optimal climbing weight

1savagehunter

1savagehunter

Treehouser
Joined
Dec 12, 2010
Messages
135
Location
Alberta
I'm just curious what you all think the optimal climbing weight for a person should be. I know there are many complicating factors to this question. I've dumped 64 pounds in the last year and a half basically watching what I eat. I'm 6'3" and have gone from a solid looking 224 down to a wiry 160 now. I was worried that I may have cut into my muscle mass to the point that I was actually weaker than previous but to my surprise I'm able to lift as much as before but am WAY more agile in the tree. I can't say that my skill has improved that much in the last 18 months to compensate. I got to thinking that I wonder what the ideal weight for a climber would be. I can't change my size but I can adjust healthy weight. I'm NOT looking to draw attention to myself but rather just interested at other climber's opinions. If this has been discussed previously I'm sorry.
 
6'3" and 160? That sounds WAY too skinny to me.

I don't believe there is an ideal climbing weight other than the less the better!
 
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  • #3
That's what I thought too Butch ... I am at a plateau here and feel awesome but am feeling like a feather weight.
 
I'm about 240 to 250 depending on the season. That's not optimal. I'm not sure what is for me. When I was in high school and in excellent shape I weighed just over 210. I guess that would be optimal for me. I just have a big frame and there is no way I could ever get down to 160 in a healthy way.

I think flexibility and balance is more important than weight. Without those two things I couldn't climb as well as I do.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
 
MasterBlaster said:
The leaner, the better.
Click to expand...

I agree. There is little we do that requires true maximum power moves. We work against gravity. I used to think that high strength-to-weight was what made a good climber and it does help but overall weight is the most important. Even though now I am an old, worn out bag of bones, with much less strength than when in my prime, I am much lighter and climbing and moving around in the tree has never been easier.

David
 
Dave Im sure you being lighter helps you but don't discount the fact that over the years your body has adapted to its task and you have developed techniques to make it easier. The guy that taught me to climb always said that it got easier every year!
 
PCTREE said:
Dave Im sure you being lighter helps you but don't discount the fact that over the years your body has adapted to its task and you have developed techniques to make it easier. The guy that taught me to climb always said that it got easier every year!
Click to expand...

Yes, using SRWP with the Hitch hiker has made an astounding reduction in climbing effort. And it is true that over the years I have highly refined my " don't fall out of this damn tree " technique. But having reduced weight is still quite noticeable and, all else being equal, it will allow a larger safety margin when putting yourself in places that have weight limits on strength.

David
 
Holy moly, 6'3" and 160lbs! I weighed 180 in 10th grade! I'd say you're as skinny as you need to be!

This was me at 17 ~6'1" . ~210lbs. I graduated around 220lbs, and left that a while ago! :lol: 240 is a happy weight for me, 220 is approaching my definition of in shape.



At some point in the near future, I need to get back towards 240! Around 240 in this picture.

 
5'8" 175 lbs. I'm probably at my optimum weight for summer, in winter I could stand to have another 10-15 lbs for warmth but that might affect my tree man calendar shoot!:D
 
I graduated high school at 300 pounds. I started weight watchers at 347. I got down to 300 again but had a stupid busy year and did not pay attention to what I was eating, and went back up to 330. My goal is 250 but I'm not sure if that is healthy for me. I am going to start climbing and i am going to get back on weight watchers. Hopefully I am not too fat to climb!
 
5'9" and about 190. I could stand to loose 10 to 15 though. I climb less these days & 90% of that is wrecking bigger trees out. More cutting cutting work & dragging more has increased my muscle mass significantly.
 
Muscle mass can affect u just as much as fat tho. When I first started climbing I could hardly reach across my left side with my right arm or behind me cuz I had such little flexibility. Dropping weight, stretching and lifting less has definitely helped and I feel much better now.
 
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  • #16
FireFighterZero said:
I graduated high school at 300 pounds. I started weight watchers at 347. I got down to 300 again but had a stupid busy year and did not pay attention to what I was eating, and went back up to 330. My goal is 250 but I'm not sure if that is healthy for me. I am going to start climbing and i am going to get back on weight watchers. Hopefully I am not too fat to climb!
Click to expand...

Weight watchers worked for me!!! The trick is to not do it for a brief time but rather make a life style change for life
 
Be carefull with weightwatcher and the likes.
Climbing needs a great amount of energy. Don't make your body too hungry, or it could bring you in troubles.
Your body may have plenty of stored energy, the fat part is very slow to become available. You need absolutely real food to sustain such an hard work.
 
I'm 5'8", 125 lbs. I have a hard time keeping weight on. The most I ever weighed was around 130.
 
Wish I weighed back at 140-150 at 5'8"
Up to 160 now but not really feeling it all that much.. Seems every time I get busy climbing, clothes just get tighter and the weight stays the same :D
 
6' and 150lbs. The highest I hit was 162lbs, that was in crazy good shape paddling, kayaking, surfing competitively and on the OSU crew team... I literally can't put on weight. Wiry.
 
I'm 6'4" 190 lbs. When I started climbing I was closer to 220. I usually drop about 10 lbs in the summer. Like Butch said, the less extra fat you have to haul up with you the better. 8)
 
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