Top 8 Awesome Reasons to Join a Rock Climbing Gym | Hacker News Reader

Top 8 Awesome Reasons to Join a Rock Climbing Gym

methodclimb.com

17 pointsmastertom13 comments

I want to clarify the "full body workout" point. For one, it's not really a full body workout, and you disproportionately work out your back. This, along with an under developed chest can cause your shoulders to roll forward resulting in bad posture. Another problem if you find you have a dominant hand while climbing, which leads to half your body getting exercised more than the other side. This is usually your right half because setters are usually right handed and will set routes that lead to you working your right half more. If you get a massage, it's normally pretty easy for them to immediately notice this asymmetry. Like all exercise, try to find a balance. No one activity is going to be a catch all for your whole body.

The other points are pretty spot on. I just wish climbing gyms weren't so expensive haha.

> I just wish climbing gyms weren't so expensive haha.

Think that's the case with any specialty gym. Crossfit, climbing, MMA/Boxing/BJJ all are very expensive.

> This, along with an under developed chest can cause your shoulders to roll forward resulting in bad posture.

I would have thought they would have rolled back - a tight chest and unworked back muscles will cause the shoulders to roll forward due to the pecs being in a constant state of tension and the back being unable to balance it all out. I wonder why the opposite would have the same effect.

climbers tend to overdevelop back muscles. pecks are largely not involved - it's all flexors not extensors.

Yeah, so if the back is tight why would the shoulders roll forward?

>This is usually your right half because setters are usually right handed and will set routes that lead to you working your right half more.

This is not my experience and not something I have ever heard more advanced climbers talk about. Strong climbers climb outside which isn't set for any style and then go on to set inside based on that strength. If you are overworking one side it is generally a technique issue which can be overcome with practice.

I climbed when I was young and picked it up again as an adult hobby two years ago. It's still a blast and I would recommend it to anyone who is bored of lifting weights.

Bouldering in particular is easy to do routinely because you don't need a partner with you in the gym holding a rope for you.

It also appeals to my gamer side, because routes are graded in terms of difficulty. For bouldering that's V0 through V10, sometimes higher, with zero being easy and 10 being... competitive. Progressing through levels is a great mechanic. Routes also get reset by the gym owners every couple weeks so there is always a new set of challenges.

The competitive scene is getting more and more connected with streams online, too, so you have a sport you can enjoy watching between sessions. e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWXWoziXtyM

I'm not sure if any of those arguments actually are unique to rock climbing. I mean, it looks like it could be fun, but none of that is a strong argument specifically for rock climbing.

Number 7 (Practice Mindfulness) is the killer app for me. I've done biking, power-lifting, and swimming before and these do focus you, but not the way rock climbing does. Planning out and executing a route has a higher level of novelty than most exercises. This helps me turn off the part of my brain that's always worrying about work because I need to focus not just on things like form and breathing but the more analytical task of real-time planning as I scale the wall.

I've found mindfulness in powerlifting, as well as rowing and bicycling. Powerlifting is an acute condition - I have ~30 seconds of absolute concentration and focus, being totally focused on executing and knowing nothing else, ignoring the agony of screaming muscles and intense pressure. Rowing and bicycle are both much longer steady state, but at the right pace it really focuses you in to the here and now.

Rock climbing is a really unique mesh of physical activity, community, and puzzle solving. If you find the thought of gyms boring but want to start getting some exercise, I'd definitely suggest trying it out.

Rock climbing is the new CrossFit.

That's not fair, there will probably be less ruptured Achilles with this.

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