It’s not often you find a climber say “Oh look, a slab! My favorite type of climb!” But I am definitely one of them. Although it might not be obvious, I love a good slab climb. I find that most climbers aren’t really fond of slab climbing compared to your average overhang. I’ve heard so often from so many other climbers that they can’t stand slab climbs, and they usually follow it up with the same or similar reasons and, to be fair, I can understand why. Slab climbing and overhang climbing are completely different types of climbs.

So, why do climbers hate slab climbing and is it easy? Climbers don’t like the thought of falling when slab climbing because you have more chance of hitting your face on the wall. Slab climbing is also a different type of climbing compared to overhang and vertical climbing, so some climbers find it harder. There are other climbers who don’t mind slab climbing, and prefer it to overhangs and vertical routes because slab climbing offers routes that require more balance than your average overhang.

Read on if you’d like to know more about how you should fall on a slab to reduce the chance of facial injury, and how you can get better at slab climbing.

Page Jumps

• Why Do Climbers Hate Slab Climbing?
• Is Slab Climbing Easier Than Overhang Climbing?
• How Do You Fall on a Slab?
• How to Get Better at Slab Climbing
• Slab Climbing Indoor vs Outdoor
• Slab Bouldering vs Slab Top Rope Climbing

Why Do Climbers Hate Slab Climbing?

There’s a few reasons why climbers hate slab climbing but the most common is the increased risk of falling into the wall with your face. Slab climbing can be very dangerous for that very reason, and because of this you should really learn how to fall correctly when climbing. I’ve actually explained how to fall in an article I’ve written which you can find here.

Another reason why climbers hate slab climbing is related to the fact that slab climbing is completely different to overhang climbing. You’re engaging different muscles and using different techniques which ultimately can put off a climber who finds overhang climbing fun. If a climber who’s good at overhang climbing starts slab climbing for the first time in a while, they may not be able to complete as many climbs on the same grade. This is because slab climbing can often require more balance based transitions, and as said before engagement of other muscle groups more often.

That said, many climbers actually prefer slab climbing to overhang climbing, myself included. The reason for this is because, as previously stated, slab climbing and overhang climbing use different muscle groups and techniques. I actually enjoy the balance-based slab climbs, and I also find that your core and forearms are used in a different way so you don’t get burnt out as often.

Is Slab Climbing Easier Than Overhang Climbing?

Slab climbing can be easier than overhang climbing for certain climbers, however other climbers would think the opposite. This is usually a personal choice question. As a lover of slab climbing, I believe slabs are easier for me, however I know many other climbers that say they try to avoid slab climbing as they aren’t very good at it and don’t like it.

If you’re wondering whether you’d be good at slab climbing, my advice is to give a lower grade slab a try, and see how you feel. Then work your way up the grades.

How Do You Fall on a Slab?

Knowing how to fall on a slab can be crucial for your safety. There have been many injuries occured when falling while climbing any wall, however slab climbing is different altogether because of the danger to your face. As stated before, I’ve explained how to fall in an article I’ve written which you can find here and these steps shouldn’t be ignored. If you don’t want to venture away from this article to that one, then I’ll give you a brief explanation on how to fall on a slab. When you realize you’ve lost your footing on a slab climb you should:

• Immediately push yourself away from the wall to avoid hitting your face into the wall
• Look down, just in case you’re going to land on anything and you can try to avoid it
• Engage your neck muscles so you don’t receive whiplash
• Bend your knees and roll back to absorb the impact on your legs

How to Get Better at Slab Climbing

Many slab climbs can be based on balance, and if you’re used to climbing on overhangs you might not be too used to this. Sometimes the nature of these climbs mean that your whole body-weight and even your face has to be so close to the wall to keep control of your center of gravity. This, in turn, can also be quite scary. Therefore, the best way to get better at slab climbing is to simply climb more slab climbs that require more balance. If you’re not as good at slab climbing as you are overhangs, as stated earlier, try lower grades. You need to become accustomed to the different situations slab climbs put you in compared to overhangs and vertical climbs. And if you’re scared, you also need to face your fear.

Slab Climbing Indoor vs Outdoor

Climbing outdoors in general usually means you’ll come away with more cuts and bruises, that’s just the nature of climbing outside. Slab climbing outdoors can bring out a lot more anxiety, especially if the slab angle is very pronounced. This is because, as stated earlier, you might slab your face into the wall if you fall.

From personal experience, I can say slab climbing outdoors is much more scary than slab climbing indoors, due to the hard rock face in front of you that you could potentially slab your head or other body parts into. That said, I find that the climbs are usually easier because there’s more areas to place your face and grab with your hands.

Slab Bouldering vs Slab Top Rope Climbing

Bouldering and top rope climbing are very different – not only the height of the wall, or the fact that one uses ropes and the other doesn’t, but also because top rope climbing usually requires more stamina and muscle endurance.

The good thing about slab climbing is that, generally, it doesn’t require as much stamina or muscle endurance than overhangs. Usually there are more places to rest. Slab bouldering can require more powerful moves than top rope climbing, for the reason that it’s obviously a smaller height and the same grade will require more work for a shorter distance.

When you first enter a bouldering gym you’re told that you’re supposed to start and end a bouldering problem a specific way, but you’ll hear some climbers have different opinions regarding foot placements, jump starts, the so-called “French start”, topping out to end a problem, and other different variations. In this article we’re going to cover the different ways a climber can start and end bouldering problems.

So, how do you start a bouldering problem? According to 2021 International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) rules, the correct way to start a bouldering problem is when a climber “achieves a stable, controlled position with both hands and both feet on the starting holds without controlling or using any other artificial holds or structures”. Of course, most climbing gyms don’t have starting footholds. Therefore, it doesn’t matter whether you start with your hands or feet on the wall first, as long as you achieve a controlled position on the starting holds before you attempt a transition.

So, how do you end a bouldering problem? According to 2021 International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) rules, a bouldering problem is judged successful when the climber is in a controlled position either with 2 hands on the top of the last climbing hold or when they’re standing on top of the boulder (aka topping out). In most gyms, a “controlled” position on the last hold is when you’ve held it for at least 3 seconds.

Page Jumps

• How Do You Start a Bouldering Problem?
• How Do You End a Bouldering Problem?
• Can You Use the Top of the Wall When Bouldering?

How Do You Start a Bouldering Problem?

I’ve heard of many different ways to start bouldering problems, and been told a few different times early in my climbing career (and sometimes even recently) that I’m starting a route wrong because I shouldn’t have put my feet on the wall first before my hands. This never made sense to me because then dynamic starts, bat hang starts, and running starts would literally be impossible for a man or woman of average height. 

Because of this, I researched the actual rules set by the IFSC regarding how to start a bouldering problem. Of course, there are a few other ways around the world you can start a bouldering problem different from the rules set by the IFSC. However, what we should all be saying to the climbers that follow other rulesets when they tell us we’re starting our routes incorrectly is that we’re following the bouldering guidelines set by the IFSC in 2021. You can find the guidelines here.

On page 48 within these guidelines it states:

“A competitor’s start will be judged:

A) “Correct” where the competitor achieves a stable Controlled position with both hands and both feet on the Starting Holds without Controlling or Using any other Artificial Holds or Structures. For the avoidance of doubt, when starting a boulder, a competitor may:

1. touch, Control or Use any part of the Climbing Surface in order to attain the Starting Holds; and/or
2. touch any Blocker Hold(s).

B) “Incorrect” where the competitor

1. Fails to achieve a stable Controlled position with both hands and both feet on the Starting Holds; or
2. Controls or Uses any Artificial Holds or other Structures not marked as Starting Holds before achieving a stable Controlled position with both hands and both feet on the Starting Holds.”

