this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2023
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Rock climbing and bouldering combine the fun of a puzzle with a workout and very real goals/improvements you get to work towards. Itβs also not just βI did 5 more pounds!β
For me I hate a squat rack or bench but climbing never really feels like working out.
Couldn't agree with this more. I started climbing a month ago and I'm fully obsessed, it's like a sport designed for people who like video games. Each route is a level that needs completing and the initial progress is so fast and rewarding that you just want to come back and beat that grade that you couldn't get a week ago.
I have a 6c which I fall asleep thinking about right now, the crux seems so doable from the ground and then feels impossible when I'm there. I bought a hangboard to train finger strength so I can beat it faster, and that is definitely more akin to working out, but I see it more as grinding or overlevelling to beat that piece of shit boss you've died to 10times in a row.
Bouldering is like a phone game, each level is less than a minute long and requires a specific skill to be unlocked to beat it, over time these skills combine to allow you to beat a harder problem without you even realising you've levelled up. Top rope is like a console/pc game where levels take longer to complete and rely on managing resources and your strats.
It also helps a ton that I feel 5x healthier already and am stronger than I've been in my life. Climbing is seriously awesome.
Be careful how you're using it if you're a male. Knuckle calcification is pretty much an inevitability, but bouldering and hangboard type exercises speed it up significantly. They exert a lot more force on the knuckles, and so they're more likely to cause microfractures that get filled up with calcium.
I've competed in sport climbing for years without too many changes. A single season of preparing for and competing in bouldering left my knuckles like 20% wider, I can't bend them fully anymore, and my hands were shaking for months.
Yeah good call, I've had a few warnings and I won't be using it daily or anything like that, it's usually a post climb exercise for me, or if I can't climb on my usual days I will do a short training session, maybe 20min or so total with 1minute rests between hangs (usually one jug one finger pocket thing).
I'm still very new to this and can only hang for 10 seconds from fingers alone, still a long way to go.
Yep, you have a very palpable sense of progression in these sports.
That problem that looked impossible a couple months ago suddenly feels doable and eventually almost easy.