Staying healthy can be difficult. Between waking up and rushing out the door whilst putting your lip gloss on, it can be difficult to find time to find a hobby to stay fit. Although the gym is the easiest way to stay fit, for many, it can be dull and uninspiring, leaving some people struggling to find a hobby that is both engaging and will keep them fit.
In recent years, climbing has emerged as one of the most popular hobbies due to its inclusion in the 2020 Olympics and its many benefits. Not only is it great for the body, but it has multiple psychological and social benefits. The sports accessibility is also why it has grown so much in the past few years, as there is a wide range of difficulty levels from beginner to professional, meaning anyone can try the sport.
So if this has yet to convince you to try climbing, the blog aims to provide several other reasons why you should choose it as your next hobby to get fit whilst enjoying yourself.
It builds full-body strength and fitness
Climbing is one of the most effective full-body workouts that you can do without feeling repetitive. Unlike reps or sets that you do in the gym, which, after a while, can feel boring or uninspiring, climbing offers hundreds of routes and climbs for you to tackle, with each route differing from the other. Most indoor gyms reset climbing routes every month, which gives you fresh, new problems to tackle to remain engaged.
Climbing also engages your full body, including your arms, shoulders, back and legs, while improving balance and flexibility, making it one of the most effective full-body workouts you can do. Over time, you can gain many benefits such as an improvement in grip strength, better posture and increased endurance, which also helps during ageing.
It strengthens the mind as well as the body
Climbing is often described as a physical chess game. Each route, often called a problem, requires planning, focus and decision making. This mental engagement makes climbing an excellent stress reliever, as when you’re on the wall fully concentrating on your movements, just like you would putting on a lip liner, you don’t have time to think about mistakes in high-pressure jobs, deadlines or pressures in life.
In addition, overcoming a challenge also helps to build mental resilience and confidence, as learning to fall and get back up strengthens determination and self-belief.
It connects you to a supportive community
The outdoors and climbing community is known to be one of the most supportive communities. The nature of climbing, it encourages others to collaborate and try to problem solve together. As well as this, most climbing centres have community nights for women or LGBT communities, which help people to make friends. This social aspect is a huge positive of the sport as it can help you to make relationships that you can take with you outside of the gym.