This Is How Beneficial Rock Climbing Can Be For Your Health

There is a reason that rock climbing shows up in so many ads that want to evoke a sense of adventure and security all at once. Climbing rigs are secure while the act itself seems perilous, like you're taking a fight with gravity into your own hands. More than that, it's generally understood that climbers have to be physically fit in order to haul their body weight up the side of a climbing wall or, when climbing outside, a sheer rock face.

Climbers don't exactly have to start in peak condition, however. HuffPost points out that successful climbers have to train not only their upper body strength but their footwork, lower body strength, and their flexibility. In fact, flexibility is so important that many climbing gyms now offer yoga as an additional service so that beginners and experienced climbers alike can better work their joints and muscles.

The preparation doesn't stop once climbers hit the wall, though. Many climbers actually find that the climb itself is a unique kind of workout that is just as much mental as it is physical. Alex Johnson, a record-setting female climber and team member with The North Face, told HuffPost that climbing works your problem solving skills. And, far from being mindless, a climbing workout strengthens the connection between body and brain. That alone can benefit a person's health, but climbing has even more to offer.