Wall climbing is a sport that will not only strengthen and shape your body, but also provide you with unforgettable experiences and emotions! Climbing the climbing wall, contrary to popular belief, is completely safe and not life threatening. Wall climbing has many advantages and can become a great training option instead of a gym. What type of climbing is right for you?

Contents:

  1. Wall climbing - the basics
  2. Wall climbing - what do you need?
  3. Wall climbing - clothing, shoes, equipment
  4. Climbing - types of walls
  5. Wall climbing - belaying, self-insurance
  6. Wall climbing - benefits and calories

Wall climbingwill be completely safe if we undergo proper training in climbing courses and simply systematically and slowly increase the difficulty of our climbing, not allowing ourselves to be brave.

Are you wondering what kind of climbing is right for you or what equipment you need to equip and do you need it at all? Are you looking for new training stimuli and want to break away from your sports routine? Wall climbing will be a perfect idea.

It is a sport that will provide us with a lot of adrenaline and fun. There is something mystical and metaphorical about climbing - each obstacle we overcome and each meter we travel upwards, gives us confidence, allows us to fight our weaknesses and look at ourselves more favorably. After all, we were just overcoming the first obstacle and we were afraid to move on, and now we are going to the top!

Climbing is a sport suitable for everyone if there are no serious he alth contraindications - it can be practiced by both adults and children. Learn more about climbing equipment, learn its basics and see for yourself if it is a sport that's right for you!

Wall climbing - the basics

If you would like to try your hand at climbing, at the beginning it is worth finding out what an artificial climbing wall is. An artificial wall is a facility specially adapted to climbing requirements. Most often it is a water tower, elevator shaft, or simply a wall of a building or specially built for these purposesobject.

What does a climbing wall look like? Most often it is a structure consisting of a scaffolding supported against a wall or a roof. Plywood boards are attached to it, on which a grid of holes from the so-called wheel nuts. Such "dotted" points form sockets in which screws with hexagonal heads are screwed to fix the handles. The climbing panels can also be made of other plastics that allow the wall to take various shapes. It usually takes place at boulder walls.

Climbing is often viewed as an extreme sport. This is a wrong assumption and repeats itself especially when we do not know exactly how wall climbing works. While climbing, we are secured with safety ropes or additionally with mattresses, which takes place on low walls, so the risk of injury is negligible.

Moreover, climbing is a sport that is universal in terms of physical preparation and is intended for everyone! It is often said that climbing requires very strong hands, but in fact the legs are responsible for most of the generated strength. The strength of your hands will be needed on more difficult routes, with eaves on the way of hanging people. Then not only a strong grip will be useful, but also a strong back and shoulders.

If you don't have strong legs and strong arms now, nothing is lost - climbing regularly will make you strong like never before! Climbing evenly shapes the muscles of the whole body, so it will be a perfect complement to the sport already practiced or simply - a perfect beginning of an adventure with physical activity.

Wall climbing - what do you need?

To use the climbing wall, we do not need any private equipment, because all the most important things needed for climbing can be rented from the rental shop. When it comes to the costs of renting the equipment, the harness and a belay device together with a carabiner are about 1-5 zlotys. On the other hand, entry to the wall is usually 15-30 zlotys.

It must be remembered that some of the walls are made available only to people who have completed the climbing course. The cost of such a course is about PLN 300. In order to learn to climb, we also need an instructor's help, which is essential to do it safely.

Basic training with an instructor is a one-off cost and usually amounts to PLN 30. During the training, the instructor will teach you how to tie knots and will show you "fishing with a fishing rod". The training will not take more than an hour.

Wall climbing - clothing, shoes, equipment

As for the outfit forclimbing, it should be as loose as possible and not restrict your movements. Climbing shoes, on the other hand, must be tight and fit snugly around the foot. It is worth wearing shoes that are a size too small.

Once you find out that climbing is a sport that you would like to practice more often, it is worth investing in your own private climbing equipment. Climbing equipment is not very expensive and anyone willing will be able to afford this type of purchase.

The climbing harness costs from 150 to 400 PLN, but both cheaper harnesses will fulfill the same task as more expensive ones, so we do not have to overpay. The only thing you need to pay attention to are the equipment certificates. Harness should be CE, EN or UIAA certified.

Before we decide to buy it, we have to choose the right size to the width of our hips. It is worth buying equipment with a buckle mechanism, as this will help us save some time on fastening the harness.

Another climbing equipment that you need to equip yourself with is a carabiner and belaying equipment. The belay equipment includes a mug, a cup with an additional handle, a plate, a self-locking device and a figure eight.

There is no need to buy all these devices, and the choice of a specific model of equipment depends on individual preferences. The costs here range from 50 to 250 zlotys, where the mug is the cheapest equipment and the self-locking device is the most expensive. The most popular equipment chosen by climbers is the variety of cups.

A climbing carabiner that works together with a belay device costs from 40 to 100 PLN. The carabiner must bear the HMS marking. The carabiner is pear-shaped and locked with a lock.

The last piece of equipment worth buying is shoes, but it's not necessary. Climbing shoes have a specially designed sole, which increases our grip and prevents slipping.

