Why Every Climber Needs Yoga in Their Training Plan Part Four: Builds Functional Core Strength
When I say “core” related to yoga, climbing, or exercise in general, most people think “abs,” but the core is more than just your abdominal muscles. Core includes your pelvic floor, obliques, lower back, and the stabilizing muscles around your spine. In climbing, core is fundamental. Think about climbing with an overhang; our core muscles are very engaged. Our core muscles help with precise footwork, better balance, keeping our hips close to the wall, and preventing us from barndooring. In general, core muscles help prevent lower back pain, improve posture, and help reduce the risk of injury in our knees, hips, and shoulders.
You know what’s next… yoga helps build functional core muscles!
There are many poses that help build functional core strength. Holding plank pose makes your core muscles stay engaged, which will improve your endurance when it comes to core strength. Balancing poses like tree or airplane pose also fire the muscles around your spine, keeping them engaged and building strength. Poses such as boat pose target deep abdominals, while cat-cow increases spinal flexibility and abdominal engagement.
Being in control of these muscles while climbing looks like cutting feet while in control. Go watch some professional climbers. Janja Garnbret will cut feet, let the momentum run through her leg into her toes, and then put her foot back on the wall. She is able to do all this using her very built-up functional core muscles and because she lets her body do the work. Go to an overhanging boulder problem or route, try to keep your feet on the wall and hips into the wall, and see how you do. You can also try to see what it feels like to cut your feet while being in control. Board climbing is a good way to do this. Kilter board, Moon board, Tension board. Those boards allow you to practice a lot of different moves often times by only having one foot on the wall.
While functional core strength is important in climbing, you can build this strength in yoga. Core strength will help you every day in your life, with simple tasks like lifting, bending, and walking. Think carrying the groceries, taking out the trash, or doing laundry— everyday tasks. Better posture and reduced risk of injury are also effects of building your strength around the core.
As you work towards building better core, check out a yoga class, lift some weights, go climbing, try a new activity, and discover new muscles that you don’t use regularly.
As always, feel free to reach out with any questions or comments. If you would like private yoga sessions, reach out to me here.
Happy climbing and yoga adventures!
