5 ms·

Sure but anyone who’s heavy would struggle climbing. Even truly athletic and flexible heavy athletes like football or basketball players.

Fricken 4y ago
Some of these guys can do pullups all day, but they only train within a strict range of motion and they aren't necessarily any good at doing anything outside of that range. When I started climbing I could do 3 pullups, and now I can do 18 in a set. I don't train pull-ups, just climbing.
- tuatoru 4y ago
  For good climbing, I'd have thought you need to be able to do muscle-ups (pullups that end with you balanced over the bar, pushing down to support yourself).
  - pcthrowaway 4y ago
    That's probably a level beyond where the majority of people who frequent the climbing gym get to. Even pro climbers might not be able to do any muscle ups. Here's Alex Honnold talking about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDUeh8nyLT0&t=490s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDUeh8nyLT0&t=490s He demonstrates he can only do 5 pullups (though it's possible he was being modest).
    - tuatoru 4y ago
      Thanks - my preconceptions about climbing are corrected! (A little.)
  - Fricken 4y ago
    For some styles of climbing powerful muscle-up type dynamic movements are an effective way of solving a problem, especially in competetive indoor bouldering. Climbing is adaptive, and usually there is more than one way to solve a problem, and one is encouraged to use their body any way they can to get through a section. Climbers learn to be resourceful with the assets they have. Many elite climbers have distinctive trademark styles and are instantly tecognizeable just by how they move. However, points are not awarded for style. Jan Hoyer is an outlier who posesses both a freakish abundance of power and span. He trained the muscle up to outrageous extremes. Jan is the only climber to ever throw a 1-9 on the campus board. He performs many outrageous stupid climber tricks throughout this 8 minute video; https://youtu.be/Ho_rzpQGrq8 https://youtu.be/Ho_rzpQGrq8
  - SamoyedFurFluff 4y ago
    Climbing is less about upper body muscle and more about body positioning and squats, actually. Your legs have more muscles than your arms, and being super buff limits necessary flexibility to perform maneuvers like swinging your foot up on a perch and pulling up with your leg, often more effective than the same maneuver with an arm.
    - steve_gh 4y ago
      Climbing is also about core strength. I started bouldering much more regularly about a year ago, and was amazed by how much my trail running improved without any special effort.
    - bradlys 4y ago
      At a beginner level, maybe. As you get past beginner levels, you need strength… especially upper body strength. Rock climbing is especially upper body strength intensive. It’s why the guys have ripped upper bodies and tiny legs.
pcthrowaway 4y ago
There are professional climbers who are 'heavy'. Finger strength, overall strength, flexibility, coordination, balance, and technique all play a massive role as well. I don't know why the bodybuilders I've climbed with seem to be worse than overweight/obese people I've seen climbing for their first time, but I've had this observation as well.
- tuatoru 4y ago
  Because body-building is an art form, not a form of exercise. I have worked in physical jobs that require overhead lifting (for example) and, regularly, scrawny-looking guys have to help out their body-building cow-orkers, who just haven't developed the ancillary muscles that provide control and balance, because that loses "definition" (or whatever the term is).
- missingrib 4y ago
  >There are professional climbers who are 'heavy'. Who? The heaviest I can honestly think of would be Chris Scharma, Magnus Midtbo, Jimmy Webb and maybe Jan Hojer, but all of them would be considered pretty skinny by normal standards. Scharma and Webb are probably around 6' 160-170 lbs, Jan is around 175 I think but he's 6'3", and Magnus is 5'8" and 158 lbs or so but has incredibly strong fingers. Climbing is a strength to weight sport, so being heavier will almost always be worse than being lighter no matter what. It's why you don't see as many tall professional climbers as you would expect.
  - pcthrowaway 4y ago
    I put heavy in quotes, perhaps I should have put professional in quotes too. Here is a larger climber who is sponsored by a lot of climbing companies: https://www.instagram.com/drewclimbswalls/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/drewclimbswalls/?hl=en I'm not sure the extent to which he might be considered a professional, but having multiple sponsorships suggests it's semi-professional for him. He's not pushing the limits of the sport, but he's promoting a more inclusive attitude. Climbing for a lot of people is about having fun, and very few people will send the hardest climbs, but you can be professional without being elite.
HackeNewsFan234 4y ago
The main "trick" to climbing is to use good technique and not muscle your way through. Even fat people can climb. The fat old climber is some inspiration. https://explorersweb.com/fat-old-climber-gordon-robb/ https://explorersweb.com/fat-old-climber-gordon-robb/ There is a pot-belly 35 year old at my bouldering gym that is better at overhangs than most of the people there, including myself.

