Sick of the weight room? Use climbing to build muscle this winter.

by Will Cockrell

Indoor climbing is booming, as more dedicated facilities pop up across the country and regular gyms add walls to their clubs. “Climbing is basically circuit training without the boring circuit,” says Eric Hörst, author of Learning to Climb Indoors. “You work pretty much every muscle group almost simultaneously.” Not only does climbing engage small muscles that other workouts ignore, but it also adds a mental challenge. Climbing once or twice weekly can take the place of strength training and even give you a good anaerobic burn if you learn some basic skills and adopt the right work-to-rest ratio. Check out indoorclimbing.com to find a wall near you and then follow these simple steps to get started.

Choose bouldering or top-roping — or both
Top-roping is what most people think of when they picture climbing: routes that ascend above the height of a safe fall and require a harness and someone to belay you up the wall. Top-roping will give you a longer burn — up to five minutes, depending on the height of the route — and the thrill of topping out at 30, 40, or even 70 feet above ground, but you’ll need a partner. Bouldering, on the other hand, is low-level climbing, often done on overhanging walls that top out around 10 feet aboveground, but the routes are usually more athletic and challenging, and you can boulder by yourself without a harness or rope.

Go twice a week
Climbing once a week will build core, back, and upper- and lower-body strength as well as any gym workout can. But climbing twice a week will develop the forearm and finger strength necessary to improve your skill and technique and make you a better climber.

Focus on form
Contrary to popular belief, climbing is 60 percent footwork. Propel yourself upward by pushing off with your legs, not by pulling with your arms. Keep your center of gravity over your feet on the holds by sucking your midsection into the wall, which will also help you extend your reach to the next hold. Allow your bones to take the weight instead of your muscles by hanging from the holds with straight arms whenever possible.

Climb a lot, but keep it easy
“Whether you’re bouldering or top-roping, think volume over difficulty for your first few workouts,” says Hörst. “It’s better to do 20 laps on easy routes than 10 difficult ones. The more time you spend on the wall, the more skill you develop.” To get an anaerobic burn, rest for only as long as you spent climbing.

Target project routes
After you develop some skill and strength, begin to do routes that challenge your ability. Although these climbs may take two or three sessions to master, return to them each time you hit the gym as a way to measure your progress. Bookend these project routes with volume climbing to maintain your strength and endurance. “Start with a warm-up of 15 to 20 minutes of light climbing,” says Hörst. “Then jump on a few project routes that you’ll probably fall off a bunch of times. Then go back to volume, focusing on footwork and efficient movement.”