by Beth Oliver

Created on: March 13, 2010

Rock climbers need to be limber first off. They need to ensure they are flexible and that their muscles are loose. Stretching is a very important to prepare your body for rock climbing. You want to keep your muscles loose to avoid an injury or pulling a muscle. Muscle endurance is a large part of rock climbing. You can be the strongest man in the world but if your body is not able to last, you are not going to climb very high.

Rock climbing uses a combination of upper body strength and core strength. You will need leg strength but that should not be the main focus of your preparations. Climbers need their forearms and shoulders to be able to pull their entire body weight up with them.  You need your forearms the most. Once your forearms are tired and quit on you, you are not going to be climbing much further. You can do forearm curls with a light weight to start. Work your way up to a higher weight and more reps to gain endurance in your forearms. You can also use a forearm exerciser. They are usually rings that you just squeeze in your hand. The ring shape allows you to target your forearms.

You also need great strength in your hands. You can get one of those squishy stress relief balls to work on your hand strength. You can also get a hand exercisers that uses tension to tire out your muscles. Repetitively doing either of these will increase your hand strength and stamina. This is one more reason I can never be a climber. My hands get tired just from typing for too long, imagine trying to lift my body weight up a mountain or rock wall. No thanks.

Pull-ups and chin-ups are the best way to get your shoulders in shape. You can start off slowly and work your way up to higher reps. Even simple exercises with dumbbells will get your arms in shape. In order to work your core, you will want to do basic crunches, side crunches, standing twists and criss-cross crunches. I still find the best way to get a great core is to work out using an exercise ball.

In order to up your endurance and stamina, you will want to get your heart pumping. Walk on the treadmill, hike, do aerobic work-outs. Anything that will get your heart racing and you are able to push yourself a little harder and a little longer each time. You need to be in decent cardiovascular health in order to climb for a prolonged period of time. You can be in the best shape, have the strongest core and arms but if you are not able to endure, you are not going to make the most of your climbing.

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