Fricken 4y ago

Some of these guys can do pullups all day, but they only train within a strict range of motion and they aren't necessarily any good at doing anything outside of that range. When I started climbing I could do 3 pullups, and now I can do 18 in a set. I don't train pull-ups, just climbing.

tuatoru 4y ago
For good climbing, I'd have thought you need to be able to do muscle-ups (pullups that end with you balanced over the bar, pushing down to support yourself).
- pcthrowaway 4y ago
  That's probably a level beyond where the majority of people who frequent the climbing gym get to. Even pro climbers might not be able to do any muscle ups. Here's Alex Honnold talking about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDUeh8nyLT0&t=490s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDUeh8nyLT0&t=490s He demonstrates he can only do 5 pullups (though it's possible he was being modest).
  - tuatoru 4y ago
    Thanks - my preconceptions about climbing are corrected! (A little.)
- Fricken 4y ago
  For some styles of climbing powerful muscle-up type dynamic movements are an effective way of solving a problem, especially in competetive indoor bouldering. Climbing is adaptive, and usually there is more than one way to solve a problem, and one is encouraged to use their body any way they can to get through a section. Climbers learn to be resourceful with the assets they have. Many elite climbers have distinctive trademark styles and are instantly tecognizeable just by how they move. However, points are not awarded for style. Jan Hoyer is an outlier who posesses both a freakish abundance of power and span. He trained the muscle up to outrageous extremes. Jan is the only climber to ever throw a 1-9 on the campus board. He performs many outrageous stupid climber tricks throughout this 8 minute video; https://youtu.be/Ho_rzpQGrq8 https://youtu.be/Ho_rzpQGrq8
- SamoyedFurFluff 4y ago
  Climbing is less about upper body muscle and more about body positioning and squats, actually. Your legs have more muscles than your arms, and being super buff limits necessary flexibility to perform maneuvers like swinging your foot up on a perch and pulling up with your leg, often more effective than the same maneuver with an arm.
  - steve_gh 4y ago
    Climbing is also about core strength. I started bouldering much more regularly about a year ago, and was amazed by how much my trail running improved without any special effort.
  - bradlys 4y ago
    At a beginner level, maybe. As you get past beginner levels, you need strength… especially upper body strength. Rock climbing is especially upper body strength intensive. It’s why the guys have ripped upper bodies and tiny legs.

pcthrowaway 4y ago

There are professional climbers who are 'heavy'. Finger strength, overall strength, flexibility, coordination, balance, and technique all play a massive role as well. I don't know why the bodybuilders I've climbed with seem to be worse than overweight/obese people I've seen climbing for their first time, but I've had this observation as well.

tuatoru 4y ago
Because body-building is an art form, not a form of exercise. I have worked in physical jobs that require overhead lifting (for example) and, regularly, scrawny-looking guys have to help out their body-building cow-orkers, who just haven't developed the ancillary muscles that provide control and balance, because that loses "definition" (or whatever the term is).
missingrib 4y ago
>There are professional climbers who are 'heavy'. Who? The heaviest I can honestly think of would be Chris Scharma, Magnus Midtbo, Jimmy Webb and maybe Jan Hojer, but all of them would be considered pretty skinny by normal standards. Scharma and Webb are probably around 6' 160-170 lbs, Jan is around 175 I think but he's 6'3", and Magnus is 5'8" and 158 lbs or so but has incredibly strong fingers. Climbing is a strength to weight sport, so being heavier will almost always be worse than being lighter no matter what. It's why you don't see as many tall professional climbers as you would expect.
- pcthrowaway 4y ago
  I put heavy in quotes, perhaps I should have put professional in quotes too. Here is a larger climber who is sponsored by a lot of climbing companies: https://www.instagram.com/drewclimbswalls/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/drewclimbswalls/?hl=en I'm not sure the extent to which he might be considered a professional, but having multiple sponsorships suggests it's semi-professional for him. He's not pushing the limits of the sport, but he's promoting a more inclusive attitude. Climbing for a lot of people is about having fun, and very few people will send the hardest climbs, but you can be professional without being elite.

HackeNewsFan234 4y ago

The main "trick" to climbing is to use good technique and not muscle your way through. Even fat people can climb. The fat old climber is some inspiration. https://explorersweb.com/fat-old-climber-gordon-robb/ https://explorersweb.com/fat-old-climber-gordon-robb/ There is a pot-belly 35 year old at my bouldering gym that is better at overhangs than most of the people there, including myself.