So a correct start to a bouldering problem is when you touch any part of the climbing surface to get to the starting holds – this includes blocker holds! Blocker holds in climbing are used to block another hold, either to make that hold smaller or to make the climber think more about their movements and transitions onto the next hold. Check out the video below for more information:

So, what is a French start in bouldering? A French start is usually “achieved” by putting your hands on the starting holds and 1 foot (or no feet) on the wall, then pushing yourself up (or even jumping) to the next hold.

The IFSC has clearly stated that BOTH hands and BOTH feet must be on the starting holds in a controlled way before you can make a transition. However, in most gyms there aren’t specific starting holds for your feet, so it’s universally accepted that both your feet should be anywhere on the wall while your hands are on the starting holds before you can make a transition.

The way I see it, if you’re not doing a problem correctly then you’re cheating, especially if you know what you’re doing isn’t correct. And if you’re not in a competition, the only person you’re cheating is yourself – you could learn so much more by doing everything correctly. When bouldering, there’s more of a focus on setting routes with difficult starts. Removing a starting hold from the equation, or only putting one foot on the wall can make a bouldering problem so much easier. For many bouldering problems, the start can be the crux (the hardest part) of the whole route!

How Do You End a Bouldering Problem?

Generally, there are two accepted ways to end a bouldering problem. The first, and most common in climbing gyms is when a climber has a controlled grip on the top hold with two hands. A “controlled grip” is usually accepted as holding onto it for 3 seconds or more.

Another way to end a bouldering problem, which is less common in climbing gyms and more common when bouldering outside, is called topping out. Topping out is when a climber has to stand on top of the boulder – which is the more realistic way of saying you’ve reached the top of a climb. Topping out isn’t as common with indoor climbing because artificial climbing walls rarely have a top out feature, however outdoor boulders usually do have a top that’s able to be stood on.

Can You Use the Top of the Wall When Bouldering?

Often you’ll see beginners use the top of the wall to help them balance when bouldering. The majority of the time this isn’t really allowed, however there are exceptions. The exception to this rule is when the top of the boulder is meant to be topped out. This is not allowed, however, when the top of the bouldering wall either has no holds on or has not been stated as a topping out boulder. Therefore, it’s cheating.

Some climbers will argue that the top of the wall should be “taped off” to show that the area shouldn’t be climbed on, however this is usually only in competition climbing. It’s generally accepted throughout the bouldering community that within a climbing gym that using the top of the wall is cheating. Check out this video of Peter Dixon at the 2014 Portland Boulder Rally Competition ($10,000 prize) where the top of the wall wasn’t taped off and he used that to his advantage. He came 2nd overall.

A question I was asked the other day while in a ‘louder’ climbing gym was “do you actually know the reason why climbers scream like that?” to which I replied “no”. I was pretty surprised I hadn’t actually asked myself this question before, maybe because I thought I instinctively knew. But the basic rundown answer I got was pretty interesting, so I thought I’d expand on these with you in this article.

So, why do rock climbers scream? Screaming when climbing, aka “power screaming” has been shown to enhance muscular force if done during maximal force exertion. What this means is that, if you shout when you’re exerting a lot, you’ll improve your muscular strength for a short time. While screaming can help, in most gyms it’s seen as bad etiquette if you’re making a lot of noise.

Read on for more information about why climbers shout, the way power screaming enhances muscular force and the positives/negatives of screaming when climbing.

Page Jumps

• Why Do Climbers Shout When They Climb?
• What is a Power Scream?
• Does Screaming Make Your Muscles Stronger?
• Does Screaming Actually Help Climbing?
• Is Screaming Considered Bad Etiquette When Rock Climbing
• Climbers Known to Scream When Climbing

Why Do Climbers Shout When they Climb?

Climbers usually shout or scream when they climb to help them transition onto certain holds that may require more force or strength. Adam Ondra, one of the world’s most well-known and best climbers, screams a lot when climbing, especially on more difficult routes. Shouting while climbing, especially when transitioning on a very hard route, is common for some climbers.

However, other climbers will shout or scream when climbing simply for attention. I’ve seen this first hand. Even when climbing easier routes that I know some more experienced climbers can do with no problem, I’ve heard screams that were very exaggerated.

Of course, another reason why you might hear someone scream or shout when climbing is because they’re either injured or in a spot of bother. This is more than an acceptable time to shout.

Climber’s should only really be screaming on more difficult routes that require more strength or exertion. This is called a power scream and can be backed up with science.

What is a Power Scream?

A power scream is done by many people or athletes in different disciplines or sports such as climbing, combat sports, weightlifting and tennis. You’ll often hear climbers scream when performing a difficult transition, a boxer scream while putting the maximum force into a punch on a punchbag, or a tennis player scream to put a lot of power onto their swing. The question we then have to ask is, does powering screaming actually work?

It has been shown that screaming or shouting ‘strengthens maximal voluntary force’. The study shows that when an athlete or person shouts during their maximal force exertion, they will achieve a muscular-force enhancing effect (Source).

One study also gave evidence for the positive effects of power screaming. In the study, 50 martial artists (25 novices, 25 experts) completed a hand-grip strength test under power scream and non-power scream conditions. Performance was significantly better when power screaming was involved (Source).

One study also suggests that breathing (or even holding your breath) at the right times is crucial for most sports. 

Does Screaming Make Your Muscles Stronger?

While there is evidence that power screams make you stronger, or at least help with performance in certain areas of a discipline, there’s not a huge amount of research out there. However, any research that has been done has always pointed to power screaming significantly helping force exertion or athletic performance.

That said, screaming has only been proven to help improve muscular strength in short bursts, so screaming once won’t make you stronger long-term.

Does Screaming Actually Help Climbing?

So, while we know that screaming has its positives in terms of rock climbing or bouldering performance, does it have any more positives, and does it have any negatives? Screaming definitely helps when climbing, especially when you’re at maximum exertion. Let’s break down a couple of positives and a couple of negatives regarding screaming while climbing.

The Positives of Screaming When Climbing

• Improved performance due to increase of force exertion – we’ve talked about this earlier. Screaming at maximal force exertion means enhancement of muscular force.
• When climbing within a small party of people, no one really cares – if you’re in a small group of people you know then they probably won’t care how often you scream when you climb.

The Negatives of Screaming When Climbing

• Bad etiquette if screaming too much, especially in a climbing gym or busy crag – this seems obvious but some climbers don’t seem to understand this. Personally, I’m not bothered if someone’s screaming on the crux of a climb.
• Can give you a hoarse voice box – too much screaming can hurt your voice box. But I guess you’d have to scream quite a bit for it to affect your voice that much.

Is Screaming Considered Bad Etiquette When Rock Climbing

As mentioned, screaming (especially if you’re doing it a lot) will make many other climber’s annoyed, and it’s considered bad etiquette. This is especially true when you’re in an indoor climbing gym or at a busy crag.

So, the question then begs, can you scream in an indoor climbing gym or busy crag? I would say that you only really want to scream on a problem that needs you to scream. If there’s a route that you need to use maximal force exertion, or you’re on a certain area of a climb that you’ve failed before and want to pass, then these are the times I, and many other climbers would say screaming is ok.

It is not ok to scream in a climbing gym or busy crag constantly, on every climb, regardless of the difficulty. This is usually attention seeking, and the only attention that a climber will get when they do this will be sneering and disgust from other climbers.

