Climbing or bouldering is a sport for everyone who wants to improve their fitness and condition. Climbing can be enjoyed by children and adults alike, for whom it is a form of sport as well as fun. One of the most important issues when it comes to climbing is the minimum and average height. Am I too short to climb, and how important is the height?
So, am I too short to climb, and what are the minimum and average heights? According to climbing research and practice, men’s height is around 175 cm and women’s height is 160 cm. Although there are very many exceptions in the climbing world.
Is height the most important thing in climbing?
Bouldering as well as other types of climbing is a sport that requires a lot of strength and good motor coordination. Does it seem that taller people have it easier at the very beginning, but are you sure? When climbing, it’s not only your height that’s important, but the more important issues include:
- A good and strong grip, which can be trained with the right exercises.
- Good body balance is key to staying on the wall while climbing.
- Fitness to climb even longer routes, be it bouldering or rope climbing.
- The ability to jump is very useful at higher levels of difficulty, where not every hold will always be within reach.
- Knowledge of the right techniques. Thanks to these techniques, even a climber of a shorter height can overcome a more difficult route or beat a taller climber.
- Regularity in training or playing other sports can also help climb.
These few things can effectively minimize the gap between a shorter and a taller climber. When climbing, one route can be climbed in several ways, a higher climber can do it differently from a lower climber. Height alone does not exclude us from the sport and is not decisive. Therefore, whether I am too short to climb is not conclusive and does not prevent us from practicing the sport.
Is it better to be taller or shorter in climbing?
When it comes to the right height for climbing, there is no clear answer here as to what height would give you an advantage on all routes. Depending on the level, we can find routes suitable for shorter and taller climbers, which require appropriate skills and techniques. Greater height is not only an advantage, as sometimes a taller person has problems with the right position or straightening up.
Whether it’s on a climbing wall or in the field, some routes are quite unusual and tight, where smaller people have the opportunity to better maneuver. I’ve seen this happen many times myself, where a taller person had to work harder on the route than shorter climbers. In this article, you can read about improving body balance, which is very important in climbing.
What are the myths about climbing?
Climbing is, despite appearances, a sport for children as well as adults, and for people who enjoy an interesting and challenging sport. There are a few things that are not entirely true when it comes to climbing itself. It is worth familiarizing yourself with them if you are someone who is just thinking about starting, these are important in climbing:
1) Climbing is not for everyone, meaning not everyone can climb. Nowadays, there are several types of climbing, varying in location, intensity, or the equipment you need. So everyone can try their hand at it, regardless of whether we are very athletic or not. It is while climbing that we acquire skills and fitness
2) Climbing is a very dangerous sport, there are several types of climbing, from indoor climbing, at not very high altitudes, to rock climbing or mountain climbing. Even if you have a fear of heights, you can try bouldering, i.e. climbing without a belay, on about 5 m walls, where there are special mattresses on the ground. As far as rope climbing is concerned, belaying equipment is always certified and appropriate training is available.
3) Climbing is only possible for people with strong arms, but not only the arms are used for climbing. When using basic climbing techniques, it turns out that we climb mainly using our legs and body balance. Each of these things can be trained through regular and appropriate training
4) Climbing is an expensive sport, of course depending on what kind of climbing you choose you need the right equipment. Of course, the basis is the right shoes and magnesia, and any additional equipment can be rented at the climbing wall at the beginning. As far as shoes are concerned, there is a wide range of prices, so everyone will find something suitable for themselves.
5) While climbing, you don’t have to do other sports. It turns out that combining several sports allows your body to develop comprehensively. Climbing doesn’t exclude other sports, and it’s even advisable to train cardio, strength training, or even yoga, which will only improve our climbing abilities.
If you are a beginner who wants to start your adventure with climbing, you have a wide selection of climbing types. In the beginning, it is important to train regularly and learn proper climbing techniques. All these situations described above show that whether I am too short to climb is often only too exaggerated, and each climber may have different chances.
In Summary – Am I Too Short To Climb? – (Minimum and Average Height)
Climbing is both an extreme sport and fun. Anyone who follows important safety rules and trains regularly can climb and make progress. The minimum and average height are of course important in climbing, but the fact is that using certain techniques can make it easier for even smaller people to overcome difficult routes. Also, whether I am too short to climb is not so clear-cut and does not affect our climbing progress.
