Most sports focus on one group of muscles ( for instance). Climbing however requires you to stengthen every single muscle in your body. Your legs, core, back, shoulders, arms, and fingers all must have enough power to hold you on the wall. My coaches often explains our muscle use as a line from our fingertips to our toes. The constant body tension, that line, is what keeps us balanced and moving upwards. You're only as strong as your weakest link though, and having one weak muscle group will affect your climbing skills. Because of this nesesity for overall strength, there isn't really a seat body type for a climber. But what makes the best climber?
In my home gym and in competitions across the entire country, I mainly see the 4 most common climber body types:
+ The Weightlifter: Usually fairly tall, but you mostly notice how buff they are.
+ The Basketball Player: This type of climber seems to be able to stretch to any move out their. The only thing longer than their height is thier wingspan
+ Small but Mighty: Although these climbers are only as tall as your shoulders, they use their skinny bodies and lean muscles to make themselves some of the strongest climbers out there.
+ Stuck In The Middle: Not short, but not really tall either, with big muscles and still a skinny body, this type of climber has skills all across the board.
The "weightlifter" never seems to run out of strength, and is always alble to power through the hard moves. Their weakness is usually technical moves or footwork- anything that they can't just pull past.
Being as tall as a baby giraffe, "the basketball players" strength is obviously big moves. Unfortunatley, they usually are also uncoridinated on the wall. It's harder for them to control their legs because their core has more weight to lift and control.
Although it is widely known as the hardest body type for climber, being short isn't always bad. Having a small body means your fingers are also tiny, and can fit in crimps and pockets that are a nightmare for anyone bigger.
The "stuck in the middle" body type is usuallly a medium height, maybe a little on the short side, but it isn't unusually short like the previous type. They may have well-built shoulders and toned legs but they are still somehow slim and small.
So which type of climber is the best? Many male famous climbers fit in with the weightlifter catagory, but most of the women are stuck in the middle. Every type has its weakness and strengths, and each route can either fit to the person or not. As anticlamactic as this is, the true skill and strength of the climber depends on the individual person. A weightlifter body type can choose to work on footwork and technical moves, and a smaller climbers can train dynamic movement. The weakest climber is the one that only trains their strength. An ideal climber works on every type of move and every muscle group.
