6 Reasons Why Climbing Is Better than the Gym

Climbing is a full-body workout and it’s one of the best ways to meet new people, get in shape, and have a hobby that will take you into the great outdoors. Not only does it have great physical benefits but the mental ones are just as good. I personally think climbing gyms are way more rewarding than your traditional gym and here is why.

#1 You Learn Problem Solving Skills

While climbing might just seem like a purely physical sport you couldn’t be more wrong. Climbing routes consist of what climbers refer to as problems, Why you might wonder? The reason is it’s not as simple as just climbing it, each climbing route is a puzzle and you need to solve it with your body. Sometimes you cant just climb a route on pure strength alone and need to work out the correct technique to make a move possible. That’s where the puzzles come in as you develop your techniques and learn what works and doesn’t work in certain body positions to give you that extra leverage to reach the next hold.

#2 It will be the best workout you’ve ever had.

Climbing has a huge advantage over the gym as it’s a whole-body workout, While climbing you use pretty much every muscle group in your body. This causes climbing to burn calories at a rate similar to high-intensity workouts like sprinting or resistance training. As climbing is packed with tons of different movements it helps build strength due to the high variety of different positions you put your body in. studies show repeating the same movement over and over has diminishing returns this means climbing has a huge advantage over gym exercises such as lifting weights or running and you get a lot more for your time and energy spent.

Along with the pure physical strength you will be building, climbing also helps improve your balance and coordination. You will be using your motor skills to successfully navigate from climbing hand and footholds. All of this quickly adds up and your hand-eye coordination will be better than ever.

#3 The Mental Gains

Rock Climbing can be a pretty demanding sport, not only does it demand a lot from you physically but also mentally. you are constantly pushing your comfort zone with new routes and new challenges. One of the biggest challenges in climbing is overcoming your fear of falling. This is done by slow pushing your boundaries and building into larger and larger falls over time. All of this boundary-pushing quickly jumps into other aspects of your life and you will end up seeing more confident you that’s happy to push out of their comfort zone.

#4 The Social Aspect

One of the great things about climbing is the huge circle of friends you end up making. Climbing at its core is a social sport and provides tons of different opportunities to make new friends and climbing buddies. Most climbers at the gym are extremely friendly and I find myself often striking a conversation with strangers over a particular route which then go on to become climbing friends. Most gyms also have an outdoor meet up so if you’re not feeling particularly confident in the gym you can always sign up and meet some new people on a cool outdoor trip!

#5 It Gets You Outdoors

One of the best things about climbing is that once you have a taste of it indoors you want to test your newfound skills outdoors on some real rock. This can be a little daunting at first but with plenty of resources available online and at local gyms most climbers quickly make the transition. In your quest to climb harder and better rock you find yourself making huge treks into the wilderness or adventures up to mountain faces. this often leads to lifetime memories with friends and some absolutely beautiful views that you normally wouldn’t have experienced.

#6 Climbing is Fun and Always New

But the most important and main reason climbing is better than the gym is it’s ever-changing. Most gyms reset problems weekly or monthly this means there is always a new challenge and something interesting to climb. This in turn helps you get a wide range of workouts due to the different moves involved. If you end up stuck on a problem you find yourself drawn to it and can attempt it over and over until you build the strength to climb it or manage to get the technique correct which finally allows you to get to the top.