Climbers Known to Scream When Climbing

There are many professional climbers who scream when climbing to reach their maximum potential, especially on certain parts of a problem. Some of these climbers are:

• Adam Ondra – I’ve written a short bio about Adam in my article titled “The 13 Most Famous Climbers of All Time” which you can go straight to here.
• Chris Sharma – I’ve also written a short bio for Chris on the same page which you can go straight to here.
• Alex Megos – Alex (or Alexander) Megos is a German rock climber and was the first climber ever to on-sight a problem that’s been graded 9a (click here to find out more about climbing grades and what they mean). His instagram handle is @alexandermegos.
• Jonathan Siegrist – Jonathan is a climber from Boulder, Colorado who has climbed up to the grade of 5.15a. His instagram handle is @jonathansiegrist.

When starting bouldering you’ve probably heard that you need a bit of strength, but you’re not sure how strong you need to be and in what way. In this article I’ll be going through the different ways or areas that you will or won’t need to be strong for bouldering. I’ll also be comparing the strength you’ll need for bouldering compared to sport climbing.

So, do you need to be strong for bouldering? Generally, the more technique you have, the less strength you’ll need when bouldering. However, when bouldering you’ll need to have at least some form of strength mainly in your forearms, back, core and shoulders. These muscle groups are the primary muscle groups that you’ll be working when bouldering. Beginner boulderers seem to use strength quite a lot at first because of their lack of technique.

Read on for more information including whether you need to be stronger for bouldering or sport / rope climbing, and a few different ways to become stronger for bouldering and climbing.

Page Jumps

• How Strong Do You Need to Be for Bouldering?
• Do You Need to Be Stronger for Bouldering?
• Do You Need to Be Stronger for Outdoor Bouldering or Indoor?
• What Other Physical Areas Do You Need to Be Strong in When Bouldering?
• Does Bouldering Make You Strong?
• Related Questions

How Strong Do You Need to Be for Bouldering?

When bouldering, the misconception that most beginners have is that you need to use a lot of your muscular strength to reach the top of a climb. Eventually, as you progress and get more experience, you realise that technique is much more important than strength, and will also help a climber endure more climbs, get less injuries, and get better at climbing. You will, however, need at least some strength in different areas – enough to pull up your weight when doing certain movements and transitions. As discussed in my article “Why Rock Climbers Are Skinny”, your bodyweight plays a part in how difficult bouldering or climbing is.

The main difference in strength for an elite climber compared to a recreational or beginner climber is grip strength in the fingers (Source). This shows that if you’re thinking about strength in any real area when it comes to bouldering or climbing, you must think about finger strength.

One thing to note when talking about strength for bouldering or climbing is that the average bodybuilder probably won’t be strong in the right way to perform well on a climbing wall. This is because the strength acquired isn’t the right type of strength. What climbers want to achieve is something called muscular endurance, because our muscles need to be able to endure a large amount of load for a longer time. I’ve written an extensive article about how to improve muscular endurance which you can find here.

How Do You Get Stronger for Bouldering?

As mentioned in the last sub-heading, finger strength should be the main focus for a climber if they want to become stronger and better at bouldering or climbing. So then, how do we increase our finger strength without injuring our fingers, hands, and/or forearms? There are a few different ways and some should only be practised at a more advanced level.

Climb More (Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced)

Climbing more is the best way a beginner can initially increase their grip or finger strength for climbing. You don’t want to overdo yourself though, as this can cause problems. Check out my article on how often a beginner should climb for more information. Obviously, whether you’re a beginner climber or even an advanced climber, climbing or bouldering more on the grades that push you will help improve your finger strength.

Finger Resistance Trainers (Beginner, Intermediate)

Finger resistance trainers are pretty cheap and are recommended for beginner and intermediate climbers who want to keep improving their finger strength throughout the day whenever they can, especially if they don’t have enough time to hangboard or climb more. They are known to increase strength, muscular endurance, dexterity, and range of motions. Click here to check out the price of a finger resistance trainer on Amazon.

Hangboarding (Intermediate, Advanced)

Hangboarding is a tried and tested technique with many different exercises to be done for intermediates and more advanced climbers. Beginners should not attempt this until they’ve gained a significant amount of grip strength to make sure they don’t incur any injuries. Usually, after around 3-6 months worth of climbing a beginner will be able to hangboard in some form. I’ve tried many types of hangboards, but I’ve found the cheaper ones that give the best results and have included them in my recommended hangboards page along with an exercise, an explanation of how to hangboard, and more information you might be interested in.

Campusing On Crimps / Hangboards (Advanced)

Campus climbing on hangboards or small crimpy holds for a significant amount of time should only really be attempted by more advanced climbers, as this can cause injuries on fingers/forearms that aren’t ready for more long-term load. However, advanced climbers can really increase their finger strength by doing this.

Do You Need to Be Stronger for Outdoor Bouldering or Indoor?

Usually you’ll need to be stronger for outdoor bouldering, because there are more slopers and crimpy holds. However, this does depend on the type of climb you choose for your attempt whether indoor or outdoor. There can be some indoor climbs that feel a lot harder than your average outdoor climb because of the addition of slopers.

Slopers are holds that are more rounded and usually quite large. The name is given to them because they generally slope away from the wall and have no edge for your fingers to grip on. You’ll generally see them on problems aimed at more advanced climbers, both indoor and outdoor. Having better finger strength will help you grip onto slopers. Generally, slopers made of resin can be harder to grip than those made of stone, which is why they’re considered harder indoors than outdoors.

What Other Physical Areas Do You Need to Be Strong in When Bouldering?

Other areas you need to be strong in are your upper back, core, and shoulders. These are some of the main muscular groups you’re going to be using throughout your bouldering session, along with grip strength.

Back

The main back muscle used when climbing is the latissimus dorsi, aka the lats. The lats are the big, wing-shaped muscles on the side of your back and are used whenever you do a pull up.

Core

The core helps you balance, keep your centre of gravity, and generally transition from one area of the wall to the other. Your core includes your abdominal muscles and obliques, and it’s used a lot more than you might think when climbing.

Shoulders

The posterior deltoids are the main muscles climbing targets in your shoulders. These assist your lats when you pull yourself up or towards the climbing wall.

Does Bouldering Make You Strong?

Bouldering makes you stronger for bouldering, climbing, and possibly pull up related exercises. However, it won’t make you a bodybuilder any time soon, nor will it have you dead lifting or bench-pressing a large amount of weight. Bouldering regularly will give you muscular endurance and general strength in the areas that are good for bouldering, but if you’re already muscly, you may get weaker in other areas.

Related Questions

Do you need to be stronger for bouldering or sport climbing? Bouldering is harder than sport climbing for those that lack finger strength, or upper body strength.

You may be wondering if your height or weight is holding you back, or trying to achieve that ideal size to get you on the right track for your goals. Luckily, I’ve put together this article which will show you the height of pro and Olympic climbers (both male and female), along with the weight of many other climbers.

So, how tall are Olympic climbers? The median average height of male Olympic climbers who qualified for the quarter finals of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics was 176.5cm (or just over 5 feet 9 inches). The Olympic female climber’s median average height was 163.4cm (or just over 5 feet 4 inches).

So, how much do pro climbers weigh? The median average weight of male Olympic climbers who qualified for the quarter finals of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics was 142lbs (or around 64.5kg). The Olympic female climber’s median average weight was 109lbs (or around 49kg). While 8 climbers qualified for both the male and female categories, only 5 males and 6 females weight measurements could be found to calculate this data.

Read on to find out more about the heights and weights of pro climbers, and whether your height or weight actually matters if you want to improve your climbing ability.

Page Jumps

• How Tall Are Olympic Climbers?
• What is the Ideal Height for Climbers?
• How Much Do Pro Climbers Weigh?
• How Much Does Weight Affect Climbing?
• Related Questions

How Tall Are Olympic Climbers?

