Why is Climbing So Difficult?
A complex balancing act of technique, muscle force, and body awareness is required for climbing. It's this special combination that makes climbing so challenging.
Climbers need a lot of oxygenated blood to go to their arms and legs for the labour required, just like long-distance runners do. They must also possess the capacity for planning and strategizing.
Endurance
It is not unusual to witness a route climber at the crag struggling to catch their breath after a few movements, or a boulder issue where the effortless movement at first becomes difficult to maintain. It frequently indicates a lack of endurance, which is the capacity to ascend steadily for periods of time greater than one minute. It has a strong correlation with the capacity to climb routes as well.
The best strategy to increase endurance is to workout steadily and slowly, without increasing the effort or skill level. In fact, ARC-style endurance training—which frequently entails climbing well above your limit—can be detrimental.
Alternatively, consider reducing your grade by one or two levels each session while focusing on a set of simpler routes or boulder issues. With this method, you can concentrate on the precise motions and methods required for a given route or boulder problem as opposed to your overall level of aerobic fitness.
Coordination
To conquer the obstacles on a climbing route, one must possess a combination of strength, technique, and body awareness. Developing a winning strategy is crucial, and its proper execution demands focus. In addition, rock climbing cultivates the perseverance required to see a plan through to completion—a quality that is highly transferable to other facets of life.
In an endeavour to climb as fast as possible, beginners frequently make the error of trying to grab onto every hold as hard as they can. Fear, tension, or worry could be the cause of this excessive grasping. It's critical to understand how to regulate your grip in order to prevent harm to the environment or yourself.
Additionally, novice climbers frequently underestimate how challenging beginner grades may be. Injuries are frequently the result of using strength alone to complete novice routes. As they advance, climbers who learn to rely only on their technical expertise and technique will have far greater success. This is due to the fact that grade growth is not linear and that each level needs a notable increase in physical difficulty.
Flexibility
It goes without saying that climbing is an excellent full-body workout. It increases heart rate, develops stamina, and involves a variety of movements in the arms, core, and lower body, in addition to, of course, the brain. In fact, a single session can include a variety of physical assessments, like traversing overhanging terrain with seemingly unreachable footholds, strengthening exercises based on plank and side-plank techniques to enhance thoracic mobility, a wide range of foot-to-hand manoeuvres, and sinking into hips to stay close to the wall during sport climbs.
It is less commonly recognised, though, that playing the sport can help you become more flexible and balanced. Many bouldering routes require you to be able to extend your arms and legs wide and into unique postures. This skill might mean the difference between getting stuck on an overhanging section and moving your grade farther up the spectrum!
Strength
One sport that demands a lot of strength is climbing. This is particularly true for traditional climbers, who have to cling to frequently very tiny edges with less room than the width of a finger. Because of this, it's critical for climbers to arrive at the gym or their local crag with a well-defined plan in mind.
I see climbers arrive at the wall without a specific objective for their session far too frequently. Rather, they follow their peers' lead and climb whatever is appealing. This sort of haphazard strategy may work well in the near term, but it does not provide climbers with the best opportunity to make consistent progress towards their objectives.
Climbers are also prevented from honing the particular areas of their climbing that require improvement by this haphazard approach. For instance, instead of just going to the gym and hanging out with your friends, consider doing some targeted training on the college board or with dumbbell forearm curls if you're having trouble with your heel hooking.
