Rock Climbing

[Hendricks433]

I just moved to California and instead of getting a membership at a regular gym this month I decided to get a membership at Hanger 18 which is a rock climbing place and doing that 3 times a week. Im not going to get the leg strength but the upper body strength is nice and its a lot of fun. What are your guys thoughts on rock climbing?

[Banks2334]

One word of caution if you are just starting out. 3 times a week may be a bit much especially if you have been working out regularly. Your muscles are strong but your tendons are usually not yet up to the special stresses of climbing. Take it easy and let your body adapt. If you do go 3 times a week, I would not go on consecutive days for a while.

Two books I'd recommend reading are
Self Coached Climber-Dan Hague
Training for Climbing-Eric Horst

If you ever want to get out on real rock with a White Sox fan, drop me line.

[ottsville]

Banks gave good advice on the tendons. You can avoid some of those issues by focusing on doing routes with mainly large, open handed holds, although you will still be placing a lot of stress on your shoulders and elbows.

Rock climbing is an excellent workout. Climbing in a gym may not give you a complete workout, but if you get to the point where you start climbing outdoors and have to hike in to/off of climbs carrying your gear you'll definitely get some cardio and leg workouts in.

God, I miss climbing...

[ottsville]

Horst's wife was in playboy a bunch of years back(1998ish). Not only is she an awesome climber...

[Rootabager]

girls that climb always have huge backs. I assume it translates over to guys but i never really look.

[kiddcheckers]

girls that climb are gorgeous.

Mix in a a squat and bench day and you're golden. Everything else will be taken care of by climbing.

And yeah, at first don't crimp or do any tendon intense stuff.

stick to 5.8, 5.9 for a while, which if you haven't been working out is probably fine.

[Rearden]

[ QUOTE ]
Mix in a a squat and bench day and you're golden. Everything else will be taken care of by climbing.



[/ QUOTE ]

Or...

And this is just an idea...

Why not lift properly to augment your climbing (people do that with all sports/hobbies dontcha know [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img])? In high school I did some climbing (with scouts and with friends) I dont have any of the websites handy that give program ideas with respect to improving strength; maybe the books previously mentioned also contain those sections.

[ottsville]

I think Horst's book has some weightlifting suggestions in it. It's been a long time since I read it though.

For a beginning climber, supplementing climbing with weight lifting in order to improve your climbing is not really necessary, and IMO, probably somewhat counter-productive. As a beginner you need to develop your skill, flexibility, and route reading/problem solving skills before you need to worry about weightlifting to isolate climbing muscle groups. Besides, Kidd was just trying to address OP's concern that climbing doesn't really target leg strength. Which is a bit of a beginner's fallacy since you should be focusing on using your legs and not on your arms. Climbing will develop excellent foot-eye coordination, and I remember having VERY strong calves when I climbed a lot.


If OP wants to get some lower body in, throw it in with some cardio by running or biking. The cardio and a proper diet may help drop some weight, which for most beginning climbers will do more for them than weight training.

[kiddcheckers]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Mix in a a squat and bench day and you're golden. Everything else will be taken care of by climbing.



[/ QUOTE ]

Or...

And this is just an idea...

Why not lift properly to augment your climbing (people do that with all sports/hobbies dontcha know [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img])? In high school I did some climbing (with scouts and with friends) I dont have any of the websites handy that give program ideas with respect to improving strength; maybe the books previously mentioned also contain those sections.

[/ QUOTE ]


I think the difference we're having is between SOME climbing and serious climbing. If he's already going 3 days a week and not in great shape, there's a good chance climbing gets in his blood and he starts to take it very seriously. I'll climb up to 5x a week and that doesn't leave much room for mixing in the right amount of weight days. So squats and bench pump hormone levels and are good enough compound exercises to handle what he needs in that case.

I agree w. the guy saying climbing gives great calf strength, the thing is it just doesn't give mass to your legs, it makes them, or mine at least wirey poles. So if you care about aesthetics, do some weight.

GL, climb on.

[Rearden]

Kiddcheckers,

My response could simply be "you started a thread on homeopathic hgh" and leave it at that... but instead I'll try to explain what I was saying and the arguements relative to OP's situation:

-The purpose of lifting for an activity is to augment the body with respect to that activity. This is why pro athletes or even high school athletes (assuming its a smart program) are in the weight room during the offseason through multiple practices, lift to maintain during the season, etc. Your suggestion that the OP focus on two lifts that have little to do with climbing, nor create a balanced program, runs against that idea.

You argue that he may go climbing 10 times a week and not be able to work out; thats somewhat possible sure. Or, he could just be taking a month to try out an activity and be unsure how far he is going to progress and at what level of dedication. Not even the OP knows what his future in climbing is so... why not take the time to up his fitness regardless.

It was mentioned before that muscle (or properly strength gains in this case earned possibly without increase in mass from body recomposition assuming of course the OP isn't at 5% bodyfat) is not a limiting factor. I beg to differ. It should be obvious that a level of established strength is needed even in activities where a large amount of weight is a negative; a lineman may suck at climbing but so would a starving child. Limiting factors that the OP will face include, as was mentioned by another poster, working on technique, flexibility, and finally experience (the generic term we'll using for learning how to read a route, etc.). He can work on all of these in a climbing gym. He can also work on grip strength, back strength, and general injury prevention (a biggy in any activity) in a weight room. If you're suggesting that squats and benchpressing takes care of that I would very strongly take issue with your knowledge about lifting. This isn't the 1930s, proper weight training doesn't lead to becoming muscle bound and inept in matters of flexibility, proper weight training does however help recomp the body with respect to any activity (with a proper routine), strengthen specific joints used in that activity, and finally help stop injuries that in some cases come from muscular imbalance.

-All in all I don't care if the OP is climbing 3 days a week or 7... not developing his body to the task with lifting, or lifting on a crappy program, won't help anything. If the OP loves climbing and wants to commit his life to it more power to him; regardless he can take a cue from athletes in EVERY SPORT and see value in building functional strength and improving resistance to injury. OP, put some hours in at the weight room so your hours outside or gaining instruction are that much more fruitful.

Kiddchecker; we could get into an e*contest about what "Some" climbing means, etc... I'd rather spare everyone that. I'd happily defer a question on harness selection or where to climb... But, I won't drop the issue that weight training on a program of squats/bench, or any program as equally inept, is inappropriate for the OP or anyone else serious about picking up a demanding hobby.