Mountain Project Logo

Look for advice

Original Post
Ujhbn · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Sep 2014 · Points: 0

I started climbing indoor at my local gym about 6 months ago. A little on my background, I have never really done any sports. Climbing is my first sport at the age of 29. I'm 6 feet 130 pounds at the moment. I have lost around 9-10 pounds over last 6 months from 140 to 130 pounds and lost 1.5-2 inch in my waist.

I climb around 3 days per week. I really enjoy climbing a lot but I keep getting minor injury which does bother me from time to time (all recovered).

I'm thinking of putting on some weight (maybe 20 more pounds to 150) which is likely to make me weaker at climbing. Should I start lifting weight? Or I should just keep climbing, core exercise, frenchies, pull up, push up and eat more? Or I shouldn't bother with my weight at all?

'm not sure if this is a good idea. I just hope that put more weight (muscle) will help me to reduce injury over time?

Thank you.

Anonymous · · Unknown Hometown · Joined unknown · Points: 0

When you start climbing you generally get alot of finger injuries because your fingers are used to this sort of thing. Weight lifting I would say is a bad thing for rock climbing. You will probably always have times when your fingers get hurt but less and less as you climb more.

You want more endurance over power. I guess if you want to life weights I would say work on very high reps with low weight. All you need is enough endurance to keep your own body weight up. If you have power to lift more than your own body weight the power and weight of the muscle is pretty much wasted.

Climb with your feet you hold onto the wall with your hands (stop trying to climb with your arms!)

Remember you can't stop climbing until you are bleeding, because if you aren't bleeding you aren't trying hard enough!

Raul P · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2013 · Points: 35

It would depend on your goals, but I think for a 6 footer, gaining weight to 150 would be VERY helpful for you.

I did some of the training from mountainathlete.com and found it pretty good, I stopped after I had a basic idea of his system: functional strength training and durability.

I'm not a fitness expert, and I'm sure you'll get a lot of opinions on this, but a 150lbs should be a minimum weight for you in my opinion. The more you get into climbing, the more frequent you'll find yourself hiking longer distances with 30+lbs on your back.

Your best plan would be to talk to a good personal trainer and nutritionist, and I have a feeling they'd give you a weight gaining and strength building diet/workout routine.

Good luck!

FrankPS · · Atascadero, CA · Joined Nov 2009 · Points: 276

People on the Internet can't tell you if you need to gain weight.

The advice above, about asking a trainer or a nutritionist, is good. Add "doctor" into that mix, and you've got a good start.

Jeff Koperek · · Grand Junction, CO · Joined Aug 2013 · Points: 20

When climbing it is pretty important to do counter-balance exercises such as lifting, push-ups etc. if you think about it, climbing tends to develop only a certain set of "pull" muscles. Without developing the other side of these muscles (ie "push") then you tend to overdevelop certain parts of your muscles, making you more prone to injury. Stretching is absolutely important both before and after to relieve any tension in your hands/ elbows/ shoulders.

Do you really want to gain weight? Or be a stronger climber? It is actually beneficial to be slightly underweight (not in an unhealthy way) as your strength-to-weight ratio will be better. That being said, it isn't a bad idea to lift at least a bit, focusing more on range of motion and endurance rather than just pure strength. As you climb and lift more (while remembering to stretch to maintain solid range of motion!) your body will naturally crave more protein, and you will probably start to gain at least a bit more weight by way of lean muscle. At 6' 130, you sound like you have a high metabolism (duh) and as such make sure you're eating enough to recover from whatever exercises you do.

With all that being said, strength is way overrated I believe. If you want to be a better climber...climb more. Everything else is more to keep yourself from getting injured. In my (albeit somewhat limited) experience climbing, overall strength is not near as important as good technique.

Guy Keesee · · Moorpark, CA · Joined Mar 2008 · Points: 349

All good stuff posted..... I would die to be 6.0 130 .... I am 6.2 and 195, I need to drop 20 at least, to get to real fighting weight.

One thing almost all climbers never do is this: warm up before climbing.

If your going to a gym, go for a brisk walk or do 10 min of jumping jacks... if you climb outside most places require some sort of a hike, that will handle the warm up.

Nothing like good blood, O2 flow, to help your body, hands and fingers.

have fun

Ujhbn · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Sep 2014 · Points: 0

Thank you for all replies.

I will find trainer/nutritionist for advice. For now, I will do push up/shoulder press/dip/core exercises and eat more, hopefully will put on some weights. Perform stretch/warm up to help reduce injury. I'll work on my technique as well.

Thanks

Benjamin Chapman · · Small Town, USA · Joined Jan 2007 · Points: 18,818

Ujhbn......Guy brings up some valid points, specifically the stretching. By stretching we're talking about dynamic stretching, not static or ballistic. While consulting a trainer or nutritionist is a good idea, just putting on weight isn't going to improve your climbing. Chris Sharman was once 135#, but is now 195# of firm lean muscle. He didn't just put on 60# to get stronger. Yeah, consult a trainer about putting on some lean muscle NOT weight. Also, check out doctorvagy.com. Jared Vagy is a PH.d in Physical Therapy and has some great information on injury prevention on his website and loads of material on training correctly. He's also a strength and conditioning specialist.
Guy....good luck on getting to your desired "fighting weight." Hope you get there.

Dallas R · · Traveling the USA · Joined May 2013 · Points: 191

You can expect a little granite rash from time to time.

Regardless of what you decide about weight and weight training, try balancing your routine with a little yoga. Takes a bit to get the hang of it, but pays dividends in strength, balance and flexibility.

Jeremy Stoshick · · Troy, MT · Joined Feb 2010 · Points: 40

I really enjoyed and have found a lot of value in the training for climbing book by House. stevehouse.net/author.html

I climb well at 155-160 lbs - 5'10'' but prefer the look of myself at 180 lbs - and not to mention it seems to be the weight by body settles at. That said, the book talks about learning to use what you have at maximum capacity and not having a lot in reserve to carry with you the other majority of the time. My take is - lighter is righter for climbing.

teece303 · · Highlands Ranch, CO · Joined Dec 2012 · Points: 596

This is an anecdote, and thus it probably means nothing, but here goes:

When I first started climbing I was skinny as hell, and it helped my climbing. But I got overuse injuries all the time and I was constantly very sore.

These days I am heavier (by 20-30 pounds). Not overweight, but not skinny like a lot of climbers. I notice the difference in my gas tank when it comes to fingery moves or steep stuff, but in general it's totally worth it for me because I just feel better now when I'm climbing. I don't get overuse injuries and I don't feel constantly over sore.

YMMV. But if you are losing weight when you are already *very* thin, I'd say you're under-nourished, and it's a problem. No matter how it affects your climbing.

Given your body's tiny to non-existent fat reserves, I hope you are eating extremely well.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Beginning Climbers
Post a Reply to "Look for advice"

Log In to Reply

Join the Community

Create your FREE account today!
Already have an account? Login to close this notice.

Get Started.