Indoor rock climbing, an exercise for both mind and body

Here are four health benefits that you can expect from indoor rock climbing.

Rock climbing works both on your upper and lower body muscles. When pulling yourself up, you’ll be forced to engage the muscles of your core, quads, and calves and thereby,  muscles in your back and arms get strengthened. Working all of these muscles in a single workout makes your time spent at the gym more effective, and it is a great solution for those who do not have time to come into the gym multiple times a week to work out different muscle groups separately. To prevent potential injuries during a session, make sure that you take time to warm up and stretch appropriately before beginning.

The range of motion of each of our joints can be improved through increased flexibility, and engaging in regular rock climbing can help us become more flexible. Rather than moving in the same direction as you would in other exercises such as running, rock climbing demands that you move your body up, down, and to the sides; all in one workout. In addition to increasing flexibility, this will also give your body the ability to move effectively and with increased strength.  

An average rock climbing session can burn between 500 and 900 calories, making it a far superior workout than most treadmill runs. In addition to improving your cardiovascular fitness, rock climbing allows you to build muscle because you are essentially lifting your entire body weight from one position to the next. 

Scaling an indoor rock climbing wall isn’t as easy as it might seem to bystanders —  it involves a lot of problem-solving and body awareness that can improve brain function over time. Every time you climb to a new position on the wall, you need to decide on the best placement for your hands and feet to avoid falling. These moment-to-moment decisions are a great way to improve your brain’s processing capabilities.