Growth and Development

As the body matures and you become an adult, you're still changing in many ways that you aren't even aware of. Rock climbing is one of the best exercises that allows for more growth after this period. Climbers around the age of sixteen and younger have the highest risk of serious, long-term damage because their skeletal structure is not yet fully developed. When a climber has been on the wall for a good hour or so, their heart rate will have increased significantly, resulting in lack of oxygen for breaking down pyruvic acid for energy; so the acid is converted to lactic acid.    Diet is another important factor in development and growth of the body. A climber's daily food intake should consist of foods with calcium, phosphate, and vitamin D because bone formations are dependent on these vitamins. Whole grain, fruits and vegetables should be a major part of diet and climbers should also make sure to eat healthy fats like avocados, salmon, vegetable oils and nuts.

Exercise and Flexibility

Being flexible is key in rock climbing. People discover their true abilities and go beyond limits they previously had little faith in. Believe it or not, the hip's flexibility controls how much stress is put on other areas of the body. Flexibility can be obtained with little strength at all. The range of motion is most significant here. Bones and muscle respond to exercise in many different ways. A key component in rock climbing is body weight. A climber's performance will decrease if they have to carry more weight than necessary. Some individuals may wonder how it's possible to keep off the weight while gaining strength at the same time; but training with lower volume will ensure more power, while still maintaining a low mass. It's always important to make a schedule of when certain exercises need to be done to ensure a fit body that will only keep you safer out in the real elements. Bones are extremely helpful in climbing becuase they allow for big stretches and positioning the body in multiple ways.

Neural Control of Movement

Do people really ever think about the work our body does for even the tiniest movements? When doing strenuous activities like climbing, a lot is happening inside the muscle. It happens all the way down into the muscle fiber. At the axon ending, neurons leave the vesicle and travel through the synapse, following the sarcolemma or muscle membrane, and goes down the T tubule, then finally, the calcium ions move into the SR and myosin binds to actin, causing a muscle contraction. This simple process allows for very small, to extreme movements of the human body. When a contraction occurs, thick and thin filaments move closer together, decreasing the length in one sacromere.

Muscle Mechanics

Although bones are essential to rock climbers, they can't get anywhere without muscle. Naming all the muscles used during this activity would take too long to list, but there are some major muscle groups to address. In the forearm, brachioradialis, pronator teres, flexor carpi radialis, palmaris longus and flexor carpi ulnaris are all major muscles used during rock climbing. Muscles used in the upper arms include, biceps, triceps, and deltoids. Some major quadricep muscles used are hamstrings, and biceps femoris. Lastly, calf muscles as well as the soleus muscles are very important because they support and help balance the body. The upper body muscles are for more of pulling up the rest of the body and the lower muscles like the gluteus and abdominal push off the rock below.