Rock climbing has been growing in popularity all over the country, but why? With its many different styles, rock climbing is an amazing form of exercise that truly has something for everyone. One of the most popular forms of rock climbing is bouldering, or climbing with no ropes and low to the ground.
But what can bouldering be used for? Is bouldering a good form of exercise? Will it help you lose weight? In this article, we’ll discuss why bouldering is a great addition to your exercise routine. From talking about why it’s good for weight loss to discussing the importance of your diet when it comes to bouldering, we’ll cover it all.
The Benefits of Bouldering
Bouldering is a popular form of rock climbing that does not use any ropes. Instead, the climber only climbs low to the ground and over large mats that will help prevent injuries if you fall. Since bouldering requires very little gear, it is a great way to get started with rock climbing.
1. Easy to practice anywhere
Bouldering can be practiced indoors or outdoors and, as we mentioned before, requires relatively little gear. It is viewed as an approachable form of exercise that can also be a social activity, which draws many people to the sport. Combined with the number of new bouldering gyms and climbing gyms opening across the country, it is no wonder why bouldering is skyrocketing in popularity.
2. Awesome whole-body workout
Bouldering as exercise is great for your whole body. Not only can you achieve aerobic respiration from bouldering, but it can also provide you with strength training. Bouldering doesn’t just work out your body, though, as it engages your mind through every problem that you climb.
3. Approachable to a variety of body types
Another great thing about bouldering is that anyone can try the sport. Many people wonder about rock climbing weight limits, especially with ropes and climbing partners of different sizes, but one of the best things about bouldering is that size truly does not matter. You can start bouldering at a young age and are able to boulder regardless of your height or size.
How Good is Bouldering for Losing Weight?
Is bouldering good for weight loss? Is bouldering a good workout? Can anyone try bouldering? With so many questions flying around, we’re going to start by breaking down what makes your body lose weight. By answering this simple question first, we’ll be better prepared to discuss using bouldering for weight loss.
Generally, people go about losing weight in one of two ways. Either you will decrease your caloric intake or you will increase your caloric expenditure.
Most people combine the two, meaning that you will take in fewer calories than you currently do and exercise more than you currently do. The challenge with losing weight is that you do have to keep eating enough of the right foods to continue to give yourself the energy to do your workouts.
One of the primary reasons that people have started using bouldering as a weight loss workout tool is because it works out your whole body, can be aerobic or provide a similar benefit to cardio, and can function as mild strength training. The main reason to include some form of strength training in your weight loss workout routine is because building more muscles increases your resting metabolism, meaning that you burn more calories by simply existing.
As more and more people see rock climbing and bouldering in the spotlight with events like the Olympics now having a rock climbing competition, people are more likely to turn to these sports as a great form of exercise. Rock climbers and boulderers are known for having a low percentage of body fat and a large amount of lean muscle.
This combination of minimal body fat and more significant amounts of lean muscle allows your body to function well in many activities. Bouldering does a great job of developing these muscles while supporting your weight loss goals.
How Many Calories Does Bouldering Burn?
Figuring out exactly how many calories you burn during an hour of bouldering is tricky because of how varied the sport is. In general, bouldering will burn more calories than roped rock climbing, simply because you don’t ever have to stand around on the ground belaying while someone else climbs.
The benefit of bouldering is that you can practice it on your own, which means you can maximize the calories you can burn. You can also go bouldering with friends, although you might not burn as many calories since you may spend more time discussing the problems or supporting one another.
Most estimates show that bouldering for one hour can burn anywhere from around 500 calories to close to 1000 calories, depending on your body and the intensity of your climbing. It is important to remember that each person’s body and bouldering practice are unique, so figuring out exactly how many calories you burn can be hard and will likely vary daily.
How Important is Diet When Bouldering?
Diet plays a big role in your weight, so if you are bouldering for weight loss, you’ll want to pay close attention to your diet. On the other hand, if you are planning on bouldering every now and then just as a casual workout activity, your diet probably won’t play a massive role in your success with bouldering.
If you want to be one of the rock-climbing weight loss success stories, you’ll need to have a good diet. Make sure you are eating good, whole foods that will help fuel your bouldering sessions, without giving you a large sugar crash. Try basing your meals around whole grains and good protein sources to help your body build muscle and sustain energy throughout your climb.
3 Tips for Losing Weight with Bouldering
There are lots of ways that you can help maximize the weight loss you will see as a result of bouldering, but here are our top tips to help you lose weight from bouldering:
1. Stick to a constant schedule
Creating a workout schedule will be essential to bouldering for fitness. If you want to be able to see any change in your body, you will need to add some discipline to your practice. Start by picking how many days a week you want to climb, and then think about what days work best for your routine. We recommend climbing at least 3 or 4 times a week to start out if you want to use bouldering for weight loss.
2. Be mindful of how much time you spend on the wall and try to maximize it.
When you go to a climbing gym or take your bouldering mat outdoors, you are likely to spend a while on the ground walking from climb to climb or just looking at a climb before you attempt it. In order to maximize your weight loss from bouldering, you should make sure that you spend as much time as possible actually on the wall climbing.
See if you can traverse or climb sideways instead of up all the way around your gym. Challenge yourself to see how long you can climb continually, moving up, down, and sideways around your gym. These are great options to help build up your endurance and get that aerobic exercise that helps support healthy weight loss.
3. Fuel your body well
Food plays a massive role in weight loss, so not paying attention to what you put into your body is setting yourself up for failure. Understanding the caloric needs of your body and how best to meet them is the best way to set yourself up for success. If you are planning on using bouldering for exercise, you will need to provide your body with all the necessary energy it needs to do so.
Wrapping Things Up: Is Bouldering Good for Weight Loss?
Bouldering is an amazing sport that really does a great job of working out your whole body. Nothing gets left behind when you use bouldering for exercise from your muscles to your brain! We hope that through this article, we’ve given you the tools you need to start utilizing bouldering to support your weight loss goals.
If you want to go out and lose weight, now you know that bouldering is a great physical activity to pick to achieve your goals! Bouldering as a sport is already a fantastic exercise that will really help you kickstart your weight loss journey! From figuring out what workouts to use to planning the food you will eat, losing weight can seem overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
Rock climbing has been growing in popularity all over the country, but why? With its many different styles, rock climbing is an amazing form of exercise that truly has something for everyone. One of the most popular forms of rock climbing is bouldering, or climbing with no ropes and low to the ground.
But what can bouldering be used for? Is bouldering a good form of exercise? Will it help you lose weight? In this article, we’ll discuss why bouldering is a great addition to your exercise routine. From talking about why it’s good for weight loss to discussing the importance of your diet when it comes to bouldering, we’ll cover it all.