{"id":230807,"date":"2024-10-08T16:57:49","date_gmt":"2024-10-08T20:57:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/5.life\/?p=230807"},"modified":"2024-11-20T10:04:34","modified_gmt":"2024-11-20T15:04:34","slug":"is-rock-climbing-considered-cardio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/5.life\/blog\/2024\/10\/08\/is-rock-climbing-considered-cardio\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Rock Climbing Considered Cardio?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you\u2019ve ever climbed or watched somebody climb, you can quickly tell it takes a lot of strength. You likely assume, then, that rock climbing is a strength-training workout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it\u2019s clear that climbing is a full-body workout, have you ever wondered if rock climbing is considered cardio?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What exactly is cardio?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To answer whether rock climbing is considered cardio, one must first look at the definition of cardio:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cardiovascular exercise (cardio): Any vigorous activity that increases heart rate and respiration and raises oxygen and blood flow. According to Sport Science Insider, cardiovascular fitness measures how well your body takes in oxygen and delivers it to your muscles and organs during prolonged periods of exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cardiovascular fitness is essential because it improves overall health, is associated with lower all-cause mortality, and significantly impacts sports performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good cardiovascular fitness benefits everyone, no matter the sport! Regaining oxygen in your lungs and muscles quickly allows you to push your body further and longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How is Rock Climbing Considered Cardio?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When you look at the definition of cardio, you realize that many things count as cardiovascular exercise. Climbing requires significant strength, as one can tell from scaling a rock wall. Still, without any cardiovascular fitness, a climber would tire too quickly. This inclusivity means that rock climbing can be a cardio workout for anyone, regardless of their fitness level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rock climbing requires a lot of energy and muscular endurance, including releasing and regaining oxygen. When you perform a hard workout, you use some anaerobic capacity to use your muscles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you continually perform this hard workout, such as pulling yourself up a wall, you use more oxygen to keep your muscles working. When you run out of oxygen, your grip weakens, and you struggle to stay on the wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Improved cardiovascular fitness could allow you to complete the same workout without being out of breath. Climbing increases your heart rate, so it is considered cardio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you Train Cardio with Rock Climbing?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Yes, you can train cardio with rock climbing. In climbing, your cardiovascular fitness is defined as your endurance. Endurance is your ability to climb longer and keep climbing when tired. The potential for personal growth and improvement in endurance is immense, inspiring beginners to push their limits and keep climbing when they feel tired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Training your endurance will increase the oxygen flow to your muscles and allow you to stay on the wall longer. So, how do you train cardio with rock climbing? One effective method is ARC training, which stands for Aerobic, Respiration, and Capillarity. This type of training focuses on climbing at a steady pace for an extended period, promoting aerobic endurance and improving cardiovascular fitness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ARC: Aerobic, Respiration, Capillarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to ARC<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"man<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To ARC train, pick a climb well below your max. This exercise is best completed on an Autobelay, but you can also perform it on a boulder problem or with a good friend to belay you. Just make sure to perform this exercise when there aren\u2019t many people at the gym because it can take a little while. Start by climbing your chosen route up, downclimb it, then climb back up, and so on. Work up to staying on the wall for thirty minutes! After this set, rest for thirty minutes and repeat it once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Depending on your aerobic capacity, you can lower the amount of time you spend on the wall. The idea of ARCing is to generate a light but manageable forearm pump you can maintain for the entire climb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When ARCing, focus on your technique and how hard you\u2019re gripping. You\u2019ll find better beta for the route as you continually climb it and learn that you only need to hold on enough to hold your body weight. Otherwise known as over gripping, which will tire you out quicker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Try to do some ARC training twice a week. As you gain endurance, increase your time on the wall until you can spend thirty minutes climbing three times, with a thirty-minute rest between sets. Once you\u2019ve done this, start training on a slightly more challenging route!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like many cardio workouts, ARCing can seem boring and monotonous. To keep your mind busy while you climb, throw in a headphone and listen to an audiobook, podcast, or your favorite jams!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Can You Expect from Improved Cardiovascular Fitness?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After a few ARCing sessions, you won\u2019t get as pumped as easily. You\u2019ll be able to hold onto the wall longer with less effort and have more oxygen at the end of your session. Remember, improvement in endurance is a gradual process, so be patient and understanding of your progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you not convinced? Try a single ARCing session and decide whether rock climbing is considered cardio!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve ever climbed or watched somebody climb, you can quickly tell it takes a lot of strength. You likely assume, then, that rock climbing is a strength-training workout. While it\u2019s clear that climbing is a full-body workout, have you ever wondered if rock climbing is considered cardio? What exactly is cardio? To answer whether […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":230811,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-230807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-5-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/5.life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/5.life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/5.life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/5.life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/5.life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230807"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/5.life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":230982,"href":"https:\/\/5.life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230807\/revisions\/230982"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/5.life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/5.life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/5.life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/5.life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}