Benefits Of Rock Climbing / Climbing Wall
While rock climbing is often seen as a way to get outside and enjoy nature, when done properly it can also provide many exercise benefits. No matter if you are interested in improving your cardiovascular health, toning muscles, or losing weight, rock climbing may be just what the doctor ordered!
Improved Cardiovascular Health
One of the most important exercise benefits associated with rock climbing is the effect on your cardiovascular health. Your cardiovascular system is composed of your heart, veins, arteries, and other components that help both in the delivery of blood to the heart as well as from the heart to the rest of your body. When your cardiovascular system is not working properly, you can experience negative results such as increased shortness of breath, dizziness, or heart attacks. Research has found that the only way to improve your cardiovascular system is by participating in exercise that stresses the heart and accessory organs. Some examples of cardiovascular activity include walking, biking, swimming, and, of course, rock climbing. If you have a low tolerance to cardiovascular activity, be sure to start slowly and work your way up. For example, you may want to start with five minutes of rock climbing, and add an additional five minutes each week until you are climbing for 30 minutes. Research by the American Medical Association has found that this amount of time is optimal in order to achieve the greatest cardiovascular health benefits.
Weight Loss
Another exercise benefit associated with rock climbing is weight loss. In one pound of fat there are 3500 calories. Therefore, in order to lose one pound of weight per week, you must eliminate 500 calories each day. This can be done in a number of ways. First, you can change your diet around so that you are eating 500 fewer calories. Secondly, you can exercise enough that you burn 500 calories. Finally, you can use some combination of diet and exercise in order to achieve your weight loss goals. While most people find that using a combination of these two components works best, exercise is probably the most important factor. Rock climbing at a moderate intensity for around one hour will burn around 400 calories.
Increased Muscle Tone
Finally, one of the most obvious exercise benefits associated with rock climbing is the increase in muscle mass and tone. Rock climbing is a great exercise because it targets muscles in the arms, chest, back, and even the legs. This makes it a great exercise for people who don't have a whole lot of time. They can get a total body exercise in with only one type of workout!
How do I use the WALL?
We will give you step by step instructions. Climbing becomes natural, and your technique will improve over time, and as you gain strength. The WALL is preset with many climbing programs. We will start you in the manual mode, where we can control the angle and speed, then evaluate your ability to progress you further. Some popular programs include:
- Beginner
- Intermediate
- Fuji
- Strength
- Our in-house Climb-Off wich is -25 @ 20ft per min, for time
What about the other WALL?
This is called a TRAVERSE CLIMBING WALL. A traverse is a lateral move or route when climbing; going mainly sideways rather than up or down. Traversing a climbing wall is a good warm up exercise, as well as a tool for improving grip strength, agility, coordination, and flexibility.
When moving laterally, the technique of crossing through is more efficient than shuffling. In this, the limbs are crossed so that the moves are longer and more fluid. The longer extension requires coordination between the hands and the feet to avoid over-extension of the upper or lower part of the body.