The Tokyo 2021 Olympics were a success, having 3 different disciplines: bouldering, lead climbing, and speed climbing. These were combined to make an overall score. Below I’ve compiled the heights of the male and female climbers who reached the quarter finals of the Olympics for these combined disciplines.

There were 8 male, and 8 female climbers in total, and all sources to where the heights of these climbers’ has been given. The median average height of these climbers (adding the heights together and dividing that number by 8) has also been given for both male and female. I have also linked to other articles I have written where relevant with the page jump to a brief biography on the climber. These articles are called “The 13 Most Famous Rock Climbers of All Time” and “The 8 Best Competition Climbers in 2020”.

How tall are Men’s Olympic Climbers?

The average height of the male climbers mentioned below was just over 5 feet 9 inches. I’ve also included which climbers achieved Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals in the combined disciplines.

How Tall Are Women’s Olympic Climbers?

The average height of the female climbers mentioned below was just over 5 feet 4 inches. I’ve also included which climbers achieved Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals in the combined disciplines.

Other Heights of Pro Climbers Who Weren’t in the Olympic Quarter Finals

Below are the heights of some professional and competition climbers who weren’t in the Olympic Quarterfinals, or they weren’t in the Olympics at all. Shauna Coxsey, and YiLing Song for example, came 10th and 12th respectively, and Sean McColl came 17th. This will, hopefully, give you another idea of professional climbers heights, whether in the Olympics or not.

Male

Female

What is the Ideal Height for Climbing?

For a male climber, it seems the ideal height is anywhere between 5’ 6” and 6’ 1”. This is taken from the quarter finalists of the Olympics in 2021. For a female climber, it seems the ideal height is anywhere between 5’ 2” and 5’ 7”. Again, this number was taken from the quarter finalists of the Olympics in 2021. Therefore, climbers of many different heights can succeed in competition and professional climbing. Height should not be a measurement that puts someone off from getting better or enjoying their climbing experience.

How Much Do Pro Climbers Weigh?

The weight of Olympic 2021 climbers is slightly harder to find, however any that I could that reached the quarter final I’ve included here. The median average weight of the 5 male Olympic climbers was 142 lbs, whereas the females average was 109 lbs.

How Much Do Male Pro Climbers Weigh?

How Much Do Female Pro Climbers Weigh?

How Much Does Weight Affect Climbing?

This is a question that’s asked a lot, and I’ve written an extensive article about why climber’s are usually skinny which you can find here. The main thing to take away from this is, the heavier you are, the harder it is going to be to pull yourself up the wall. You’re going to need more strength for the weight you’re carrying. This doesn’t mean to say that if you’re a heavier person you just can’t climb full stop, but you may find it quite a bit harder than an average sized (or smaller) person.

There have been a couple of heavier climbers such as Don Whillans and John Dunne that didn’t let their weight affect their climbing ability. But the question would then be, if they weighed less would they have been able to climb better routes? Well I’ll let you decide that one, because I honestly don’t know the answer!

Related Questions

Are rock climbers short? Height does not seem to be a major factor for major success in climbing, as short and tall climbers have been able to succeed in competition.

Is being tall good for bouldering? Different heights can have positive or negative effects on bouldering. Being tall can help reach certain holds, whereas being small can help technical ability on other problems.

Bouldering is a full body workout, and relies on grip strength as one of the biggest factors of sending a climb. Because of this, a climber’s forearms can feel especially sore for a few days (or sometimes even weeks) after a climbing session. This is especially true for beginners who haven’t had the chance to build up any real forearm or grip strength. In this article we’ll be covering the different ways to recover forearms after a bouldering or climbing session, along with ways to mitigate forearm pain in the future.

So how do you recover your forearms after bouldering? Forearm recovery after bouldering should include a focus on diet, an increase in water and electrolytes, forearm massage, stretching, rest, ice, compression, elevation, and possibly physiotherapy if the forearm pain seems to be more serious. There are also a few activities you should avoid such as drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, and working out before your forearms have properly recovered. Forearm recovery usually happens within 3-4 days for beginners, however depending on the factors mentioned above, this could last slightly longer. As you become a more experienced climber, forearm recovery should take less time.

Read on for more information that will help you speed up your forearm recovery process.

Page Jumps

• How to Recover Forearms from Rock Climbing & Bouldering
• Things to Avoid for Faster Forearm Recovery After Climbing
• Why Do Your Forearms Hurt After Climbing?
• How Do I Strengthen My Forearms For Bouldering?
• Related Questions

How to Recover Forearms from Rock Climbing & Bouldering

There are a few different actions you should focus on if you want to speed up the process of forearm recovery after bouldering or climbing. By doing all of the actions in this section, you should recover much quicker than you usually would.

Diet & Water

It’s well known that nutrition is one of the main ways to support exercise-induced injuries and muscle soreness (Source). Diet, including the consumption of enough water, is one of the main ways to help your muscles recover after a workout. You need to restore your liver and muscle glycogen stores, while replacing the water and electrolytes lost in sweat. This is especially true for the acute phase of recovery which happens within the first 0-6 hours after your workout or climbing session (Source).

So what kind of diet would help forearm muscle recovery? As we’ve said, you need to replace glycogen stores, and this happens with carbohydrates. Then you need some essential amino acids to repair the sore forearm muscles and this can be done by eating protein. I’ve actually got a 7 day breakdown for a healthy balanced diet for a climber, including breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Obviously, you may need to increase or decrease the amount consumed depending on your own weight, and if you have specific dietary needs I’ve got a list of 7 day climbing diet plans for keto, paleo, vegetarian, vegan, and pescatarian that you can find here. By following these diet plans to your own requirements, you should be able to speed up your recovery process.

Forearm Massage

Deep tissue massage is known to help muscle recovery by increasing blood flow into a specific area and reducing muscle tension. You can use hands for forearm massage or by using instruments such as a foam roller or lacrosse ball (links to Amazon).

Forearm massage has also been shown to reduce muscle soreness severity post-exercise (Source). Therefore, forearm massage is a great way to help you recover after a bouldering or climbing session. Here’s a video that should help you with your forearm recovery – this is especially useful if you have someone to help:

Stretching & Warming Down

Different stretching techniques can be used post-climbing to aid the recovery process of forearms and fingers. Stretching for forearm recovery should not be confused with stretching for increasing range of motion. Increasing range of motion with stretching usually includes small amounts of pain within the muscles to stretch the scar tissue, however stretching to recover forearms after climbing should be pain free as a way to increase blood flow to that area (Source). Here’s a stretch/warm down routine I use to aid forearm and hand recovery after climbing.

The RICE Method

A well known method for general muscle recovery is the RICE method. This stands for Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. Rest your muscles, put ice on your muscles (wrap ice cubes up in a towel or just use a bag of frozen peas), compress the forearm muscles using a forearm compression sleeve (Link to buy from amazon), and elevate your arms above your heart to reduce swelling. 

Things to Avoid for Faster Forearm Recovery After Climbing

Alcohol

Alcohol has been found to decrease protein synthesis and therefore hinders muscle recovery post exercise (Source). If you want to speed up your forearm muscle recovery process after bouldering, you shouldn’t drink alcohol.

Smoking

Smoking tobacco has been linked to impairing muscle recovery from exercise (Source). Climbers that smoke cigarettes are more likely to take longer at longer recovery speeds for their forearms.

Sleep Deprivation

Sleep plays a massive role in recovery. This, along with diet, is probably the most important part of your forearm recovery process. Depriving yourself of sleep can seriously impact the way your body responds to inflammation and affects your hormones, which in turn impairs muscle recovery (Source). Post-climbing workouts should be followed by turning in for an early night to encourage forearm muscle recovery.

Why Do Your Forearms Hurt After Climbing?

