How 6 months of rock climbing has changed my body

T

toni123

New member

Your history and goals​


I've always focused on cardio as my exercise of choice. I lost interest in running in spring of 2020 and haven't run since. I ended up with falling in love with rock climbing and have been climbing ever since.

My goal is to be able to do 10 consecutive pull-ups. I could do 1 prior to climbing consistently.

Your before and after stats​


Before

Height - 5ft 2in / ~157cm

Age - 29

Weight - I was pretty depressed spring of 2020 and reached the lowest weight of my adult life of 112lbs/~51kg.

After

Weight - 124lbs/56kg

Diet​


My diet isn't very strict. I don't measure or count anything. As a general rule I try to stick to under 1500 calories a day and I generally eat pretty clean.

No soda, coffee is black, my go-to dinner is grilled chicken and sweet potatoes w/zucchini. I do drink alcohol on the weekends.

Routine​


I climb indoor 3x a week. My climbing sessions are 2.5 hours. There is a lot of resting between climbs since you have to take turns belaying. When we are finished climbing, I head to the pull-up bar to do one set with as many reps as I can until I cannot do anymore.

When I am not climbing, I rollerblade or go on walks. This totals about 2 hours a week.

Measurable progress or achievements​


I've gained 12lbs/5kg. This is the most I've ever weighed in my life! I struggled at first with this. I've always been told gaining weight is a bad thing. Society doesn't really talk about women gaining muscle weight. I had a mindset of 'you are working out consistently so you should be losing weight'.

I am starting to get comfortable with my body. Progress pics have helped me feel more comfortable.

I am up to 5 consecutive pull-ups!

Photos​


Video of pull-ups

https://imgur.com/a/8M6yvkB

Going forward​


I'm not really sure what my point is in posting this... I just wanted to share my experience with you all as I imagine I am not alone in feeling 'bad' about healthy weight gain. I hope to get to 10 pull-ups by the end of this year :).
 
@toni123 Hi OP, I also climb and am short (shorter than you just around 5'). I appreciate this post. 5 pull ups is insane, well done! I can do 4 but a year ago I could only do 1 and not full ROM.

I've been lifting for years, but I went through a phase leading up to the pandemic where I was just climbing and not lifting. I found I gained some sport-specific strength but also gained weight and body fat. Then the pandemic hit and I bought some gym equipment to be able to do squats, deadlifts, bench, and accessory work from home. This transformed my body and by the time I went back to climbing I felt so so strong, it was the best feeling. My lats are popping.

So I guess this is a long way of saying - lifting is super good for climbing! I highly recommend it!
 
@aeveasdaky1074 I don't mind the act of lifting, I just feel like I never know which types of exercises I should be doing!

Any suggestions for climbing specific core and leg exercises?
 
@toni123 I wouldn't say to focus on climbing specific exercises as it is a technical sport that you practice on the wall, but you can't go wrong with foundational lifts like squats, deadlifts, bench press, shoulder press, romanian deadlifts. They will increase your overall strength. Also plyometrics exercises like box jump (superset them with big lifts) are great.

In terms of core, just anything but planks, side planks, bar knee tucks/leg raises/toes to bar (but these are hard so don't expect to do many) are good core exercises.

If you are new to lifting, you will get huge gains in overall strength doing a combo of these and feel it on the wall.

You can check out r/strongcurves for morenl programmes. If you want to spend a bit of money, Natasha Barnes produces lifting programmes for climbers, check her out.
 
@ruanddrew 1500 is low, but if OP gained 12lbs while being active, I think their calorie estimation is off. OP said they don’t really track closely. It’s easy to be way off if you aren’t measuring.
 
@toni123 Seems like your approach is working really well for you and that’s great! I just don’t want people to see 1500 and be like “oh I’m less active than her - how much do I have to cut then?!” or get wrapped up in “OP you need to eat more!” when it seems like you’re doing just fine but the estimated number is off.
 
@toni123 I really want to get into rock climbing.

I'm actually watching an anime about a girl who was a Video gamer ( like myself) and she picks up rock climbing (love how I can relate to her).

I can't do a pull up so arm and upper back strength is something I'm working on.

I also want to become a Triathlete so I run and plan on getting a bike and will have access to a pool soon.

I'm so excited!
 
@teampancho The climbing and swimming will complement each other, and they're both so much fun! I was a competitive swimmer and in late 2019 made good progress as a climbing beginner. I'm recently back in the climbing gym again post-pandemic and I'm really looking forward to getting back to where I was!
 
@teampancho I've been climbing for 5 years and still can't do a pull-up! It hasn't really affected my progress much, and I do the type of climbing that people usually associate more with strength (bouldering). Upper body strength is definitely not a limitation for beginner to intermediate climbing :)
 
@mymayome
Iwakakeru - Sport Climbing Girls-
Click to expand...

You can watch it for free on Crunchyroll. It's a pretty feel good show as it talks about self-development and believing in yourself / teammates. It also discusses the difference of Rock climbing and bouldering too.
 
@teampancho Might as well give it a go. Climbing can be nice because you'll find that you may excel at some types of routes more than some of the guys you climb with. I always had a great time dangling from a few fingertips but fell off super slopey routes, which was the opposite of my male climbing partner. I never got to where I could do a pull up (got CLOSE) after two years of climbing but I got good enough to break into much harder routes.

For inspiration look up videos of Lynn Hill or Ashima Shiraishi. They're both smaller women kick ass at climbing.
 
@toni123 im glad youre enjoying rock climbing! its a great all round sport imo. out of curiosity, how have you seen your (top) climbing grade change over these six months? im in a similar position to your starting one (can't actually do any pull ups ahaha) and im hoping to make similar progress over the summer so this is inspiring!!

my only other input is that you honestly might not be eating enough. i know you're not counting, but 1500 is rather low for someone of your activity level.
 
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