Emma Radebaugh If you’re looking for a new daredevil activity, rock climbing is a great one to try. And if you stick with the sport for long enough, you’ll reap some valuable benefits. Here are some of the best benefits of climbing for body and mind.
It’s a Full Body Workout
Climbing up the face of a cliff or rock wall will give you a full body workout, training the muscles in your entire body at once. While climbing, you must use your upper body strength to pull your body weight upwards while pushing yourself upwards with your lower body and stabilizing yourself with your core. Not many other activities demand such intensive engagement from all parts of the body at once—but this full body demand leads to the strengthening of the whole body.
Improves Endurance
In addition to building muscle, rock climbing helps you to improve your endurance. Though most people don’t realize it, rock climbing is a cardio exercise that gets your heart pumping and helps you to burn calories. And the more you practice rock climbing, the better you’ll get at it. After a while, you’ll notice that you can grip more tightly, ascend more quickly, and climb for longer periods of time without becoming tired or out of breath.
Reduces Stress
Like many other forms of exercise, rock climbing has been proven to help reduce stress. In addition to providing a sense of accomplishment and pleasure from doing an activity that you love, rock climbing releases endorphins that improve your mood. When you’re rock climbing, you’ll find yourself focused, relaxed, and fully concentrated on the task at hand.
Encourages You To Challenge Yourself
Rock climbing is an activity that encourages you to challenge yourself, both physically and mentally. When you’re climbing, you’ll be able to constantly learn different climbing methods, search for different ways up courses, try more difficult courses, and challenge yourself to beat your best time. The ability to constantly challenge yourself, both physically and mentally, is one of the best parts about climbing. You won’t get bored because there’s always new mountains to tackle and old records to beat.
The benefits of climbing for body and mind certainly make it an activity well worth doing. The activity is quite versatile and can be done indoors or outdoors for a different experience. If you’ll be climbing outdoors, especially in winter, be sure to stay warm and safe. Give rock climbing a try—it’s an experience like no other, and you may just find a new sport to love.
