Rock Climbing: Benefits Workouts And Tips
What Is Rock Climbing? Is Rock Climbing a Good Workout? What Muscles Does Rock Climbing Work? Is Rock Climbing Good for Me if I Have a Health Condition? What Is Rock Climbing? Rock climbing is exactly what it sounds like. It's an activity where you climb on rocks or mountains outdoors, or on rock climbing walls indoors, for fun, adventure, or exercise. Climbing used to be a way for people to explore new areas. By the early 1900s, it had evolved into a fun activity, and it started gaining popularity by the end of the 20th century. Is Rock Climbing a Good Workout? Rock climbing is a good workout because it builds strength, improves endurance, and Prime Boosts flexibility. Raphael Longobardi, MD, an orthopedic surgeon with RWJ Barnabas Health Medical Group in Jersey City, NJ, who specializes in sports medicine. Climbing also challenges your balance and coordination, engaging both your body and mind.
If you like your workouts mixed with adventure and adrenaline, then rock climbing may be the exercise for you. Whether you’re climbing at an indoor rock gym or on real rock faces in the great outdoors, you'll work muscles you never knew you had. And you’ll be surprised at how fast you break a sweat! Is rock climbing hard? You can't really do "rock climbing light." Even relatively easy routes require a whole-body effort and intense focus. Super-tough routes will push you to the limit. Does rock climbing build muscles? Climbing does build muscle. In fact, it works muscles all over your body - including your core, arms, legs, glutes, and back. Proper climbing technique relies mostly on the legs and glutes for the power to propel you upward, but your core gives you the balance and strength you need to hold your body close to the wall. Your forearms also get a real workout, and your upper arms and shoulders pull you up when your legs can't provide enough pushing force.
Muscles like your rhomboids, trapezius, and lats work with your core to keep you stable on the wall. What kind of workouts can you do with rock climbing? Rock climbing combines several workouts into one. Flexibility. You'll do a lot of reaching and stretching from one hold to the next. Aerobic. Climbing can push your heart rate to between 120 and 180 beats per minute. Plus, it's low-impact. If you're doing it right, your feet won’t even touch the ground. Strength training. Because you need to hold on, rock climbing improves your hand grip strength. It also strengthens muscles in your arms, upper back, and legs. A rock climbing workout challenges your body and mind. The combination of pulling, pushing, and stabilizing involved in climbing builds stabilizer muscles, such as the transverse abdominis in your core and the trapezius muscle in your upper back. These muscles are sometimes missed in traditional workouts, Longobardi says.
Rock climbing challenges your mind as much as it does your body. Finding the right hand and foot placement requires mental focus, concentration, and problem-solving skills. Climbing is also a potent stressbuster that has shown promise for easing anxiety. Sergio Pedemonte, a certified personal trainer at Your House Fitness in Toronto, Canada. Less experienced climbers may actually experience a temporary increase in stress. The intense focus needed to plan out the next move, coupled with a fear of falling, may boost levels of stress hormones such as cortisol. Scaling a mountain or rock wall is good for your heart. Climbing is a good cardiovascular workout because your heart has to beat faster to pump more blood to your muscles. The physical exertion increases your VO2 max, which measures how much oxygen your body uses during exercise and indicates your cardiovascular fitness. Jeffrey S. Lander, MD, co-director of sports cardiology at RWJBarnabas Health in West Orange, NJ.
What Muscles Does Rock Climbing Work? To be safe, you need to know what you're doing. If you're new to rock climbing, Check this out consider taking lessons with a qualified instructor to learn the basics, such as foot placements and belaying (using ropes). Do your first climb in an indoor climbing gym where you can learn the proper techniques and safety measures in a supervised setting. Start slowly. Climb for just 10 or 20 minutes to start. Slowly increase the length and intensity of your climbs when you feel ready. Next, work on the physical skills you'll need to climb, such as strength, endurance, and flexibility. Cost: Expect to pay for time on a climbing wall at a rock gym, plus rental fees for equipment. Good for beginners: Climbing requires a basic level of strength and fitness, so it's probably not for you if you're not active now. Outdoors: Most new climbers start at indoor rock gyms, but there are many climbing sites outdoors.
