If i want to start rock climbing do i need to have a lot of upper body strength?
I want to start taking lessons because i have always been interested. Do i need to have a lot of upper body strength before i start or will i be OK? And if i do what are some good tips to help me get better upper body strength. Please only serious answers, if you do not know anything about rock climbing then please do not comment.
No, not at all. Climbers come in all sorts of body shapes and sizes but two types seem very common compared to others.
The short stocky muscular types and the tall thin lanky ones.
I'm the tall thin type. Skinny arms but long.
Legs are OK because I cycle and run. Love both of them. And I do a lot of fell walking and mountain camping.
Legs are more important than upper body strength. Most of the pulling up is done with your legs, assisted by a good grip and some arm use if necessary.
You need good fingers and wrists.. Do some gripping exercises.
Get out jogging, walking cycling, playing football, tennis, anything that uses the whole body and makes you use your legs.
You need to be flexible and you need some strength and endurance.
Not Olympic levels, just keep using yourself and enough will come.
One of the best exercises is disco dancing. Or Scottish or Irish dancing if you prefer them.
Dance is great exercise. Slow ones give you balance and grace, important for climbing.
Fast ones give you a workout and gets your legs working well.
And you get all sorts of body contortions so when you find an awkward bit on the rock to twist around or you have to stretch in a way that isn't normal for most activities you can do it without something inside going Yikes!..yeagghhh!
And you must eat well.
No body or any part of it can gain fitness and strength without a good diet to live on.
Learning how to move is the important thing so you can move gracefully and with the least energy lost , same as in cycling running and walking.
Technique and rhythm.
Rhythm matters on a long climb. You can get up a face with far less effort that way.
Graceful moving nearly always turns out to be the most efficient. Sometimes it isn't possible. An awkward bit of rock in the way, a long side step (traverse) round a corner , or a squeeze through a chimney sometimes means using just brute force and a long enough stretch.
Doesn't look good or feel good but rock is rock. We can only deal with what there is.
All climbs are graded.
Start with grade 1 easy climbs and then progress as you get experience and your body knows how to move and how to keep a good balance in unusual positions.
Some people find grade 3 or 4 is the limit. Some stop at 5's.
Some get to the higher grades 6, then 7 and then 8, severe and very serious high exposure stuff.
It is still fun, if you can only get to grade 3.
You're doing better than anybody who didn't bother making the effort even starting.There is no shame in not being as brilliant as some others are .
You know in the Army and many other parts of life there is a golden rule about performance.
It's not what you can do.
It's what you do with what you've got.
Everyone is different.
Whatever you can do, be happy. If you don't enjoy it it's not worth doing.
Have a good time.
Here's a cute one. A youngster on a climbing wall.
She'll be so pleased with herself doing that. Most youngsters love climbing things and being adventurous.
My two daughters were. On the Alps at that age. Mountain huts, walking and scrambling in summer, skiing in winter, fun every day.
http://thegirlrevolution.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/hazel-lula-rock-climbing-amidoingokay.jpg . . .
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