How Climbing Workouts Can Help You Get Fit ...

It’s no secret that climbing isn’t going to be the easiest thing you’ve ever done. That being said, it will make other forms of exercise seem easier. What’s a mile on the treadmill after you’ve mastered a rigorous climbing course? Additionally, as you climb, your body gets better at using oxygen, which will make things like running, walking and biking feel easier.

Grip strength is what allows you to lift weights without worrying that you’ll drop the dumbbells or lose your grip, making it harder to stick to a good form. Climbing requires your fingers to get really strong so that you can grab onto the handholds and pull yourself up. When you increase your grip strength, other things will feel a whole lot easier too.

Climbing requires you to activate your legs, arms, back, shoulders and core, which means you can tone everything with one workout. When you climb, you should be using both your arms and legs to hoist yourself up, which will translate to a proportional look and give you the definition you want to see. You’ll notice results in just a few weeks.

Unlike some forms of exercise, such as biking to walking, you aren’t able to zone out while you climb. You’ll need to keep your attention on what you’re doing the entire time so that you don’t slip or get hurt. This is great practice for other areas of your life where you need to be focused and stay concentrated on what’s going on.

Climbing is a bit like solving a puzzle. You have to determine where to place your hands and feet so that you can scale the wall or cliff without getting stuck or falling. This type of activity is great for keeping your brain in top working order, something that studies show helps ward off cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease as you get older. Who knew that such a fun exercise was also making you smarter?

One of the great things about climbing is that it’s a double duty workout. You’ll be working your muscles, but you also burn some calories. If you’re aiming to lose some weight, this can help create the deficit that will leave you slimmer and trimmer. Depending on the course you choose, you can burn up to 900 calories an hour during a climbing workout!

Some forms of exercise are just ones that people dread. That’s not the case with climbing. Because it’s always just a little bit different, there will always be a great challenge that will keep things from getting monotonous and boring. Even if you’re doing a course you’ve already done, you can go about it in a new way to keep it fresh.

Have you tried climbing? What do you love about it?