Movement Blog

Are you looking for the best rock climbing gyms in the DMV area? With five unique locations in Columbia, Crystal City, Baltimore, Rockville, and Timonium (and a sixth in Fairfax on the way), Movement Gyms offers world-class climbing experiences for beginners and seasoned climbers alike.

We hope you're taking on our July Member Challenge to climb a classic! We are celebrating the 7-year anniversary of Alex Honnold free soloing the classic, Freerider on El Capitan. Here are our tips to get you on the leaderboard (or at least how to finish climbing all 3,300 feet!)

If you’ve ever been interested in climbing training boards, but you don’t know where to start—we’ve got you covered. From Tension to Kilter to campus, we’re covering the basics of the climbing training board landscape in 2024.

Welcome to the wild world of indoor climbing – where the walls and vibes are even higher. As you gear up for your vertical adventure, let's chat about some down-to-earth tips that'll keep you cruising through the climbs with style and respect for the whole climbing crew.

Climbing isn't just a sport for many; it's a way of life, a source of mental solace, and a symbol of personal triumph. Meet Danielle du Preez, one of the Gateway instructors at Movement Santa Clara, whose remarkable journey from battling a rare bone tumor to returning to the climbing wall not only serves as an inspiration but also highlights the power of community and resilience.

One of the things our instructors, trainers, and coaches love the most is sharing tips and advice with stoked climbers to help them progress and reach their climbing goals. But as with most things, some of us occasionally find ourselves feeling a bit drained from climbing and training. Well, you aren't alone! Know that lots of climbers have periods where they're less motivated or psyched to hit the gym (a quick google search will further confirm this if you weren't sure). We reached out to Marisa Romero, Director of Youth Teams, and asked her how our instructors and coaches help Movement's Team kids when they lose their climbing motivation. She had great advice to help you get back to being stoked!

You may think that it's an odd thing for a climbing gym to urge people to rest, but we stand by it! Although we should clarify that when we say 'rest day' activities, we don't mean binging netflix for hours on end (although a little indulgence never hurt anyone 😊). As humans, we are made to move and move a lot in the context of walking. It is primarily what we were made to do and has profound effects on our well being. Movement is medicine, literally.

Climbing partners can be a hard thing to come by (looking for tips on finding your next, best partner?). So once you find your best crushing partner, it’s smart to show your partner(s) you are truly grateful for them.

One of the most basic climbing techniques we teach in our intro classes is learning how to use the holds given to you by our phenomenal routesetters. You could be the strongest climber in the gym, but if you grab an undercling incorrectly, you’ll likely come off the wall. Let’s examine some common holds you’ll find in our gym and how to use them.

We hear a lot of first-time climbers say: “I’ll never be good at climbing, I don’t have enough upper body strength.” Well, we’ve got some great news: a lot of climbing takes place in the legs. It’s a balancing sport, one that requires expertise in the delicate art of shifting your weight from foot to foot.