Indoor Rock Climbing is an increasingly popular form of rock climbing performed on artificial structures that attempt to mimic the experience of outdoor rock. The first indoor climbing gym in North America
The proliferation of indoor climbing gyms has increased the accessibility can be more controlled in such a setting, indoor climbing is perhaps a safer and more friendly introduction to the sport.
The first indoor walls tended to be made primarily of brick, which limited the steepness of the wall and variety of the hand holds. More recently, indoor climbing terrain is constructed of plywood over a metal frame, with bolted-on plastic hand and footholds, and sometimes spray-coated with texture to simulate a rock face.
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Increases Your Strength and Grip
Rock climbing requires the use of all your limbs at once to keep you from falling. By using your forearms, legs, back, and core, you’re naturally becoming stronger the more you do it. During climbing, you’ll need to use a lot of different muscle groups in the body and with time, they’ll get stronger the more you climb.
You’re essentially lifting your entire body weight each time you change from one position to another. Naturally, you need a good grip in order to keep from falling, so it makes sense this will improve by doing this workout. Improving your grip won’t only be beneficial for rock climbing. It will help you when doing other things like lifting weights at the gym or even holding your grocery bags for longer when you’re out shopping.
Improves Your Flexibility
You might not have expected a benefit like this one when you think about rock climbing, but practicing it will increase your flexibility and range of motion. Climbing involves reaching and stretching to reach the next point on the wall.
Having enough flexibility and range of motion in the joints is crucial to avoid injuries in our daily life. Another side effect of becoming more flexible is a leaner and toned appearance to the body.
Good Cardio Exercise
It’s no easy feat to climb a wall, so doing so will boost your heart rate throughout the workout. Over time, this will help increase stamina, burn calories, and strengthen the heart and lungs.
So, instead of scheduling two workouts – one for strength and one for cardio. The constant movement in rock climbing is what causes the heart rate to speed up, causing the body to burn more calories than you would while running.
Improves Coordination and Brain Function
People who tend to struggle with physical coordination would greatly benefit from indoor rock climbing. This exercise can help a person develop better hand-eye coordination while increasing their sense of spatial awareness.
Additionally, indoor rock climbing may boost a person’s cognitive and problem-solving skills since reaching the top of the wall requires carefully planned movements. Practicing this can lead to real-world improvements too and help your brain function better when it comes to decision making and problem-solving.