Forearms hurt after climbing because you use your hands a very large amount to hold onto the climbing wall. The muscles in the hands are connected from the tips of your fingers all the way up to your elbow, and are known as finger flexors. When climbing, these finger flexors are being used to grip onto the wall for large amounts of time, many times over a session.

It’s normal to feel soreness in your forearms after climbing, as this is just delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). It’s believed that DOMS is caused by microscopic damage to muscle fibres due to muscles working harder than they’re used to or in a different way (Source). Therefore, if you’d like your forearms to become less sore after climbing, you should climb more often so your forearms can get used to the activity.

How Do I Strengthen My Forearms for Bouldering?

Climbing regularly is one of the best ways to strengthen your forearms and increase grip strength. Once you’ve been climbing regularly for around 6 months or more, you should probably start hangboarding. Not only will this strengthen your forearms for bouldering and climbing, but it will also help you send harder climbs. You can usually find hangboards at your local climbing gym, however if you really want to up your game you should be hangboarding multiple times a week which means you’ll probably need one of your own. Check out my cost-effective, recommended hangboards here.

A Simple Bouldering Exercise to Increase Forearm Endurance

One simple bouldering exercise I like to do to increase my forearm endurance is to use the circuit board at my local bouldering gym. The circuit board has many different difficulties, and the mistake I see people making is that they over-do their workout too early. The best advice I can give here is to climb around the circuit board and stop just before you feel pumped.

Related Questions

Is Climbing Good for Forearms? Rock climbing or bouldering on a regular basis is a very good way at increasing forearm strength and endurance.

Is Massage Good for Forearm Pain? Deep tissue massage is good at helping forearm muscle soreness and pain.

How Quickly Do Forearms Recover After a Bouldering Session? Beginners should see their forearms recover within 3-4 days, however this should get a lot faster as you climb more regularly. This, of course, can be longer depending on how much scar tissue has been damaged after the climbing session. If you have caused an injury, this could take a few weeks.

After climbing was involved in the Olympics in 2021, many people looked to the sport because most of the athletes were defined, slim, and had an athletic physique. Questions were then asked by many of my friends such as “can I actually get a good body from climbing?” and “if I go regularly, will rock climbing get me ripped?” Because of these questions, I decided to write a post that would cover all bases so everyone knows the score.

So will rock climbing get you ripped? There is a low chance that rock climbing alone will get you ripped. However, along with a good diet and a proper training schedule, rock climbing has the ability to help along with getting a ripped body or athletic physique. Rock climbers who are looking to get ripped should also incorporate other activities such as using a rowing machine or doing a core workout. These will not only help a climber get ripped but also increase their climbing performance.

Read on to find out more about how to get ripped from rock climbing.

Page Jumps

• How Can I Get Shredded from Rock Climbing?
• What Diet Helps You Get Ripped with Rock Climbing?
• Why Rock Climbing On Its Own Probably Won’t Get You Ripped
• Is Climbing Better than the Gym?
• Rock Climbing Related Activities to Increase the Chance You’ll Get Ripped

How Can I Get Shredded from Rock Climbing?

First off, we need to define what ‘shredded’ means. To me shredded means a defined physique, especially that of the core, arm and back muscles. I would hope that the majority of people would agree on that.

Becoming shredded isn’t an easy task, however many people turn to rock climbing because they know the sport is very fun, social, and possibly has the ability to improve their athletic ability and therefore physique. But this isn’t as simple as climbing once or twice a week for an hour or two per session.

While climbing can help you become stronger by increasing the strength of certain muscle groups (check out this article I wrote here for more information on what muscle groups rock climbing targets), it isn’t great for fat loss as it only affects your heart rate and energy expenditure similar to that of running at a pace of 8-11 minutes per mile (Source), and that’s only when you’re on the wall climbing which doesn’t usually last 8-11 minutes. This doesn’t mean you won’t lose weight if you don’t change your diet, but it does mean you probably won’t become shredded unless you change another area, such as your diet and cardio regime.

The best way to become shredded from rock climbing is by setting a rock climbing schedule of 3 or more times a week, along with organised eating habits, and other physical activities such as weight training on the side that are known to help with fat loss and increase muscle mass while not reducing overall performance.

What Diet Helps You Get Ripped with Rock Climbing?

Diet can not only help you get ripped from rock climbing, but it can also help you enjoy your climbing experience more. This is because by losing weight, whether that’s too much muscle mass or fat, you’ll be able to climb higher grades and you’ll be able to do it for a longer time. Heavier climbers find it much harder to climb because they’re pulling up more load. Check out an extensive article here I wrote about why rock climbers are usually skinny.

The question then is, what diet will help you get ripped, whilst also improving your rock climbing experience? I’ve actually got a whole article on a complete 7 day healthy, balanced diet for rock climbing giving you a day by day breakdown from Monday to Sunday, with breakfast, dinner, lunch and snacks. And if you’re on any particular diet such as vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, keto and paleo I’ve done the same, and you can find that list here. I created these diet lists knowing that the average rock climber needs a certain amount of carbohydrates per day due to the fact that “reduced fuel availability could result in declined performance” (Source). 

These diets should not only help improve your rock climbing performance, but in the process help you become shredded. The only thing I would say is that not everyone’s body is the same. Some people have to work really hard at their diet and exercise regime to become even slightly shredded, while others have the gift of a fast metabolism and don’t need to work as hard.

Diet also helps with healing injuries, and if you’ve been rock climbing often, you’ll know that injuries are quite common. A bad diet causes inflammation in your body, whereas a good diet leads to less inflammation and promotes healing of wounds and other injuries (Source). 

Why Rock Climbing On Its Own Probably Won’t Get You Ripped

While rock climbing can work many of your different muscle groups, as mentioned earlier, it has a hard job of increasing your heart rate for a long time unless you’re climbing religiously, numerous days a week without many breaks in between each climb. I also find that bouldering is least likely to help you get shredded, because you’re on the wall for a lot less time.

Now, if you ARE climbing many hours per week, every week without changing your diet, there’s a good chance you’ll start losing weight and increasing muscle mass on your back and forearms especially. This means you will get more ripped than you currently are. However, there are many other, easier ways to achieve a ripped body than rock climbing.

Is Climbing Better than the Gym?

In terms of becoming ripped, going to the gym and performing a specific routine of exercises will help you a lot more than rock climbing. And I say this from experience, having done both many times throughout my life. The reason for this is because the gym offers different machines that are specifically designed to help build muscle, lose fat, and increase cardiorespiratory fitness. Whereas climbing usually targets the same muscle groups and you are generally performing moves at a set pace with many breaks in between. The addition of treadmills and cross-trainers also gives the average gym-goer the option for a higher amount of cardiovascular training, known to contribute to fat loss which in-turn helps you look more shredded.

Going to a weight training gym and going to an indoor climbing gym or an outdoor climbing crag are very different things. Climbers often find weight training boring, and gym goers and body builders may say the same about climbing. Body builders (usually) won’t be very good climbers due to their excessive weight. In most cases, body builders also don’t train the right muscle groups known to be associated with climbers – primarily muscular endurance within the forearms and back. While bodybuilders build muscle for a number of reasons, endurance isn’t usually one of them (check out an article I wrote here about how to increase muscular endurance for climbing). And in most cases, climbers won’t go climbing specifically to become muscly or ripped – they’ll be climbing because they enjoy climbing.

Rock Climbing Related Activities to Increase the Chance You’ll Get Ripped

Core Workouts

Core workouts are not only a good way to help you get ripped but doing them correctly will help with stability, movement, and general transitioning on the climbing wall. It’s a very good idea to incorporate a core workout into your overall climbing routine in terms of improving your climbing ability AND getting shredded.

