Why Yoga Might Be the Best Thing You’re Not Doing for Your Climbing
This is a guest post by Sandra Berlin, a qualified rock climbing coach and a yoga teacher with over 20 years experience. Find out all about Sandra here
If you’ve ever climbed feeling stiff, stressed, or like your body’s arguing with you on every move; yoga might just be your new best friend. I know, I know. Not every climber loves the idea of yoga. Maybe you’ve been to a class that felt a bit too slow, a bit too spiritual, or a bit too full of human pretzels.
But hear me out; yoga doesn’t have to look like that. Whether you're tackling overhangs, balancing on slabs, or trying to get that very high step (we’ve all been there), yoga can support your climbing in ways that might surprise you.
Move Better on the Wall
Tight hips? Limited shoulder range? Hamstrings that scream during high steps? Yoga helps with all of that. Regular practice improves flexibility and mobility in areas climbers notoriously overuse and under-stretch. It also helps with balance and coordination; making those awkward foot swaps or slabby techy routes just a little less... unpleasant.
Try this: Low lunge (Anjaneyasana) before a session — it opens your hips and gets your quads and glutes fired up.
Strength Where It Counts
Yoga isn't all gentle passive stretching. Some postures build serious strength, especially
around your core, shoulders, and stabilising muscles. Think planks, side planks, boat pose the kind of slow, controlled strength that keeps you tight on the wall. It’s a great way to build endurance without loading your fingers or wrecking your shoulders on a rest day.
Breathe Better, Climb Smarter
We’ve all had that moment — pumped, halfway up a problem, and suddenly we realise we’re holding our breath. Yoga trains your ability to breathe through discomfort and stay calm when things get spicy. Breathwork (aka “pranayama”) can help you manage fear, reduce nerves, and make smarter decisions mid-route. Honestly? The ability to take a deep breath on a sketchy top-out is underrated.
Avoid Injuries (and Recover Faster When You Don’t)
Climbing’s hard on your body. Yoga helps balance out those repetitive pulling movements and tight patterns we build over time; especially if your sessions lean more “crimp and campus” than “movement and mindfulness.” It’s not a magic shield, but regular yoga can reduce your risk of tweaks and overuse injuries. And when you do pick up a niggle, it gives you a low-impact way to stay moving while you recover.
Headgame = Stronger
Yoga’s not just for your body. It’s also great for your mind. That quiet, focused headspace you sometimes find mid-flow? Yoga helps you access that more consistently — on or off the wall. It builds patience, awareness, and the ability to notice when your thoughts are spiralling (hello, fear of falling) and choose a different response.
So How Do You Actually Start?
You don’t need to do an hour of yoga a day. (You could, but we’re climbers; we’ve got fingerboarding to procrastinate on.)
Instead:
Try a 10–15 minute session before or after your climbing. Focus on hips, shoulders, hamstrings and core. Sprinkle in some breathwork on rest days.
Find a class or video that feels good. Better yet? Look for yoga for climbers sessions where the teacher understands the demands of climbing — they’ll speak your language (and won’t ask you to chant (unless you really want to).
Live in Sheffield? Come and say hello! Yoga for Climbers run every Wednesday 5.45 pm to 6.45 pm Or 7pm to 8pm at The Climbing Works.
TL;DR? Yoga makes you:
- Move better
- Feel stronger
- Think clearer
- Breathe easier
- And (hopefully) get injured less.
It won’t replace your climbing — but it might just help you enjoy it more, climb harder, and feel better doing it.
Get in touch, find out more and book a class at https://climbandyoga.com/