Training for Rock Climbing: The Muscle Groups to Exercise
Rock climbing is a specialized kind of outdoor pursuit; if you approach it casually, you’re not going to have much fun or be any good at it. A person can run once in a blue moon and still call themselves a jogger, many kayaks’ ability to float is only verified once or twice a year, and most hiking boots won’t rot to powder if they don’t see the sun for a while.
Try going up a cliff without training for rock climbing, though, and you’ll not only embarrass yourself but discover all sorts of new, aching parts of your anatomy the next day. Rock climbing muscles can’t be built once and then forgotten; without maintenance, they lose their strength and fade away rather quickly.
So, exactly what muscles does rock climbing work? As you will see, a few parts of your body aren’t somehow involved in dragging yourself from one hold to the next. In that sense, any rock-climbing workout you can do in the gym probably won’t cover all the bases you need to, especially when it comes to developing your grip.
More importantly, though, training for rock climbing means training not only for strength but also flexibility as well as muscle endurance. Neglecting any of these areas—doing nothing but yoga or focusing only on bulking up, for instance—may let you down in more ways than one when you actually get outside and start ascending.
The Muscles Exercised by Rock Climbing
Speaking of bulking up, “show muscles” are of next to no use in bouldering. Gravity means that every pound of muscle you put on that doesn’t actively help you get up a cliff or climbing wall literally drags you down. Explosive strength, though a fitness goal for many, also isn’t all that important: successfully lunging at a handhold doesn’t help you much if you’re not able to reach for the next.
Forearms and Hands
Well-defined forearms certainly look impressive on both men and women, though they tend to develop quite differently in different genders. In both cases, these are the muscles rock climbing exercises should target:
- Flexor Digitorum Profundus and Superficialis: These muscle groups run all the way from the elbow to the fingers and provide most of the strength you need to grab things. The profundus (“deep”) muscles lie close to the bone and are the more resilient, while the superficialis contain more “fast twitch” muscle fibers.
- Flexor Carpi Radialis and Ulnaris: Respectively raising and lowering the hand by flexing the wrist upwards and downwards, these play a major role in stabilizing your hands as you pull yourself up.
- Other Muscles: The hands and forearms contain a plethora of muscles, some of which move only a single finger. Fortunately, exercises like finger curls and gyro balls tend to work several of these at a time.
Upper Body
Rock climbing workouts can certainly give you shoulders and upper arms that won’t quit easily. These are the main muscles involved:
- Biceps: The large muscles on the front of your arms are responsible for curling your forearms inward, making them important for any kind of climbing motion not carried out by your legs.
- Deltoids: These shoulder muscles lift the arms and support them once raised.
- Latissimus Dorsi: Your lats cover your back from the hips to the shoulder blades. When hanging from one or both hands, they take significant strain and help you pull your body forward.
Core
All real-world exercises—those that are performed without any fancy, specialized machines that isolate particular muscle groups—require a powerful abdomen. In the case of bouldering, these muscles help keep you stable as you twist your body into odd positions to reach the next hold.
- Rectus Abdominis: Collectively referring to most of the outer muscles on the front of your groin, stomach, and lower chest, your abs are involved in almost any bouldering motion.
- Obliques: Running up the sides of your abdomen, helps you wrench your body from side to side relative to your hips.
- Erector Spinae: The main muscular support for your spine, these also work to flex your upper body backward.
Legs
The golden rule in rock climbing is to rely on your lower body whenever you possibly can, saving the strength of your arms for when you need it. Fortunately, lots of exercises, including walking, help to make your legs sturdy and powerful. As long as you’re in good shape and flexible, these muscles shouldn’t give you much trouble:
- Hamstrings: Stretching from your butt to your knees and used to push your body upwards.
- Quadriceps: Found at the front of your thighs, these raise the legs to the next foothold.
- Gluteus Maximus: Your butt muscles; these assist the quads and help to pull your back to the rear.
- Calves: Play an obvious role in keeping your feet stable on small holds and pushing off from them.
- Hip Flexors: Multiple muscles connect your hips, thighs, and lower spine. Considering all the contortion rock climbing requires, these work pretty hard.
Things Avid Rock Climbers Need to Watch Out For
You’d think that falling on your head is the only real risk involved in bouldering, wall, and cliff climbing. That’s certainly something to avoid, but there are a couple of other health issues that both novice and experienced climbers should bear in mind.
Wrist and Joint Issues
Either repetitive or intense strains on your tendons and joints can cause injury. By the time pain makes you aware of this, the damage may already be pretty severe!
These tissues also take a long time and lots of exercise to strengthen. In other words: take it easy at first, know the signs to watch out for, and consider switching to a dietary supplement that contains ingredients like fish oil, glucosamine, and collagen.
Mineral Depletion
At least anecdotally, many amateur climbers are diagnosed with low levels of iron, zinc, calcium, and magnesium. (However, it’s hard to find solid research on this topic that hasn’t been conducted only on serious or even competitive rock climbers.)
As with any sort of exercise, making sure that you consume a balanced diet is critical, especially if you’re vegan or eat a lot of processed foods. Supplements can also help in this regard, but please keep in mind that all of these are not created equal.
Underdeveloped Antagonist Muscles
Virtually every muscle in the human body has a counterpart that works in the opposite direction; these are called “antagonists”. Though rock climbing is often described as a full-body workout, it doesn’t exercise all of these muscles to anything close to the same extent.
For example, when you’re pulling yourself up, your biceps do most of the work while your triceps serve a supporting, stabilizing function. If you don’t want your muscles to develop lopsidedly, you should round out your exercise routine with another activity, perhaps swimming or weightlifting.
Getting Into Rock Climbing as a Beginner
If you’ve just recently decided to make a rock-climbing workout part of your fitness routine, the good news is that you don’t need to spend very much on equipment. As long as you stick to indoor climbing walls, low boulders, and prepared routes, all you really need is a pair of shoes and a chalk bag. A few ropes (though not the kind sold at your local DIY store!), a harness, and assorted pieces of ironmongery will round out your kit and come in handy when these aren’t available for rent or borrowing.
The bad news is that, when it comes to training for rock climbing, there’s no substitute for climbing itself! Though training the muscles that bouldering uses and getting in better shape overall will help, developing your balance, range of motion, grip strength, dexterity, and—most critically—the skills and habits needed to actually get up a wall or cliff face can only be done by doing just that.
Final Thoughts – Is Rock Climbing A Good Exercise?
Rock climbing and bouldering aren’t exactly natural parts of every exercise regimen. It’s not what everybody wants for themselves. If you do decide that this demanding hobby is for you, though, it will be some time before designing a dedicated rock-climbing workout you can follow in the gym is of any use to you. The best way to condition your forearms and other needed muscles is to get onto your nearest climbing wall.