Take a look at this core workout below which you can do at home.

Rowing Machine

The rowing machine is not only a full body workout, but it’s also using the same sorts of muscles that you’d use in climbing while giving you a cardio workout. Therefore, this should help improve your climbing ability while helping you on the way to getting a ripped body. Rowing is low impact and easy on the joints (unlike bouldering and climbing in many cases!).

One thing you need to make sure of is that you’re actually doing the rowing machine reps correctly. The positioning of your arms and shoulders when coming backwards and going forwards is key to getting the most use out of this exercise. Many people don’t pull back with their arms enough and therefore don’t get as much as they could out of the exercise.

Bouldering is one of the most popular sports today. In addition to being fun, it’s excellent for your shoulders, back, core, and fingers. As much as it may look easy when you’re looking up from the bottom of problem, it will certainly become challenging after you start climbing. Bouldering can be done indoors or outdoors, but between the two, which one is easier? Is outdoor bouldering harder than indoor bouldering? Let’s delve further into this topic to help you understand better.

So, is outdoor bouldering harder than indoor bouldering? Overall, outdoor bouldering is harder and more challenging than indoor bouldering. Outdoor bouldering can be dangerous and intimidating for beginners. You may have tried indoor climbing, either once, twice, or even regularly, however it doesn’t matter how many times you’ve bouldered indoors; your first time outdoors will come with lots of challenges and surprises you did not anticipate. For example, the fear of falling is much larger outdoors than indoor because the floor isn’t covered in very spongy crash mats – instead there’s likely to be a few, less comfy crash pads.

Page Jumps

• The Main Differences between Indoor and Outdoor Bouldering
• Indoor vs. Outdoor Bouldering Grades
• Injuries You are More Likely to Sustain from Indoor Bouldering
• Injuries You are More Likely to Sustain from Outdoor Bouldering
• Is Indoor or Outdoor Bouldering Safer?
• Transitioning from Indoor to Outdoor Bouldering

The Main Differences between Indoor and Outdoor Bouldering

Indoor bouldering is very different from outdoor bouldering in many ways. If you like climbing in a gym environment with the cool gym vibe around you, indoor bouldering will be great for you. However, if you are in love with adventure and being out in nature, and aren’t afraid of falling on a stiff crash pad, outdoor bouldering will be fun. Below are the most common differences between indoor and outdoor bouldering.

• Landing – Indoor bouldering uses foam mats and flat floors as landing pads. This gives boulders soft landings that are safe since no gym owner wants to you injuring yourself badly on their premises. On the other hand, outdoor bouldering has a rocky, uneven ground, which is very hard and risky if you happen to miss a crash pad and land wrong. Outdoor bouldering landings are rarely flat and sometimes require certain landing techniques to keep you safe.
• Weather – Indoor bouldering has air conditioning, nice lighting, and heat-regulated rooms that create a conducive environment for climbers. Contrarily, outdoor bouldering tests the climber’s ability to overcome unexpected climbing challenges. One of these unexpected challenges is facing harsh weather unexpectedly. You could face wind, rain and/or extreme sun. The sun might shine directly onto your bouldering rock, or the wind might create a wild sense of exposure. The anticipation of these weather challenges is what makes outdoor bouldering exciting. However, one needs a proper plan of action in mind in the event the weather conditions become severe.
• Safety – Indoor climbing gives the climber an opportunity to enjoy bouldering within the confines of a regulated environment. This environment has a lot of safety equipment, e.g., sufficient padding on the landing level and mats below each boulder. Bouldering outdoors has less control over the falls, the falling surface, and the direction of falls. Outdoor climbers are supposed to be more careful since there is less padding below them if they happen to fall. Climbers can still get injured when bouldering indoors, but they won’t be as significant as injuries sustained during outdoor activities.
• Noise – There is a noticeable difference between the background noises when bouldering indoors versus bouldering outdoors. Most Indoor bouldering centers will often have background music, and the noise produced by the climbers is trapped within the confines of the bouldering gym. When bouldering outdoors, you will hear and interact with peaceful sounds of nature, including birds chirping, wind, and even wild animals. In outdoor bouldering, sometimes, you may need to shout to communicate with your fellow climbers.
• Gear – There is also a huge difference in the type, quantity, and quality of gear used for indoor climbing versus outdoor climbing. When bouldering indoors, you only really need chalk and shoes to get going. The type of gear used when bouldering outdoors depends on what you are climbing and where. That is why you need an experienced climber when going outdoor bouldering for the first time. The experienced climber will give you a list of what you need and when you will need it. You won’t need your own crash pads when bouldering indoors, but if you’re bouldering outdoors, crash pads are a must-have accessory. You may realize that you need more gear than expected when going bouldering outdoors for the first time.

Indoor vs. Outdoor Bouldering Grades

Unfortunately, most bouldering gyms like to make climbers feel good about themselves by exaggerating the difficulty of the climbing grades. They do this to give climbers a sense of progress, making them want to come back for more bouldering lessons. As much as encouraging climbers is a good thing, climbers will need to be prepared for the worst when going to boulder outdoor for the first time. There is a high probability that most of them will not be able to climb boulder grades as high as they normally do in the gym.

Most gyms rarely set problems harder than V10, as the majority of climbers can’t go beyond this grade – plus it’s hard to find someone who knows how to set beyond that grade. In outdoor bouldering, grades can extend up to V17. If you are not able to comfortably tackle every problem in bouldering local gym, you better start training harder instead of worrying about when you’ll climb outside the facility.

Also, don’t allow the challenging outdoor bouldering grades to scare you. It takes several climbing sessions to adapt to the holds, texture, and movements on real rock. If you want to adapt quickly, get into your first outdoor bouldering challenge with an open mind. Your main goal should be enjoying nature while having fun instead of trying to attain your hardest V-grade. Soon you will realize that you are bouldering harder outside than when bouldering in the gym but you aren’t climbing as high grades. This experience will make you realize that there’s more fun to bouldering than pulling and climbing plastic in a chalk-covered subscription facility.

Injuries You are More Likely to Sustain from Indoor Bouldering

Indoor bouldering is indeed the simplest and the most enjoyable sport. One does not need ropes and carabineers to try; all that’s needed is chalk and nice shoes. The lack of safety gear means that when you fall, you will nearly always hit the mat. The common injuries in indoor bouldering include pulled tendons, sprained wrists, sprained ankles, climber’s knee, and climber’s elbow. These injuries can interrupt your daily life; that’s why you should always listen to your body and stop whenever it’s telling you and stop.

Injuries You are More Likely to Sustain from Outdoor Bouldering

Outdoor bouldering can be hard and unforgiving. Even without any falls, you can get a couple of nasty wounds during your outdoor bouldering session. On top of the injuries from indoor bouldering, you can also get scratches, bruises, and even more severe wounds. Different types of rocks can do different types of harm to your skin. You can also get injured after swinging sideways into a rock, flipping upside down and falling, or even hitting the edge. To avoid outdoor bouldering injuries, start small, and slowly work your way up to bouldering bigger rocks.

Is Indoor or Outdoor Bouldering Safer?

Indoor bouldering is not only safer than outdoor bouldering, but also the least dangerous. Falling heights in indoor bouldering are lower than in outdoor bouldering, and the surfaces have shock-absorbent mats that take a huge percentage of the fall energy. Outdoor bouldering is more dangerous than indoor bouldering, with a high risk of light to medium injuries. Outdoor bouldering can sometimes have a high risk of severe injuries (depending on how much care is taken) since the surface has less landing gear to reduce the landing impact in case of a fall.

