Warming Up

Just like any other sport, it’s good to warm the muscles up before participating in the activity. The same goes for climbing. Climbing itself can be used as a warm-up but from what I have found, I feel better if I did something else first before climbing. Rather than going in cold.

Now Warrior One Position

I like to use yoga beforehand because I think it uses most of the muscles that one stimulates during climbing. Another thing yoga is good for is balance. That’s a key factor in climbing too. I’ve been working on my balance through yoga because it’s not very good and I need to improve it for climbing. I use a Jillian Michaels yoga DVD to do my yoga with. But there many videos and DVDs out there one can watch to get started in yoga if you are interested.

Stretch It Out

Stretches are good for any intense physical activity. The stretches I do focus on the shoulders, arms, hips, and ankles. These are important parts to limber up because they are used so much in climbing. When stretching, you might want to start off slow so you don’t overwork an area before engaging in what you’ll be doing.

1.. 2.. 3.. One More

Recently I have convinced myself that doing pull-ups might be a good exercise to do before climbing because it works the shoulders and arms. Granted, I haven’t done these since I was in high school PE. My goal is if I can do 5 of them, that’s a good start. I do them at Climb UP where they have a small training area for climbing. There are a pair of suspended training holds I use for pull-ups. A couple of days ago, I could do 5. Yay! Now, let’s see if I can work up to 10.

If you do decide to get into climbing, find warm-up routines that match and work for you. But don't overdo them. What warm-ups do you like to do? Let me know on the Bouldering Problems Facebook page. I would love to hear what you have to say.