Indoor rock climbing at rock walls is a popular gym pastime, both for serious rock climbers as well as those who simply find it fun. Though indoor climbing is no replacement for outdoor climbing, it does allow for a vigorous workout that provides the same health benefits as outdoor climbing. Wall climbing works your upper body and gets your heart pumping, helping you improve both your strength and aerobic capacity at the same time.
Identification
Climbing walls are usually at least 25 feet high. They are often shaped with a variety of corners and angles to resemble real rock. Molded climbing holds are bolted up and down the wall to allow climbers to climb a variety of routes to the top. Ropes, wrapped around anchors at the top of the wall, hang down to the ground. Climbers tie in and are belayed as they ascend the wall.
Indoor vs. Outdoor
Indoor climbing is designed to mimic outdoor climbing. In some ways, it obviously fails to do so. For example, when climbing outside, you can put your hand or foot anywhere that you see fit, while at climbing walls you are restricted to certain handholds and must avoid others. However, the movements of climbing remain the same for both indoor and outdoor climbing. Indoor climbing is just as strenuous as outdoor climbing and requires the same kind of strength and stamina.
Heart Rate and Climbing
As with any strenuous activity, wall climbing increases your heart rate. Since climbing is characterized by periodic bursts of activity, it does not provide the sustained cardiovascular workout that other aerobic exercises do. For example, a 2010 study published in the "European Journal of Sports Medicine" found that climbers' average heart rate right after climbing was about 80 percent of their maximum heart rate while running on a treadmill. This suggests that running or other exercises provide a more intense cardiovascular workout than climbing.
Training
The best way to train for climbing is to climb either outdoors or inside. Since rock climbing usually doesn't involve long periods of intense aerobic activity, rock climbers do not need to be marathon runners in order to excel at the sport. However, a certain amount of aerobic fitness is necessary in order to be able to climb well.
Other Findings
As a climber, you may sometimes notice that when climbing a route, your heart rate goes up quite a bit but you don't find yourself breathing hard. A 2006 study of rock climbers published in "Sports Medicine" found that, on average, a climber's heart rate increases disproportionately to his oxygen intake while climbing, though why this happens is not clear.
References
- "Sports Medicine"; The Physiology of Rock Climbing; Luisa. V. Giles; January 2006
- Rock and Ice: Striking the Balance
- "European Journal of Sport Medicine"; Physiological and psychological responses to lead and top rope climbing for intermediate rock climbers; Nick Draper; January 2010
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