Transitioning from Indoor to Outdoor Bouldering

Most climbers eventually get tired and bored of bouldering indoors and set sight on a new exciting challenge of transitioning to outdoor bouldering. Just because you climb well in the bouldering gym does not mean you are ready to do the same in the wild. Bouldering outdoors requires different types of gear, an advanced skill set, and a strong head.

As a beginner, you should approach outdoor climbing with lots of respect, a willing mentality to practice new techniques, and don’t expect to get the same climbing levels you were used to when climbing in the bouldering gym. Most importantly, get an experienced mentor, and let them guide you appropriately on how to transition from indoor to outdoor bouldering.

If you want to transition faster from indoor to outdoor climbing, it is good to learn from someone who is better than you. An experienced outdoor bouldering expert will give you useful amounts of information that will help you progress very quickly while minimizing the risk of injuries.

You will also learn different ways to enhance your climbing experience using a circuit and training board, gym routines, hang boards, and other bouldering exercises. If you have any outdoor bouldering questions, you can always get clarifications from them. Never rush from indoor to outdoor bouldering, lest you risk injuring yourself.

They may seem quite different from one another, but these two hobbies are both very mind and body focused. If you have an interest in both Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) and rock climbing but are not sure how they may complement each other, then this is the perfect article for you. As a blue belt in BJJ and avid climber for 5 years I can honestly say they complement each other very well. We will cover ways in which these two hobbies can intersect and benefit one another in this article.

So, what are the benefits of rock climbing for BJJ? Both Brazilian jiujitsu and climbing are quite physical and require mental and physical focus. BJJ is a fighting style that focuses primarily on grappling and submission holds which has a massive need for grip strength and forearm endurance. Rock climbing increases grip strength and overall fitness, which would be helpful for anyone learning BJJ. There are also many other ways these sports benefit each other.

Page Jumps

• How Does Rock Climbing Benefit BJJ
• How Does Training BJJ Benefit Rock Climbing?
• Similarities of BJJ and Rock Climbing: Mentally and Physically
• The Rise in Popularity of the Climbing and BJJ
• How Training Climbing and BJJ Can be Beneficial to Injuries

How Does Rock Climbing Benefit BJJ

The primary benefit of taking up rock climbing if you are already learning BJJ is the grip and upper arm strength training. However, the entire body is used in different holds and locks performed by BJJ athletes. Rock climbing is unique in that, unlike most sports, you are not focusing on one area but are instead training your entire body and increasing agility, focus, and the power of your core muscle group.

Cross-training with rock climbing and BJJ is convenient, and what one sport does not address health-wise the other will, which leads to a holistic improvement. In addition, rock climbing is especially helpful for learning BJJ because the entire body is exercised, which means the dominant side of a fighter is not more reliable than the less dominant side, which can often be the case for people who strictly workout through BJJ instead of cross-training.

The China University of Geosciences conducted a study on rock climbing. It determined that “rock climbing can significantly improve Handgrip strength, Lower limb pedalling power, Vertical Jump, Push-Ups, Pull-Ups, Sit-Ups, and Sit-and-reach” (Source). These are all power areas in BJJ as well, so rock climbing will have you physically fit in all the ways that are important to the grappling sport.

Here are just a few of the ways in which BJJ and rock climbing are similar in terms of training:

• Builds endurance
• Strengthens grip, forearm, and pulling strength
• Intense bursts of motion (upward for climbing, opponent parrying for BJJ)
• Trains mental focus

Rock climbing will allow you to keep on building muscles and mental acuity. A great thing about it is that you can climb pretty much anywhere so you can spend BJJ classes indoors and then enjoy the great outdoors with a boulder climb or natural rock wall. We have an excellent article about how to improve your endurance here.

How Does Training BJJ Benefit Rock Climbing?

BJJ is incredibly intense and both physically and mentally taxing. Usually, it involves intermittent periods of acute concentration and exertion, followed by break periods. For most events, there are around six matches. Being able to build up your stamina for BJJ will make it easier for you to climb wall routes. Most of the time is spent on the floor as opponents trade-off different holds, including elbow, ankle, wrist, and knee locks.

Submission and guard postures are used by fighters of BJJ, which will determine which part of the body is worked most and how rock climbing will be best able to improve form and posture. Body size, weight, personality, and skill level all play a part in determining which fighting posture a person decides to use. One fighter is usually on their back while the other is leaning over them, and while these positions can and will be reversed throughout a match, most players have certain stances they find most beneficial. Body core, leg, and arm strength are imperative to both forms.

Intense bouts of grappling within BJJ matches can last anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes with many consistent bouts, so being aerobically fit is essential. Rock climbing is an excellent source of exercise for building up endurance. Agility and overall fitness level are used in BJJ to suppress an opponent’s attempts to overcome a grapple hold or lock. Grip strength plays a big part in determining who will be the winner of a given match.

A study by the State University of Santa Catarina in Brazil found that “grip endurance seems to be an important factor for success in immobilizations, takedowns, throws, and submissions.” With “differences between maximum isometric handgrip strength of the right and left hands, in which the right hand had higher values than the left hand in Brazilian jiu-jitsu athletes.” This is an excellent way in which rock climbing can assist with overall strength as it works to strengthen both hand grips equally (Source).

Similarities of BJJ and Rock Climbing: Mentally and Physically

Both require a great deal of focus and mental calm. For rock climbing, you have to work through the problem of what route to take and moving from one ledge to the next. BJJ involves anticipating your opponent’s moves and working to counter them.

Psychology Today has an article on the mental benefits of BJJ and one of the main draws is the release of hormones that make you feel comforted and happy. This is triggered by physical contact. They say that “students of BJJ offer each other a powerful, affirming, accepting, and biologically-mediated experience, simply through the body-to-body contact that occurs throughout BJJ. Such contact triggers the release of neurochemicals in our brain and hormones throughout our body” (Source).

Climbing also fosters a sense of community and positive self-confidence. When at a climbing gym, it is easy to make friends with other climbers as you all work your way through the problems of any given wall. This kind of camaraderie also releases positive hormones. This good feeling can follow you through your entire day giving increasing optimism.

Positive mental benefits are enhanced by the overall increase in physical health that takes place automatically when you are doing sports like these where so much of the body is worked out each session. Mindfulness and better control over your movements and thoughts are all very good reasons to pursue either sport.

The Rise in Popularity of the Climbing and BJJ

Both rock climbing and BJJ became more prominent on the fitness scene in the 1980s and 90s, and recently, their popularity has skyrocketed. There are now rock climbing centers in most major cities. BJJ has exploded as not just a sport and hobby, but a lifestyle. Both of these provide positive mental and physical changes that can lead to a more rounded, healthier life.

Below are a few common reasons why BJJ and climbing have risen in popularity:

• You do not need to be especially fit to get started on either
• People can use it as a way to boost self-confidence
• Both involve a fun social environment with supportive local and online communities

There is very little knowledge needed to get started in either, and they are both affordable. The ease of accessibility is one reason why they have gained such vast followings. When it comes to starting a new sport or hobby, sometimes just figuring out where to start can be daunting, but rock climbing and BJJ are simple to start. Most cities have multiple locations that offer rock climbing and BJJ classes.

How Training Climbing and BJJ Can be Beneficial to Injuries

There are a lot of common injuries that can take place when training for either sport. Fortunately, when you are unable to train with one of them, then there is a likelihood that you can train with the other, meaning that you can continue to keep yourself healthy and fit as your injury heals.

The Department of Sports Orthopedics in Germany researched climbing injuries and found that “acute injuries in rock climbing either come from a fall onto the lower leg or from performing a hard move and injuring the upper extremity.” Tendon breaks and tears, strains, and micro-stressors of the bone are also quite common (Source).