If we have a problem with sweating hands, which happens especially at the beginning of the adventure with climbing, when we are more stressed, it is worth getting magnesia - loose powder. It allows you to absorb moisture from your hands and increases friction for better grip.

Climbing - types of walls

Climbing takes place on two types of walls: boulder and rope.

Boulder wall

The first of them are low, several meters (up to 5 meters) walls secured with mattresses that protect us in the event of falls. Of course, during such a climb, we are also helped by the belaying of a trainer or partner, but it is only needed the first time or when we are not able to climb efficiently yet. On the so-calledWe climb "boulders" without the use of a safety rope, but with such a low wall, the risk of injury is minimal, and thick mattresses fulfill their protective task well.

To try boulder climbing, we do not need anything other than sports clothes and comfortable shoes. Interestingly, you create boulder routes yourself! That is why this type of wall is called "boulder problems". What is it about? By climbing the wall, you create your own climbing path or use those already laid in front of you.

Specific boulder problems are marked with ribbons of the same color or are arranged in one-color holds. Each boulder problem, i.e. a given path, has its own difficulty level, which the instructor informs us about before starting the climb.

"To make a boulder" in climbing slang means to start with the grips and starting steps and reach the top, that is the last grip crowning our route. The smaller and rounder the holds, and the greater the distance between them, the harder it is to walk the path.

Boulder climbing is a great idea for those who do not want to climb high, but want to try their hand at the wall. Whoever thinks it's easier than rope climbing is wrong!

Boulder walls are really demanding - they are composed of walls of various shapes, bends and passages, and sometimes even force you to walk upside down on them, climbing the ceiling. Fortunately, the mattresses that secure the wall cushion a possible fall, so we don't have to worry about our safety while climbing a boulder.

Rope wall

The second type of climbing is a rope, that is, colloquially called "fishing with a fishing rod". Climbing with a rope is carried out with belaying, during which the rope is led by the belayer to the position at the top of the wall and returns to the climber's harness.

The belayer should gradually slacken the rope according to the pace of the climber. When we break away from the wall, we should hang at the break-off point or slightly lower. Of course, you shouldn't belay without training!

Mastering the basics of belaying is quite easy and will not take more than an hour - so it is worth spending some time on it and be able to support other climbers without fear. Most climbing walls do not require your own equipment - rentals are available.

The climbing walls can also be divided into those located inside and those placed outside. There are many more climbing walls in buildings in Poland, because it is much more universalsolution than building a wall outside. Then unexpected weather conditions can spoil our climbing or make it impossible for us to climb.

  • Bouldering, or climbing at low altitudes. How to start training bouldering?

Wall climbing - belaying, self-insurance

Fishing belaying is the simplest and safest climbing belaying. It consists in hanging a rope with very low stretch through a carabiner, which is placed on the top of the climbing wall. The climber is tied to one end of the rope, while the other part of the rope is pulled by the belayer using a specially designed device.

Autoasekuracja is certainly a novelty and a great curiosity in climbing. Such a mechanism is used on the climbing wall murall in Annopol in Warsaw - so far it is the only such place in Poland.

Self-insurance means that a rope is attached to the climber from the top of the wall to the floor, to which the rope is attached with special equipment. The mechanism mounted on the top of the wall pulls the rope, and when it descends, it locks it based on the operation of the car's seat belt mechanism. It is the perfect solution for those who do not have a climbing partner and like an individual climbing experience!

Wall climbing - benefits and calories

Wall climbing is a sport that evenly shapes the figure, develops the strength and endurance of our muscles, and increases flexibility and range of movements in the joints.

When climbing, the muscles of our legs work very hard, pushing us away from the steps and directing us upwards or to the sides. Especially the calf muscles, the quadriceps and the muscles of the posterior thigh group increase their strength.

The buttocks also work very hard when climbing and have both stabilizing and strength functions.

Another part of the body that increases its strength while climbing are the hands - mainly the shoulder girdle, biceps, triceps and hand muscles responsible for a strong grip. Climbing also strengthens the back muscles and abdominal muscles, which have a stabilizing function and give our body strength and make it more durable.

Wall climbing is a sport that not only develops our muscles, but also effectively affects the body's efficiency. It's a physical activity that is extremely exhausting and you don't need to climb for a long time to feel the fatigue of the whole body.

You can burn up to 500 calories during 30 minutes of climbing! Regular practiceclimbing sculpts our figure, speeds up metabolism and increases the oxygen capacity of the body, so practically the whole body benefits from practicing this activity.

Read also: Trekking, or walking in the mountains. What are its advantages and how to start?

About the authorMałgorzata Kośla She is a qualified fitness instructor and certified personal trainer. Since childhood, her greatest passion was sport - she played football and basketball. Then a new love came - dance, especially dancehall. He likes to sweat at the gym and relaxes in yoga and meditation sessions. He is constantly expanding his knowledge about training and a he althy lifestyle. What besides sports? He runs a store with natural cosmetics and he althy food, writes his own blog (stylzyciadowolny.pl) and deals with copywriting.

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