How 6 months of rock climbing has changed my body

[toni123]

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 .

 

[good2bbrad]

@toni123 I'm looking for a doorway pull-up bar - which one are you using?

 

[sharris6973]

@toni123 Your pull-ups are seriously impressive!

 

[aeveasdaky1074]

@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!

 

[toni123]

@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?

 

[aeveasdaky1074]

@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]

@toni123 1500 is a bit too low for your height and amount of climbing, I think..good job tho

 

[wallflower1104]

@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.