While climbers are more prone to injury their extremities, people who compete in BJJ had joint problems more commonly than other afflictions. When a study was conducted to determine injury patterns for BJJ participants, they discovered, “the knee and elbow were the joints most susceptible to injury” (Source).

While it is not great to push your body while it is healing, it is possible to take low-stress courses and training. If you injure an elbow or knee while performing BJJ, then after some time to rest, it is possible to climb low-level walls while it is still healing before you can get back to BJJ. Alternatively, if you injure your toes while climbing, then you can always use the rest of your body to practice different BJJ forms.

You may be new to rock climbing and find that your finger and hand grip is not quite as good as you would like. Hangboarding can help increase that grip strength quickly and effectively, but you may not know when to start using this exercise tool. In this article, we will go over when it is safe to begin using a hangboard, who can use hangboards and some exercises for beginners.

So, when should you start hangboarding? When beginning, it can be tempting to try every exercise immediately as a way to get you past the first climbing levels quickly, but hangboarding should not be attempted until after you have been climbing at least six months. To try and use it before then would be counterproductive as it can lead to severe injuries including sprains, fractures, and torn tendons. It is essential to give your body time to adjust and build up muscles. Children and young adults under sixteen years old should not use hangboarding because it can lead to permanent damage to finger joints and bones.

Page Jumps

• When Should You Start Hangboard Training?
• Should Kids Use a Hangboard?
• Hangboarding Exercises for Beginners
• Should You Hangboard Before or After Climbing
• How Do You Hangboard Properly
• Other Ways to Strengthen Fingers and Grip Safely

When Should You Start Hangboard Training?

Hangboarding is a fantastic method for building up strength and practicing hand forms. Several researchers from the United States Air Force Academy Department of Engineering Mechanics found evidence that hangboards can significantly increase climbing ability. Their results found that of the participants, “92% assessed it as more effective than other training tools, 91% of users [were] able to train harder without fear of injury relative to other training methods, and 86% [reported] improved climbing performance.” You can read the rest of their results here.

Despite it being a great tool, hangboarding should not be attempted immediately. Most climbing experts agree that it is best to wait approximately six months before adding hangboarding into your exercise routine. Using it too soon can injure your fingers because they will get overstressed.

I’ve tried many types of hangboards in my time, but I’ve found the cheaper ones that give the best results and have included them in my recommended hangboards page.

Should Kids Use a Hangboard?

Children and young adults under eighteen years of age should not use hangboards regularly. There are several reasons for this, but primarily it is because their bodies are still growing, and they also have only half of the tendon growth available to adults, so a torn tendon is much more likely. They are also less likely to follow safety guidelines when climbing or recovering from an injury so they can easily damage their finger joints permanently, leaving them with deformed fingers and arthritis pain. Bones are not fully developed until you reach around nineteen years old, so anything you do before then will be incorporated into the growth effect.

One study by the Department of Trauma and Orthopedic Surgery in Germany concluded that it was best for anyone under sixteen not to be allowed to do any regular rock climbing or competition climbing due to frequency of injuries and “this type of permanent damage could adversely affect a climber’s quality of life and future competitive career.” There was also evidence that “climbers aged <16 years should not undertake intensive finger strength training and cannot participate in international bouldering competitions.” You can read the report in its entirety here.

Hangboarding Exercises for Beginners

We have listed below steps for the more common beginner exercises for people who are just starting to use their hangboard. There are also a lot of videos from professional rock climbers and coaches showing proper form for all of these if you are more of a visual learner.

Warm-Up

You need to warm up before starting on the hangboard. Upper body focus is helpful though you will be using your core, so a full-body warm-up is best. Here are a few things to include in any warm-up routine.

• Something to get your heart going like jumping jacks, jump rope, or jogging
• An exercise for loosening up your muscles such as stretching
• Then a few push-ups or easy climbs
• The warmup should last a minimum of 15 minutes

Standard Beginner Exercise

The steps are easy to follow for this beginner dead hang exercise.

1. Choose a matching set of handholds on your hangboard then hold onto them using four fingers using an open-handed grip.
2. Hang with your weight held by your core, arms slightly bent, shoulders back for approximately 10 or 15 seconds. If you can comfortably grip the ledge for 15 seconds, then you need to move to a smaller hold.
3. After each hang, you should dismount by letting yourself down slowly. Wait for one minute and then repeat.
4. A set is considered four hangs and four rests. Rest for a full five minutes between each set. Complete four sets for a full workout.

Should You Hangboard Before or After Climbing

Dr. Eva Lopez, a rock climber and coach, has suggested that it is best to hangboard before a climb if you feel the need. If you climb and then try using a hangboard the likelihood of stress injury is higher and also your body will be quite exhausted from the climb you just took so it best to rest your hands, fingers, and forearms rather than jumping immediately into a hangboard routine.

How Do You Hangboard Properly

There are a few things you need to do to make sure that your hangboarding is done correctly.

How High to Set Up the Hangboard

When you situate your hangboard in your workout area, it is essential to make sure that it is not too high. You will be dead hanging off it, so you want enough room for you to do that while still being able to dismount correctly. During your dead hang, your knees will be slightly bent, so when you straighten them, it should be easy to lower yourself to the floor. If you need to drop from the board in order to reach the floor then it is too high, and that drop can injure your finger tendons.

Proper Hangboard Form

To get the most out of your workouts and avoid injury, it is important to use proper form. You should use an open-handed grip instead of curling your hand into a crimped position. Crimped grips overstress your finger pulley system and tendons, which can often lead to tears and breaks. Your knees should be slightly bent, and your core should do most of the work. Your elbows should also be bent with your shoulder blades pulled back and down but not to an extreme degree. You do not want your chest to be thrust forward by the action.

Additional Points

Make sure you warm up before starting and that you stop if you feel any pain in your hand or fingers.

Other Ways to Strengthen Fingers and Grip Safely

Hangboards are one of the most effective ways to gain grip strength and finger dexterity for climbing, but they are far from the only option. If you are a young adult and want to work on healthily increasing your grip strength or if you simply do want several workout options to choose from, then there are several. Below we have listed some alternatives and how they work.

Circuit Board at a Climbing Gym

This is a relatively short, slanted wall or board with evenly spaced out handholds for you to use for grip strength training. Most gyms and indoor climbing centers have one of these available for use. These boards are most useful in training both sides of your body equally because the handholds are mirrored on both sides of the board, so that muscle groups on either side of your body get the same degree of workout.

Gyroball

There are quite a few different models to choose from with these isometric resistance balls that allow you to exercise your grip strength by working against the fingers, palm, forearm, and wrists. It is excellent for flexor muscles. Check them out on Amazon here.

Forearm Flexors With Dumbbell or Improvised Weight

Here are a few exercises you can do with either dumbbells or a can of food. It is best to start around 5 pounds and then work your way up as you get accustomed and gain strength. We also have some additional exercises that can be helpful in our article here.

Palms Up Wrist Curl

• Starting position is sitting with your arms laid out straight along your legs and wrists on your knees, palms up.
• With a weight in both hands, you will want to lift them both at the wrist as high as you can without moving the arm.
• Pause for a beat.
• Lower the weight back to starting position.
• Repeat.

Palms Down Wrist Curl

• Adopt the same starting position as the last exercise, except your palms, should be facing down.
• With weights in both hands, lift them as far as you can without moving your arm.
• Pause for a beat.
• Lower back to starting position.
• Repeat.

Grip Crush

• This exercise should be done one hand at a time.
• Starting position is sitting with your arm laid out straight over your leg, wrist at the knee with your weight in hand.
• Slowly relax your hand, which will allow the weight to roll down towards your fingertips.
• Tighten your grip around the weight and lift your wrist as high as possible.
• Return to starting position.
• Repeat.