Does Rock Climbing Burn Fat?

How You Burn Fat

Exercise -- whether it's rock climbing or anything else -- does not necessarily burn fat on its own. To burn fat, you must consume fewer calories than your body burns through exercise and regular activities. After your body has used up calories from food, it will rely on your fat stores for additional calories. Adding physical activities such as rock climbing to your day-to-day routine will increase the number of calories you burn, which can help burn fat if you maintain a healthy diet.

Calories Burned from Rock Climbing

The number of calories that you'll burn when rock climbing will depend on your weight. If you weigh more, your body needs more energy to perform activities. So the more you weigh, the more calories you'll burn. For example, if you weigh 140 pounds, 30 minutes of rock climbing will burn 349 calories, but if you weigh 180 pounds, the number of calories burned would be 448. At 220 pounds, the same amount of time spent rock climbing would burn an impressive 548 calories.

Calories to Fat

The magic number of calories that you need to burn to lose a pound of fat is 3,500. Assuming you eat the same number of calories that you burn from your regular activities, you would need to burn an additional 3,500 calories rock climbing for each pound that you want to lose. If you weigh 180 pounds, for example, this would be equal to approximately four hours of rock climbing. So if you rock climb for just 40 minutes a day, 6 days a week, you could expect to lose weight.

Other Health Benefits

Burning fat isn't the only upside to rock climbing. Rock climbing provides a full-body workout that will develop lean muscles with time. This can help you develop a toned, muscular look. Rock climbing also provides a good cardiovascular workout, strengthening your heart muscles and increasing your aerobic capacity.