Rock Climbing: A Complete Mental & Physical Workout

Rock climbing offers a host of health benefits like:

It’s a full body workout. Especially when you’re a beginner, and each time you move to a harder level climb. Don’t believe that its a full body workout? Wait until the day after…, most of your muscles will ache, even ones you didn’t know you had!

Next time you get bored of going to the gym, call a friend to go indoor rock climbing with you instead. If you don’t like heights, you can climb horizontally around the climbing hall. Problem solved.

Develop confidence.

When you climb, you rely on yourself. You push yourself to the limit and step outside of your comfort zone. You also train your mind to accomplish a specific set of goals (for example: to reach the top even if you don’t think you can). A strong sense of achievement is waiting for you once you’ve completed the climb.

Do you like puzzles? Use your brain to solve this one. It takes great skill to climb, I kid you not. Making a blueprint in your head before you climb is half the battle. You can use visualisation to finish your route and imprint it into your mind for when you are up there. This can help to overcome poor climbing technique because you will already have a clue for how to solve the puzzle.

You decide for yourself who to climb with. You develop trust in the person you’re with when you climb. You place your life in their hands, in the same way they place their life in yours. Your climbing partner can also help you to solve the climb when you get stuck halfway up. It’s one of the best ways you can meet people who have the same interests as you. It’s a social activity with a real challenge, not with your climbing partner, but with the task at hand.

Relieve stress. Imagine your stress melting away once you’ve reached the top. Everyday anxieties and tensions are forgotten because you’re forced to focus on the task of climbing and not on your problems. You need presence of mind when you rock climb, no day dreaming allowed. Otherwise, you may find yourself veering out onto your neighbours climb instead!

Face your fear of heights. Most people are naturally afraid of heights. We imagine ourselves falling and getting hurt. That’s our natural instinct. When we learn to acknowledge that fear, we can learn to respect it. It’s that respect that will help us face our natural fear of heights. The truth is rock climbing is a very safe sport when you learn how to use the equipment correctly. Its a great way to overcome your fear of heights safely and you can have a lot of fun with friends along the way. The more you climb, the more comfortable you’ll get and the better your climbing will be.

Rock climbing is a fantastic way to help you identify your limits. After that, it pushes you to move past them with great excitement and a lot of courage. Try it, you may love it!

References

http://www.climbingwalls.co.za/index.php/en/benefits-of-rock-climbing
Hörst, E. J. (2008). Conditioning for climbers: the complete exercise guide. A Falcon guide. Guilford, Conn.: FalconGuides.
Jackenthal, S., & Glickman, J. (2000). The complete idiot's guide to rock climbing. Indianapolis, IN: Alpha Books.