Surprising Benefits of Rock Climbing

Mehr Power, Grip und Selbstbewusstsein!

3 min

©Eugenio Marongiu

By Lisa Gutknecht
February 18, 2022

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Looking for a sport that not only strengthens your muscles and improves your fitness, but also challenges your mind and boosts your self-confidence? Then bouldering could be just the thing for you! Rock climbing is not only a great workout, it also inspires you to grow beyond your limits in every way, and we can help you get started.

Bouldering, and rock climbing in general, is the perfect sport for anyone who enjoys physical and mental challenges and likes to work out in a community. And it’s not just for daredevils! You don’t have to be completely unafraid of heights or a muscle powerhouse to venture out onto indoor or outdoor climbing walls. There’s a climbing route for every level and a community that’s always there to support you. Not convinced that you want to take on this new challenge just yet? Time for our seven unbeatable arguments for giving bouldering a try!

#1 Bouldering Strengthens Your Whole Body

Bouldering is the ultimate strength workout from head to toe. Rock climbing puts your upper and lower body under equal amounts of stress, activating your entire system. Your arms, legs, abdominals, and back are all involved when you move from one hold to the next. These are the muscles that bouldering works the most:

Lats: These broad muscles in your upper back pull your body upward.
Forearm flexors: The muscles in your forearms are used when you grab onto a hold and when you open your grip.
Abs: All of your abdominal muscles help you stabilize your body and maintain your balance.
Thigh muscles: The quadriceps are particularly active when bouldering because they give you the strength to push your body upward.

Get your muscles going with the right nutrition: Our Whey Protein has all the essential nutrients your body needs for muscle growth in convenient shake form*.

#2 Bouldering Boosts Your Grip Strength

Bouldering is one of the best sports for upping your grip strength. But what are the muscles that give you a strong grip anyway? It’s a relatively small muscle group that originates in your forearm and stretches into your fingers and thumb. Many athletes don’t pay attention to grip strength training and, sooner or later, they regret it. That’s because a good grip is not only essential for harnessing your full power in weight training and minimizing your risk of injury, but also helps you in your everyday life.

#3 Bouldering Torches the Calories

Bouldering is a highly effective form of cardio exercise that will definitely increase the number of calories you burn. Of course, exactly how much energy you need when bouldering depends on various factors like your age, gender, and body type. On average, you can easily burn between 500 and 700 calories per hour while rock climbing.

#4 Rock Climbing Improves Your Balance

Balance is one of the things you need to optimize your workouts because your ability to keep your balance has a huge impact on your athletic performance. So it’s yet another reason to start bouldering: training on climbing walls turns you into an absolute balance pro. After all, it could be that it’s only the tip of your foot and your hand that have a grip while the rest of your body is floating freely in the air. Only when you have enough stability to keep your balance can you master these positions and tackle your route.

#5 Bouldering Is All About Solving Problems

Bouldering, unlike rope-assisted rock climbing, isn’t about traveling great distances or reaching new heights. The goal is to master tricky spots like overhangs, corners, and ledges. That’s why you hear people talking about solving a “boulder problem” and “sending” the problem when they reach the top. With all of this focus on finding solutions, it’s no wonder that a good boulderer is also able to solve problems faster in their everyday life. Because you’re not only training your muscles and cardio fitness, but your brain as well.

#6 Bouldering Helps You Meet People

Bouldering is the pinnacle of community sports. Sure, you’re on your own from one hold to the next on the wall, but there are always other boulderers around you cheering you on and available to help when you’re solving a bouldering problem. If you’re new to a city or want to connect with a community, a bouldering gym is definitely one place to start.

#7 Bouldering Boosts Your Self-Confidence

Last but not least, bouldering is the perfect sport for developing your self-confidence. Sure, at the beginning you’re going to fall more than you climb. But on the wall you learn to not let that get you down, to keep getting back up, and to try to solve the problem differently the next time. Bouldering teaches you to believe in yourself. And you can take this feeling with you into your everyday life: whether at work, in sports, or in your personal relationships, self-confidence leads to healthy and fun connections!

Check out our list of other challenging sports to keep pushing your limits: Our 5 Best Ways to Get Fit While Having Fun.

More healthy living tips from foodspring:

*Protein contributes to the maintenance and growth of muscle tissue.

Sources for this article

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