I have been climbing for 10 months, and I never worked out before starting my rock climbing regime. I have little upper body strength and I throw like a girl, because I have no strength in my arms. In rock climbing, it’s very important that you use your legs, because they are much more powerful than your arms. In the beginning stages, you will rely on your arms more, because it’s just your natural instinct to pull yourself up, instead of stepping up. As you climb more, your upper body strengh will improve. If you take a climbing class (about 2hrs) in the beginning instead of going climbing for a day just for fun, all this and other tips will be explained to you. All in all, you don’t need to have out of the ordinary upper body strength, but body type is very important. The best climbers are generally slender, or petite. The more weight you carry, the tougher it is to go up, logically because you have more weight to carry with you. Good Luck, hope this helps!

upper body strength is important, but i started at the rock wall at my school’s gym. Upper body strength was the only reason why i was scared to do it.

I started out on the easy courses to work up my endurance and strength, over time with some encouragement and self-determination, you gradually, i mean gradually, work your way up. There is no doubt you will sore, time and time again, but its worth it nd the self-fulillment in rock climbing is addicting.

Try it out, its best to start at your friends gym, if you start anywhere, start there.

It’s an amazing sport, you’ll love it!

Women are actually better than men at rock climbing, even though they do not have the upper body strength per weight that men have. This is because they have to think and plan better, so eventually they are more skilled. A strong person just bullies his way up the wall without really learning technique.The gym will have easy routes to start on, and with an insructor you can learn to use your legs more. Also, if you have a good belayer and learn to trust that, you can really do a lot better. Try falling on purpose a few times just so you aren’t afraid of it. It’s a lot of fun and a TOTAL body workout. Good luck

its pretty important but if you have lower body strength it helps to just lean into the wall a bit and start out on easy flat walls.
even if you dont have enough strength its really fun and you can build some while your at it

Upper body strength is very important. It is also helpful to have less body weight, because you have to lift your body weight on your own. Lower body graviity and great balance are also helpful. I am not a climbing expert by any means, i just quite a few climbers back in the day when I lived in Yosemite and got tips from them.

important

The websites below would show that yes, there are plenty:

Hope this helps - happy climbing!

It isn’t a really good aerobic activity by itself, but many rock climbers including myself also hike to get to outdoor climbing areas which can be very good exercise when carrying a lot of weight and hiking up steep trails.

You can also do things in the gym - like doing laps on an easy route (maybe climb it 3 times in a row) or climb up and then down climb. Since climbing is more of a strength activity, maybe climb and do the stepper in the gym for both kinds of activity.

Good Luck

You need to work on your cardio before hand so that you can breath easier while you’re climbing. That’s my experience. Running, hiking, hill climbing, stairs are great for training too. If you don’t have want a gym I’d get a chin up bar for your house like I did (from Walmart).

Try some aerobic too or something similar. It helps with flexibility and movement.

You’ll have to find some balance exercises too (very important).

Climbing helps with resistance, muscle building, endurance, etc.

nope, yours shoes can shrink, but the stealth rubber on the bottom will not; therefore, if you want to save some bucks and get your climbing shoes resoled (when the wear out) you will not be able to. i would purchase another pair, or start carrying tevas, chacos or whatever with you.

check out sierratradingpost.com for some good deals on shoes for your backup pair