat hook
• Gastons

To better work on your technique, check out my movement playlist here. It doesn't cover everything here, but YouTube is your friend for finding drills that match your weaknesses. 

 

Mentality

Why These Questions Matter: Climbing performance is strongly influenced by mindset—fear, negative self-talk, and memory play huge roles in whether you send or bail. Understanding your mental landscape helps you tackle psychological barriers that can hold back physical progress. Some of these questions are more open-ended or yes or no questions. Feel free to elaborate in your journal and come back to these in 6 months and re-evaluate. 

• Can you remember your beta you just did? 
• Can you remember a full sequence on a climb?
• Can you remember the position of holds?
• Can you read a sequence without doing the climb?
• Are you good at onsighting climbs?
• Are you an “intuitive” climber, figuring out moves while on the wall?
• Can you fight to stay on the wall if you are getting pumped or fatigued?
• Can you latch onto holds that are painful on the skin?
• Do you come off the wall before attempting the next move?
• Does fear consistently stop you from completing climbs? Here's our podcast on fear.
• Do you view failure as a puzzle to figure out?
• Do you enjoy climbing when it’s not going well?
• Do you say negative things about yourself if you fall? Here's our "reframing failure" podcast
• Do you get nervous climbing in front of others?
• Do you connect your self-worth and the grade you climb?
• Do you compare yourself to other climbers and feel low self-esteem?  Here's our Feeling Of Belonging podcast.

Here's a general fear podcast and why you might not need mindset work.

 

Sleep & Recovery

• Why These Questions Matter: Performance doesn’t improve without adequate recovery. Sleep quality, consistent rest, and stress management are core to healing muscles and maintaining motivation.
• Do you get 7-8 hours of sleep consistently?
• Do you go to bed and wake up at the same time most days?
• Do you go to sleep before midnight?
• How stressful is your life and job?
• Do you manage your stress well (in healthy ways)?

Here's our Injury & Recovery podcast. 

Here's our habit based approach to recovery podcast.

 

Nutrition

• Why These Questions Matter: Fueling and hydration are the backbone of physical and mental performance. If you’re not eating enough or not balancing macronutrients, you’ll likely feel lethargic, recover slower, and struggle to see gains.
• Do you eat meals regularly?
• Do you have a stable mood throughout the day?
• Are majority of your meals home made?
• Do you have a balanced split of carbs, fat and protein?
• Do you eat veggies with every meal?
• Do you eat protein with every meal?
• Do you eat fruit daily?
• Do you feel you eat enough to sustain your activity and stress in a day?
• Do you eat 1-2 hours before activity?
• Do you eat during activity?
• Do you eat after activity?
• Do you feel energetic through out the day?
• Can you maintain energy throughout a workout?
• Do you feel tired in the afternoons?
• Do you get at least 80g of protein a day?
• Do you drink at least 2 liters of water a day?
• Do you smoke?
• Do you drink? 
• Do you eat past fullness?
• Do you have a good sense of your hunger?
• Do you have a good sense of your appetite?

Here's our "Four Fueling Misconceptions" podcast

Here's a workshop with Mercedes and Maria Hines all about the 7 anchors of nutrition habits.

 

Life Assessment

• Why These Questions Matter: Consistency and stress levels heavily impact training success. If life is chaotic or you’re not truly willing/able to commit, progress stalls. Being honest about these factors helps you set more realistic goals. There are more open ended questions. If do this section, keep asking yourself "why", even after arriving at an answer. It often helps us get to the root of the cause. 

• Do you struggle with consistency?
• What holds you back from being consistent?
• How stressful is your life? (Think about why it's stressful and where most of the stress comes from. How does this stress impact your lift and how does it hold you back from achieving your goals?)
• How ready are you in changing your life to fit in your new goals? 
• How willing are you to change your life to fit in your new goals?
• How able are you to change your life to fit in your new goals?

For Women

Why These Questions Matter: Hormonal changes can affect energy levels, recovery, and mental state. Tracking menstrual cycles helps tailor training blocks and fosters self-compassion on tougher days.

• For women:
• Should you normally be menstruating regularly?
• If so, are you getting a regular period?
• Do you beat yourself up if your period hinders your activity?
• Do you push through hard times in your menstrual cycle? 
• Do you consider your menstrual cycle a super power?

 

Daily Movement

• Why These Questions Matter: Overall activity (strength training, cardio, walking) contributes to base fitness, heart health, and durability. If you’re only climbing once a week with no other exercise, your progress may stall or you might risk overuse injuries when you do climb.

• How often do you strength train?
• How often do you do cardio?
• Do you walk every day?

Here's our "benefits of strength training" podcast.

 

Blood Testing

A simple blood test can reveal important information about your overall health—nutrient levels, hormone balance, and potential deficiencies that might hinder your training and recovery.

General tests

Typically called SMAC-20, SMA-20, or Chem-20, this basic test looks at 20 different parts of the blood including blood levels of certain minerals, proteins, etc. This test is standard and should be done although it’s not very telling of your overall health profile

Cardiovascular risk profile

• Total cholesterol
• LDL
• HDL
• Triglycerides
• C-reactive protein
• Homocysteine

Hormones

• Testosterone
• Free testosterone
• IGF-1
• Growth hormone
• DHEA/DHEAS
• Estradiol
• SHBG

Prostate tests

• PSA

Carbohydrate tolerance

• Fasted insulin
• Fasted glucose

Liver function tests

• Alkaline phosphatase
• GGT
• SGOT
• SGPT
• Bilirubin

Kidney function tests

• Creatinine
• BUN
• Creatinine/BUN ratio

Thyroid panel

• TSH
• T3
• T4
• rT3

 

4 crazy questions

And to finish this off, I like to consider some behavior change questions. These are taken from Precision Nutrition, they are one of the best nutrition coaching services out there and I love their focus on behavior change over just doing another diet. 

1. What is GOOD about NOT changing?

What is working for you with the status quo? What are the benefits of staying the same

2. What would be BAD about changing?

If you changed, what might you have to give up or lose? How would your regular routine be disrupted?

3. What might be GOOD about changing?

If you changed, how would that be helpful or beneficial? What new opportunities or possibilities could open up?

4. What might be BAD about NOT changing?

If you didn’t change, what bad things could happen? If you keep going the way you’re going, what might things look like in the future (say, 10 years from now)?

 

All the best with your assessment! Hit me up if you would like a consultation on designing your next training program [email protected]

- Coach Mercedes