Rock wall climbing?

I had the opportunity this past week to try rock wall climbing and found that I absolutely love it!

What I'm wondering is..... would it be a good enough workout to replace my usual workout from time to time?

I don't think I've ever felt my upper body muscles as much as I did when I was on that wall! I even found out about muscles that I didn't know I had! lol

Anyway, I had a blast and am now looking for a place to climb that's close to my house.

If you climb 3 or more times a week and you make 3 or more ascents each time you will have worked your arms (biceps and forearms mostly), lats and legs.

You will not have worked your chest, abs, or spinal erectors. There would be limited involvement of the triceps.

Before weight training was popular with athletes I could spot a wrestler, gymnast, member of the rowing team, football player and track and field participant just by the appearance of their body.

If you do nothing but climb you will get a "climber's body" (which is not such a bad thing) but it is not a fully balanced body and I would think you would want to include some other exercises along with the climbing.

When I climbed I also ran, rode a bicycle and lifted weights. This in an effort to maintain a balanced body.

Thanks. I don't plan to climb that often but just as something different to throw in and keep it interesting.

I'll keep in mind what you said about the balanced body. I don't want people to look at me and peg me as one type or another I just want to look healthy.

I noticed most of the work was in my forearms when I climbed. They sure were sore the next day!

Thanks again!

We used to do finger tip pull ups and push ups for climbing.

The finger tip push ups are pretty much self explanatory.

The finger tip pull ups were done on the top of a metal door frame. We would just bend our last digits of our fingers tightly so that the tips of the fingers were pointing down to the ground and put them on the top of the door frame and do our pull ups. Don't try this at home on a wood trimmed door as the trim will rip off. Metal frames only.

Both of these exercises are pretty hard (and very hard on manicures). If you value "10 perfect nails" you will not be able to do much climbing.

It's a good thing I don't care too much about whether or not my nails are perfect. You're talking to a good ol' country gal. When you garden and help friends with haying season having perfect nails are the least of your worries!

I'm glad now that I've never had a manicure in my life...that sure would be a waste of money just to have to ruin it.

I'm not sure I'm up to the pull ups but I may just give it a try. I don't have a metal frame in my home but I think the I-beam that runs through our basement may do the trick.

My husband is a big fan of the fingertip push-ups. He's a black belt martial artist and pretty much swears by them.

It's a good thing I don't care too much about whether or not my nails are perfect. You're talking to a good ol' country gal. When you garden and help friends with haying season having perfect nails are the least of your worries!

I'm glad now that I've never had a manicure in my life...that sure would be a waste of money just to have to ruin it.

I'm not sure I'm up to the pull ups but I may just give it a try. I don't have a metal frame in my home but I think the I-beam that runs through our basement may do the trick.

My husband is a big fan of the fingertip push-ups. He's a black belt martial artist and pretty much swears by them.

I agree with your husband on the pushups. I used to be able to do a few with just the thumb, pointer and middle fingers too. But that was just showing off. The full hand is a more well-rounded exercise.

With the pullups you should put a block of wood or something so that the gripping ledge on the I beam is about 1/2". Other than that, the I beam sounds idea. (I think I'll try that at home too. I have not done any finger tip pullups in years.)

Thanks. I don't plan to climb that often but just as something different to throw in and keep it interesting.

I'll keep in mind what you said about the balanced body. I don't want people to look at me and peg me as one type or another I just want to look healthy.

I noticed most of the work was in my forearms when I climbed. They sure were sore the next day!

Thanks again!

One thing to keep in mind with rock climbing, if your forearms are getting burnt out before anything else then you are probably over gripping and depending to much on your arms. As you gain more experience climbing, your technique will improve and you won't get so much of an unbalanced burn in the forearms. This may also make you feel like you are getting less of an arm workout. As with any other exercise, the more you do the same thing, the easier it gets and the less of a "workout" it becomes. If you want to do some rock climbing from time to time as a replacement for an upper body workout, I think that can be a good way to spice things up.